Wednesday, June 26, 2013

RC Folk Mass History


Recently, I got involved with an exchange about the Roman Catholic Mass on a blog that promotes the traditional Latin mass rite. Now, while I like the Latin Mass I also have fond memories of the folk mass we attended during the 70s at St. Columbkille RC Church as well as my time with the CSU Newman Center at nearby St. Peter's Church. I observed that most of the Latin Mass supporters look with EXTREME disdain on the Folk Mass.

I found a website that had a lot of the folk mass songs I remember. These were tracks I never heard before (because they were performed by the original composer).

I found this website containing podcasts to complement a book about the history of the Folk Mass. The podcasts largely contain generous excerpts of the original recordings but also have short narratives by the author to explain background and context. I learned a lot about the evolution from the Latin mass to the English (vernacular) mass.

I am sure that many past and present RCs will recognize many of the songs in the podcasts. I downloaded them and listened to them while driving to/from work. They are generally short (~20 minutes max). Check it out and let me know what you think.