A resource for the renewal

I would like to recommend a Liturgical resource which we use in our College Masses at Campion. By flowing waters: Chant for the Liturgy (Collegeville Liturgical Press, Minnesota, 1999), seeks to re-establish Chant in the Mass. This resource has greatly developed the way that we sing the Mass at Campion, for it offers a real way of reclaiming aspects of Liturgical tradition in the reformed Rite. The Council asked that Gregorian chant for the Latin liturgies be augmented. What has been achieved by the authors of this resource is “not some radical innovation but the sound recovery of a sound tradition: song integrated into the Liturgy, song not beyond the capacity of an ordinary gathering of Catholic Christians, song following both the Hebrew and the Christian legacy of the psalms of David.” The history of chant reveals that “the original Greek and Latin words themselves created the music that was meant to convey them to the heart and then to express the heart’s fullness.” This resource intends “to allow the music which expressed the meaning of the original words … to convey the same meaning to those who speak English … and to let these ancient tones become the tunes to carry [the new English translations].” We are very grateful to both our Choir Master and the Campion Schola for their part in leading us in music in the celebration of the Mass.