Day One
By Fr. Paul Mankowski, S.J. ( articles ) | Apr 29, 2003
Thomas Day's book Why Catholics Can't Sing caused a minor sensation when it appeared in 1990. Less so the sequel, Where Have You Gone, Michelangelo? (Crossroads, 1993), which deals with the liturgy wars. Many of the mordant observations Day makes in the latter volume bear repetition, and I hope to post a couple over the next week or so. Most are aphoristic in nature, and hold their own perfectly well out of context.
Monsignor Majestic tries to affect what is called a "stained-glass" voice during Mass. He does not realize that his rich and dramatic diction, enunciated into a microphone, tilts everything in his favor.
Monsignor: a-MAY ... THE LORD ... BE ... a-WITH a-YOU.
Congregation: andalsowithyou.
Compare that with the Latin formula, chanted:
Celebrant: Dominus vobiscum [which weighs three pounds and two ounces in importance].
Congregation: Et cum spiritu tuo [which also weighs three pounds and two ounces in importance].
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