Parish musicians need to know the changes and their reasons as leaders of the congregation, Targett added, explaining that parishioners will come to them with questions before they go to the priest.
“The challenge is moving beyond something we’ve been working with for 40 years,” he said.
These changes include alterations to almost every part of the Mass, from the greeting to the closing, and are the culmination of an 11-year effort since 2000, when Pope John Paul II issued the third edition of the Roman Missal. The new, more formal missal fixes errors from the second edition and is a more accurate translation of its Latin counterpart.
“We aren’t talking to our neighbour across the fence,” said Msgr. Murray Kroetsch, who conducted a workshop for the musicians. “We are speaking to God.”
Kroetsch, the moderator of the diocese of Hamilton’s Pastoral Offices, explained the changes in the Mass to the musicians. The response to “The Lord be with you” is no longer, “And also with you.” Instead, Kroetsch explained, it is more loyal to the Latin, “And with your spirit.” Meanwhile, the Apostle’s Creed is currently nine sentences. In the new missal, it’s only three.
Changes similar to these can be found throughout the Mass — and for the musicians, most notably in parts that are traditionally sung, such as the Gloria. These modifications called for new music that would accommodate the third edition translations, which the musicians began to learn after Kroetsch’s workshop.
John Dawson, program co-ordinator and music director at the Office of Catholic Youth, composed one of three Canadian settings for the new Mass.
“It was a wonderful opportunity and journey as a composer,” he said, explaining that the change has given him the chance to better understand the texts. “People get to dig deeper into something that, for many of us, we do every day.”
As a church musician, he said, writing music for the Mass is the highest honour. He shares this honour with fellow Canadian composers Geoffrey S. Angeles and Michel Guimont.
English-speaking parish musicians will have about six months to become familiar with the new music before Nov. 27, when the switch will take place.
“Nobody is expecting that day to complete the project,” said Targett. “That day begins the project.”
Musicians prepare for missal changes
By Luc Rinaldi, Catholic Register SpecialTORONTO - Some 500 parish musicians from across Southern Ontario came together May 28 for a crash course to prepare them for the implementation of the third edition of the Roman Missal.
The musicians gathered at Toronto’s Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish for a day-long symposium on the impending changes.
The new missal, which will be used in English-speaking churches around the globe beginning on the first Sunday of Advent, contains changes in almost all parts of the Mass — changes especially important to musicians, according to event organizer Bill Targett.
“The musicians are on the front line,” said Targett, director of the archdiocese of Toronto’s Office of Formation for Discipleship.
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