Well, we’re back home after a very full week of participating in the CMAA Sacred Music Colloquium in Salt Lake City, Utah. It has been quite an experience for me. I assisted, for the very first time, at a fully delineated “smells and bells” N.O. For those who say that one can hardly tell the difference between that and the TLM, I beg to differ. Seeing and hearing a female lector (even doing Gregorian chant) is a reminder that the N.O. is still a Mass of options – all perfectly legit. 
But, as I was reminded, for those who are employed by N.O. parishes as church musicians, the “smells and bells” liturgy, in contrast to what is typical in their parishes was most welcome. God bless their efforts to bring back some semblance of genuine Catholic worship to their parishes. Perhaps some of them know it, perhaps not, but they are paving the way for the full restoration to the traditional ars orandi of the Mass that will never die, the venerable, ancient and also ever-new Mass of our heritage, the Tridentine Mass.
Two traditional Latin Masses were also celebrated, one of them on the Solemnity of SS Peter & Paul, by Monsignor Andrew Wadsworth (Director of ICE) as shown in this photo from charlescole.com
This coming Sunday, I look forward to being once more with the beautiful priests and oblates of the Institute of Christ the King for Mass. It is an inestimable grace to have – even at the cost of small sacrifice – access to a regularly scheduled TLM along with all the devotions, music, images, etc., of our Apostolic faith, where we all worship with one mind and heart, totally free from having to weigh unnecessary options.
If I receive photos/audios, I will post them. The music WAS absolutely superb, except for some parts of certain more modern postludes which I found to be a little jarring to the ear, and which therefore, made my post-Communion thanksgiving rather difficult. If God was trying to speak to me, I couldn’t hear Him over the volume and too much dissonance!
I met some wonderful people there, such as Katie from Joliet, Matthew, Kathleen, Catherine, Mona, Ted, Barbie, seminarian Armando, Rick, Father Johannes Smith of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, Father Pasley of Mater Ecclesiae, (who it turns out, is a friend of a priest-friend of ours, here in the diocese of Joliet!) and the for
mer Rosalind Moss………..
….now Mother Mariam of the Lamb of God, (on the right) and foundress of a Benedictine congregation which was inaugurated by Bishop Edward J. Slattery of the Diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
By the way, Mother told me that her foundation will also now include mention of Our Blessed Mother under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe. That’s a very long story which you will probably be hearing later. Suffice to say that Mother made the Mexico connection when she met Msgr. Isidro Puente Ochoa who celebrates the Tridentine Mass in Tijuana.
Fantastic, Carl! I specially would like for others to hear the awesome and powerful Kyrie that made me practically quake with emotion at Friday’s TLM Mass – the Vierne Mass setting.
For everyone who’s interested in the audio recordings: They’ll be arriving here on the Colloquium Archive. Only a few things are there so far, but more will be popping up in the next couple of weeks as they get processed.