Select Page
Radical Catholicism

Radical Catholicism

I used to pride myself on being mainstream. I didn’t want to be an intellectual or a scholar. I did not want to write books that would be read and admired by eleven of my friends. I wanted to write for regular folk. I liked being invisible and was always grateful for...
Liturgical music as participation in Christ

Liturgical music as participation in Christ

Singing the Mass — Part one a three-part series by Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted St. Augustine recounts in his autobiography “Confessions” an experience he had during the singing of the Mass: “How I wept, deeply moved by your hymns, songs, and the voices that echoed...
Liturgical music as participation in Christ

A short history of liturgical music

Singing the Mass — Part Two a three-part series by Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted In the first part of this series on sacred music, I described the meaning of sacred music, the music of the Church’s sacred liturgy, as distinct from “religious music.” In this second...
Liturgical music as participation in Christ

Sacred music’s role in evangelization

Singing the Mass — Part Three a three-part series by Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted In the first part of this series on sacred music, I described the meaning of sacred music, and the difference between the music of the Church’s sacred liturgy and “religious music” (Dec. 15,...
What many Priests no longer believe

What many Priests no longer believe

Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi. Loosely translated: “The norm of prayer governs the norm of belief; the norm of belief governs the norm of living.” Many priests nowadays (including myself) are asking, “What if there’s deficient lex in the orandi? Won’t that...