Silencio!!! Shut Off That Organ!

As we visit various Catholic parishes, we note that "music directors" for these places are actually not "music directors" for CATHOLIC churches.

See, the General Instruction for the current Missal has a clear instruction for those people:  during Lent, SHUT OFF THE ORGAN!!  (Except in cases of dire need.*)

You can look it up.  It's in para 313.

Some "Catholic" "music directors" seem to think that using the piano is just fine.  They're wrong, of course, but the instruction remains:  SHUT OFF THE PIANO!! 

Just SHUT UP!!

It's Lent.  Many of these "Catholic" "music directors" have no clue about Lent, or how 40 days of fasting and penance relates to SHUT OFF THE ORGAN.  SHUT OFF THE PIANO.  SHUT UP!!

Cardinal Sarah, the Big Kahuna at the Office of Worship in Rome, has written about silence.  B-16 comments on that effort:

 As I was reading the new book by Robert Cardinal Sarah, all these thoughts went through my soul again. Sarah teaches us silence—being silent with Jesus, true inner stillness, and in just this way he helps us to grasp the word of the Lord anew…. 

From this vantage point, he [Sarah] can then see the dangers that continually threaten the spiritual life, of priests and bishops also, and thus endanger the Church herself, too, in which it is not uncommon for the Word to be replaced by a verbosity that dilutes the greatness of the Word…. Cardinal Sarah is a spiritual teacher, who speaks out of the depths of silence with the Lord, out of his interior union with him, and thus really has something to say to each one of us…. (quoted at Remnant)

It's all very nice to have a degree in music, even though the coursework may have mentioned Chant only once in 4, 6, or 8 years.  But a degree in music is insufficient for a "Catholic music director" position.  Either you know what Catholic liturgical practice is, or you don't.  Sadly, these people do NOT know what it is.

*The instruction allows for accompaniment 'in support of the congregation's singing.'  All these churches have a cantor/song-leader who is supposed to know the music and LEAD THE SINGING.  Congregations can follow a good, strong, singer.  They don't need an organ any more than they need diapers.  Aaaarrrggghhhhh!!