SIR,-The new S.C.R. Instruction of September 3, 1958, again strongly urges (as Mediator Dei had done in 1947) that Vespers be sung together with the people, on Sundays and feast days in out churches, and that evening Masses should not be allowed to oust Vespers (n.45).
Previously it appeared to be permissible to sing Vespers in English to Gregorian chant, but now it is definitely ruled that "the language of Gregorian chant is Latin only" (n. 16a).
Many of your readers (and readers of 'Worship" in the U.S.A.) had obtained from me copies of my arrangement of English Vespers (of the Blessed Sacrament). with Knox psalms, etc., to Gregorian chant. I suggest that those roneo booklets are not entirely useless even now.
My own present practice is to teach people to sing Vespers of the Blessed Sacrament in Latin, but at practices to sing through the English version before commencing to sing the Latin version. The English version is not an end in itself but an aid to make the Latin version intelligible. My own bishop approves of that limited use of the English version,
The insistence on the importance of public Vespers on Sundays. etc. is in keeping with the words of Pope Pius XII when he restored the ancient Easter Vigil service. He said: "The faithful should be instructed on the supreme value of the Sacred Liturgy which always far surpasses all other customs and devotions."
Vespers forms an important part of the Sacred Liturgy.
lic religion-he's only interested in airing his few ignorant, bigoted, warped opinions of all religions, the sound of his own voice sweet music in his ears; (2) however limited my intellect and my understanding of my faith, I still know more about it than he does, and if he knew as much about it as 1 do he'd no longer be a nonCatholic.
So please. "Catholic Schoolmaster," don't despise the only standby of the poor Catholic to who Almighty God in His wisdom has given only a dull intellect.
Factory Worker