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"I think the participation of the Faithful is important, and is forced by the Novus Ordo."

Uh, huh. Yep. On the nose. ****Forced.****

As opposed to optional or dropped. The worst Novus Ordo Mass I attended, that was licit, was one where the Priest did everything right, in about 15 min. The responses are there for any do do if then liked. Sure, you can kneel immobile. Nobody forces anyone in that sense, what I mean if that to follow the rubrics, the responses from the faithful are required. If that Priest didn't have those, I swear that Mass could have been less than 10 minutes.

It's not as good as some of the other alternatives, and frankly, I'm hard put to visualize banality leading to increased devotion or deeper spirituality.

I find the Catholic radio station horrid to the extreme, except at certain times when they slow it down and play classical music. I tolerate it because my Daughter does better listening to that than Radio Disney. (This is Radio Disney, buy buy buy buy buy buy buy!)

I agree with you otherwise, to me it is banal and a distraction, to a 17yo, it is moving, and helps him worship more deeply. I take it as penance.

Great article, especially the Dan Schutte information.

Brian/Proud2BRC/Polycarp, thanks for your efforts!

While I really enjoy the beauty of the Traditional Latin Mass largely due to its unshakeable reverence, a properly done Novus Ordo Mass is also beautiful. Problem is, the NO is almost never properly done.

"I agree with you otherwise, to me it is banal and a distraction, to a 17yo, it is moving, and helps him worship more deeply. I take it as penance."

Maybe I was just lucky to start playing an instrument in grade school. By the time I was in high school I knew well that the classics were a much higher form of art than pop or rock and roll. My high school and college friends were often quite put out at me for putting classical music on when they wanted garbage.

The point being that, as with so many things, the ability to appreciate great music is a matter of education and exposure. But that's perception. As a matter of objective reality, classical music is superior to pop or R&R just like a fine vintage wine is objectively superior to Boone's Farm Crawdad Hill.