To paraphrase...
Glenn: "When I went to the synagogue I heard the singing which I can only describe as Gregorian chant..."I thought that perhaps this would be a "Eureka!" moment for Glenn. No such luck...Rabbi: "Yes, Glenn. This is the tradition of the Levites that has been passed down through the ages...
Glenn: "And I thought, boy, it must make the Jews so angry to have their traditions perverted."And I thought...
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Jewish converts tend to feel very comfortable with traditional Catholic liturgy, unlike many Protestant converts.
Speaking about perverting someone else’s traditions, Glenn, why don’t you give us our New Testament back?
I'm just delighted that the Catholic Church preserved the Jewish Books that the Jews post-100 AD.
And this resulted in Hanukkah!
And Levitical chanting is another Jewish tradition treasured by traditional Catholics (so far) in the Gregorian Chant ---
There's been some (fairly) recent research on this. Eric Werner, a Jewish composer and musicologist, and a refugee from Hitler's Germany, evaluated evidence that Gregorian Chant was based on the cantillation of the Jewish synagogue.
In the late 50's he published "The Sacred Bridge," in which he presented the evidence that Gregorian chant was indeed a direct descendant of Jewish synagogue music. (He later published an updated second edition with more data).
His points are:
Since then, researchers have done comparative histories of chant in the Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Slavic/Russian Orthodox, Syrian, Armenian, Ge'ez (Ethiopian) and other traditions.
It is really a fascinating study on the validity and continuity of oral tradition. You can hear some of this on the CD "The Sacred Bridge," (Boston Camerata?) It swings between Latin and Hebrew, Gregorian chant and synagogue cantillation. Some of the melodies are identical!
I have learned a great deal about my Catholic faith from my Jewish friends. Given your handle, I will assume you know what I mean. :)
Pope Gregory would be pleased that a Catholic would use a MORMON for a source!
Did I say MORMON??
I meant EX-Catholic...