The selection of music for Mass can be a highly charged topic, in part because we usually become fond of whatever we grew up with. The church calls us to a higher wisdom and offers a great deal of guidance. Most Catholic musicians don’t realize that the church offers guidelines and preferences for the choice of music. If you aren’t sure that the church’s ancient music is still relevant today—and preferable to most of what has been composed in the last half-century—have you read the documents? Two good places to start: the Vatican II document Sacrosanctum Concilium and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. I plan to post links to more documents in the coming weeks. But you couldn’t do better than to start exploring the documents linked to on Adoremus.com and Musicasacra.com. In addition, I will gladly e-mail copies of a document I created that summarizes the church’s preferences. Just drop me a line. —————- Now playing: Alexander Blachly & Pomerium – Nuper rosarum flores via FoxyTunes