Keep those cards and letters coming!

In the face of adversity, the MWBH Mailroom is bulging with fan mail. Here's a piece from a student at Notre Dame:

Dear Mr. Man With Black Hat,

Have enjoyed your blog, though one thing did come to mind recently. In terms of Latin Masses, one mass per month means Steubenville is light-years ahead of U Notre Dame, which is where I go to school (I hope to be an architect and build churches that look like real churches, not Mormon ice-cream cones or flight hangars). While we have a fine traditional choral program with wonderful Latin motets and incense and a pipe-organ, we only have a real, honest-to-goodness Latin mass once every YEAR! Odd the way it's worked out.

Also, regarding occasionally accompanying the mass with a guitar, it may not be incompatible with Latin, chants and a traditional mass. One just has to watch where one's going. While it's rather obscure, there's a long history of Latin ecclesial choral works accompanied by stringed instruments, including...yes...guitars. One can find lute and mandolins accompanying Venetian polychoral works and even the occasional guitar for liturgical settings of psalms from 16th century Mexico. It actually sounds pretty good, which astonished me.

Of course, the strings are partially covered up by recorders, shawms, sackbutts--fear not, it's a sort of mediaeval trombone--and continuo, but it's still there. However, the music has, unlike most contemporary "hymns," the advantage of a) being old b) being polyphonic c) having sackbutts--I love saying that word--and d) most importantly, *not* being written by Marty Haugen.

Ah, yes. Fascinating commentary on the liturgical use of guitar and other instruments. I'm not above using a pennywhistle and a bodhran (an Irish drum made from a pigskin stretched over a sieve) when I'm on the job. I go for doin' the Celtic thing. Mr Schultz, are you taking notes?

The reader had one more question:

And why are you The Man With Black Hat? Is that like Zorro?

No, sir. It's more like Johnny Cash, "The Man in Black." Listen to his song about why the country music artist wears that color. You get the idea.

Now then, we have another one, from fellow St Blog parishioner Mr Dave Pawlak:

I grew up around charismatic prayer groups in the '70's, as my mother went to them. I read about some of the things going on the the 80's (by then, my mom had moved on to becoming more active in her own parish), and I "re-entered" the movement in the mid-90's, when I joined a prayer group which had a charismatic aspect to it. So I do know something about the movement.

Do I have reservations about the Charismatic Movement? Definitely. I've run across people who think you're not a complete Christian unless you've received the gift of tongues, despite what St. Paul said about the matter. Some boast about their particular "gift" (which makes me wonder). And there is a tendency to attract some rather mentally unstable people, or at least people who have a tendency to take things to extremes. They've flitted from Charismatic Renewal to questionable apparitions to Integrist Traditionalism (check out http://www.DailyCatholic.org for an example of the latter).

OTOH, I think that the younger folks in the Movement have more balance. They've learned from the errors of their forebears (by and large), and want the emphasis on Catholic rather than Charismatic. That means not equating prayer meetings with Mass, nor mixing the two together; no apologies or downplay regarding hard doctrine and belief; and a realization that the Movement is not the be-all and end-all --- that it is simply one spirituality among others. And many of the older folks (including my own mother) have credited the Movement with helping them become better Catholics. They may no longer attend prayer groups, but they've moved on into other things as faithful members of Christ's Body.

One last thing on gifts: One evening, at prayer group, my mother was asked to pray with a troubled young woman. As Mom was sitting with her, she silently prayed, and wondered what was wrong with this woman, why she had so many troubles. Suddenly, Mom looked up and said, "All because your mother died and you had to raise your brothers and sisters......". She knew nothing of this woman's past. But it was true. Scared my mother no end, since she didn't ask for this.

I'm sure Mr Pawlak will agree that no discussion on this matter would be complete without our friend Mr Pete Vere writing on "The Trentecostal Experience."

Thanks for writing, everyone. Keep 'em coming.