Off to work

After setting my alarm for 3:45 a.m. and watching the papal funeral broadcast from Rome, it's time to head off somewhat sleepily to work. For such a media-savvy pope, I didn't find the service created by the cardinals to be particularly aware of media needs (that litany of saints after communion went on forever! Even the news anchors started talking over it.). The Italian and Latin were probably problematic for a lot of American viewers, but I speak enough of those languages, at least the liturgical vocabularies, to have been able to follow along just fine (not to mention I had an advance text of the Order of Service I got emailed from Rome). Now, I've cantored a ton of Catholic funerals, so I can easily say that this was just a routine Catholic requiem mass that was extended basically only by the enormous size of the crowd and the fact all the concelebrants were princes of the church. My greatest disappointment in the service, though, was the music. It was so incredibly ordinary. Maybe they would have sounded better inside St. Peter's, rather than on the square, and I certainly hope that organ was a portable outdoor instrument and not the main one inside the building! I've always said that most Catholic music since Vatican II sucks, and I can see from today it's not just the American church suffering from that phenomenon. When my state funeral is held, I want the choir to be from someplace like the National Cathedral here in D.C. or Westminster Abbey in London. The Episcopal/Anglican Church may have its problems, but at least they have fabulous men and boys choirs and they've always been able to do a proper funeral.

I wonder if Prince Ranier's funeral will be broadcast next week? Does anybody even remember that he died last week, too?

Anyway, off to work.