Music within the Church has a much deeper theological meaning than some may realize, and an upcoming retreat at Holy Name Parish in Denver seeks to explore this concept.
On July 23, Holy Name will host a music retreat entitled “O Beauty So Ancient and New” aimed at exploring the relationship between sacred music, liturgy and the New Evangelization. The retreat will feature prayer, adoration, fellowship, practical training in traditional Gregorian chant, and a keynote talk by Illuminare Publications president and editor, and Holy Name parishioner, Adam Bartlett.
Bartlett has an extensive background teaching, speaking and writing about liturgical music, and as a former music director and assistant director of the Liturgical Institute at Mundelein Seminary in Chicago, Bartlett has spent much of his career exploring the true function of liturgical music within the church, and he said that understanding this is more of a theological matter than anything else.
“When we talk about the purpose of the music of the liturgy, really we’re asking a theological question,” Bartlett said. “Before we can talk about the form that the music takes in the liturgy, we have to understand the reality that the music is trying to make present within the liturgical context.
Adam Bartlett, president of Illuminare Publications, will serve as the keynote speaker of a retreat exploring the relationship between sacred music, the liturgy and the New Evangelization at Holy Name Parish on July 23. (Photo provided)
“We want to affirm everything within its proper place, its proper role, and understand that all these things should work together for the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful,” he said. “That’s what I hope this workshop is going to help showcase.”
Bartlett, along with Holy Name pastor Father Daniel Cardó, conceptualized this retreat as a means to educate people about what the Church teaches about different forms of music, as well as to promote the essential place of music within the relationship between the New Evangelization and the holy liturgy.
The retreat, Bartlett said, will explore the connection between “deep fruitful participation in the liturgy,” as the Second Vatican Council urged, and the Church’s mission to evangelize, especially in light of the New Evangelization.
“Within that,” he continued, “We’re going to explore the way music functions within the different areas of the Church’s life, and even within the culture at large.”
The retreat is open to anyone who may be interested.
“This is really for everyone, and I think everyone should come,” Father Cardó said. “Not only those who[…]have training or talent, this is really an event for everyone to understand the connection between liturgy, music and the New Evangelization.”
July 23rd – 9 a.m. Holy Name Parish 3290 W. Milan Ave. Englewood, CO