John Michael Talbot: Ignorant, liturgical heretic!

For nearly thirty years I have followed my vocation in liturgy and church music. Over those years, I have been part of a few excellent choirs. This included the Toronto Oratory Choir where we sang the propers and polyphony for the Latin Mass in the Ordinary Form (Missal of Paul VI), and the use of Latin and proper English liturgical music in the sung English Mass according to the same Missal as well as Sunday Vespers in a combination of Latin and English, chant, hymnody and polyphony. I sang with Canada's leading male-vocal ensemble for three seasons, The Victoria Scholars, though secular, singing sacred music. I've lead small scholas and little choirs for the traditional liturgy. I served as the Schola Master and Cantor for the glorious 19 months when we had the FSSP in Toronto and have sung the EF almost every Sunday for a decade. Weekly, for seven years, I have sung Saturday night in the OF and as well as Sundays in the EF and I will continue to do so with God's help until I can do it no longer. Suffice to say that I know a thing or two about liturgy and church music. 

John Michael Talbot and his ilk have destroyed church music and continue to do so. "Better music at Mass means a closer encounter with Christ" says Talbot. I agree, but not on what he says next. "Catholics are notoriously known for having the worst music anywhere" he adds, along with his disrespect of the corrected translation on the Nicene Creed and the word "consubstantial."  On both of these John Michael Talbot and this writer are going to differ sharply and drastically. His arrogance is astounding.  However, I will agree on one thing, church music is bad because of John Michael Talbot and others like him.

Read this again, according to this aging hippie and lay leader of a religious commune, we have the "worst music anywhere." 

Really John Michael? 

Listen to the music playing on this blog for Advent. Go search on the Internet for something by Palestrina or Tallis or a simple Gregorian chant, the proper music for the Church even in the Novus Ordo Missae according to the Second Vatican Council! Then after doing that, come back to the combox here and tell me that Catholics have the "worst music anywhere." That is nothing more than a self-serving lie. Strong words John? Well, maybe it is the first time in your career that someone had the courage to state publicly that you have done enormous damage to Catholic liturgical praxis. Yours is an opinion formed out of self-interest. You have no liturgical credentials, no training, no scholarship. I doubt that you've even read or understood Sacrosanctam Concilium. How much money do you make from all these Catholic parishes buying your music and bringing you in for these talks? Seems pretty lucrative if you ask me.

You, John Michael Talbot are a liturgical heretic.

There is no singing this music by congregations. There is no "active participation." Talbot is a singer-songwriter born out of another era. If you want his music fine, play it in the church hall, or around the campfire, buy it, put more money in his pocket; knock yourself out with it; but it does not belong in the Holy Mass! 

Talbot is a convert from Methodism. It is too bad that he did not immerse himself in liturgy of the faith he came to. 

Instead he made it all about himself because it is all about him and not Him. When the history is written on what went wrong in the Church's liturgy, they'll be a whole chapter on this ageing hippie.

And all the talk about Our Lord Jesus Christ is not going to fix that John.