A Lyrical Vision: The Music Documents of the U.S. Bishops by Edward Foley, O.F.M. Cap. (review)

318 Antiphon 14.3 (2010) was of a piece with “a wider movement of prayer, and of other so-called extra-liturgical devotions” (223). Laurence Paul Hemming situates the liturgy within theology, reminding us that “the sacred liturgy is the fons et culmen, source and summit, of the very training of those to whom themselves the sacred liturgy is most entrusted” (236). This clarion call is addressed directly to seminaries and religious houses of studies, where the liturgy is to be taught “under its theological, historical, spiritual, pastoral, and juridical aspects” (Sacrosanctum concilium, no. 16). This is not an undemanding task; nevertheless, “because... the liturgy is the continued means of God’s continued self-disclosure… to the world, every other science… is itself already grounded in the meaning of the liturgy, by connections which, although trusted in faith, will actually be revealed … at the end of time” (245). The liturgy, he says, “is the means by which faith increases in what it knows” (246). Incomprehension in worship is not always a bad thing, for it “discloses the distance the soul has yet to travel in its thirst for deification” (246). Father Lang wrote in his Introduction to these proceedings: “The Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum is a defining moment in the pontificate of Benedict XVI. And the main theme of this... is reconciliation” (viii). This volume provides a valuable contribution toward that end, not only because of its wide scope, but because of its singular purpose as well: to foster a greater appreciation of the great treasures of the Church’s liturgical tradition. Paul C. F. Gunter, O.S.B. Pontifical Institute of Liturgy Rome Edward Foley, O.F.M. Cap. A Lyrical Vision: The Music Documents of the U.S. Bishops American Essays in Liturgy Series Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2009 80 pages. Paperback, $9.95; eBook, $6.95 Edward Foley’s original intent in writing A Lyrical Vision was to provide a commentary on the most recent of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ documents treating liturgical music, Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship (2007), which Foley describes as “a fine pastoral document on music and liturgy – and not simply about music in the liturgy – exhibiting unusual musical breadth and sustained liturgical-pastoral intelligence” (74). In his research, however, he discovered that Sing to the Lord is most properly understood as a 319 Book Reviews revision of the three previous Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy documents: Music in Catholic Worship (1972, rev. 1983), Liturgical Music Today (1982), and the little-known The Place of Music in Eucharistic Celebrations (1968). In light of what he describes as “an organic development from its predecessors” (57), Foley argues that Sing to the Lord represents an expansive expression of the Church’s liturgical and musical heritage in dialogue with visions of liturgy and music informed by theological study. Rather than focusing on the specific contents of Sing to the Lord, Foley has analyzed the four documents carefully and presents a concise overview of the trends and concerns that shaped their composition. These contexts are vital, Foley argues, for understanding the documents themselves; it is in seeing the development of teaching on liturgical music that the full impact of those teachings is understood. Ultimately, while the significance of Sing to the Lord has a great deal to do with the content of that document in particular, it is equally significant that the most recent document “seems to confirm a fundamental trajectory of understanding and pastoral practice regarding musical liturgy in the United States” (74). Finally, Foley sees the manner in which Sing to the Lord was crafted as representing an ecclesial model that deserves to be imitated throughout the life of the Church: “the process of public and private consultation surrounding the writing of this document needs to be held up as a true symbol of active participation in the liturgy of the church” (74). One of the most fascinating aspects of Foley’s work was his discussion of the first of the liturgical music documents, The Place of Music in Eucharistic Celebrations. Rarely encountered, Foley notes that this text “was never separately published and was more often distributed as a...