When will we ever learn?

I was looking for an image for the last post – which I never settled on – and found this little gem of a very short film. A news report, I am assuming, from December 1968.

In the Convent of Our Lady of Sion, Bellinter House, County Meath, Mass is being celebrated in a different way. Mass is held in a convent lecture hall and the ceremony sees guitars, tin whistle and mandolin replace the church organ and hymns in Latin. 

The Mass has been organised by Worship ’68, an organisation for Catholic lay people and priests.  Popular folk band The Weavers perform ‘Shout from the Highest Mountain’.  The chief celebrant is Reverend Roman O’Flanagan, OFM (Order of Friars Minor).

Note: These “Weavers” were not the Weavers of American folk music fame, featuring, among others Pete Seeger. I did a double take on that myself. No, the American Weavers were much older and had disbanded by this time and would not be playing music in a Catholic Mass in an Irish retreat center, anyway.

I don’t think there’s a way to embed. You’ll just have to go here to watch.

Opening song is set to the tune of “Where Have All the Flowers Gone:”

Christ the Lord, our offering/Christ the Lord, our sacrifice/Christ the Lord our common meal, present here today/Christ the Lord our celebrant/Christ the Lord, our neighbor/When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?

The other music we hear is “Sing from the Highest Mountain,” very familiar to those of us of a Certain Age, and honestly, very nicely done here with mandolin and flute thrown in. Although if you are of that Certain Age, you might find yourself instinctively adding a Clap! right after mouuuuun-tain the –

Anyway, take a look. It’s a fascinating moment – in English, the folk music, but the altar still ad orientem and a few veils still to be seen.

Also: Several years ago, I unearthed another treasure trove of mid-century Irish Catholic short films, including an amusing take on “Manners in Church.” You can read that post here.