liturgicalmusic

Emily and Eric welcome Black Catholic podcasters Nate Tinner-Williams and Lorna DesRoses to Meet Father Rivers to celebrate Black Catholic History Month (November) with the first-ever Rivers Reading Club. Participants discuss one of Fr. Rivers’ most provocative and insightful pieces of writing: a chapter called “The Oral African Tradition Versus the Ocular Western Tradition.” The chapter is available as a free download, compliments of Orbis Books (see Show Notes for the link). We discuss Fr. Rivers’ critique of the unexamined cultural forces that cause liturgy in North America to limp: the sight-biased and discursive tendencies of Western European-descended cultures. Hosts and guests share their thoughts on Rivers’ ideas in our liturgical current context and discuss whether progress has been made since Rivers first published the piece. For Episode 21's Show Notes, click here.

Happy Black Catholic History Month! In this brief but important episode, listeners get oriented to this celebratory month and receive a homework assignment for next episode. But don’t fear—this is homework you’ll want to do! The fine folks at Orbis Books have given us permission to share a chapter Fr. Rivers published in the 1998 scholarly collection, Taking Down Our Harps (ed. by Fr. Cyprian Davis, OSB and Diana L. Hayes) entitled “The Oral African Tradition Versus the Ocular Western Tradition.” This short, fascinating chapter will form the focus of discussion in our next episode. You can access that chapter as a free download (click here for link). Special thanks to Orbis Books. We also discuss what you can do to celebrate BCHM (book recs!), we share a passing of note—James E. Moore—and receive a musical gift from composer Christian Cosas. For the show notes for Episode 20, click here.

Emily and Eric interview Fr. Tom DiFolco, retired priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati who was mentored by Fr. Rivers, forming a friendship with Fr. Rivers as a fellow priest that greatly enhanced Fr. Tom’s own priestly ministry. Fr. Tom has served the Black Catholic parishes of Cincinnati for 25 years, and he opens up about the joys and challenges of his ministry and—most especially—how he has been forever changed by the life and influence of Fr. Clarence Rivers. The conversation includes a discussion of the original Eucharistic prayers composed by Fr. Rivers, and a sizable audio clip of Fr. Clarence praying his “Anaphora of the Lion and Lamb” is included in this episode, with special thanks to Matt Fellerhoff. For show notes, click here.

Emily and Eric interview pianist, pastoral musician, liturgist, workshop presenter and composer Mr. Ronald (Rawn) Harbor. Rawn met Fr. Rivers in 1973 and became his primary accompanist and eventually a liturgist in his own right under Fr. Clarence’s careful mentorship. Rawn discusses his own approaches to composition and even shares a recording of a psalm arrangement that he’s particularly proud of: Psalm 63 “My Soul is Thirsting,” on this special, most musical episode of Meet Father Rivers to date. Click here for show notes.