Sacred music in the diocese: Why have a Gold Mass?

It’s a great honor to serve as director of music and organist of St. Joseph Cathedral, a position I’ve held since November 2015 when I was appointed by Bishop Frederick Campbell and Father Michael Lumpe, Cathedral rector at the time. My role in the diocese expanded in December 2022 when Bishop Earl Fernandes named me diocesan director of music. Given my love for the Church and Her music, I consider it my life’s work and vocation to play Sacred Music (SM) for the glory of God and to impart my knowledge of it, which is why I’m so grateful to occupy these positions.

I’m often asked about my duties as diocesan director of music and why Bishop Fernandes feels a need for such an office. The short answer to the latter involves bishop’s effort to establish a cohesive approach to SM in our diocese. Given the continued influences that secular culture exerts on the sacred liturgy, we want to communicate a clear path forward based on the teachings of the Church; having an official guide and resource will help enable this process.

As diocesan director of music, I promote SM ministry in general and emphasize that it’s not an end in itself but rather a means to an end that is to give glory to God and to aid in the sanctification of souls. Furthermore, I convey the abstract concepts of SM, Church documents on the subject, examples, resources and how SM might be implemented in the parish and school. In addition, I plan and direct SM at diocesan events (e.g., ordinations, the Chrism Mass, Rite of Election, and so on), compose periodic music suggestion letters to our parish music directors and school teachers, and work with the Catholic school system to develop a culture that understands and appreciates the role of SM in the Mass.

An initiative I began in 2022 was the annual Gold Mass, at which we ask the Holy Spirit to bless all those who work in music ministry. Church musicians and teachers alike are called upon to bring nourishment and inspiration to the sacred liturgy, classrooms and even audiences. The Gold Mass affords such individuals an opportunity to unite their voices in worship and to support each other in these unique endeavors. Most importantly, we come to acknowledge, praise and receive the source of all inspiration, the author of art.

The Church has a long history of offering votive Masses for members of certain professions that serve the common welfare. In 1245 at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the first known Red Mass for lawyers and the judiciary was offered, so named for the red vestments that were worn. In recent decades, it has become popular to offer a Blue Mass for law enforcement and a Rose Mass for health and hospice-care workers. Blue is the color of many officers’ uniforms and rose honors St. Rose of Viterbo.

The Gold Mass for diocesan musicians, volunteer and professional acknowledges the tremendous importance of SM and the need to orient all that is beautiful toward the Divine Creator.  The color gold is chosen due to its association with instruments, celebration and performance. Liturgically, the color gold stands alone or accompanies other colors on great feasts of the year such as Pentecost (red), Christmas (white) and Easter (white). At the Gold Mass, we pray especially for a year of fruitful labors among all those who work in the arts, especially church musicians and Catholic school music teachers, particularly those that serve in the Diocese of Columbus.

This year, the fourth annual Gold Mass will be held on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 5:15 p.m. at St. Joseph Cathedral; Bishop Fernandes will preside. This liturgy is scheduled on or around the feast day of St. Cecilia, the Church’s patroness of music, the date proper of which is Nov. 22.

St. Cecilia was the embodiment of Christian fervor: even when she was struck by the sword on the neck three times for refusing to denounce Christ, she remained steadfast in her faith; given her inability to speak through her excruciation, she instead made a Trinitarian symbol with three fingers, symbolizing her refusal to abandon her commitment to the Almighty. Sacred Music elucidates this zeal for God, as the Church teaches it’s the greatest of all arts because it is the most abstract, and therefore the most capable of transcending the temporal. At the Gold Mass, we celebrate the unique gift of music given to us by its Divine Originator.

St. Cecilia, pray for us!

I hope you will join us at this year’s Gold Mass! If you’d like more information or would like to participate, please contact me directly at richardkfitzgerald@gmail.com.

Soli Deo gloria!

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