It was forty long years ago, this past November 30th (to be exact!) that it took place... 40 YEARS - a lifetime ago, verily. And it had all begun with a most dubious of a joke, an anachronism in thought and would-be venture, for it was launched upon a premise that would have desecrated any other place of worship, desacralized holy ground, dishonored the Church and Faith overall...
And yet... And yet... It was a project that met with approval almost instantly, from the congregation that administers the shrine involved here - and the Roman Catholic Church overall, or so it has to be implied.
What in blue blazes are we talking about here - yeah, of all places, of all blogs part of the vast and vitreous TLB Prime Network - on this day? Well, dog-nabbit, we are talking about the 1972 concert that made no sense: the Offenbach concert at the Oratory! Pierre Harel, the living link between two key bands of the 70s and 80s in Quebec rock (Offenbach - and Corbeau) had this idea of a ''messe des morts à l'Oratoire'' (a mass for the dead) blending musical genres; ranging from Gregorian to alternative rock, evidently. Hence the presence of a musical piece titled Requiem in there, somewhere... Only the idea was launched with another variant of that phrasing, not quite the same at all: it was launched as this instead - ''une messe NOIRE à l'ORATOIRE!'' (Put the emphasis and proper intonation onto the ''-oire'' endings for the full Québécois feeling there!) And we can imagine the whole gang having quite the laugh with that one - until it became a reality, involving even the collaboration of a priest who sang with the band too - but his own lyrics, in fact chants, in latin!
Let's pause now and listen to an excerpt or two of it right here:
The society was in revolution, even the church was supposed to be in revolution (or it was already feeling a sharp decline in attendance -and it would get worse- so it was trying to reach out to the masses by letting everyone into its hallowed halls, by reaching out especially to those who wouldn't even think of coming over, not even for a second...)
They did repeat the experience in 2002 - for the landmark 30th anniversary - which actually makes it even more bizarre that no one would even make a tiny little mention of the 40th anniversary of this purported-to-be 'legendary event'...
What makes this is so special would be the UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE
of the ecclesiastical environment for this most... ah...
unorthodox (no denominational pun intended) style of music.
However... What can we really think of certain choices made by this band of
hairy misfits that took over the Oratory, a shrine with an international reputation
for being the biggest of its kind devoted to the earthly father figure for Our Lord,
and patron saint of workers, the afflicted, Canada and so on...
And that is said while taking aside that entire ''messe noire à l'Oratoire'' nonsense!
One choice stands out above all: the song Rirolarma.
Listen to it, here and now:
Isn't this a most peculiar choice indeed...
Doesn't it sound like some most unwanted and certainly uninvited guest
just crashed that party of love, acceptance, and ''quiet and-or rocking revolution''
they had going on there, in the timeless Basilica of the sanctimonious Oratoire...?
In a word - yes!
That laughter - is it to represent the devil himself, laughing in the face of all
believers (five thousand of them, that day - mostly rock'n'roll fans who'd come
to listen to the recording of a most eclectic of rock albums) as he
(I'd rather say ''... as it...'' right here)
successfully immersed itself into the workings of the Church
- yet again!!!
It is, indeed, enough to roll on the floor laughing,
to the point of tears...
And we all know that the devil loves a good laugh!
He... It... has had plenty of opportunities to laugh
over the decades, centuries, eras...
At the inept side of Christianity -
that which divides it and makes it unable
to stand united in Faith.
And then there are those attempts at unification
and making bridges between various strata of society
in either ecumenismal ways
or this way - through the arts
or so-called arts.
And it all is ephemeral at best
and not unifying in truth, not for one iota.
Having said all that - or, rather, blogged all that indeed -
an 'A' for effort must be awarded -
back in 1972 and then, again, in 2002...
But, by the same token, an 'F' must be given out
in 2012 - for having omitted a mere mention of this
through all the notable media outlets
that the Church is so eager to exploit, now,
as it attempts one (last?) time
to reach out and regain
the masses...
And maybe... maybe...
if the august Oratory allowed Offenbach
to take over its Basilica twice rather than just once
and a certain Pierre Harel to get away
with his claims of having gone forth
with his dream of presiding
or participating in
a black mass there...
Then, maybe... just maybe...
I can indeed gather up
a few TRUE BELIEVERS
and truly
*Occupy The Oratory*
- as I, also, have been heard
to be joking around,
lately...!
(All I need is four more guys -
we'd sing Take That's
hit song
''Love, Love''
(We Don't Have Too Much Time Here)
accompanied by the Great Organ
up in the Basilica -
and there'd be no encore!)
Sempre Por O Melhor
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