The Art Of Catholic With Matthew Leonard

It sounds like a wild exaggeration. But according to best-selling author Mike Aquilina (a generally trustworthy source), it was music that saved the ancient world from its descent into despair. My first thought was "Seriously?" Yep. He's not kidding.  It's all in his book "How the Choir Converted the Word: Through Hymns, With Hymns, And In Hymns" from Emmaus Road Publishing. (The book is worth a look for the subtitle alone.) Given the state of some current liturgical music, I was skeptical to say the least. (I probably should have told the publisher that before I agreed to blurb the book.) But since everything else I ever read by Mike is pure gold, I agreed. I wasn't disappointed. This book rocks. Music really did save world. But it wasn't without conflict. Music isn't always used for holy purposes. (Ever been to a Def Leppard concert? Yeah...me neither.) That's as true today as it was in the ancient world. In case you haven't noticed, music continues as a battlefront in modern culture. And it's a battle we h