Violent Video Games Beget Gregorian Chant Popularity

This is one of the most ironic stories I’ve ever seen. Universal Music, the record company whose artists include Amy Winehouse, Eminem and 50 Cent, is looking for monks to sign to a record contract, according to the UK Press.

Why the suddent interest, you might ask. The music giant has placed adverts in religious publications like The Tablet, The Church Times and The Catholic Times to find monks, men of the cloth or sacred singers to record an album of Gregorian chant because…it believes the bestselling computer game phenomenon Halo has sparked a resurgence of interest in plainchant, which has traditionally been sung by choirs of men and boys in churches.

Gregorian chant-like music forms the main soundtrack of the space age XBox games, which have sold more than 16 million copies worldwide.

Ironic, isn’t it? Our church threw out the most beautiful music in the world because they thought it would help them relate to the kids. Then the kids all stay home from church to play violent video games and think the music is really cool. And they’re going out to buy it.

Can our church wake up? Beauty is beauty. If the church doesn’t provide it, people will find it elsewhere…like Wal Mart of Target.