Views from the Choir Loft

Midnight Mass

Fr. David Friel · December 24, 2012

OME FOLKS WOULD THINK IT CRAZY to head out in the dead middle of a cold & snowy night to attend Christmas Midnight Mass. But there’s nothing better we could do. Can you think of a better expression of our faith than this? We believe that God, in an incomparable act of love, sent His only Son to become a Baby on this earth to bring us light. It’s only fitting that we should trudge ourselves out of our houses, in the darkest moments of the day, to welcome this Child of Light among us.

What Child is this? Who has come among us? The Christmas liturgy, itself, tells us: “Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord.” He is the “Wonder Counselor,” a “Prince of Peace,” “God Hero!” He is Love Personified! Now that He is here, salvation has dawned upon us. Just a single breath of the Christ Child would have been enough for us to be saved, because (at last!) there was Someone Who could pay the debt of sin.

But God had even more beautiful plans. He sent His Son not only to redeem the world, but to teach us how to be light, ourselves. When we put the needs of others ahead of our own, we spread light through the world. When we practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, we bring light to this world. When we give of ourselves without counting the cost, we become the light of the world. In all these ways, we have the power to dispel the darkness that surrounds us with the Light of Christ, which cannot be conquered or hidden or dimmed.

Catholics make a statement by clinging to the tradition of Midnight Mass. We tell the Baby Jesus, as well as the whole world, that we will not hold back the light of our faith. When challenged, we will respond with the light we have received. We are on a mission to continue the mission of Jesus: the mission of illuminating the darkness of the world.

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” Not only have we seen a great Light, but we are choosing to let that Light shine brightly in our hearts, in our neighborhoods, and in our world. As St. John says so beautifully in the Prologue to His Gospel: “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

May the witness of our lives in the coming Year of Our Lord 2013 shine forth with the wonderful Light of Christ!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel serves as Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

“Entrance Chant” • Immaculate Conception

Download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the Immaculate Conception (9 December 2024). It’s in the third mode—which some consider the most beautiful of all—and mimics the authentic version in a laudable way. Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, I attempted to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.

—Jeff Ostrowski

How Sharp Are Your Eyes?

Just around the corner is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. The GREGORIAN MISSAL (Solesmes Abbey, 1990) is an utterly gorgeous book—there’s no question about that. But several typos did creep in. Can you spot the major typo for the ENTRANCE CHANT on the feast of the Immaculate Conception? How sharp are your eyes? If you succeed, send me an email letting me know.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Music List” • (Christ the King Sunday)

This coming Sunday—24 November 2024—is Christ the King Sunday (a.k.a. “Final Sunday in Ordinary Time”). Some have expressed interest in perusing my “ORDER OF MUSIC.” If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. You’ll notice we’re learning Moreau’s “Congregational Polyphonic Enhancement” for the OUR FATHER. And the the Mode 3 ENTRANCE CHANT is utterly sublime.

—Jeff Ostrowski

The Breviary in the Life of the Laity

Recently I have been enjoying looking through the inaugural (1927) edition of a 20th-century liturgical magazine called Orate Fratres. The July 1927 issue included an excellent article by a Chicago laywoman named Ellen Gates Starr entitled “The Delights of the Breviary: From the Point of View of a Lay Woman.” As we in the 21st century have recently undergone a (blessed!) re-translation of the missal into English, and as we await with joyful hope (please God, before Jesus comes back!) a similar re-translation of the breviary, the opening of her article reminded me of that old saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Nearly a hundred years ago, she penned words that could just as easily have been written today: “It is indeed a privilege to be allowed any participation, however slight, in the liturgical movement in the Church – the movement to bring back the classics of devotion, the Missal and the Breviary, into general use by the laity. The wonder is that they should ever have fallen into disuse. Nothing can take the place of these great universal prayers of the Church, the prayers of the Mass and the divine Office. One has only to know them to find them indispensable. And alas, how few of the laity know them!” I know that I have been tremendously nourished by regular praying of the breviary as of late, and my wish is that you and I, dear reader, may continue to nourish our interior lives with the official prayer of the Church, which present to us (in the Mass) and extend (in the Office) the fullness of Christ’s greatest gift to us – the gift of Himself – in the Most Holy Eucharist.

—Daniel Tucker

Principles vs Preferences

I ran into this idea recently: principles vs. preferences in planning out a curriculum or music lineup. In this idea, it is imperative to not misconstrue personal preferences into principles—that the music (or subject matter) is great because: “I have good taste, and I like it.” De gustibus… Education, study and docility to the Magisterium of the Church on matters of liturgical music must be present in those who make the music at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Hours. Who knows? Maybe you might start to prefer the music that is fitting according to the principles Catholic Sacred Music?

—William J. Fritz

Liquescent Notes in the Official Edition

The official edition—the EDITIO VATICANA itself—is somewhat inconsistent when it comes to liquescent notes. If you wish to see a perfect “apples-to-apples” comparison, click here. Such “inconsistency” was not owing to ignorance on the part of Abbat Pothier: the manuscripts themselves are inconsistent when it comes to liquescent notes.

—Jeff Ostrowski