Views from the Choir Loft

Thoughts on Benedict

Fr. David Friel · June 4, 2017

HE LATEST edition of the liturgy magazine, Altare Dei, has just been released. This is the fourth issue of the growing publication, and it includes many fine articles and musical scores. It also features a new, more attractive format.

The twofold theme of this issue is the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions and the 90th birthday of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Among the excellent articles are the following contributions:

The Mysteries of Fatima (Marco Tosatti)

The Eucharist According to Edward Schillebeeckx (Givanni Cavalcoli)

Why Does the Church’s Liturgy Bore the Faithful So Much (Denis Crouan)

The Substantial Benedict (David Fagerberg)

Traditional Liturgy as Field Hospital (Roberto Spataro)

The Problem of the Sacred (Samuel Nyom)

Breaking Liturgical Bad Habits (Peter Kwasniewski)

“Tradition is Christ, Himself”: An Interview with Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke (Aurelio Porfiri)

My own article in this issue is entitled Thoughts from Benedict, and it draws upon two insights that I gleaned from St. Benedict via the life and writings of Pope Benedict XVI. Reflecting upon a quote about ars celebrandi from Pope Benedict’s 2006 address to the priests of Albano, I observe the following:

Understanding the Church’s worship as a gift that “precedes us” is an essential realization for every priest who celebrates the sacred liturgy. Understood in this way, ministry is less about interjecting personal creativity than it is about facilitating communion with God and with our fellow pilgrims. Entering into the mens and vox of the Church comes to be seen, in this light, as a step toward spiritual freedom and an act of generous humility.

As is true of each issue of Altare Dei, this latest installment features a substantial musical insert. Four pieces are included this month:

Deo Gratias (SATB and Organ) – Colin Mawby

Virgo Clemens (SATB) – Valentino Miserachs

De Maria Numquam Satis SATB – Aurelio Porfiri

O Salutaris Hostia (SA and Organ) – Aurelio Porfiri

Anyone interested in sacred music and the liturgy will find this to be a very interesting issue. It is available here, at the cost of €6.80. Download the latest issue, and see the excellent content and updated format for yourself!

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” • Christ the King

Download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the Solemnity of Christ the King (24 November 2024). It mimics the Mode III Latin version in a truly spectacular 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

“Music List” • (33rd Sund. Ordinary Time)

This coming Sunday—17 November 2024—is the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B. 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. For the record, our opening hymn is particularly beautiful. So is the Mode 6 ENTRANCE CHANT.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Lectionary Errors

If you look at the official Responsorial Psalm (PDF) for this coming Sunday, you’ll notice the current Lectionary has the wrong refrain. Why is this a big deal? Why even mention such a thing? Everybody makes mistakes, right? Here’s why it matters. The USCCB—which makes money by selling the sacred liturgical texts—has historically been ruthless when it comes to such matters. When various publishers point out errors to them, their response has been: “If you dare to correct the error, we’ll sue you.” These errors are not a matter of nuance; e.g. sometimes the previous (English) edition of the Lectionary got them right! Bottom Line: mandatory, indulgenced, liturgical texts shouldn’t be sold; they should be freely available to all Catholics.

—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