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“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Marching in A Great Multitude

Fr. David Friel · November 1, 2011

I have a confession to make. Today—this Solemnity of All Saints—is my absolute favorite feast of the year. I like it better than Christmas & Easter, more than the Annunciation or the Immaculate Conception.

I love this feast because I love the saints, and we should never be forgetful of them. The saints are people—real people—who’ve gone before us and allowed the love of God to transform them. As the third Eucharistic Prayer reminds us, the saints are the folks “on whose constant intercession we rely for help.” [Starting at the end of this month, that line will say, “on whose constant intercession in Your presence we rely for unfailing help.”]

We need the prayers & example of the saints. Some days, in the Church calendar, there’s no saint to be celebrated. Other days, there’s a single saint. On some special days, there’s two, like Peter & Paul or Cosmas & Damian. Very rarely, we get to celebrate a bunch of saints on a single day, like St. Isaac Jogues and the other seven North American martyrs.

Today puts all the other feast days to shame. Today, we celebrate All Saints—every last one of them. John Neumann & Katharine Drexel & Thomas More & Maria Goretti & Augustine & Francis & Therese & Dominic & Anselm. And, not just them, but all those small people in life, from among our own families & friends, who’ve “gone before us marked with the sign of faith” and whom we quietly hope have reached their reward in heaven.

In chapter seven of the Book of Revelation, we hear the apostle John telling us about his vision of heaven. He proclaims: “I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count.” God wants to make us all saints, and He has the power to make it happen. Fortunately, becoming a saint isn’t so much about what we do as it is about what we allow God to do within us.

If we cooperate with His grace in our lives, some day, this will be our feast day. We will have the privilege of praying for the next generation from on high. The Lord can make us part of the “great multitude” John saw in his vision of heaven. I, for one, want to be in that number!

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“From the responses received, it is thus clear that by far the greater number of bishops feel that the present discipline [Communion on the tongue and not in the hand] should not be changed at all—indeed, that if it were changed, this would be offensive to the sensibility and spiritual appreciation of these bishops and of most of the faithful.”

— Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship (29 May 1969)

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