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Views from the Choir Loft

“Soft Source of Calm Tranquillity”: The Quiet Mass

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · April 24, 2014

EORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL is so well known for his multitudinous English oratorios and Italian operas that it can be hard to remember he was a native German-speaker for whom both of those languages were acquired in the course of a colorful, productive, and largely successful career. It is also surprising that he set to music very few German texts in his life. One lovely exception are the Nine German Arias (HWV 202-210), to which I have been recently listening. The text of the aria “Süße Stille, sanfte Quelle” (HWV 205), written by Barthold Heinrich Brocke in 1721, particularly caught my attention:

Sweet silence,
soft source of calm tranquility:
when after this time
of vain labor
I see in my mind’s eye
that rest which awaits us in eternity.

To me, this poem perfectly captures the feelings one often has at a quiet low Mass. And while I am admittedly an ardent advocate of the sung High Mass and the Solemn Mass, I also know from long and grateful experience how the low Mass (especially on weekdays) can be an oasis of spiritual rest in the midst of our labors, a foretaste of that eternal resting in God that we long for if we are awake and alert to His reality and our destiny.

At Wyoming Catholic College we have a calm, almost whispered early morning low Mass each Saturday. It is so still in the church that you are strangely aware of silent things like the sunlight pouring through the windows. You hear the birds singing around the church as the daylight grows. As the age-old and ageless dialogue of the priest and servers wafts over me, I feel my soul grow calm in the presence of the Lord: the “still, small voice” of God speaks to me through the sacred liturgy. I understand better what Dom Guéranger once wrote: “The Holy Spirit has made the liturgy the center of his working in men’s souls.”

The Novus Ordo almost never allows for this kind of experience. After decades of experiencing it in the best possible situations, with priests of unquestionable orthodoxy and piety, appropriate sacred music, and so forth, that profound tranquillity, simplicity, silence, and otherworldliness, so characteristic of the traditional Low Mass, has proved ever elusive. I think the main reason is that the Novus Ordo is often demanding that you DO something, SPEAK or MOVE or whatever; you are never left at peace for long. It’s like having a schoolmarm who is always there poking you awake from your daydream and demanding that you get back to your long division problems: no time to waste! We’ve got work to do!

We modern Westerners are so inured to (one might even say seduced by) activism, we sometimes end up losing in our feverish work the graces we could have obtained in peace of soul, “waiting on the Lord.” Perhaps what we need the most is to let ourselves simply “be” in the presence of the Lord, abiding with Him, breathing with His breath, watching for Him to show Himself in some small way that is nevertheless immensely precious. It’s very hard to express what I’m talking about to someone who has not experienced a truly prayerful Low Mass―and for those who have experienced it, no explanation is necessary.

Please visit THIS PAGE to learn more about Dr. Kwasniewski’s exciting new publication,
Sacred Choral Works, a 273-page collection of a cappella choir music for the Liturgy.

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 Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College (B.A. in Liberal Arts) and The Catholic University of America (M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy), Dr. Peter Kwasniewski is currently Professor at Wyoming Catholic College. He is also a published and performed composer, especially of sacred music.

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President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —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

“The first tasks of the new pope will be to restore normality, restore doctrinal clarity in faith and morals, restore a proper respect for the law and ensure that the first criterion for the nomination of bishops is acceptance of the apostolic tradition. Theological expertise and learning are an advantage, not a hinderance for all bishops and especially archbishops.”

— Cardinal Pell (2022) about the pope who will succeed Francis

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Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.

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