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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

Setting an Example Through Funerals

Andrew R. Motyka · February 26, 2014

ET’S FACE IT: most of us are not making the switch to a Gregorian Ordinary and Propers anytime soon. That doesn’t mean that Gregorian Chant shouldn’t hold its rightful place of esteem in the Church’s musical treasury; it’s simply an acceptance of reality that will keep you sane. It also doesn’t mean that meaningful progress isn’t to be made here and there. There are concrete steps you can take to improve the music in your parish’s liturgy, and even some stealthy ways to sneak in some of the musical heritage that belongs there.

Yesterday, we celebrated the funeral of a priest in our Archdiocese. The family did not have any requests, so planning the music for the liturgy was up to me (NOTE: cherish these opportunities. It’s rare that you don’t have a grieving family’s requests to accommodate). I also saw this as an opportunity to model for many diocesan priests who would be in attendance what is possible for simple, approachable music at the average parish funeral. Here was our selection. Yes, I am aware that preludes are not prescribed for a funeral liturgy, but they have become normal as families gather.

PRELUDE: 1. Meditation sur “Dies Irae” et “Lux Aeterna” by Marie Joseph Erb 2. Requiem aeternam by Gerald Near

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON: Requiem aeternam, set metrically to LAND OF REST, from Christoph Tietze’s Introit Hymns. (Get that book. Some settings are better than others, but it is a very parish-friendly resource for easily working in some propers.)

RESPONSORIAL PSALM: Psalm 23, setting by Jeff Ostrowski from the Chabanel Psalms collection found on this very website.

ALLELUIA: Mode VI, proper verse.

OFFERTORY: O Jesus, Lord, Increase Our Faith (set to ERHALT UNS, HERR). A beautiful hymn text from GIA’s Hymnal of the Hours. If I had to repeat this funeral, this is the only portion I would consider altering, not because I was unhappy with this selection, but because there were several equally good options, including a few settings of the proper Offertory.

MASS ORDINARY: Chants from the 3rd edition of the Roman Missal. I wonder how many people even realized that it’s the normative ordinary for the Mass of the Dead.

COMMUNION ANTIPHON: My own setting, found here. While all of my antiphon settings match the Gregorian propers modally, this is the only one that sticks with the chant melody pretty strictly. I played the Lux aeterna from the Nova Organi Harmonia as an introduction to my setting.

SONG OF FAREWELL: Proulx’s setting of Saints of God. This one is an old warhorse, but there are few better vernacular settings of this text. If you don’t want to use the OLD HUNDREDTH version (who can get excited about that?), or shudder the “O Danny Boy” version, use this one. Many places don’t use the proper text at this point in the liturgy, and this is both an easy setting and quite a good harmonization by Proulx.

PROCESSION TO THE PLACE OF COMMITAL: In paradisum in English, then in Latin. The Worship hymnals have a decent harmonization of this by Richard Proulx, which is reminiscent of the Nova Organi Harmonia style. Also, this is a relatively short chant for a fairly long procession, so doing it twice helps.

POSTLUDE: I normally don’t play postludes for funerals, but I tagged the above piece because it takes quite some time to march the family and 50-plus priests out of a church. I used Gerald Near’s setting of In paradisum.

None of this, including the organ pieces, is beyond the reach of even an early-intermediate organist (I would not call myself advanced). All in all, we sang almost all of the proper and ordinary from the Mass of the Dead, and I wonder how many priests even realized it. Funerals are a good time to re-introduce the Church’s musical tradition, and I have literally had families thank me for using In paradisum. You just can’t beat it for a more appropriate piece.

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 Andrew R. Motyka

Andrew Motyka is the Archdiocesan Director of Liturgical Music and Cathedral Music for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “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

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

“During Lent…the use of musical instruments is allowed only so as to support the singing. Nevertheless, Laetare Sunday (the Fourth Sunday of Lent), Solemnities and Feasts are exceptions to this rule.”

— ‘Roman Missal, 3rd Edition (2011)’

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