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Corpus Christi Watershed

“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

Death and Rebirth of Monastic Life

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · October 9, 2014

0319_MC T GIVES ME JOY to recall a visit I made many years ago in France to a Benedictine monastery whose monks were living the monastic life to the hilt—chanted solemn liturgy, a demanding horarium, fasting and abstinence, much study and lectio divina, manual labor, the whole nine yards. They were living, in essence, a life indistinguishable from that of the earliest monks, in the days when water wheels represented the height of technology, quite as if the modern world, with its ever-multiplying complexities and ever-deeper confusion, simply had nothing to say to them. And they were right: it could have only spoken to them at lurid length of the world, the flesh, and the devil, when they were seeking heaven, grace, and God. They did not have a need to be up to date, rushing around with all the other people rushing around in a frantic desire to be noticed, to be relevant, to be on the cutting edge. In reality, it is the world that so desperately needs these monks and their timelessness, prayer, and peace. By being utterly irrelevant and unnoticed in their daily round of song and silence, they came to possess a medicine that heals the victims of our times.

As I participated from the sidelines in the life of these modern-day desert fathers, for whom the Eucharist was truly the font and apex of their entire being, I began to think and feel that the death of the traditional monastic life was probably, all things considered, the single worst thing that happened after the Second Vatican Council, even if it is not nearly as obvious or widespread as the general doctrinal, moral, and liturgical chaos and the ensuing wasteland. In monasteries and religious houses, observances going back for centuries were suddenly thrown off; habits were modified or discarded; the daily round of prayer was severely cut back or even replaced with novel practices; the Holy Mass lost its contemplative spirit and degraded itself in arbitrary and subjective experiments. Places that had been epicenters of devotion for towns, provinces, and countries could no longer offer thirsty laymen the concentration of prayer and purity of vision they longed for. Those who have seen the statistics know what happened: within a few years, the monastic life collapsed almost everywhere, as thousands gave up their vocations. Whole congregations and orders disappeared off the face of the earth.

Although a vastly larger number of the faithful were harmed by innovations and dissent at the parish and diocesan level, the loss of the fullness of Christian life as it is uniquely lived in convents and monasteries was a devastating blow struck to the very heart of the Mystical Body of Christ on earth. If prayer is the oxygen of the soul, as Padre Pio once said, the collapse of monastic life was like a deoxygenation of the blood and a weakening of the entire circulation throughout the body. It has often been said that the external and missionary vitality of the Church is in direct proportion to the vitality of the hidden contemplative life within her—one of the reasons a cloistered Carmelite, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, was declared co-patron of the missions with St. Francis Xavier.

We are fortunate to be alive right now in the very earliest preliminary phase of recovery, as the number of authentic monasteries of men and women very slowly grows by the mercy of God. May the Lord who loves the fruitfulness of the hidden life, the jewel of heavenly contemplation, the burning sun of interior righteousness, have mercy on us and save us, for He is gracious and loves mankind, and to Him we render glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and always and for ever and ever, Amen.

Please visit THIS PAGE to learn more about Dr. Kwasniewski’s Sacred Choral Works and the audio CDs that contain recordings of the pieces.

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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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

Ronald Knox explained why the Modernists do not compose hymns: “Birds of prey have no song.”

— Fr. George William Rutler (2016)

Recent Posts

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  • 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

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