• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

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)

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • Ordinary Form Feasts (Sainte-Marie)
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Catechism of Gregorian Rhythm
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
Views from the Choir Loft

The Blessing of Daily Mass – Saint Mary’s Chapel, Boston College Reopens

Richard J. Clark · January 23, 2015

ANY OF MY earliest memories are of attending daily mass with my mother at St. William the Abbot parish in Seaford, New York. I’m sure I was quite a handful and disturbed mass frequently. (Some may argue this still occurs.) On days we did not go to mass, it was common that my mother would bring me into church for a “quick visit” in-between running errands. This seemed like normal life for me.

These days, I am at daily mass, but through no virtue of my own. I get paid to play and sing five days a week at St. Mary’s Chapel at Boston College, which includes a mass just for the Jesuit Community of about sixty priests. Mass is attended mostly by students, employees of the college, and some people from the neighborhood. There are also a few regulars who bring their very young children to mass most every day.

Ironically, the busier we are, the more we must make time to pray. When I began playing at St. Mary’s Chapel ten years ago, I thought I might only do this for a few weeks or months because I did not have the time. But quite quickly – if not almost immediately — I became completely hooked on playing daily mass. God has a way of drawing us toward him even when we resist.

ROFESSIONALLY, THE VALUE of playing and singing daily mass cannot be underestimated. Although I had studied organ with BSO organist James David Christie and already had a great deal of experience behind me, it was daily mass that taught me some very important things.

Most importantly, the relationship between the congregation and the organ becomes more intimate with people who sing most every day. It was at daily mass that I realized it is the people in the pews who are the “leader of song.” While the organ is the glue that keeps everyone together, it is ideally a cooperative relationship like chamber music. (Taking their lead, we sing all the verses of the hymns as they refuse to put their hymnals down after two verses.) Playing daily mass made me a much better hymn player – and not simply through repetition. I learned the subtleties of my role as organist which involves as much listening to the congregation as it does playing for them.

An extension of the idea that the congregation is the “leader of song” is that unaccompanied singing comes quite naturally when a congregation is allowed to find its own pace. When St. Mary’s Hall reopened after two years of renovation, the organ was not quite ready yet. So I sang the Psalms and ICEL chants unaccompanied in the beautiful acoustic of marble and wood. The singing was astounding because the people were freed up to sing the chants, yet were still supported by a warm acoustic. The organ would only have gotten in the way.

Perhaps most importantly, there is no replacement for following the continuity of the scripture readings from Sunday to Sunday. Many of us who work hard to prepare music for Sundays are well served by following the scriptures throughout the week. Most obvious are the readings from Isaiah during Advent and Acts during the Easter Season. But through every week there is a thread from one Sunday to the next. The daily life of Christ comes to life for us every day. Though no virtue of my own, I am blessed to experience this.

OST INTERESTINGLY, Boston College was originally named “Boston College of the Immaculate Conception.” Therefore, it was fitting that St. Mary’s reopened on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 2014. Connected to St. Mary’s Hall on Boston College’s Central Campus, St. Mary’s Chapel opened in 1917. A beautiful wood carved ceiling and marble floors and side altars frame the chapel’s Gothic windows. In the choir loft sits an exquisite one-manual, eight rank D.A. Flentrop organ tuned to the Kellner (Bach) temperament, which is particularly gorgeous in certain keys. Stefan Maier has done extraordinary work in maintaining and preparing this wonderful instrument.

During the academic year, I have the opportunity to hear a few dozen Jesuits preach, and some on a very regular basis. The preaching on any given weekday from the Jesuits is remarkably thoughtful, substantial, well prepared—and brief, which speaks to the high level of preparation. I have been blessed to get to know many of these fine priests including one who has baptized all three of my children. I have also been fortunate to work for three exceedingly thoughtful and supportive rectors in addition to Assistant Rector, Fr. Michael Ford. This is another rare blessing for which I am grateful.

Wherever you are, go to mass during the week. You will be blessed with greater strength to live out what God calls you to do.

If you are at Boston College, mass is offered at seven different locations on campus. You may view the schedules (including St. Mary’s Chapel) here.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Boston College, Daily Mass Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    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
    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —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

“At the hour for the Divine Office, | as soon as the signal is heard, | let them abandon whatever they may have in hand | and hasten with the greatest speed, | yet with seriousness, so that there is no excuse for levity. | Let nothing be preferred to the sacred liturgy.”

— Rule of St. Benedict (Chapter 43)

Recent Posts

  • “How to Conduct 90 Vespers Services Each Year and Live to Tell the Tale.”
  • 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • The Tallis Scholars
  • Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
  • Pope Saint Paul VI to Consilium (14 October 1968)

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

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.

The election of Pope Leo XIV has been exciting, and we’re filled with hope for our apostolate’s future!

But we’re under pressure to transfer our website to a “subscription model.”

We don’t want to do that. We believe our website should remain free to all.

Our president has written the following letter:

President’s Message (dated 30 May 2025)

Are you able to support us?

clock.png

Time's up