Views from the Choir Loft

Thoughts on Benedict

Fr. David Friel · June 4, 2017

HE LATEST edition of the liturgy magazine, Altare Dei, has just been released. This is the fourth issue of the growing publication, and it includes many fine articles and musical scores. It also features a new, more attractive format.

The twofold theme of this issue is the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions and the 90th birthday of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Among the excellent articles are the following contributions:

The Mysteries of Fatima (Marco Tosatti)

The Eucharist According to Edward Schillebeeckx (Givanni Cavalcoli)

Why Does the Church’s Liturgy Bore the Faithful So Much (Denis Crouan)

The Substantial Benedict (David Fagerberg)

Traditional Liturgy as Field Hospital (Roberto Spataro)

The Problem of the Sacred (Samuel Nyom)

Breaking Liturgical Bad Habits (Peter Kwasniewski)

“Tradition is Christ, Himself”: An Interview with Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke (Aurelio Porfiri)

My own article in this issue is entitled Thoughts from Benedict, and it draws upon two insights that I gleaned from St. Benedict via the life and writings of Pope Benedict XVI. Reflecting upon a quote about ars celebrandi from Pope Benedict’s 2006 address to the priests of Albano, I observe the following:

Understanding the Church’s worship as a gift that “precedes us” is an essential realization for every priest who celebrates the sacred liturgy. Understood in this way, ministry is less about interjecting personal creativity than it is about facilitating communion with God and with our fellow pilgrims. Entering into the mens and vox of the Church comes to be seen, in this light, as a step toward spiritual freedom and an act of generous humility.

As is true of each issue of Altare Dei, this latest installment features a substantial musical insert. Four pieces are included this month:

Deo Gratias (SATB and Organ) – Colin Mawby

Virgo Clemens (SATB) – Valentino Miserachs

De Maria Numquam Satis SATB – Aurelio Porfiri

O Salutaris Hostia (SA and Organ) – Aurelio Porfiri

Anyone interested in sacred music and the liturgy will find this to be a very interesting issue. It is available here, at the cost of €6.80. Download the latest issue, and see the excellent content and updated format for yourself!

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

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).

Dr. Mahrt explains the ‘Spoken’ Propers

In 1970, the Church promulgated a new version of the Roman Missal. It goes by various names: Ordinary Form, Novus Ordo, MISSALE RECENS, and so on. If you examine the very first page, you’ll notice that Pope Saint Paul VI explains the meaning of the ‘Spoken Propers’ (which are for Masses without singing). A quote by Dr. William P. Mahrt is also included in that file. The SPOKEN PROPERS—used at Masses without music—are sometimes called The Adalbert Propers, because they were created in 1969 by Father Adalbert Franquesa Garrós, one of Hannibal Bugnini’s closest friends (according to Yves Chiron).

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “Music List” (1st Sunday of Advent)

Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 30 November 2025, which is the 1st Sunday of Advent (Year A). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. The ENTRANCE CHANT is quite memorable, and the fauxbourdon setting of the COMMUNION is exquisite. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are available at the feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Music List” • Christ the King Sunday

Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 23 November 2025, which is the 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. In the 1970 Missal, this Sunday is known as: Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Universorum Regis (“Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe”). As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the magnificent feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Translations Approved for Liturgical Use”

According to the newsletter for USSCB’s Committee on Divine Worship dated September 1996, there are three (3) translations of the Bible which can be used in the sacred liturgy in the United States. You can read this information with your own eyes. It seems the USCCB and also Rome fully approved the so-called NRSV (“New Revised Standard Version”) on 13 November 1991 and 6 April 1992 but this permission was then withdrawn in 1994.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

Gospel Options for 2 November (“All Souls”)

We’ve been told some bishops are suppressing the TLM because of “unity.” But is unity truly found in the MISSALE RECENS? For instance, on All Souls (2 November), any of these Gospel readings may be chosen, for any reason (or for no reason at all). The same is true of the Propria Missæ and other readings—there are countless options in the ORDINARY FORM. In other words, no matter which OF parish you attend on 2 November, you’ll almost certainly hear different propers and readings, to say nothing of different ‘styles’ of music. Where is the “unity” in all this? Indeed, the Second Vatican Council solemnly declared: “Even in the liturgy, the Church has no wish to impose a rigid uniformity in matters which do not implicate the faith or the good of the whole community.”

—Corpus Christi Watershed

“Our Father” • Musical Setting?

Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?

—Jeff Ostrowski