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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

RCIA and the Importance of Holy Week Choir Rehearsals

Richard J. Clark · February 28, 2014

EW THINGS ARE MORE IMPORTANT than the liturgy’s role in evangelization. So for many of us, preparations and choir rehearsals for Holy Week have already begun. Lent, Holy Week, and the Easter Season present an opportunity to evangelize to two very important groups. One is the influx of Catholics who do not attend mass regularly, but perhaps attend on Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, or Easter Sunday. We have only one or two shots to make a prayerful impression. Rather than being dismissive, it is our duty to be welcoming and show the best the Church has to offer.

The second group has a great deal in common with our own spiritual growth as music ministers: those preparing for baptism, confirmation and reception into the Church through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). This commonality may seem surprising, but their process of growth mirrors ours, and hopefully that of the entire Church’s.

RECENTLY, DR. GALIPEAU, Chief Publishing Officer for the J. S. Paluch Company, discussed the Church’s vision for catechumens in his article Frustration and Hope: The Evolution of the RCIA or not-RCIA. Dr. Galipeau cites Ad Gentes, the Second Vatican Council’s “Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church”:

14. Those who, through the Church, have accepted from God a belief in Christ are admitted to the catechumenate by liturgical rites. The catechumenate is not a mere expounding of doctrines and precepts, but a training period in the whole Christian life, and an apprenticeship duty drawn out, during which disciples are joined to Christ their Teacher. Therefore, catechumens should be properly instructed in the mystery of salvation and in the practice of Gospel morality, and by sacred rites which are to be held at successive intervals, they should be introduced into the life of faith, of liturgy, and of love, which is led by the People of God. (emphasis added)

Dr. Galipeau notes:

“This paragraph envisions a parish catechumenate that is like a ‘dynamic novitiate,’ as a participant at one of my workshops said a few years ago. He was a Christian brother who, he said, ‘finally saw the light,’ embracing the vision of the council and rejecting what he had inherited in his pastoral practice, namely an RCIA program that was little more than an ‘expounding of doctrines and precepts’ in a classroom setting.”

CATECHUMENS ARE DEEPLY IMPACTED by the liturgies, rites and Scrutinies. Therefore, we must prepare scrupulously and be at our best to present the Church’s treasures new and old. Remember too, that their spiritual formation doesn’t end with the Easter Vigil. It has only begun. We might see the Easter Season of fifty days as their infancy—perhaps something like the exciting early days for parents with their newborn child. Like parents, we must nurture them through this time in the work we do in liturgy.

Sounds like a heavy responsibility? It is, but a joyful one.

Holy Week rehearsals can be long and intense, and for good reason. Preparing reverent and prayerful liturgical music is an immersion into the “mystery of salvation.” (Ad Gentes, §14) Therefore, the sung liturgies become an immersion into the “life of faith, of liturgy, and of love, which is led by the People of God.” (Ibid.) Directors regularly must remind their musicians during rehearsals of the apprenticeship and training of the catechumens as well as our own ongoing spiritual and musical growth. We contribute to their early formation. We continue to nurture our own music and prayer life to do our jobs better. What we do matters to them and for the entire Christian community.

CONCLUDE WITH A STORY of a catechumen, some years ago at St. Cecilia Parish in Boston. After several months of classes, he arrived at a difficult conclusion. During the Ash Wednesday liturgy, he was overcome with a realization that receiving the sacraments and being received into the Church was far more than he initially bargained for. He described a sense of awe that overwhelmed him during the liturgy. What he was undertaking could no longer be taken lightly. His conclusion was that he should not continue with RCIA.

Was this a failure of the RCIA program? No, this was success! His training and experience in the liturgy lead to classic discernment. His hesitation was one of the healthiest signs that his spiritual engagement was a true process – a “training period” and “apprenticeship” in the life of the Church. While he did eventually forge on (“joined to Christ, their Teacher”), his Ash Wednesday epiphany could have only strengthened his faith. His eyes were opened to the profundity that is a life with Christ. If only we all could have such an experience!

Meanwhile, we must remember to humbly serve God and our community — those close and those far from the Church. In doing so, you will be transformed. Your choir will be transformed.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Beauty in the Catholic Liturgy, RCIA Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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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).

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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

“We must say it plainly: the Roman rite as we knew it exists no more. It has gone. Some walls of the structure have fallen, others have been altered—we can look at it as a ruin or as the partial foundation of a new building. Think back, if you remember it, to the Latin sung High Mass with Gregorian chant. Compare it with the modern post-Vatican II Mass. It is not only the words, but also the tunes and even certain actions that are different. In fact it is a different liturgy of the Mass.”

— Fr. Joseph Gelineau (1978)

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