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Views from the Choir Loft

The Experience of Ordination

Fr. David Friel · July 26, 2011

In the two months I’ve been a priest, many people have asked what it was like to be ordained. What was I thinking and feeling during the ordination?

I could say a great deal about that wonderful day, but one of the most significant experiences for me came during the entrance procession. As we began processing, I heard this line: “Everything I have is yours.” It was very much interior, but nevertheless loud and clear. I recognized it as a passage from the story of the Prodigal Son. It surprised me, because that wasn’t going to be the Gospel read at the ordination, nor had I meditated on that parable during my ordination retreat.

Those are the words of the Father to the brother of the Prodigal Son―the brother who objects to the slaughter of the fattened calf for his wayward sibling. In the context of our procession, I was very consoled to hear those words as an assurance of the Father spoken directly to me: “Everything I have is yours.”

Later in the ordination, as I knelt down in preparation for the prostration, the roles reversed. I looked at the dome of the Cathedral and nearly spontaneously spoke the same words from my own heart to God the Father: “Everything I have is Yours.”

These first months as a priest have been a fascinating process of discovering precisely how the Lord plans to take possession of “everything I have.” I hope to share some of those experiences with readers going forward. Suffice it to be said for now that there is an outrageous disproportion in the exchange I just described. However fervent and sincere I was when I offered everything to God on my ordination day, it is nothing by comparison to what I have received, because God’s “everything” is infinitely larger than my “everything.”

And, yet, everything is still everything. No matter the size of our personal “everything,” it’s what God asks of us all.

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 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).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —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

“Another cathedral functionary, a compañero named (coincidentally!) Francisco Guerrero, departs for the New World sometime before June 8, on which date the benefice held by him comes up for a split among three former choirboys whose voices have changed.”

— Chapter Resolution: 14 February 1562

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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.

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