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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

Response to the Flood

Fr. David Friel · March 1, 2012

When the world seemed lost and gone too far astray, God brought mankind back by means of the great flood. Two-by-two, representatives of every creature had to pile onboard the ark to be saved.

Even now, God uses the same mechanism to bring us back. From the earliest Christian centuries, the great saints and Fathers have always seen in the ark a symbol of the Church. Indeed, now, in our times, we must all pile onboard the ark of the Church to be saved.

Although we can never be baptized again, God empowers His Church with another Sacrament that can bring us back from the evil and sin that still persists in our lives. God offers us the Sacrament of Penance so that, “through the ministry of the Church,” we may be kept safe from the floodwaters that surround us.

This Lent, let’s get on board. Let’s make use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Let’s climb aboard the ark of the Church. Waves are coming, I assure you. As a priest of Philadelphia, I know well that the tide is rising and, before this Lent is over, we will be surrounded by many floods. But the solution is not to break free—to somehow try to make a go of it on our own, jumping ship in the hope of finding our way to some illusory island of refuge.

Doing that, we are destined to drown. The real solution, as always, is actually to step closer to the heart of the Church. The Church, after all, is not just some incorporation founded by men. The Church is our Mother, given to us by Christ, Himself. The Church is the Ark of our salvation! This is what it means to believe that extra ecclesia nulla salus (“outside the Church, there is no salvation”). It was the ark that spared Noah from the flood; it was Baptism that spared us from original sin; and it is confession that spares us from our personal sins. Apart from Christ & His Church, we are nothing but hapless sinners.

Perhaps each of us could reach out to someone we know who has somehow become disenfranchised from the Church and invite them to come onboard with us. Even today, thousands of years after the flood, it’s still easier to go two-by-two than to do it alone.

God’s promise to Noah was that “the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings” (Genesis 9:15). How similar are Christ’s words to Peter: “Upon this rock, I will build My Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). From another angle, Bishop Sheen once reflected that “there are not more than 100 people in the world who truly hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they perceive to be the Catholic Church.”

This Lent, let’s fall in love with the Church for Who She really is. She is not a sinking ship. She is the Ark of our salvation.

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

    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

“Vatican II did not say anything about the direction of the celebrant. […] I love both directions of celebrating Mass. Both are full of meaning for me. Both help me to encounter Christ—and that is, after all, the purpose of the liturgy.”

— Christoph Cardinal Schönborn (February 2007)

Recent Posts

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  • 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)

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