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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

Every moment is a teachable moment

Andrew R. Motyka · February 6, 2013

E WHO HAVE FOUGHT in the Liturgy Wars easily fall into the trap of assuming that every liturgical anomaly is born from dissent. As someone who has seen his share of liturgical abuse in his career, I sympathize with the frustration and borderline-paranoia that faithful musicians and others experience. As I’ve delved deeper into working for an Office of Worship, I’ve found that there are far more problems that have lack of knowledge as their origin than problems that are rooted in actual opposition to the law.

One of the more edifying things that I get to do is answering musical and liturgical questions from around the archdiocese. I never thought that I would take joy in it, but it is fulfilling in a very real way. Parish musicians seldom see “breakthroughs” that exhibit their efforts in making a difference, but addressing practical matters in this way is immediate, and I find that I learn something almost every time I am asked to help.

For example, last week a parish musician contacted me to ask some details about the tradition of covering the crosses and images in the Church on the Fifth Sunday of Lent. She wanted to know:

1. What color is to be used when covering the cross and images (she assumed violet).
2. What color the cross is to be veiled with on Good Friday (she guessed red), and if that color needed to be changed on Good Friday.

If your first response to reading these inquiries is “Why doesn’t she just look in the Missal?” then you’re missing a key piece of information: most people don’t even know where to look for answers. It’s not that they’re trying to act poorly. On the contrary, most of the time they have nothing but the best of intentions and truly want to worship to the best of their ability and with the mind of the Church; they just don’t know where to start.

For the record, I double-checked the Missal, and learned something about the rubrics myself:

1. The Missal actually doesn’t prescribe a color for covering the images in the Church. I would assume and recommend violet simply because it’s Lent and that seems like good taste, but it is not explicitly given. (Side note: while the images remain veiled until the Easter Vigil, any crosses should be unveiled after the Good Friday liturgy, when the cross is unveiled and venerated.)

2. The color for the cross’s veil on Good Friday is violet, not red like the vestments.

The woman was very pleased with the information she was able to get from this experience, and I realized that most people really do want what’s best for the Church. Had she not asked, and just gone ahead and used red for the cross, she’d have been wrong, but not because she thought she knew better than the Church. All she needed was a bit of direction.

Charity demands that we assume the realistic best of people in all possible scenarios. We the “liturgical police” sometimes need to calm down, stop being so defensive, and realize that we are not always under assault. We can do far greater good by patiently explaining details than we can by expressing frustration over the average person’s liturgical ignorance. An entire generation has passed where people do not know their faith, and do not even remotely understand what is going on at the Church that they attend every Sunday. Case by case, we need get peoples’ minds in the game and understand the liturgy that they have inherited, so they can truly, fully, actively participate in it.

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 Andrew R. Motyka

Andrew Motyka is the Archdiocesan Director of Liturgical Music and Cathedral Music for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.—(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

“Whether celebrated with priest and people facing each other or with priest and people together facing the same direction, every Eucharist is Christ coming to meet us, gracing us with a share in his own divine life.”

— Most Rev’d Arthur J. Serratelli (1 December 2016)

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