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Views from the Choir Loft

Why We Must Never Fail To Sing Holy Music At Mass

Jeff Ostrowski · March 24, 2013

HOULD WE SING holy, beautiful, dignified, and inspiring sacred music at Mass? Yes, because this is the very least we can do for God. To help illustrate this, I must talk about our daughter Carmen, who just turned two. Look at what God does for children: He forms them so perfectly. Their little bodies know just how to grow from the moment they are conceived (I believe their spinal chords have a lot to do with this).

Reader’s mind: “Wait a minute . . . say what?”

Why do I mention my daughter? Please let me explain. Tonight, as I was reading her bedtime stories, she exhibited more knowledge than ever. She speaks in complete sentences, knows the name of everything, uses the various parts of speech, syntax, grammar, and verb conjugations correctly (for instance, plural vs. singular), knows things we never even taught her, and can repeat any word she hears. Friends, this is marvelous. Our Heavenly Father “programmed” all these things in such a marvelous way. My wife and I did not “create” Carmen: God did. My wife and I are not responsible for the miracle of her little body, which is perfect in every respect down to her little tiny fingernails: God is. While my wife and I are Carmen’s parents, we’re not responsible for creating her perfect parts: eyes, mind, spinal chord, stomach, ears, and so forth. God did that, and (as I have already mentioned) God designed children to slowly learn and grow in a marvelous way. It is simply overwhelming to witness: I apologize that my poor writing skills are unable to do justice to such wonders.

For this reason, we must never say, “I cannot be bothered to spend half an hour studying the music for Sunday’s Mass.” We must never say, “I refuse to spend time preparing the music for the Eucharistic Sacrifice.” We must never say, “It would be unreasonable for God to expect me to actually make an effort to prepare the music at Mass.”

After all, God has already done the hard work!

To make a long story short, when we contemplate God’s wonders, and the daily miracles He works, it becomes easier for us to realize how lazy and complacent we can be when it comes to serving Him.

UPDATE: By the way, Carmen somehow remembers the titles of books she hasn’t seen in months. Why can she pronounce these titles so clearly now, although she has not heard them pronounced in months?

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 Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    “Glory To God” • (For Choir + Congregation)
    I wish to thank everyone for the nice comments I received vis-à-vis my Glory To God setting for Choir & Congregation. A gentleman with a musical doctorate from Indiana University wrote: “Love this setting so much. And I will pray, as you asked, for your return to composition more fully. You are very very good.” A female choir director wrote: “I love your harmonizations, your musicality, and the wonderful interplay you have with dissonance and consonance in your music. So fun to listen to, and great for intellect, heart, and soul!” A young woman from California wrote: “Thank you for releasing your new Glory To God in honor of Saint Noel Chabanel. I'm enjoying reading through the various parts and listening to your recordings.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    William Byrd • “Mass for Five Voices”
    Our volunteer choir is learning the “Sanctus” from William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices. You can hear a short excerpt (recorded last Sunday) but please ignore the sound of babies crying: Mp3 recording. We still have work to do—but we’re on the right track. Once we have some of the tuning issues fixed, I desire to use it as an example proving volunteers can sing complicated polyphony.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Baptism” • A Unique Hymn
    Father Christopher Phillips is the founding Pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church. One of his hymns is unique and (in my humble opinion) quite beautiful. His hymn is basically a prayer to the Holy Trinity but also speaks of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. It would be an ideal Communion hymn on Trinity Sunday or the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. You can hear live recording from last Sunday by clicking here.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Both of these appointments—of Cardinal Lercaro and Father Bugnini—to key positions on the Consilium made it possible for voices to be heard that could not be heard during the proceedings of the Council, and likewise silenced others.”

— Alfons Cardinal Stickler, Vatican II ‘peritus’

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