Views from the Choir Loft

Not a movie. This was real.

Richard J. Clark · April 15, 2013

RAY FOR BOSTON. Trying to digest the magnitude of the explosions in Boston is difficult for everyone.

This attack happened within my parish. St. Cecilia Parish in the Back Bay section of Boston, is around the block from the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Additionally, several beautiful historic churches literally surround the finish line. So where is God in all of this?

The screams captured from the Boston Globe video capture real terror and fear. Not a movie. This was real.

We await word to hear from loved ones and those in our parish community to know of their safety. Authorities have urged people to stay home. This isn’t over yet. Early reports indicate that among the dead may be a small innocent child. So, again, where is God in all of this horror?

Today a friend stated, “Forgiveness is hard today. Can’t stop crying.” Truth, love, justice, forgiveness and peace are all connected. Forgiveness is the hard road ahead for Boston and for all those who carry a heavy cross. We must pray for each other, so that like Simon we may help each other carry the cross.

So where there is charity and love, God is THERE. God can be found everywhere in Boston.

News of runners changing course, running to Massachusetts General Hospital to donate blood is where God can be found. Those opening their homes to house and comfort strangers is where God can be found. The outpouring of love, concern—living out the Gospel—is proof of God’s presence in Boston. God is THERE.

After 9/11 we all saw the healing power of love that followed the most horrific attack this country knew. People WANTED to help. Right now in Boston there is the same desire to help any way possible.

Please pray for God’s protection and guidance. Pray for the intercession of Mary our Blessed Mother who knows great suffering. Please pray for those in great need of comfort and especially for those in need of God’s mercy, love, and forgiveness at this time.

Psalm 85: 11-12:
“Love and truth will meet;
justice and peace will kiss.
Truth will spring from the earth;
justice will look down from heaven.”

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

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).

PDF Download • Communion (4th Snd. Lent)

The COMMUNION ANTIPHON for this coming Sunday, which is the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year A), is particularly beautiful. There’s something irresistible about this tone; it’s neither happy nor sad. As always, I encourage readers to visit the flourishing feasts website, where the complete Propria Missae may be downloaded free of charge.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Good Friday Flowers

Good Friday has a series of prayers for various parties: the pope, catechumens, pagans, heretics, schismatics, and so forth. In the old liturgical books, there was no official ‘name’ for these prayers. (This wasn’t unusual as ‘headers’ and ‘titles’ for each section is a rather modern idea.) The Missal simply instructed the priest to go to the Epistle side and begin. In the SHERBORNE MISSAL, each prayer begins with a different—utterly spectacular—flower. This PDF file shows the first few prayers. Has anyone counted the ‘initial’ drop-cap flowers in the SHERBORNE MISSAL? Surely there are more than 1,000.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Music List • (3rd Sunday of Lent)

Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday, which is the 3rd Sunday of Lent (8 March 2026). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. This feast has magnificent propers. Its stern INTROIT (“Óculi mei semper ad Dóminum”) is breathtaking, and the COMMUNION (“Qui bíberit aquam”) with its fauxbourdon verses is wonderful. I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Dies Irae” • A Monstrous Translation

It isn’t easy to determine what Alice King MacGilton hoped to accomplish with her very popular book—A Study of Latin Hymns (1918)—which continued to be reprinted in new editions for at least 34 years. This PDF file shows her attempt to translate the DIES IRAE “in the fewest words possible.” There’s a place for dynamic equivalency, but this is repugnant. In particular, look what she does to “Quærens me sedísti lassus.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF Download • “Holy, Holy, Holy”

For vigil Masses on Saturday (a.k.a. “anticipated” Masses) we use this simpler setting of the “Holy, Holy, Holy” by Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989), a Belgian priest, organist, composer, and music educator who ultimately succeeded another ‘Jules’ (CANON JULES VAN NUFFEL) as director of the Lemmensinstituut in Belgium. Although I could be wrong, my understanding is that the LEMMENSINSTITUUT eventually merged with “Catholic University of Leuven” (originally founded in 1425). That’s the university Fulton J. Sheen attended.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Grotesque Pairing • “Passion Chorale”

One of our rarest releases was undoubtably this PDF scan of the complete Pope Pius XII Hymnal (1959) by Father Joseph Roff, a student of Healey Willan. One of the scarcest titles in existence, this book was provided to us by Mr. Peter Meggison. Back in 2018, we scanned each page and uploaded it to our website, making it freely available to everyone. Readers are probably sick of hearing me say this, but just because we upload something that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wonderful or worthy of imitation. We upload many publications precisely because they are ‘grotesque’, interesting, or revealing. Whereas the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal had an editorial board that was careful and sensitive vis-à-vis pairing texts with tunes, the Pope Pius XII Hymnal (1959) seems to have been rather reckless in this regard. Please take a look at what they did with the PASSION CHORALE and see whether you agree.

—Jeff Ostrowski