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Views from the Choir Loft

“Father, Not Everyone Can Sing”

Fr. David Friel · May 26, 2013

EOPLE SAY ALL KINDS OF THINGS to priests, especially after Mass. We get brought up to date on hospital stays & illnesses, graduations & upcoming travels. We hear confessions & complaints, compliments & concerns. We meet newcomers & visitors, and folks tell us about the broken kneeler in the eighth pew (Blessed Mother side). We hear if the homily was on target, and we hear if the homily was horrible. Several weeks ago, though, a woman said something I had never been told before. She said to me, “Father, not everyone can sing, you know.”

What she meant didn’t register with me at first. I probably gave her a quizzical look, which prompted her to explain further. When I celebrate Mass, she said, we sing so much stuff that the other priests don’t usually sing. Now I understood that she wanted me to stop singing the Collect, Preface, Prayer over the Offerings, Our Father, and Post-Communion, which I chant on every Sunday & solemnity.

I was tempted to say many things. For instance, running through my mind went these thoughts:

1. Yes, actually, everyone who can speak can sing.
2. The liturgy, by its very nature, is meant to be sung.
3. Our personal preferences (both mine & yours) must be subordinate to the preferences of Holy Mother Church.
4. Chanting the orations really doesn’t add any time to the Mass.
5. Singing “On Eagle’s Wings” is much more difficult than responding to the Preface dialogue, and yet I’ve never had anyone complain about the mammoth range & odd intervals of the OCP favorite.

By the time I had interpreted her remark, the lady was already passed me and headed towards the door. I only had about 10 seconds to respond. What would you have said?

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 served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The sun’s disc did not remain immobile. This was not the sparkling of a heavenly body, for it spun round on itself in a mad whirl, when suddenly a clamor was heard from all the people. The sun, whirling, seemed to loosen itself from the firmament and advance threateningly upon the earth as if to crush us with its huge fiery weight. The sensation during those moments was terrible.”

— ‘Dr. Almeida Garrett, professor of natural sciences at the University of Coimbra (1917)’

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