• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • Our Team
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Saint Antoine Daniel KYRIALE
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Corpus Christi

Fr. David Friel · June 2, 2013

OST PEOPLE WHO FREQUENT THE WATERSHED are somehow invested in the work of sacred music. Very often, that work can become all-consuming. Instead of refreshing us like art should, the tasks associated with liturgical musicianship can drain us by becoming our sole focus. Especially for those who work full-time in churches, the role of the sacred musician can easily slip into less a role of service and more of a frantic effort to subsist. We may be responsible for Mass upon Mass and choir upon choir. Sometimes we recognize it as it’s happening to us, yet, even though we realize it is unhealthy, it happens to us anyway. We find ourselves powerless to change the situation.

As the Church celebrates this week the great solemnity of Corpus Christi, the remedy for this age-old affliction is set before us. In difficult times, as in peaceful times, we should turn to the Most Blessed Sacrament. The God we serve, after all, is not music; rather, we use music to serve our God. Consider this reflection from Archbishop Fulton Sheen:

“Hence the Mass is to us the crowning act of Christian worship. A pulpit in which the words of Our Lord are repeated does not unite us to Him; a choir in which sweet sentiments are sung brings us no closer to His Cross than His garments. A temple without an altar of sacrifice is non-existent among primitive peoples, and is meaningless among Christians. And so in the Catholic Church the altar—and not the pulpit or the choir or the organ—is the center of worship, for there is re-enacted the memorial of His Passion” (Calvary and the Mass).

This should be our remedy when we sit frazzled on the bench or stand beleaguered in the loft. Let’s leave the loft and spend some time in the pew. Even a short time spent before the Body of Christ can feed us with living waters that will sustain us.

We are called to worship at the altar, not at the organ. In doing the work of the Lord, we must never neglect the Lord of the work.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

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).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    PDF • “For the Season of Pentecost”
    During the season of Pentecost, you might consider using this 2-page Piece “for the season of Pentecost.” Rehearsal videos are available at #40691, but the lyrics are different. Therefore, make sure your choir members understand that one can rehearse songs that have different lyrics (“CONTRAFACT”).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • (This Coming Sunday)
    Our volunteer choir appreciates training videos, so here's my attempt at recording “Exáudi Dómine Vocem Meam,” which is the INTROIT for this coming Sunday. This coming Sunday is Dominica Post Ascensionem (“Sunday after the feast of the Ascension”). It is sung according to the official rhythm of the Catholic Church.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Volunteer Choir Attempts “Kýrie Eléison”
    My volunteer choir attempted the polyphonic KYRIE that will be sung at this year's Sacred Music Symposium. If you're interested, you can listen to the live recording from last Sunday. The piece is based on the ancient plainchant hymn melody: Ave Maris Stella. Polyphony like this is truly intricate and wonderful. It reminds me of the quote by Artur Schnabel: “music that's greater than it can be performed.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“We must remember that the important elements of a rite are not the things that will first be noticed by a casual and ignorant onlooker—the number of candles, colour of the vestments and places where the bell is rung—but just those things he would not notice: the Canon, fraction and so on, the prayers said in a low voice and the characteristic but less obvious rites done by the celebrant at the altar.”

— Fr. Fortescue explaining that Anglicanism does not preserve Sarum

Recent Posts

  • “Offertory Verses and Why You Should Sing Them” (Includes PDF Download)
  • “Colorado Sacred Music Conference” August 9-10 (2023) • Highlands Ranch, CO
  • PDF Download • “Epitome Gradualis Romani” • Professionally Scanned — 1,106 pages!
  • Re: Ancient Sequence (Thursday after Pentecost)
  • PDF • “For the Season of Pentecost”

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.