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Views from the Choir Loft

Here I owned Thy Presence

Veronica Brandt · July 20, 2013

ESUS IS TRULY PRESENT in the Blessed Sacrament, under the appearance of bread and wine. Really present. He sees you, He hears you. We should be on our knees in His Presence. It is right and just (as in justice) to adore Him.

Don’t take my word for it, read the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #282:

Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist in a unique and incomparable way. He is present in a true, real and substantial way, with his Body and his Blood, with his Soul and his Divinity. In the Eucharist, therefore, there is present in a sacramental way, that is, under the Eucharistic species of bread and wine, Christ whole and entire, God and Man.

Somewhere, somehow, I learned this. I can’t remember where first, but I remember coming back many times the enormity of this mystery. A mystery is a truth we cannot fully understand. Not that we just throw up our hands in despair and abandon the idea. A mystery is something we can keep coming back to and still get something more. An all you can eat buffet of spiritual meditation for the rest of your life!

It is old news that too many people miss this teaching. My first thought was to lament the neglect of all the hymns which back up the doctrine of the True Presence, but even good hymns are not enough. Poetry may be employing metaphors. We need to be taught. We want to be taught.

Hymns can be a starting point. If you have the privilege of teaching hymns, take a moment to check people understand what they’re singing. There are also many different levels of understanding. A young child may be content with just “Jesus is there”, but as we get older we have more questions, need more information. That’s when we need ideas like “substance” and “accidents”, what a Sacrament is, biblical references and the examples of the Saints.

In case you’re wondering, the title up there comes from Fr Edward Caswall’s hymn O Jesus Christ remember

That here I bowed before Thee, upon my bended knee,
That here I owned Thy Presence, and did not Thee deny,
But glorified Thy greatness, though hid from human eye.

Download the sheet music HERE (hymn 303 from the Vatican II hymnbook).

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 Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(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 free space which the new order of Mass gives to creativity it must be admitted, is often excessively enlarged. The difference between the liturgy with the new liturgical books, as it is actually practiced and celebrated in various places is often much greater than the difference between the old and new liturgies when celebrated according to the rubrics of the liturgical books.”

— Cardinal Ratzinger (1998)

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