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

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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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Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Far from dreading an encounter with the Iroquois, Fr. Garnier often told us he would be quite content to fall into their hands and remain their prisoner if—while they were torturing him—he at least had a chance of instructing them as long as his torments lasted. If they allowed him to live, it would afford him a golden opportunity to work for their conversion, which was now impossible, since the gateway to their country was closed as long as they were our enemies.

— Father Ragueneau (Jesuit Relations)

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