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Views from the Choir Loft

New Testament Hymns

Fr. David Friel · September 22, 2013

LOSE INSPECTION of the Greek New Testament reveals several passages that, on account of their peculiar structure, may have been early Christian hymns. One such passage is found in the first letter to Timothy:

Undeniably great is the mystery of devotion,

Who was manifested in the flesh,

vindicated in the spirit,

seen by angels,

proclaimed to the Gentiles,

believed in throughout the world,

taken up in glory.

(1 Timothy 3:16)

What most strikes me about this passage is the title it gives to our Lord. We all know the usual titles: Son of God, Son of Man, Prince of Peace, etc. But when did you last refer to our Lord as “the mystery of devotion”?

Catholicism is very comfortable with the idea of mystery. Critics of faith would make the accusation that “mystery” is a throwaway term used whenever hard evidence is lacking. This is what makes Agatha Christie’s novels so riveting; the mystery remains until the critical piece of evidence is unveiled, at which point the mystery is solved. But this would be a gross misunderstanding of what Catholics mean by mystery.

Mystery, for us, is not a dimly lit attic—so dark that its contents can’t be seen. Mystery, understood aright, is more like looking at the sun—so bright that we can’t take it all in at once.

God, Who is infinite, cannot be totally grasped by our finite minds. Jesus is all Truth, so He is mysterious in this sense. After the consecration (a rather ineffable moment), the priest proclaims “the mystery of faith.” We speak of the Paschal Mystery, too, because there is more to the Passion, Death, & Resurrection of Christ than we can fully appreciate.

We should be comfortable with mystery. The mysteries of our faith cannot be explained not for lack of content, but rather on account of superabundant content.

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.—(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

“The introduction of the vernacular will certainly be a great sacrifice for those who know the beauty, the power and the expressive sacrality of Latin. We are parting with the speech of the Christian centuries; we are becoming like profane intruders in the literary preserve of sacred utterance. We will lose a great part of that stupendous and incomparable artistic and spiritual thing, the Gregorian chant. We have reason indeed for regret […] We are giving up something of priceless worth.”

— Pope Paul VI

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