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Views from the Choir Loft

The Prayers of Children

Andrew R. Motyka · September 25, 2013

uite a bit of ink (both literal and electronic) has been spilled these last few days regarding Pope Francis’ most recent interview. I have almost nothing to add to any of it, since if you read Francis’ words, in context, in their entirety, I think he’s pretty clear about what he’s trying to say.

Francis recognizes that the Postmodern world doesn’t know Jesus at all, and he wants to do something about that. He wants the Church to be, first and foremost, a group of ambassadors for Christ, to go into the world and proclaim the Gospel (sound familiar?). To that end, he comes across as critical of serious liturgy and the “culture wars.” I think it is because Francis wants us to get the basics right first, and then move into a deeper focus. Beautiful liturgy is important to the Church. I wouldn’t do what I do for a living if I thought it wasn’t. Liturgy and morality, however, come out of an already existing relationship with Jesus Christ. Without this prior relationship, liturgy is just an act, and morality is just a sham (an edifice that will fall like a house of cards, in Francis’ words). Our first encounter with Christ must be like that of a child before building to a more mature, moral and liturgical faith.

When I was very young, my family used to vacation to Lavallette, New Jersey, every summer. We would rent a house for a week or so and spend almost every day at the beach, interspersed with taking in Little League games or walking the boardwalk. To this day, when I think of the word vacation, those are the images that come to mind.

One year, when I was perhaps 3 years old or so, we went to Lavallette, taking my cousin and his girlfriend along for the trip. The ocean on one particular day was heavily affected by a nearby storm, and the waves were strong and dangerous. The red flags were out at the beach: no swimming allowed. Not wanting to waste a day, our family stayed anyway, lounging on the beach and making an enormous sandcastle with my teenage cousin. It was much taller than I was at the time, and it had a sweet moat and even a couple of full sized thrones.

I ran down to fill my favorite red bucket with water for the (sweet) moat, the vicious undertow snatched it out of my hands. Before I could recover it, the bucket was swept out into the ocean. The strong surf prevented any attempts to recover it, and I was crushed. I wept like, well, a 3 year-old and was positively inconsolable. There was nothing anyone could do. My mother, just trying to calm me down, told me I should pray about it.

I did. I paced around the blanket for 5 or 10 minutes with my eyes closed and my hands clenched in prayer. I don’t really remember what I was thinking or saying, but I remember my posture.

Suddenly, a massive wave rose off in the distance, caught up the bucket (which was at least a hundred yards out by this point) and swept down on us. The wave crashed far past where any of the others had, traveling all the way to the back fence and the dunes. It flattened our umbrella, ruined the radio, soaked everyone present, and leveled the sandcastle (leaving my cousin hilariously up to his waist in sand). It hit no other blanket on the beach, only ours, but I got the bucket back.

Supernatural? Probably not. I am one that believes that most miracles have less to do with substance and more to do with the who, what, and when they occur. The timing is indisputably precise on this one. It didn’t save lives. In fact, it seems like a pretty trivial event for divine intervention. When I think of it, though, almost all of my problems seem pretty trivial, but I pray anyway.

I think Francis’ aim to point people to a relationship with Christ is timely and powerful. If we turn to Him as children do, the Church and the world will face a renewal that we truly need.

Francis recognizes what could potentially happen when you ask children to pray:

They just might do it.

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 Andrew R. Motyka

Andrew Motyka is the Archdiocesan Director of Liturgical Music and Cathedral Music for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“I prefer to preach,” said one priest “even without immediate preparation, for I can always draw—from the various studies stored away during the seminary years—enough material to interest our good Catholic people. But when I have to go to the altar and sing High Mass or a Requiem, and I know that I cannot read a note of the Preface and the ‘Pater Noster’, I feel like going to martyrdom. Yet the notes are right there before my eyes, but they seem to mock my ignorance.”

— From a 1920 article by Very Rev. Leo P. Manzetti

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