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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

Singing as a Work of Mercy

Fr. David Friel · December 29, 2013

ARLIER THIS MONTH, I posted a blog entry encouraging the growth of chant scholas in prisons. Through working for a year in a county prison, I discovered that incarcerated men & women are very often starved for beauty. I see the potential of forming a schola among inmates not just as a nice thought, but as a practical idea (and work of mercy) worthy of our consideration.

A family friend of mine is doing something similar, but different, in my hometown. Along with a couple of friends from the parish choir, she has organized the “Doylestown Comfort Choir,” which goes to sing at the bedside of the sick & elderly, especially hospice patients. Their purpose is to use the gift of music to bring about the fruit of peace in those who are struggling with ill health or facing death.

Started almost 4 years ago, the Doylestown Comfort Choir now boasts nearly 30 members. Practices are held once a month, and the members branch off into sub-choirs of 6 voices each when they get a call to go perform a “sing” for someone. They service four different nursing homes and a hospital.

Most of the music they sing is SAB, including both spiritual music and popular music from the era of the patients’ childhood. The choir includes professional, semi-professional, and volunteer singers, all of whom leapt at the chance to serve when they were invited to be part of the Comfort Choir. The group was even featured in a local newspaper article a couple of years ago.

We are so used to thinking about the work of sacred music in the context of the church building. There is something refreshing about ideas like this, which transform sacred music from a job into an apostolate and bring the humanizing effect of beauty to those who need it most.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Beauty 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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PDF Download • Trinity Sunday (22 pages)

Feel free to download this Organ Accompaniment Booklet for Trinity Sunday (Second Vespers). Notice how the modes progress by number. Psalm 1 is mode 1; Psalm 2 is mode 2; Psalm 3 is mode 3; Psalm 4 is mode 4; Psalm 5 is mode 5. I am told by an expert that other feasts (such as Corpus Christi) are likewise organized by mode, and it’s called a “numerical office.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
10 June 2022 • “Official” rhythm of plainsong

I continue to search for the most beautiful way to present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores. (Technically, the “pure” rhythm of the official edition is what everyone is supposed to use.) You can download my latest attempt, which is the Introit for this coming Sunday: Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Because this is not an ancient feast, the Introit had to be adapted (perhaps around 750AD). Prior Johner says the adaptation is “not an entirely happy one.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
7 June 2022 • FEEDBACK

From Chelan, Washington: “CCWatershed is a God-sent resource that I can’t function without! Such great work by the team to bring beauty back to our liturgy!” From Gainesville, Florida: “I am so appreciative of the work, of my brothers and sisters in music!” From Troutman, North Carolina: “Keep up the excellent work in service of the Liturgy!”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“One must pray to God not only with theologically precise formulas, but also in a beautiful and dignified way. The Christian community must make an examination of conscience so that the beauty of music and song will return increasingly to the liturgy.”

— Pope Saint John Paul II (26 February 2003)

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