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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

Youth in Favor of Sacred Music

Fr. David Friel · February 2, 2014

AVEN’T WE ALL HAD the experience of going to a supposed “youth Mass” only to find that most of the congregation consisted of Baby Boomers? It’s an old method. In an effort to preserve the dying appeal of folksy liturgy, adherents re-package and brand it as something enticing to the youth. “It’s for the kids”—who could resist such an argument?

But what sort of liturgy—and, particularly, what sort of sacred music—do young people really want? I can recall a few very fruitful discussions of this question: in a wonderful article about David Hughes’ children’s choir at World Youth Day, in a recent post of mine, as well as in this excellent post from Ben Yanke. Ultimately, there is not one catch-all response to the question of what young people want in liturgy. But it seems fair to say that the desire for truly sacred liturgical music is not simply a negligible niche in the larger youth market.

More evidence of this growing trend was published in a recent National Catholic Register article. Including interviews with three Catholic college professors, the article contends that there is a resurgence—a renaissance, if you will—afoot in our Catholic colleges in favor of traditional sacred music. According to Susan Treacy, there has been growth at both Ave Maria University and Franciscan University of Steubenville:

When I first started at Franciscan, not too many students knew what the Church teaches about sacred music. Gradually, that number increased, with more of them becoming aware of the Church’s glorious musical traditions. This knowledge was usually accompanied by an appreciation of what the Church teaches, but not always.”

Kurt Poterack, of Christendom College, expresses his hope for the future in this way:

We’ve made noteworthy progress, and I think as long as we stay focused and promote sacred music with charity, it will not only continue to grow in popularity at colleges, but it will become the accepted norm once again in parishes.

Dare we hope that he is right?

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Gregorian Chant, Reform of the Reform, Secular vs Sacred Music at Mass 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

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
14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book

If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.

—Jeff Ostrowski
Sound Familiar?

1 June 1579: “The chapter passes a rule that anyone ascending to the new organ without official permission shall be fined a month’s pay.”

26 October 1579: “The altar boys remain always separate and distinct from choirboys—the one group learning only plainchant and assisting at the altar, the other living with the chapel-master and studying counterpoint and polyphony as well. Father Francisco Guerrero postpones his departure for Rome and instead spends the entire year in Seville making ready for the trip. In the meantime he neglects his choirboys. On 16 November, after considerable complaint against their unruliness and ignorance, he engages an assistant, Bartolomé Farfán.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

It is unworthy that the stone holds Him, Who encloses everything in His hand, Locked in by the forbidding rock. (“Indígnum est cujus claudúntur cuncta pugíllo | Ut tegat inclúsum rupe vetánte lapis.”)

— SALVE FESTA DIES (Eastertide)

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