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Views from the Choir Loft

Why Focus So Much on the Liturgy?

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · February 13, 2014

803 Latin QUESTION ONE often hears asked: “Why do traditionalists focus so much on the liturgy? Do they think it’s the most important thing in the world?” The implied answer is, No, it really isn’t the most important thing; after all, there’s the doctrinal content of the faith, and the Church’s whole magisterium, there’s missionary work and social work for the poor, there’s catechesis and adult education, etc. Surely, all that together is more important or at least equally so?

But in truth, it is not so. Catechesis, marriage, theology, devotions, everything hinges on the sacred liturgy, which, in its eucharistic consummation, is the source and summit of the Church’s entire life, as Vatican II lucidly taught. The Christian people is formed by the liturgy more than by anything else; it is the one formative influence that is universal to believers and intended by our Lord to be their very food and drink. Catechesis may vary, interest in doctrine and use of devotional practices may vary, but Sunday worship, and the celebration of the other sacraments, will profoundly affect the way believers think of God, worship God, and lead their lives. Take away the liturgy, and you have ripped the heart right out of the body. Or, to use a similar metaphor, it’s like the difference between cutting off a limb and chopping off the head. Man can survive a lot of wounds and amputations, but once the head is gone, nothing else matters.

Jesus taught us: “eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Mt 6:22-23 RSV) The liturgy is like the eye of the Church. If this eye is sound, the whole body will be full of its light. When the public worship of God is our first priority, when it is carried out reverently, lovingly, with adoration, and we give our very best to it, doing everything in harmony with Catholic tradition and the directives of the Church, then we have brought ourselves into the right relationship with the Mystical Body and its Head, Christ our King, Sovereign High Priest. From that right relationship flows our personal prayer, our study and catechesis, our works of charity and evangelization, even our leisure and recreation.

But if the liturgy is perverted, if it is shallow, horizontal, and full of abuses, if it embodies and promotes a hermeneutic of rupture and discontinuity vis-à-vis the great tradition of the Church, then the Church has been dealt the closest thing to a death-blow that she, who is immortal, can be dealt. We are not only not bringing our entire lives into harmony around the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we are even running the risk of sinning against the light, profaning the holiest of holies, losing our way in the world, losing our ability or even desire to evangelize because there ceases to be that for the sake of which all proclamation of the Gospel exists. “How great is the darkness!”

Let us flee such darkness as much as we can, doing all that we can to illuminate the world with the light and warmth of the adoration of God in spirit and in truth. When the liturgy is intrinsically good, as it was and still is wherever the traditionalist revival has caught on, the Church will thrive again, will gain converts and produce missionary shoots, and will prevail over every tyranny that dares to stand in her way.

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 Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College (B.A. in Liberal Arts) and The Catholic University of America (M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy), Dr. Peter Kwasniewski is currently Professor at Wyoming Catholic College. He is also a published and performed composer, especially of sacred music.

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —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

They were not ashamed to lay their hands on Sedulius, on Prudentius, on St. Ambrose himself. Only in one or two cases does some sense of shame seem to have stopped their nefarious work. They left “Ave maris stella,” “Jam lucis orto sidere,” and St. Thomas Aquinas’s hymns alone (they would have made pretty work of “Sacris solemniis”). In 1629 their mangled remnants were published.

— Rev’d Adrian Knottesford Fortescue (25 March 1916)

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Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.

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