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“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

The Young and the Extremely Young

Andrew R. Motyka · February 19, 2014

HINGS HAVE BEEN pretty crazy in the Motyka household for the last couple of weeks, what with my wife delivering our first born son, Thomas, as seen looking surly to the right. Because of that, it’s been a couple of weeks since I last contributed anything. I wrote this piece last week, but never got around to posting it. Here goes:

While speaking with my friend Mike on the phone yesterday, I was reminded of something I’m constantly harping about: the average Catholic in the pew just isn’t aware of the Church’s norms on liturgy in general and music in particular.

Mike is a professional musician, and he was telling me that despite being baptized Catholic, attending Catholic schools, and attending Mass regularly, he never knew about the Church’s musical heritage until the last few years. Now, he takes pride in the Requiem Mass, thinking “that’s our music” whenever his chorus sings a Requiem Mass. Even after many years of singing in choirs and performing sacred music, he never understood its proper place in the liturgy until fairly recently. I can sympathize with this view. Until I experienced sacred music in its proper context, it didn’t quite “click.”

One thing my parish is trying this year is the inauguration of an Archdiocesan Honors Choir, a select choir of high school students from the archdiocese to participate in major liturgies during the year. Their first experience in this choir will be on Holy Thursday, a perfect opportunity to expose the singers to the Church’s musical heritage. Holy Thursday is a perfect opportunity since it is glutted with ritual music. I hope to impart exactly what Mike described: show the students the inherent connection between music and the liturgical act. Forming connections with the local high schools to find quality singers is one way to put this kind of special group together, and we intend to make a big deal out of it; the singers will even receive invitations from the Archbishop.

One way the liturgical life of the Church will improve is through education. The constant cries for “catechesis” are easily tuned out, however, since opportunities and open minds are hard to come by. The Church’s youth are a good place to start. They have no idea what heritage they’re even missing, and it gives them an opportunity to be counter-cultural. Youth choirs are a great chance to feed that desire and develop the future of Catholic music.

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

    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    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

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

“Contradictions place us at the foot of the Cross, and the Cross places us at the gates of Heaven.” (Saint John Mary Vianney)

— Cardinal Merry del Val’s Prayer-Book

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