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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

RCIA and the Importance of Holy Week Choir Rehearsals

Richard J. Clark · February 28, 2014

EW THINGS ARE MORE IMPORTANT than the liturgy’s role in evangelization. So for many of us, preparations and choir rehearsals for Holy Week have already begun. Lent, Holy Week, and the Easter Season present an opportunity to evangelize to two very important groups. One is the influx of Catholics who do not attend mass regularly, but perhaps attend on Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, or Easter Sunday. We have only one or two shots to make a prayerful impression. Rather than being dismissive, it is our duty to be welcoming and show the best the Church has to offer.

The second group has a great deal in common with our own spiritual growth as music ministers: those preparing for baptism, confirmation and reception into the Church through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). This commonality may seem surprising, but their process of growth mirrors ours, and hopefully that of the entire Church’s.

RECENTLY, DR. GALIPEAU, Chief Publishing Officer for the J. S. Paluch Company, discussed the Church’s vision for catechumens in his article Frustration and Hope: The Evolution of the RCIA or not-RCIA. Dr. Galipeau cites Ad Gentes, the Second Vatican Council’s “Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church”:

14. Those who, through the Church, have accepted from God a belief in Christ are admitted to the catechumenate by liturgical rites. The catechumenate is not a mere expounding of doctrines and precepts, but a training period in the whole Christian life, and an apprenticeship duty drawn out, during which disciples are joined to Christ their Teacher. Therefore, catechumens should be properly instructed in the mystery of salvation and in the practice of Gospel morality, and by sacred rites which are to be held at successive intervals, they should be introduced into the life of faith, of liturgy, and of love, which is led by the People of God. (emphasis added)

Dr. Galipeau notes:

“This paragraph envisions a parish catechumenate that is like a ‘dynamic novitiate,’ as a participant at one of my workshops said a few years ago. He was a Christian brother who, he said, ‘finally saw the light,’ embracing the vision of the council and rejecting what he had inherited in his pastoral practice, namely an RCIA program that was little more than an ‘expounding of doctrines and precepts’ in a classroom setting.”

CATECHUMENS ARE DEEPLY IMPACTED by the liturgies, rites and Scrutinies. Therefore, we must prepare scrupulously and be at our best to present the Church’s treasures new and old. Remember too, that their spiritual formation doesn’t end with the Easter Vigil. It has only begun. We might see the Easter Season of fifty days as their infancy—perhaps something like the exciting early days for parents with their newborn child. Like parents, we must nurture them through this time in the work we do in liturgy.

Sounds like a heavy responsibility? It is, but a joyful one.

Holy Week rehearsals can be long and intense, and for good reason. Preparing reverent and prayerful liturgical music is an immersion into the “mystery of salvation.” (Ad Gentes, §14) Therefore, the sung liturgies become an immersion into the “life of faith, of liturgy, and of love, which is led by the People of God.” (Ibid.) Directors regularly must remind their musicians during rehearsals of the apprenticeship and training of the catechumens as well as our own ongoing spiritual and musical growth. We contribute to their early formation. We continue to nurture our own music and prayer life to do our jobs better. What we do matters to them and for the entire Christian community.

CONCLUDE WITH A STORY of a catechumen, some years ago at St. Cecilia Parish in Boston. After several months of classes, he arrived at a difficult conclusion. During the Ash Wednesday liturgy, he was overcome with a realization that receiving the sacraments and being received into the Church was far more than he initially bargained for. He described a sense of awe that overwhelmed him during the liturgy. What he was undertaking could no longer be taken lightly. His conclusion was that he should not continue with RCIA.

Was this a failure of the RCIA program? No, this was success! His training and experience in the liturgy lead to classic discernment. His hesitation was one of the healthiest signs that his spiritual engagement was a true process – a “training period” and “apprenticeship” in the life of the Church. While he did eventually forge on (“joined to Christ, their Teacher”), his Ash Wednesday epiphany could have only strengthened his faith. His eyes were opened to the profundity that is a life with Christ. If only we all could have such an experience!

Meanwhile, we must remember to humbly serve God and our community — those close and those far from the Church. In doing so, you will be transformed. Your choir will be transformed.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Beauty in the Catholic Liturgy, RCIA Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    (Part 2) • Did they simplify this hymn?
    Choirs love to sing the resplendent tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1929, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. Their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Father Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1929 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. As always, the Germans added an organ INTRODUCTION. For the record, I posted a different harmonization a few months ago which was downloaded more than 2,000 times.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF • “Lectionary Comparison Chart”
    Various shell corporations (in an effort to make money selling Sacred Scripture) have tinkered with the LECTIONARY texts in a way that’s shameful. It’s no wonder Catholics in the pews know so few Bible passages by heart. Without authorization, these shell corporations pervert the official texts. Consider the Responsorial Psalm for the 1st Sunday of Advent (Year A). If you download this PDF comparison chart you’ll notice each country randomly omits certain sections. Such tinkering has gone on for 60+ years—and it’s reprehensible.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Monsignor Klaus Gamber Speaks!
    An interesting quotation from the eminent liturgist, Monsignor Klaus Gamber (d. 1989): “According to canon law, a person’s affiliation with a particular liturgical rite is determined by that person’s rite of baptism. Given that the liturgical reforms of Pope Paul VI created a de facto new rite, one could assert that those among the faithful who were baptized according to the traditional Roman rite have the right to continue following that rite; just as priests who were ordained according to the traditional Ordo have the right to exercise the very rite that they were ordained to celebrate.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“How on earth in the [post-conciliar] liturgy for the dead should there be no more mention of sin and expiation? There’s a complete absence of imploring the Lord’s mercy. […] Although the texts were beautiful they were still lacking in the sense of sin and the sense of mercy. But we need this! And when my final hour comes, ask for mercy for me from the Lord, because I have such need of it!”

— Pope Saint Paul VI (3 June 1971)

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