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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

Why We Need the Greatest Art in Catholic Worship

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · April 3, 2014

0319_modern_church AS IT NECESSARY to change our forms of worship to suit “modern man”? Was it necessary to get rid of our glorious musical heritage and replace it with newly fabricated utility music that mimicked the styles of the secular world? This, after all, was the argument used to justify abolishing Latin, chant, Renaissance polyphony, and Masses by Haydn: all of these are products of other time periods, other cultural contexts; so they are “antiquated” and don’t “speak” to us where we are right now.

We may refute this with six observations.

1. All serious religions maintain centuries-old (or even millennia-old) customs of worship and ritual languages or bodies of music, the most obvious examples being Judaism, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Anglicanism, Hinduism, and Islam. This is a fearful observation, since it shows that the Catholic Church alone (or certainly greatly in excess of the others) has abandoned its vast artistic and liturgical heritage in favor of what appears to be a fashionable contemporary agenda. Catholicism thus appears, to all impartial observers, as the religion that takes its own traditions least seriously and is prepared to change its most solemn observances and rituals. If I were not a Catholic but were searching for the true religion, this massive disconnect between what the Church says it is and how it has acted in the past half-century might very well have put me off permanently. I would have reasoned (and it is not altogether unreasonable): “Orthodox Jews, Eastern Orthodox Christians, High Church Anglicans, Moslems―all of them have clung faithfully and steadfastly to their age-old traditions, have cultivated them and treasured them, and would not give them up for anything. But Catholics threw over all that had been considered, during much of their long history, as most sacred, most beautiful, most solemn, most worthy, and most sanctifying. I conclude that the Catholic Church hardly knows what it is doing, and folly on so great a scale is a convincing proof that the spirit of religion, of fidelity and continuity, is not there.” Ratzinger made similar observations. If this is an unacceptable conclusion, then so is the short-sighted, ungrateful behavior towards tradition that leads to it.

2. Many people not only can respond to this music and art, but already love it or find it intriguing and convincing when exposed to it―it’s “authentic.” They love the sound of Latin and chant, the look of Gothic cathedrals, stained glass windows, noble statuary. Witness the popularity of recordings of medieval and Renaissance music, or art books filled with photographs of the great churches, altarpieces, and tapestries of yore. Such things are perennially appealing to everyone, from the illiterate to the highly educated. All you have to do is watch the looks of amazement and wonder on the faces of so many people who visit Gothic cathedrals in Europe. In short, majestic beauty still speaks powerfully of the divine, the eternal, the immortal, the spiritual. It is sensuous catechesis, experiential mystagogy. We human beings desperately need it.

3. It is the purpose of good liturgy and music to train the senses, to habituate people to beauty, to induct them into a higher way of living, thinking, and feeling. We are born simpletons who can learn to find contentment in far less than our human dignity, fashioned after the image and likeness of God, deserves and is capable of. The old masterpieces are God’s greatest gifts to Christian culture and should therefore serve as the norm used to measure all other contributions. Indeed, it would be exactly backwards to let the tastes of popular culture in its deviation into mass-marketed pseudo-art dictate what Catholics ought to esteem most highly.

4. We call these works of art “great” because they are essentially timeless in their greatness, as the Latin tongue itself is timeless, a common possession of all nations and the property of no one. To what nation does the Missa Papae Marcelli belong? To what period is the Requiem of Mozart confined? To which social class are the Magnificat fugues of Pachelbel restricted? To what special occasion are the Gregorian propers limited? Foolish questions! All great sacred music, even any art that shares in the demonstrable qualities of great art, belongs to everyone, is the inheritance and blessing of all members of the Mystical Body of Christ, the joy of all souls wherever the Catholic Church builds her churches and consecrates her altars. Who would say that the works of Johann Sebastian Bach are “antiquated” and can no longer move people’s hearts? Nay, Bach’s work moves the heart as profoundly as it can be moved.

5. Those who keep close tabs on the fine arts know (to their consolation) that there have always been and continue to be good serious modern pieces in all artistic media―in the area of sacred music alone, the repertoire for organists and for choirs is always expanding with worthy new additions. Such works can be effortlessly integrated into the larger panorama of tradition, since they naturally tend to derive from it and enrich it symbiotically, embodying the same ideals and serving the same purposes. There was never any need for a violent derailment of the past and a slap-dash effort to replace it by infinitely inferior things created on the spur of the moment. While great music is immortally youthful, mediocre music embarrassingly shows its age.

6. If use of the vernacular is really so important for today’s Catholics, why then would we not have retained the time-honored liturgy and prayers of our forefathers, rendered in a beautiful vernacular translation, as Byzantine Christians and traditional Anglicans do? And why, further, would we not draw upon the immense wealth of exquisite vernacular music where it exists, e.g., in the English or German or French choral traditions? (Let me but mention the names Tallis and Byrd, and my meaning becomes clear.) Even vernacular plainchant has been successfully created by masters like Fr. Samuel Weber and Fr. Columba Kelly and their influential students. The fact that this obvious solution―combining the use of the vernacular with the recovery or renewal of the best of our musical-cultural heritage―has been so rarely tried is a particularly telling sign that we are dealing with no mere disagreement over the best way to “speak to modern man,” but rather, with a much deeper disagreement over the very nature of liturgy, the aesthetic capacity and transcendent vocation of man, and, ultimately, the reality of the redemptive Incarnation, wherein “deep calls to deep.”

Please visit THIS PAGE to learn more about Dr. Kwasniewski’s exciting new publication,
Sacred Choral Works, a 273-page collection of a cappella choir music for the Liturgy.

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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President’s Corner

    Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
    The 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM was a transitional missal. It was on its way to becoming the 1970 version, but wasn’t there yet. It eliminated certain duplications, downplayed the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, expanded the role of laymen, minimized the Last Gospel, made many items optional, and so forth. Father Valentine Young spotted many typos in the 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM, especially incorrect accents. The Offertory Antiphon for this coming Sunday (OF kalendar) contains an error, citing the wrong verse from Psalm 118. It should be 118:107b, not 118:154. If you read verse 154, you’ll understand how that error crept in. [In this particular case, the error pre-dates the 1962 Missal, since the 1940s hand-missal by Father Lasance also gets it wrong.]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 26 October 2025, which is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the top-notch feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Little Encouragement?
    In the Gospel, our Savior tells about 10 lepers who were healed. Only one went back to give thanks. Precious few express gratitude, yet many have endless energy to complain. For that reason, I deeply appreciate receiving messages like the following, which arrived a few days ago (about the parish where I direct in Michigan): “Last Sunday, a couple I knew from Grand Rapids was at Mass at 10:00 a.m. I got a chance to talk to them after Mass. I wanted to let you know what they said about the choir. They were absolutely floored by our sound!!!!! They both said they could continuously listen to our choir and the beauty of it. They asked me: “Do you always sound like that?” And they were also very surprised at how packed the church was. They said it was nice for them to be in such a full church. I just thought you would be interested to know their thoughts about our choir.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    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

Random Quote

An Indult of the “Commission for Russia” (25 November 1929) authorizes Bishops and Administrators Apostolic in Russia to permit the celebration of Mass and the reception of Holy Communion in the afternoon or evening, on condition that a Eucharistic fast of four hours from noon be observed.

— Sacred Congregation of Rites, 25 nov 1929

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