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Views from the Choir Loft

The Danger of Being Arbitrary in the Liturgy

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · May 29, 2014

N THE CONTEXT OF the Novus Ordo, there are so many options, so many permitted ways of doing things, so many modules that can be fitted together this way or that way, it can be very difficult to achieve coherence―especially in regard to compromise Masses where different “sensibilities” must be included in the liturgical planning and are therefore discernible in the resulting concoction.

But why take one traditional feature and reject another? Why take one modern feature and reject another? Have we lost our instinct for consistency?

The traditional practices form a coherent whole; they developed organically together, like a plant or animal maturing over time to become more and more itself. The reform, whether you consider it well-movitated or ill-motivated, was, in any case, inorganic; in the same way modern science views nature as a machine or mechanism, modern liturgists viewed public worship as a human construct with interchangeable pieces. It is not a whole that is greater than its parts so much as a mere sum of parts. And once you begin to change this or that part, you might as well change all of them. If the whole does not command a fundamental reverence, why would one stop here or there?

That is why the inherent tendency of the postconciliar liturgy has been towards jettisoning one traditional feature or element after another. Brass candlesticks are locked away, to be replaced by stumps on square pillars; solid altars or altars with antependiums are replaced by tables; beautiful vestments are thrown away or locked away, and polyester drapery takes their place; noble music from the ages of faith is forgotten in the strumming of guitars or the plinking of pianos.

The program that Pope Benedict XVI put before the entire People of God is the “hermeneutic of continuity”: the Church must live her life in continuity with all she has been in the past, with her full Tradition, and not as if everything started over after Vatican II. Wherever the Church is limping along in a state of discontinuity and rupture, she must make heroic efforts to find her way back to a vital connection with her own identity, history, and heritage.

POPE BENEDICT XVI KNEW that the sacred liturgy is the heart of the Church’s life, the most exact and expressive symbol of her faith, and the vehicle through which the faithful are always being catechized by word and sign. Hence this great Pope began to demonstrate what continuity can and should look like by the way he himself celebrated the sacred liturgy, and by continually pointing us to the Church’s past inheritance as well as her present rules and norms. He restored the traditional altar arrangement of candles and crucifix, he brought back the beautiful vestments so long locked away, he restored grand processions with cope and cross, he ensured that the music was truly reverent and sacred, suggestive of divine majesty and the loftiness of the immortal soul.

The tradition of the Church, the beauty of her rituals and art, is not something to be ashamed of or embarrassed about. Pope Benedict was the voice in the desert, proclaiming that we need to restore and rediscover these things―our identity, our very survival, our mission in this world, depend on it. People have been badly miseducated, and they have a right to the truth. Indeed, we have a right to our Tradition and a duty to embrace it.

The only non-arbitrary way to approach the liturgy is to celebrate it not only with total fidelity to the rubrics, but also in a spirit of maximal continuity with the Roman liturgical heritage that preceded it for almost 2,000 years. To do less than this is to endorse, at some level or to some extent, that ideology of rupture that has gripped and wounded the church over the past 50 years. Once we discover that certain changes were unnecessary and unmandated, that they occurred because of experimental theories fused with a desire for novelty, the only consistent and principled thing to do is to reject these changes and return to the tradition of the Fathers, with the humble repentance of prodigal sons.

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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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

“Oh, the happy choir director who is hired to start work on a brand new choir, or who walks into his first rehearsal a total stranger to the existing group—what a fortunate man he is! The new choir director who is a former member of the choir, or a member of the congregation, or the nephew of the alto soloist, or a former altar boy, or otherwise well acquainted with the choir, is in for a few headaches.”

— Paul Hume (1956)

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