• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

We’re a 501(c)3 public charity established in 2006. We have no endowment, no major donors, no savings, and run no advertisements. We exist solely by the generosity of small donors.

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • Ordinary Form Feasts (Sainte-Marie)
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Catechism of Gregorian Rhythm
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
Views from the Choir Loft

Rebellion in the Liturgy

Richard J. Clark · June 6, 2014

T IS HUMAN NATURE to rebel, especially at certain times of one’s life including adolescence in which fighting authority is instinctive. The 1953 Marlon Brando classic, “The Wild One” comes to mind in which someone asks, “Hey Johnny, what are you rebelling against?” Johnny (Brando) immediately replies, “Whadda ya got?” Sometimes this happens in the Church as well!

Aside from physiological reasons, youth and young adults are trying to create an identity for themselves and demonstrate independence. This is not a bad instinct at all. In fact, it can be quite good. For example, artists often need to push boundaries to discover their identity and establish a unique voice. This sort of rebellion or pushing of boundaries can create extraordinary art, oftentimes forcing others to think in ways outside of one’s comfort zone. These are good things that foster growth.

But what I speak of is of the individual. In corporate prayer, this becomes tricky and problematic, as the focus is not on us, but on God. It fosters unity with each other. The self—the ego—is subdued, which is an act of humility, something most necessary when praying as a community. Yet, this is often seen as stifling self-expression or creativity. Of course this is missing the point entirely (something I have learned only slowly over the years).

O, IN THE LAST FIFTY YEARS SINCE Vatican II’s first document, Sacrosanctum Concilium, we know what followed was a period of great misunderstanding of this text. Enormous experimentation ensued to say the least. Coupled with great societal change, to rebel against “The Man” – or in this case – “The Church” or “The Liturgy,” became a knee jerk reaction. Perhaps the Church was experiencing a new period of adolescence, painful and perhaps necessary. Only now, fifty years since, has the Church begun to understand its awkward struggles and hopefully mature in its worship. In the meantime, the result was more than a generation of lost tradition.

Here is a truth of human nature: When we can’t have something we want it. When something is forced upon us, we often reject it. Forcing traditions upon others is no way to pass them on. Take them away, and we’ll demand to have them back. In part, it is the latter that seems to have transpired more recently. It is the latter that in part drives the movement towards more reverent liturgy and restoration of our sacred treasury of music. In short, the rejection and denial of our traditions to more than one generation has greatly fueled the Reform of the Reform.

ODAY, I AM PRIVILEGED to correspond and converse with many young people and seminarians who are embracing our traditions. To seek out tradition when I was their age was unheard of! Is it possible that since they were often deprived of them that they are rebelling against the older generation, and in doing so, forging their own identity? This may in fact play a part, but I think there is more to it than that. These are young people who truly hunger to understand our faith and its foundations. Time will tell if it has taken root.

Therefore, how we pass on our traditions matters. Forcibly so is a recipe for rejection and failure. It is only our love that can evangelize, especially to our children. It is this love for the mass that will in time be instilled within them. This is our responsibility so that they are not empty and meaningless words and gestures.

As such, our traditions must not be left as relics of the past—monuments to antiquity. Tradition lives and breathes within us today. In doing so, it informs us of who we are. Fascinatingly, tradition helps each of us find our unique voice.

So at times, our children may rebel, make mistakes and forge their own identity. They need to find their own voice. When they do, their faith will take root even deeper, because it will be their own.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Liturgical Abuse, Passing on Tradition Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

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).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. However, on the feasts website, the chants have been posted for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), which is this coming Sunday: 6 July 2025.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —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

The literal translation: “Lord, have mercy—Christ, have mercy,” does not offer much material for an acceptable song text. The words, not having any feminine syllables, are abrupt; the sounds are almost all muted and colorless; the rhythmic flow is too brief. So many people may prefer responses that further extend the song of the assembly, e.g., “Have pity on us, Lord” or “Pardon us and change our hearts.

— J. Gelineau attacking the KYRIE ELEYSON (page 64 in “Learning to Celebrate,” 1985)

Recent Posts

  • Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
  • Bishop François Charrière Vs. Hannibal Bugnini
  • 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • “My First Year with the Latin Mass” • A Music Director’s Perspective
  • Boston Auxiliary Bishop: “In offering the Traditional Mass for the first time, after removing the vestments, I knelt in the back pew and wept.”

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

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.

The election of Pope Leo XIV has been exciting, and we’re filled with hope for our apostolate’s future!

But we’re under pressure to transfer our website to a “subscription model.”

We don’t want to do that. We believe our website should remain free to all.

Our president has written the following letter:

President’s Message (dated 30 May 2025)

Are you able to support us?

clock.png

Time's up