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Views from the Choir Loft

Fr. Enrico Zoffoli and the Passion of the Lord

Aurelio Porfiri · July 17, 2014

0319_Pope_Fran-XL F THERE IS ONE THING I have really come to despise, it is this kind of sweet Christianity that is so much in fashion in the last decades. Everything is good, everyone is nice, everything is allowed. This kind of honey atmosphere really makes me sick, because it is really far from true Christianity. As Pope Francis said, the church is more like a field hospital.

Many have criticized him for this, but I find this is a deeply Christian definition that takes into account the sickness of our souls, beyond the suffocating hypocrisy that surrounds us. Indeed the church is there to console those that are fighting in the spiritual fight, “Il combattimento spirituale”, as it says in a famous book by Lorenzo Scupoli (1530-1610).

Our liturgies are now the receptacle of sad shows with uplifting music “for the youths”, as if in life all is joyful and gracious. It is not. I know many people fight to show that scientific Darwinism is a theory. I am not in the position to judge about that. But social Darwinism is a reality, people fighting each other pursuing their own agenda. The church is not different. How many church men, priests and laypeople, are just following their own agenda to be served by the church and not to serve the church? So, this emphasis on the joyful Christianity I think is misleading, to say the least.

IT WILL NOT BE BAD here for me to remember a man that has meant a great deal to me. Father Enrico Zoffoli (1915-1996) was a Passionist, a philosopher and a man sincerely seeking God. I met him when he was already nearing 80 and I became one of his philosophy students. I remember talking with him about all his upcoming books (he wrote many, I think over 70) and for some of them I followed the whole process through his confidences. He was a man sincerely seeking God and defending the church, and for this he made many enemies. My girlfriend of that time and I were very close to him. I remember him on his death bed calling us “his angels”.

He was a member of the Pontifical Academy of Saint Thomas, an elite pontifical institution for philosophers and theologians. And this academy—in commemoration of him—organized a seminar with speakers, among them, Father Raimondo Spiazzi (1918-2002), a famous Dominican preacher, that I also had the pleasure to meet several times. On the occasion of the commemoration I presented one of my oratorios called “Via Crucis”, dedicated to padre Zoffoli using his texts. Padre Zoffoli in his books always emphasizes one point: the Mass is the memory of the Passion of the Lord, his Sacrifice, and so to move the emphasis on the Resurrection is misleading.

In a 1994 book called “Questa e’ la Messa, non altro!” (This is the Mass, not other!), there is this passage:

“This is, in essence, Christian theology of the mystery of the Cross; for whom the glory of the Risen Christ would be an illusion, if was not real and infinitely meritorious the atoning immolation of the Crucified Christ. Catholic worship, does not know neither offer others in the Eucharistic liturgy; and it is for this that, if the Mass would not be the Sacrament of the Sacrifice; the Church – as visible, religious, hierarchical society – would never been in existence” (pg. 18, my translation).

A few lines after saying this he emphasizes again: “Dunque, per Gesu’ – e per noi – la Passione e’ tutto, la Passione decide tutto” (And so, for Jesus – and for us – the Passion is everything, the Passion decides everything). How far is this from many of our forced joyful liturgies?

I have had the fortune of having my books reviewed in national newspapers by well-known journalists. My last book, “Il canto dei secoli” (The song of the centuries) was quoted by Camillo Langone (Il Foglio, November 19, 2013) in his column called “Preghiera” (Prayer). And after appreciating my pointing out this issue of the forced joyful liturgies, he raises this praise to Saint Cecilia: “Saint Cecilia, pray for us little loved, lovers of austere liturgical music, severe, even sad, we that in church are looking for the reasons of pain, because the reasons for pleasure we can find everywhere”. And I cannot say it better than this.


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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Father Enrico Zoffoli Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Aurelio Porfiri

Renowned as composer, conductor, theorist, author, pedagogue, and organist, Aurelio Porfiri has served the Church on multiple continents at the highest levels. Born and raised in Italy, he currently serves as Director of Choral Activities and Composer in Residence for Santa Rosa de Lima School (Macao, China).

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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

When the matter is thus regarded, an assertion which is being made today, not only by laymen but also at times by certain theologians and priests and spread about by them, ought to be rejected as an erroneous opinion: namely, that the offering of one Mass, at which a hundred priests assist with religious devotion, is the same as a hundred Masses celebrated by a hundred priests. That is not true.

— Pope Pius XII (2 November 1954)

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