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Views from the Choir Loft

Facebook, Scammers, and the Economy of Words

Aurelio Porfiri · July 28, 2014

218 Francis VERY TWO OR THREE DAYS I receive a Facebook message from different (good looking) girls using these lines: “Do you want to know more about me? Please write me at my personal e-mail.” I would like to take this occasion to answer all of them, even if I am a little doubtful that they are reading these articles.

No, dear girls, I do not want to know more about you, but maybe it would be good for you to know something more about me. If you know more about me you will realize that a person like me does not believe you can know someone using words, words and more words (and in your case, I suppose… scams), rather, you should enter into contact with another through deep emotional communication. I want to call this testimony.

Now, I digress to arrive to another point: today we have an inflation of words everywhere. Some people think they can convince us only with the sound of their voices. Of course this is true up to a point: rhetoric is serious matter and works well in our daily life. But when we come to Mass we should allow rhetoric to give space to spiritual involvement. So, indeed, the verbal excesses should be considered against the very purpose of the Mass: giving space to the Presence, that is shown to us through an apparent absence (at least in a physical sense).

I do not want to touch too much on the issue of the homily, but I should say something about that: some priests think that the Mass is the background that gives space to their rhetorical skills. Hey, wait! Rhetoric can be useful for the time of the homily (no more than 7 minutes would be perfect) but if the Mass becomes the excuse to contain the speech of the priest it means we are missing a point. Indeed we need testimonies, priests that show with their example, more than with their words, what it is to be a follower of Christ. Saint Francis is often credited for saying: preach with every means, if necessary with words. What is meant by this is that we should preach with our life more than with thousands of words.

There is also the danger of priests that adopt the homily with extensions. Those priests, besides the half hour of the homily in the canonical place, benefit us also with introductions to every other part of the Mass. But shouldn’t the Mass shine for noble simplicity according to Vatican II? And if you explain every part of it every Sunday it means that it is not so simple (and for sure not so noble either). There is a joke about the homily that would not be out of place here after the way I started this article, it says that the homily should be like a miniskirt: short, adhering to reality and giving a glimpse to the mystery. So girls, even pretending you are not scammers, you will never conquer my heart even with a very long e-mail. And to our dear priests, please stop submerging us in the ocean of your words, and make space for the only Word that is really worth listening to.


BOTTEGA • Aurelio Porfiri is where you can discover
many of Mæstro Porfiri’s compositions in PDF format.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: St Francis of Assisi 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

The Sacrifice is celebrated with many solemn rites, none of which should be deemed useless or superfluous. On the contrary, all of them tend to display the majesty of this august sacrifice, and to excite the faithful, when beholding these saving mysteries, to contemplate the divine things which lie concealed in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

— Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566)

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