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

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • About
  • Symposium
  • Hymnal
  • Jogues Missal
  • Site Map
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Missionaries

Aurelio Porfiri · July 29, 2014

0319_jaricot-LG WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS people that aren’t as popular today as they were decades ago: I am talking about missionaries. Yes, these men and women leave their countries to go in foreign lands and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus. Today they are out of fashion, because most of the countries where they were sent to many years ago are now more prosperous than their countries of provenience; and when people become prosperous religion becomes an accessory.

As you know I live in Macau, China. I am always amazed at the work of these men and women that here, in the same city where I walk every day, bring not only the Word of Jesus, but also the fruits of western civilization (developed also thanks to Christianity). I think about Matteo Ricci, ready to go to China and share with the Chinese, among other things, western music; I also think about Alessandro Valignano, that created the first University in Asia, the college of Saint Paul; I think about Robert Morrison, a protestant missionary, working on his translation of the Bible in Chinese; I think about Gabriele Allegra, now Blessed, taking care of the lepers in the colony of Ka Ho….and I see countless others that together with the Gospel also announce the splendor of our art, culture, and civilization.

Some people, usually politically correct cynic people, will start to shout about the imposition of a foreign culture to a local population. But these were gifts, and if you receive a beautiful gift, even coming from the other part of the world, you do not think to refuse it. For example: over the years I have met with many students from the pre-seminary school here, all of them pure Chinese and all of them with the memories of their far ago years of studies. When they talk about those years, knowing I am a musician, they will sing some chant or motet they remember, all in Latin. Does any one of them show any regret for that? No. Indeed, they can appreciate the beauty and spirituality of this music.

But other people prefer to substitute the treasures of our tradition with the so called contemporary style. And so comes my question: isn’t that coming from outside? Asians invented pop music? Or Italians? Or is this a phenomenon developed in Anglo-Saxon countries? I have come to dislike politically correct people. They are the ones that, as Oscar Wilde put it, know the prices of everything but the value of nothing. Maybe today we need missionaries of a different kind, ready to announce the beauty of our faith and tradition with an understanding of the new needs of a changing world.


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 Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe to the CCW Mailing List

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).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

23 May 2022 • FEEDBACK

From a reader: “I wasn’t looking for it. But, I stumbled across your hand-dandy arrangement of Pachelbel’s Canon. Jeff, this is the greatest thing since sliced bread! I had to play a wedding on Saturday. The bride requested the Canon. There were 11 bridesmaids! The organ loft is a football field away from the communion rail. It’s so difficult to play and keep checking the mirror. Your arrangement is absolutely genius. One can skip and choose which variations to use. The chord names are handy so that when my eyes are off the music, I always know where I am at. A thousand times thank you for sharing this arrangement!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

The “jolly good guy” kind of pastor can be an irritant. […] Ministers of the Gospel are not used car salesmen whose heartiness is a mile wide and an inch deep. A bemused layman told me that a bishop joked with him, but turned away like a startled deer when asked an important question…

— Fr. George Rutler (7 August 2017)

Recent Posts

  • Review • A Catholic Book of Hymns
  • 23 May 2022 • FEEDBACK
  • PDF Download • “A Canon Choirs Love!”
  • On Mistakes (Part I of II)
  • 19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

Copyright © 2022 Corpus Christi Watershed · Gabriel Lalemant 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.