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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Weak-Kneed Prayers or Religious Patrimony?

Guest Author · September 17, 2014

0319_DO-LG N GOING THROUGH some old books that had been discarded by a Catholic school library, I found a book from 1982 on planning Masses with children. Filled with various articles about liturgical planning involving children, I chuckled at the drawings and skimmed through the text. One article on prayer (itself written and published in 1981) caught my attention. The author questions her readers:

“What will the next generation of students say about their school prayers? Will they rise up 20 years from now to criticize us for giving them a diet of weak-kneed prayers, full of trendy jargon and self-conscious posturing? Or will they complain that they have learned nothing by heart because we never used the same prayer twice? Or will they thank us for introducing them gradually to the strong and surprising words of praise that are a part of our religious patrimony?”

I could not help but think of my own grade-school years when all of us learned our prayers by heart (the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity, among others) and had to practice them and recite them from memory to our teachers. This was certainly not the case across the country or the world.

Even today, in 2014, in one diocese in the United States, in a survey of 11th grade Catholic school students, only 28.1% stated that they always pray with their family before meals (48.6% stated always or often). In the same survey, 54.1% of 11th graders said they never pray the Rosary alone or with family at home.

The author of the article I found in that discarded book wondered what students would say about their school prayers 20 years in the future. It’s been 33 years since she asked those questions and I haven’t heard young adults thanking their elders for “introducing them gradually to the strong and surprising words of praise that are a part of our religious patrimony” (which, by the way, is not a bad thing: our religious patrimony should be passed down to each generation). Instead, one can see with groups such as the Juventutem International Federation, college councils of the Knights of Columbus, and various Newman Center campus organizations/parishes a return to authentic religious patrimony—a patrimony that was, sadly, not passed down.

Do we criticize the older generation for the “diet of weak-kneed prayers, full of trendy jargon and self-conscious posturing?” Do we complain that nothing has been learned by heart because no prayer was used more than twice? It’s been 33 years: the blame game has been played and doesn’t need to be played again. Rather, let’s focus on returning to our authentic religious patrimony so the next generation can thank us for that.


We hope you enjoyed this guest post by Fr. Alan M. Guanella.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Liturgy For Children Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    A Nice Hymn In Spanish
    In my humble opinion, this is a really beautiful hymn in Spanish. If I practice diligently, I’ll be able to pronounce all the words properly. If you’re someone who’s interested in obtaining a melody only version (suitable for your congregational ORDER OF WORSHIP) you can steal that from this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 21st in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir returns on Sunday, 24 August 2025. Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for it, which is the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the spectacular feasts website. When it comes to the feast of the Assumption (15 August 2025), I have uploaded the music list for that Mass—but not the “bi-lingual” Mass in the evening (Spanish, Latin, and English) which has completely different music.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Entrance Chant” • 21st Sunday Ordin. Time
    You can download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) which is coming up on 24 August 2025. Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. It’s set in a melancholy mode, but if you heard my choir’s female voices singing it your soul would be uplifted beyond belief. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, this morning I tried to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Solemn “Salve Regina” (Chant)
    How many “S” words can you think of using alliteration? How about Schwann Solemn Salve Score? You can download the SOLEMN SALVE REGINA in Gregorian Chant. The notation follows the official rhythm (EDITIO VATICANA). Canon Jules Van Nuffel, choirmaster of the Cathedral of Saint Rumbold, composed this accompaniment for it (although some feel it isn’t his best work).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

Using the shoddiest, sleaziest material we have for the purpose of glorifying God is not very sound theology or even very good common sense. […] (In general, when you see a diminished seventh chord in a hymn, run.) And these chords are usually used in bad hymns in precisely the same order in which they occur in “Sweet Adeline.”

— Paul Hume (1956)

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