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Views from the Choir Loft

Only the Dawn

Andrew R. Motyka · December 24, 2014

525 dawn OU’RE ALMOST DONE, right? You’ve had your last choir rehearsal, finished practicing the organ, and maybe even wrapped your presents and bought your stocking stuffers (disclosure: as of the writing of this post, none of these are true for me). You’re ready for Christmas, and even better than that, the well-deserved rest on the other side of it. I know I am.

I used to get frustrated with all the Celebrating Christmas Early nonsense that infects our culture, even our fellow Catholics. What ever happened to Advent? Why can’t we wait one more month to start celebrating? Okay, okay, it still bothers me a little, especially when the celebration starts even before Thanksgiving.

My real concern, though, isn’t the early celebration. It’s that by the time Christmas actually rolls around, we’re already all celebrated-out. The decorations come down on December 26, ready to come back next November. But this is only the beginning! Christmas begins on December 25, and continues well into January (or February for the EF’ers). It’s easy to see the last Mass on Christmas Day as the finish line, when in reality it’s the start line for the party, only the dawn of the great day.

All this Advent, we’ve been waiting through the violet skies, and got a little taste when they turned rose. There’s a reason we celebrate our first Masses of Christmas at Midnight and at Dawn, as they recall Zechariah’s words that we pray every day at Morning Prayer:

In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Beginning with Christmas, we celebrate a new era, one in which the Almighty Creator of the universe dignified humanity by taking on flesh, ultimately to sacrifice that flesh for our sake. So while all of preparations have been focused on this new beginning, the new dawn, let’s not forget to celebrate the day that we have been looking forward to.

A nap on Thursday afternoon probably wouldn’t hurt, either.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Andrew R. Motyka

About Andrew R. Motyka

Andrew Motyka is the Archdiocesan Director of Liturgical Music and Cathedral Music for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

22 April 2021 • SATB Plainsong?

In an emergency, we pull out random hymns from the Brébeuf hymnal. The Brébeuf choral supplement has every single verse—every single verse—written out, which makes reading SATB a breeze. Last Sunday, we pulled out an Easter hymn which is a mix between plainsong and metrical hymnody…and I think this live recording came out nicely! Please see whether you agree.

—Jeff Ostrowski
22 April 2021 • ICTUS ALERT

My friends, for the record, this coming Sunday has something which is pretty rare. It is an example of Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Solesmes adding an ictus marking to their previous (1908) version of the Graduale Romanum. You can examine before and after. Do I feel better, having pointing this out? I absolutely do…

—Jeff Ostrowski
Can You Spare 33 Seconds?

Here’s an audio excerpt (33 seconds) of a setting for Kyrie VIII which was recorded live last Sunday at our parish in Los Angeles. The setting (“Missa de Angelis”) is by composer Richard Rice, and you can download the free PDF if you click here and scroll to the bottom. I think Richard’s composition is marvelous. I missed a few notes on the organ, but I’ll get them right next time.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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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