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

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Views from the Choir Loft

‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime

Fr. David Friel · December 26, 2014

S WE CONTINUE our celebration of our Lord’s Nativity, here is a beautiful carol penned by one of our CCW patrons, St. Jean de Brébeuf. He wrote the original in Wyandot (the native Huron tongue) as a means of evangelization.

In the hymn, Father de Brébeuf utilizes traditional concepts from Huron religion to convey the story of Christ’s Nativity. This is “inculturation” in its truest, healthiest sense. Click here for a fuller history of this carol.

The author was a courageous man very worthy of our emulation, and this is a beautiful poem quite worthy of our reflection.

‘Twas in the moon of wintertime,
when all the birds had fled,
that mighty Gitchi Manitou
sent angel choirs instead;
before their light the stars grew dim,
and wondering hunters heard the hymn:

R./ Jesus your King is born,
Jesus is born,
in excelsis gloria.

Within a lodge of broken bark
the tender Babe was found,
a ragged robe of rabbit skin
enwrapped His beauty round.
But as the hunter braves drew nigh,
the angel song rang loud and high: R./

The earliest moon of wintertime
is not so round and fair
as was the ring of glory on
the helpless Infant there.
The chiefs from far before Him knelt
with gifts of fox and beaver pelt. R./

O children of the forest free,
the angels’ song is true.
The holy Child of Earth and Heav’n
is born today for you.
Come kneel before the radiant Boy,
Who brings you beauty, peace, and joy. R./

St. Jean de Brébeuf, c. 1643
(Translated by J. Edgar Middleton, 1926, alt.)

Wishing our readers much joy as we continue to welcome Christ’s Presence among us!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Evangelization, Inculturation Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

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
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The introduction of the vernacular will certainly be a great sacrifice for those who know the beauty, the power and the expressive sacrality of Latin. We are parting with the speech of the Christian centuries; we are becoming like profane intruders in the literary preserve of sacred utterance. We will lose a great part of that stupendous and incomparable artistic and spiritual thing, the Gregorian chant. We have reason indeed for regret […] We are giving up something of priceless worth.”

— Pope Paul VI

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