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Views from the Choir Loft

Praise of God Demands Song

Fr. David Friel · January 18, 2015

HE EIGHT-YEAR pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI was an extraordinary period. In those years, the faithful of the Church were blessed by Papa Ratzinger’s gentle humility, his prayerful spirituality, and his exquisite clarity of thought. Needless to say, the Pope Emeritus remains worthy of emulation for many of his personal attributes. Not the least of his traits deserving our imitation is his ars celebrandi, at once totally faithful to the rule of the Church and steeped in reverent beauty.

So many of the Holy Fathers of the past century have distinguished themselves in one way or another. John Paul II was energetic and athletic; John XXIII combined simple piety with a down-home touch; Leo XIII gave societal standing to the working class; Francis has a contagious love for the poor. In the case of Benedict XVI, not only is he a world-class theologian, but he is also a musician of uncommon ability and discerning taste.

For this reason, Pope Benedict’s teachings and commentary on sacred music require special attention. Although he sadly never delivered an official document of papal teaching on the subject, there were numerous occasions on which he did offer reflections on the role of music in liturgy. These we may add to his corpus of similar writings from before his election to the See of Rome.

My favorite words from Benedict on the topic of sacred music actually come not from any prepared text. They were, instead, a set of unprepared remarks made following a concert given by the Cappella Musicale Pontificia on December 20, 2005. I present these impromptu remarks in full below:

Dear Maestro, Mons. Liberto,
Dear Choir Boys of the Sistine Chapel,
Dear Singers, Teachers and Collaborators,

I did not have time to prepare a talk, although my idea was quite simple: to say, in these days before Christmas, that they are days of thanksgiving for gifts; to say, in these days, a “thank you” to you for all that you give us the whole year round, for this great contribution to the glory of God and to the joy of the people on earth.

On the night when the Saviour was born, the Angels proclaimed Christ’s birth to the shepherds with these words: “Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus.” Tradition has always claimed that the Angels did not simply speak like people, but sang, and that their song was of such heavenly beauty that it revealed the beauty of Heaven.

Tradition also claims that choirs of treble voices can enable us to hear an echo of the angels’ singing. And it is true that, in the singing of the Sistine Chapel Choir at the important liturgies, we can sense the presence of the heavenly liturgy, we can feel a little of the beauty through which the Lord wants to communicate his joy to us.

In fact, praise of God demands song. Therefore, throughout the Old Testament—with Moses and with David—until the New Testament—in the Book of Revelation—we hear once again the hymns of the heavenly liturgy that offer a lesson for our liturgy in God’s Church.

Consequently, your contribution is essential to the liturgy: it is not a marginal embellishment, for the liturgy as such demands this beauty, it needs song to praise God and to give joy to those taking part.

I wish to thank you with all my heart for this major contribution. The Pope’s liturgy, the liturgy in St. Peter’s, must be an example of liturgy for the world. You know that today, with television and radio, a vast number of people in every part of the world follow this liturgy. From here, they learn or do not learn what the liturgy is, how the liturgy should be celebrated. Thus, it is very important not only that our masters of ceremony teach the Pope how best to celebrate the liturgy, but also that the Sistine Choir be an example of how to convey beauty in song, in praise of God.

I know—since my brother has, as it were, enabled me to have a first-hand experience of a choir of treble voices—that this beauty demands a huge commitment and many sacrifices on your part.
You have to rise early, boys, in order to get to school; I know Rome’s traffic, and I can therefore guess how difficult it often is for you to arrive on time. Then, you have to practice to the very end in order to achieve this perfection with the competence that we have just heard once again.

I thank you for all this, also because at these celebrations, while your companions go on long outings, you have to stay in the Basilica to sing and sometimes even have to wait for an hour before being able to sing; and yet you are always ready to make your contribution.

I feel this gratitude every time, and on this occasion I wanted to tell you of it. Christmas is the feast of gifts. God, Himself, gave us the greatest gift. He gave us Himself. He took flesh, He made Himself a child. God gave us the true gift and thus also invites us to give, to give with our hearts; to give a little of ourselves to God and to our neighbour. He also asks us to offer signs of our kindness, of our willingness to offer joy to others.

So I, too, therefore, have attempted to make my gratitude visible through presents that will now be given out to you as an expression of my gratitude, which is too strong for words.

These words may be nearly a decade old, yet they remain refreshing today.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Beauty, Beauty in the Catholic Liturgy, Catholic Youth Choirs, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger Liturgy, Pope Benedict XVI Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

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

“Oh, the happy choir director who is hired to start work on a brand new choir, or who walks into his first rehearsal a total stranger to the existing group—what a fortunate man he is! The new choir director who is a former member of the choir, or a member of the congregation, or the nephew of the alto soloist, or a former altar boy, or otherwise well acquainted with the choir, is in for a few headaches.”

— Paul Hume (1956)

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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.

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