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Views from the Choir Loft

Showing Off During Mass

Aurelio Porfiri · January 20, 2015

440 John Vianney Mass Quote LEASE CONSIDER WITH ME the following scenarios: your doctor is curing a health problem for you and he demonstrates good medical skills, but you’re unhappy about that; your driver shows his ability to drive you properly, but that drives you crazy; the teacher of your children is so excellent it makes you insane…

Yes, you think there is something wrong here: it’s you.

Now, these apparently nonsensical situations are very common in one field: church music. It happens, quite frequently, that if the choir is singing well or in polyphony there is always the frustrated person that feels compelled to comment that they are showing off. Of course sometimes people show off, but going from one extreme to the other is not the right solution: IN MEDIO STAT VIRTUS (“virtue stands in the middle”).

We know that the choir also has to help the congregation to join in some parts of the Mass. But please ponder that carefully. “Also” is not “only,” but “also.” However the real problem here does not deal with liturgy, but rather with insecurities and frustrations of people raising this kind of objection. Where we should praise God for showing His greatness through the work of dedicated choirs, there are some who would rather take pleasure in having the whole world matching their level of mediocrity.

We need to know that it is good to resist to these ways of falling down to mediocrity. The American writer Scott Alexander says it very well: “All good is hard. All evil is easy. Dying, losing, cheating, and mediocrity is easy. Stay away from easy.” When people talk to me about lowering standards to meet the needs of the people, it is like wanting to help the poor by being sure to remain poor.

Many years ago I had a spiritual director that gave me a lesson that I have never forgotten: beware of the evilness of mediocre people. I came to realize that mediocrity is possibly the worst sin, because it’s the mother and father of many other sins. When we make ourselves beautiful for God, in our singing, painting, preaching and so on, we are doing what we would do for someone we truly love. We give our best for God, like the widow of the Gospel, giving little when you only have little, giving more when you have more. God is not a lover deserving to be loved with cheap stuff.

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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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).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Far from dreading an encounter with the Iroquois, Fr. Garnier often told us he would be quite content to fall into their hands and remain their prisoner if—while they were torturing him—he at least had a chance of instructing them as long as his torments lasted. If they allowed him to live, it would afford him a golden opportunity to work for their conversion, which was now impossible, since the gateway to their country was closed as long as they were our enemies.

— Father Ragueneau (Jesuit Relations)

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