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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

Basking in Beauty’s Glow

Fr. David Friel · March 1, 2015

NE OF MY FAVORITE subjects for consideration on this blog is beauty. I would like to turn to this theme again today, since the readings & orations for Mass today relate to the topic.

In the Transfiguration, Jesus appears in all His radiant beauty. He reveals Himself to his closest friends, allowing them to see the splendor that He customarily reserves from sight. Bishop Sheen once shared a great insight concerning the radiance of the Transfiguration: “It was not so much a light that was shining from without as the beauty of the Godhead that shone from within. . . . Divinity shone through humanity.” 1

This is what so often happens—beauty shines through humanity, by God’s grace.

Upon seeing our Lord transfigured on Mount Tabor, Peter says, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here!” He then suggests the building of three tents, so as to prolong the experience.

So often, Peter’s impulse here is disparaged. Scripture scholars make a big deal of how petulant Peter can be. Preachers take up the theme of how “you can’t stay on the mountaintop.” All of that has its value. But, viewed another way, isn’t Peter’s impulse perfectly natural? We desire quite intuitively, after all, to be in the presence of beauty. Once we are in beauty’s presence, why should it be judged unreasonable to want to remain there?

Peter’s desire that the Transfiguration be prolonged is a wholesome longing. We all share similar experiences, every time we attend a concert that we hope will never end or when we stall our departure so as to sneak in extra time visiting with nieces or nephews or grandkids. Beauty begets within our hearts a desire for further exposure to that beauty.

True beauty inspires within us a hunger for more, a longing for time spent beholding the beauty. This pondering is the essence of contemplation, and it’s a quality I admire in St. Peter.

One of the gifts of the third edition of the Roman Missal is its inclusion of solemn Prayers over the People for each day of Lent. The prayer of blessing appointed for the Second Sunday of Lent is an eloquent reflection of the beauty surrounding the Transfiguration:

Bless Your faithful, we pray, O Lord, with a blessing that endures for ever, and keep them faithful to the Gospel of Your Only Begotten Son, so that they may always desire and at last attain that glory whose beauty He showed in His own Body, to the amazement of His Apostles.

The beauty of our transfigured Lord did, indeed, inspire “amazement” in the Apostles. May the glory of the Lord elicit a similar “amazement” in each of us!




NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Fulton J. Sheen, Life of Christ (Garden City, NY: Image Books, 1977), 158-9.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Beauty, Bishop Fulton J Sheen, Roman Missal Third Edition 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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President’s Corner

    Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
    The 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM was a transitional missal. It was on its way to becoming the 1970 version, but wasn’t there yet. It eliminated certain duplications, downplayed the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, expanded the role of laymen, minimized the Last Gospel, made many items optional, and so forth. Father Valentine Young spotted many typos in the 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM, especially incorrect accents. The Offertory Antiphon for this coming Sunday (OF kalendar) contains an error, citing the wrong verse from Psalm 118. It should be 118:107b, not 118:154. If you read verse 154, you’ll understand how that error crept in. [In this particular case, the error pre-dates the 1962 Missal, since the 1940s hand-missal by Father Lasance also gets it wrong.]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 26 October 2025, which is the 30th 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 top-notch feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Little Encouragement?
    In the Gospel, our Savior tells about 10 lepers who were healed. Only one went back to give thanks. Precious few express gratitude, yet many have endless energy to complain. For that reason, I deeply appreciate receiving messages like the following, which arrived a few days ago (about the parish where I direct in Michigan): “Last Sunday, a couple I knew from Grand Rapids was at Mass at 10:00 a.m. I got a chance to talk to them after Mass. I wanted to let you know what they said about the choir. They were absolutely floored by our sound!!!!! They both said they could continuously listen to our choir and the beauty of it. They asked me: “Do you always sound like that?” And they were also very surprised at how packed the church was. They said it was nice for them to be in such a full church. I just thought you would be interested to know their thoughts about our choir.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Pope Francis breaks Catholic traditions whenever he wants because he is free from disordered attachments. Our Church has indeed entered a new phase: with the advent of this first Jesuit pope, it is openly ruled by an individual rather than by the authority of Scripture alone or even its own dictates of tradition plus Scripture.”

— Fr. Thomas Rosica (31 July 2018)

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  • “Our Father” • Musical Setting?

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