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Views from the Choir Loft

Dancing on the Edge with Truth and Beauty

Richard J. Clark · June 5, 2015

EAUTY IS TRUTH. And truth is beautiful even when difficult. The Gospel message is both Truth and Beauty and sometimes very difficult and challenging. Yet it delivers liberation, peace, and mercy—beautiful truths that may take a lifetime to understand, if ever.

So, the Mass, our greatest prayer, is incontrovertibly a messenger of Truth. United in the Eucharist, we commemorate Christ’s Death and Resurrection through which we are set free. As such, the Mass demands beauty because beauty conveys truth—the very truth proclaimed by the Gospel.

Another difficult reality, is that beauty and truth are rarely appreciated. Quite the contrary, they are a cause of fear and panic in many. Try fostering beauty and substantive theology in a parish music program, and one will often find oneself on the defensive. Proclaim the truths of our faith, in light of mercy and forgiveness, and one quickly may become a pariah.

LTHOUGH NOT NEW, the news of John Romeri’s resignation form the Office of Liturgical Music in Philadelphia is now getting much attention. There has been great speculation regarding the nature of the differences with the archbishop, and I doubt Mr. Romeri will ever reveal any specifics. However, amidst the drama, it is the last line in Mr. Romeri’s resignation letter wrote that struck like a thunderbolt:

“I encourage you to make music at the highest levels possible in your parishes. Our people deserve it and our God is worthy of the highest forms of praise.”

This is true and it is beautiful. Most beautiful, in that it is clear that we are servants of God, the liturgy, and the people. Such a person of humility and skill is ideally who we want leading prayer through music. The robustness of the music program at the Cathedral Basilica is witness to his work; no less his previous work at the Cathedral in St. Louis. By their fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7:16)

IT SEEMS WE ARE OFTEN DANCING ON THE EDGE. Do we uphold truth or do we compromise? Yet many of us face the daily reality of survival. One false move on the tightrope, and we find ourselves falling.

But beauty is what gives us hope to persevere through difficulty. Through beauty we praise God and we see His face. Furthermore, the truth of the Gospel is that God loves us more than we will ever comprehend.

Oremus pro invicem
Let us pray for each other. Support each other. We truly need it.

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 Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

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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

“The sun’s disc did not remain immobile. This was not the sparkling of a heavenly body, for it spun round on itself in a mad whirl, when suddenly a clamor was heard from all the people. The sun, whirling, seemed to loosen itself from the firmament and advance threateningly upon the earth as if to crush us with its huge fiery weight. The sensation during those moments was terrible.”

— ‘Dr. Almeida Garrett, professor of natural sciences at the University of Coimbra (1917)’

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