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Views from the Choir Loft

Coming to Church on Time

Veronica Brandt · September 12, 2015

Peter's Watch Pastel on fabric by Peter Brandt 2014 OMEONE ASKED ME how I get to church on time with a family. I thought this would be a great idea for an easy post here – what could be simpler?

I know there are many, many things that hold up a family getting to Mass on time. I know it’s always just as you buckle up the car seat that the baby does that enormous poo that you’ve been expecting for a week, and then you find your 8 year old son is wearing trousers meant for someone half his size and you just remembered that bag of clothes you said you’d bring for that family. There are many possibilities that can set you back a good half hour in the mornings.

There’s also the illusion that Sunday is a day of rest. Now, I know it is a day of rest in the proper sense, but in practice it is a day requiring effort and diligence like any other day. This can be hard if you’ve been going out to work every day this week and you would like just one morning to sleep in. Or if your partner has been up early every morning this week and you would like just one morning when he or she can lend a hand making breakfast and getting the kids ready. The reccurrence of the word “just” should ring alarm bells here.

Firstly, I don’t get to the church on time – at least, not when I hope to get there. I hope to get there an hour before Mass starts in order to get the music ready, and we’re usually twenty minutes late. But twenty minutes late for being an hour early is still forty minutes before Mass starts.

My kids kick a ball around to burn off some energy. About 10-15 minutes before Mass we round them up and settle into the pews, ready for Mass. And then people start arriving.

That hour before Mass would be an ideal time to practise the music. Anyone complaining about music after Mass would be better off getting there before Mass and lending a hand. Possibly coming along for a Thursday night practice would be better still.

So, how to get to church on time?

It’s just like arriving late, except you do it an hour earlier. Say Mass is at 10am – tell everyone we’re going to get there at 9am and work towards that. If there is dissension, then sweeten the deal with something for after Mass – Sunday is a great day for having fancy food.

An hour seems like a long time. What will I do all that time?

You can spend some time just like you do after Mass – talking outside, buying raffle tickets in the Maternal Heart Car Raffle, finding out if there are any particular differences about Mass today, see if anyone needs help setting up. You can even go into the church and pray!

But the chances of actually arriving with a whole hour to spare are so slim that I wouldn’t worry about that at all. Just pick your target, take aim and enjoy having time to get settled in the church before Mass starts.




PICTURE CREDITS:

*   The picture is one of my husband’s drawings with prints, posters and postcards available via redbubble

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Children at Mass Last Updated: July 4, 2020

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

Alabama Assessment!

We received this evaluation of Symposium 2022 from an Alabama participant:

“Oh, how the Symposium echoed the words of Cardinal Merry Del Val: …choosing only what is most conformed to Thy glory, which is my final aim. In one short and fast paced week, the faculty and attendees showed me the hand of God and our Lady working in our lives. The wide range of education—from Gregorian Chant, jazz modes in organ improvisation, to ‘staying sane’ while leading a choir—were certainly first-class knowledge from the best teachers of the art. However, the most powerful lesson was learning how to pray as a choir. The sacrifice of putting songs together, taking time to learn the sacred text, meditating on the church teaching through the chants, and gaining the virtues required to persevere in these duties were not only qualities of a choir but of a saint. The sanctification of the lives of the attendees was a beautiful outcome of this event … and that in itself is worth more than a beautifully-sung Solesmes style chant!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
PDF Download • Trinity Sunday (22 pages)

Feel free to download this Organ Accompaniment Booklet for Trinity Sunday (Second Vespers). Notice how the modes progress by number. Psalm 1 is mode 1; Psalm 2 is mode 2; Psalm 3 is mode 3; Psalm 4 is mode 4; Psalm 5 is mode 5. I am told by an expert that other feasts (such as Corpus Christi) are likewise organized by mode, and it’s called a “numerical office.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
10 June 2022 • “Official” rhythm of plainsong

I continue to search for the most beautiful way to present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores. (Technically, the “pure” rhythm of the official edition is what everyone is supposed to use.) You can download my latest attempt, which is the Introit for this coming Sunday: Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Because this is not an ancient feast, the Introit had to be adapted (perhaps around 750AD). Prior Johner says the adaptation is “not an entirely happy one.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Only against this background, of the effective denial of the authority of Trent, can one understand the bitterness of the struggle against allowing the celebration of Mass according to the 1962 Missal after the liturgical reform. The possibility of so celebrating constitutes the strongest, and thus (for them) the most intolerable contradiction of the opinion of those who believe that the faith in the Eucharist, as formulated by Trent, has lost its validity.”

— Cardinal Ratzinger, 2001

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