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Views from the Choir Loft

World Meeting of Families 2015 & the Papal Visit to Philadelphia — Part 2 of 2

Fr. David Friel · October 18, 2015

T HAS BEEN one month since the World Meeting of Families began here in Philadelphia. Last week, I shared some behind-the-scenes photos of the events. This week, as promised, I will share with you the final words of admonition from Msgr. Marini before the papal Masses began.

Several months of planning go into a papal liturgy, particularly when it is to be celebrated abroad during an Apostolic journey. The first plans for the recent liturgies in Washington D.C., New York, and Philadelphia were presented to Msgr. Marini’s office in the spring. In early September, Marini and several assistants travelled to each city to see the various places that would be used for the liturgies and to make necessary changes. Then, during the week of the Holy Father’s visit, several more practices were held before each liturgy, each time resulting in further adjustments and refinements.

Msgr. Guido Marini serves as the chief Master of Ceremonies for liturgical celebrations in the presence of the Holy Father. There are also eight additional MC’s who assist with papal liturgies. Among them, Msgr. Marini is known as “the Maestro.” Accompanying Marini on the visit to Cuba and the USA were Msgr. Vincenzo Peroni and Msgr. John Cihak.

Before the large papal Masses in the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul and on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Msgr. Marini met briefly with the seminarian servers and deacons in the sacristy to offer some final reflections before the start of the liturgies. As the MC working with the deacons, I had the opportunity to listen in to the Maestro’s final encouragement. The fervorino was similar both days, with Marini speaking in Italian as Msgr. Cihak translated into English. What follows are not direct quotes, but a good paraphrase of the three major points made by Marini:

1. We are preparing in a few moments to enter into the sacred liturgy. At this particular Mass, we will also be in the presence of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, which can cause us to be nervous. But I encourage you to enter into this Mass with a spirit of humility and faith. In many ways, the world looks upon the Holy Father as just another celebrity, no different from great athletes and rockstars and other famous personages. But that is not how we, as people of faith, look upon him. The Holy Father is the successor of Saint Peter, the Vicar of Christ on earth. When the Holy Father speaks, he speaks for God, and so we listen with what St. Paul calls “the obedience of faith.” It is a great honor to be in the presence of Peter and an even greater honor to serve the liturgy.

2. The sacred liturgy is much like the scene of the burning bush. You remember how in the Book of Exodus, the Lord reveals Himself through a bush that is flaming, yet not consumed. That image is a symbol of God’s self-revelation, His personal manifestation of Himself to mankind. This happens also in the sacred liturgy. God reveals Himself to us so that we might come to know Him and love Him more deeply.

3. There is another passage in Exodus that teaches us about the meaning of the liturgy. In Exodus 34, Moses goes before the Lord, face-to-face. Upon returning to the people, Moses face is seen to be radiant. It is still filled with the fullness of God’s light. It is shining with the splendor of God, which Moses had experienced in a moment of privileged encounter. This is what happens in the sacred liturgy. We should serve the liturgy (and leave the liturgy) with a certain radiance. It should stir up within us a deep, interior joy—not an ebullient joy that attracts attention to itself, but the sort of joy that humbly reflects upon the favors received from God.

These reflections are profound in themselves. What struck me most about them, though, was not their actual content, but their spirit. With moments to go before the beginning of very large, high-profile Masses, the focus of Msgr. Marini’s remarks was not on practical details. In fact, his focus was entirely impractical and spiritual. Having attended to so many practical details in the months & days & hours leading up to these liturgies, the papal MC challenged each of us to go deeper and to experience the sacred liturgy in the same way Moses experienced the burning bush. He used these moments not as a time for reminders and corrections, but as a time for prayer and spiritual encouragement.

Sacred musicians, sacristans, MC’s, and so many others who take part in preparing liturgies at the parish level could learn from Msgr. Marini’s good example. Let’s put forth our best efforts and be diligent in all of our preparations, for sure. When we enter the sacred liturgy, however, remember that the essence of what we do remains a spiritual reality.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Msgr Guido Marini, Pope Francis 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

    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for Pentecost Sunday (8 June 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. Because our choir is on break this week, the music is relatively simple.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Truly Great Processional” • (Pipe Organ)
    I stumbled upon this live recording of a PROCESSIONAL I played on the pipe organ in 2002. It’s an excerpt from a much longer composition by Sebastian Bach. In those days, there weren’t sophisticated recording devices allowing one “fix” wrong notes. (Perhaps they existed, but we didn’t have machines like that.) So it was necessary to play the entire piece from beginning to end. If you’re a church organist, feel free to download the PDF score. I suppose it’s only a matter of time until some joker uses “artificial intelligence” to play music at church … but there’s something so satisfying about playing an organ in real life.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    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
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

“The only really effective apologia for Christianity comes down to two arguments: namely, the _saints_ the Church has produced and the _art_ which has grown in her womb.”

— Josef Cardinal Ratzinger (Interview, 1985)

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