• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • Our Team
  • Catholic Hymnal
  • Jogues Missal
  • Site Map
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

What can Men Do Against such Reckless Hate?

Andrew Leung · November 19, 2015

CTL France AST FRIDAY, I served as a Straw Subdeacon at a Solemn High Mass for the first time. It was a wonderful and prayerful experience! One of the servers informed us that a tragic attack happened in Paris during our prayerful Mass. I was shocked and very sad when I heard the news. It wasn’t the news I expected hear after a beautiful Mass. All I did was pray for those souls as I take off my vestments.

Fr. Michael Gossett, parochial vicar at my parish, quoted the second Lord of the Rings movie at Sunday Mass. He quoted King Theoden of Rohan and Aragon:

Theoden: What can men do against such reckless hate?

Aragorn: Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them.

These lines are from the conversation of the two characters as they face their enemies, who are attacking them not for their wealth nor land, but just wanting to destroy the world of men. We are facing a similar situation today. While most of us are not going to be the ones riding out to meet the enemies physically, we can all pray harder. That is what we do as followers of Christ.

We need to pray for the repose of the souls of those who were killed in the attack; for recovery and healing for those who are injured; for the families of the victims; for the leaders of the nations and those who are defending us physically from the enemies; for the conversion of our enemies and the grace of forgiveness; etc.

This is what the famous American conductor, Leonard Bernstein, said after the assassination of President Kennedy:

“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”

That is what we, musicians, can do in response to violence and hate.

CTL France 2 HERE WILL BE a Sung Requiem Mass according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite this Saturday at 8am at the historical St. Peter Church in downtown Steubenville, OH. Fr. Timothy Huffman, the pastor of St. Peter, will be offering this Mass for Souls in purgatory, especially for those who lose their lives in the Paris attack. Yours truly will be directing a choir formed by students of the Franciscan University of Steubenville. The repertoire will include traditional Gregorian chants for the Requiem Mass, excerpts of the Missa Pro defunctis (1583) by Tomás Luis de Victoria and pieces by Palestrina and Fauré.

May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe to the CCW Mailing List

Andrew Leung

About Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

4 March 2021 • Can you spare 15 seconds?

Due to Covid-19, California has basically been under “lock down” for 11 months, and these restrictions have had quite a detrimental effect on our choral programs. We are frequently limited to just 2-3 singers, on account of regulations by the government and our Archdiocese. However, although the number of singers is quite small, I was struck by the beauty of the singing last Sunday. Listen to this 15-second live excerpt and see if you agree?

—Jeff Ostrowski
3 March 2021 • “A policeman” — really?

According to Monsignor Frederick R. McManus, there were “policemen” serving the Sanhedrin in the time of Our Blessed Lord. Look at this awful translation in the 1966 “Saint Andrew Bible Missal” from 1966. Yuck!

—Jeff Ostrowski
Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“So, as in delirium a man talks in a long-forgotten tongue, now—when her heart is rent—the Catholic Church drops twenty centuries without an effort, and speaks as she spoke underground in Rome, and in Paul’s hired house, and in Crete and Alexandria and Jerusalem.”

— A non-Catholic describing the “Hagios O Theos” of Good Friday in 1906

Recent Posts

  • A Beautiful Lenten Hymn • “How It Sounds”
  • Two Recent Talks on the Liturgy
  • 4 March 2021 • Can you spare 15 seconds?
  • Now Online! • “Missale Romanum” (1615 edition)
  • “Ash Wednesday” • Banned by YouTube after 93,000 Views!

Copyright © 2021 Corpus Christi Watershed · Charles Garnier on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.