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Views from the Choir Loft

Orient toward prayer. Orient toward gratitude.

Richard J. Clark · December 11, 2015

ROUBLE LIES in most attempts to change others’ minds and win them over to a specific point of view. Discussions on liturgy and sacred music are rife with such tension. Few convert from one paradigm to the other on the power of words alone.

Furthermore, there are even disagreements over minutia. As the saying goes, put three experts on Gregorian Chant in a room and you’ll have three different ways of singing Gregorian Chant. (But, I think this is a good thing.) The liturgy is so rich in history, tradition, and practice, much left wide open that human nature likes to pick apart as a matter of taste or opinion. This invites trouble.

Regardless of paradigm, personal philosophy and opinion that are more about us than about God require internal recalibration. To do so is both simple and abundantly necessary: Orient ourselves toward prayer.

For example, we may not convince anyone that Gregorian Chant, Renaissance Polyphony, or singing the Mass, etc. is an ideal more worthy than another. But we can all understand that music must orient itself towards reverence and prayer. Do so, and metanoia will take place.

Perhaps not all at once. And perhaps not to the extent that we all now share the same ideas, practices, and preferences. But calibrating our music towards prayerfulness is an essential start. Even then, there is a lot of work to do.

To ask if music is prayerful at Mass is in fact a very fair question. Regardless of the style, is the music being filtered through reverence? Does the music point toward God or toward the musicians? Is the Word at the center of the music? Or is it abundant with sentimentality and bereft of theology?

Does the choir lead the people by example in prayer? This is a more than fair question. It is an essential one. We can talk about the propers and Gregorian Chant later.

NOTHER ESSENTIAL RECALIBRATION is to orient oneself towards gratitude. It is easy to complain about liturgy and sacred music. It is the work of service and the work of a lifetime. Gratitude is an essential component.

With each passing year, I find more to be grateful for. At this point, it is a very long list, and perhaps I am blessed. But I am also grateful for the struggle and for suffering which perhaps has refined my outlook making me that much more grateful for wonderful people around me, for the sacraments, and for the ability to have these discussions in the first place.

I am grateful to be alive and to see God in so many people. There is unspeakable suffering in the world, close to home and far away. But through even small suffering, may we be more grateful. May we be more prayerful. May we gain a sense of awe and wonder—to grasp a sense of the ineffable beauty God works in our lives.

As a result we can only bow in reverence to our loving God.

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

Filed Under: Articles 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

    PDF • “For the Season of Pentecost”
    During the season of Pentecost, you might consider using this 2-page Piece “for the season of Pentecost.” Rehearsal videos are available at #40691, but the lyrics are different. Therefore, make sure your choir members understand that one can rehearse songs that have different lyrics (“CONTRAFACT”).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • (This Coming Sunday)
    Our volunteer choir appreciates training videos, so here's my attempt at recording “Exáudi Dómine Vocem Meam,” which is the INTROIT for this coming Sunday. This coming Sunday is Dominica Post Ascensionem (“Sunday after the feast of the Ascension”). It is sung according to the official rhythm of the Catholic Church.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Volunteer Choir Attempts “Kýrie Eléison”
    My volunteer choir attempted the polyphonic KYRIE that will be sung at this year's Sacred Music Symposium. If you're interested, you can listen to the live recording from last Sunday. The piece is based on the ancient plainchant hymn melody: Ave Maris Stella. Polyphony like this is truly intricate and wonderful. It reminds me of the quote by Artur Schnabel: “music that's greater than it can be performed.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“There are no hymns, in this sense, till the fourth century; they were not admitted to the Roman office till the twelfth. No Eastern rite to this day knows this kind of hymn. Indeed, in our Roman rite we still have the archaic offices of the last days of Holy Week and of the Easter octave, which—just because they are archaic—have no hymns.”

— Adrian Fortescue (25 March 1916)

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