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Views from the Choir Loft

Parish Lenten Programs • 15 Suggestions

Fr. David Friel · March 6, 2016

ANY PARISHES spend a great deal of time and energy planning their Lenten program for the year. More often than not, this planning resorts to creative ways of spicing up the Sunday liturgical celebrations.

By all means, it is good for parishes to offer extra opportunities during Lent: additional Bible studies, group almsgiving initiatives, adult faith formation series, special opportunities for performing the Works of Mercy, etc. These are all good and wonderful.

Liturgically, however, the Church already has a “Lenten program,” and it is better than anything a liturgy committee can or will come up with. The truth is that we don’t have to “plan” anything special for our Lenten liturgies; we simply need to “prepare” the liturgies as they are laid out in the liturgical books.

What does the Church’s liturgical “Lenten program” look like? In no specific order:

1. No flowers in the sanctuary and simpler altar cloths

2. Withholding of the Gloria and Alleluia

3. No instrumental music & use of the organ only to support the singing

4. Violet vestments

5. Rose vestments, along with moderate use of flowers & instrumental music, to mark the special significance of Laetare Sunday

6. Offer extra times for Confessions

7. Veiling of statues & images throughout Passiontide

8. Special devotions, such as the Stations of the Cross

9. Public recitation of the Divine Office during the Sacred Triduum

10. Tenebrae services

11. Exercising the option to read the Sunday Gospels from Year A in all three years of the Lectionary cycle

12. Use of the solemn entrance during the principal Mass on Palm Sunday

13. Silencing of the bells and use of the strepitus during the Sacred Triduum

14. Careful celebration of the Sacred Triduum liturgies according to the rubrics and the Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts

15. Use of the Prayers Over the People appointed for the final blessing each day at Mass

There are probably other items that could be added to this list. The point is this: simply adhering to the tradition of the Church in these matters would be a wonderful Lenten program for every parish.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Holy Week, Liturgy Wars, Passing on Tradition Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

No concession should ever be made for the singing of the Exsultet, in whole or in part, in the vernacular.

— ‘Fr. Augustin Bea, S.J. in the years immediately before the Second Vatican Council’

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