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Views from the Choir Loft

When the Liturgy Astounds • The Fire of Divine Love

Richard J. Clark · March 11, 2016

Y HEART IS bursting with love for my children, sometimes to a degree that it is painful. This may not be rational. But it goes with the lifetime of worry for the wellbeing of one’s child. But more interestingly, it is a love so great that I find the intensity of such emotion to be too great at times.

If God feels this way about us, we cannot conceive of what things he has in store for us. It is difficult for us to imagine that we are even worthy of such love. Oculus non vidit…

This is what the liturgy does. It is designed to receive all of our emotions from grief and loneliness to a heart bursting—or yearning for love. God has placed this yearning within us, something so well expressed in Divine Worship. The liturgy has the ability to astound us.

Here is an example from the Third Sunday of Lent (Year A and for those celebrating the First Scrutiny):

“For when he asked the Samaritan woman for water to drink,
He had already created the gift of faith within her
And so ardently did he thirst for her faith, that he kindled in her the fire of divine love.”

I found these words to be jaw dropping—utterly astounding. What Jesus did for the Samaritan woman, he does for us. He wants us to have faith and helps us to the ends of the earth to have this faith.

This is a time of intense preparation for church musicians. It is difficult to be spiritually present at all times because of great attention to detail. But we are mindful that preparation itself is prayer. That preparation is an act of great love. It is a fire of Divine Love that God has placed within us.

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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Richard J. Clark

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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Quick Thoughts

19 January 2021 • Confusion over feasts

For several months, we have discussed the complicated history of the various Christmas feasts: the Baptism of the Lord, the feast of the Holy Family, the Epiphany, and so forth. During a discussion, someone questioned my assertion that in some places Christmas had been part of the Epiphany. As time went on, of course, the Epiphany came to represent only three “manifestations” (Magi, Cana, Baptism), but this is not something rigid. For example, if you look at this “Capital E” from the feast of the Epiphany circa 1350AD, you can see it portrays not three mysteries but four—including PHAGIPHANIA when Our Lord fed the 5,000. In any event, anyone who wants proof the Epiphany used to include Christmas can read this passage from Dom Prosper Guéranger.

—Jeff Ostrowski
6 January 2021 • Anglicans on Plainsong

A book published by Anglicans in 1965 has this to say about Abbat Pothier’s Editio Vaticana, the musical edition reproduced by books such as the LIBER USUALIS (Solesmes Abbey): “No performing edition of the music of the Eucharistic Psalmody can afford to ignore the evidence of the current official edition of the Latin Graduale, which is no mere reproduction of a local or partial tradition, but a CENTO resulting from an extended study and comparison of a host of manuscripts gathered from many places. Thus the musical text of the Graduale possesses a measure of authority which cannot lightly be disregarded.” They are absolutely correct.

—Jeff Ostrowski
2 January 2021 • Temptation

When I see idiotic statements made on the internet, I go nuts. When I see heretics promoted by people who should know better, I get angry. Learning to ignore such items is difficult—very difficult. I try to remember the words of Fr. Valentine Young: “Do what God places in front of you each day.” When I am honest, I don’t believe God wants me to dwell on errors and idiocy; there’s nothing I can do about that. During 2021, I will strive to do a better job following the advice of Fr. Valentine.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“After the Second Vatican Council, the impression arose that the pope really could do anything in liturgical matters, especially if he were acting on the mandate of an ecumenical council. Eventually, the idea of the givenness of the liturgy, the fact that one cannot do with it what one will, faded from the public consciousness of the West.”

— Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

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