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Views from the Choir Loft

Holy Week — A Week of Love

Andrew Leung · March 17, 2016

CTL-Love-Your-Choir HIS IS THE BUSIEST WEEK I have had since I began my pastoral year in October. I have never had so many appointments in a week! I also had an intense week last year around this time. The fifth week of Lent is always a crazy week for music directors: meetings with priests and others who are assisting in the liturgies, finishing up the worship aids for the congregation, figuring out the logistics for the complicated liturgies, making sure that choir members know the “call time” for the liturgies, fitting in time to learn and practice music, etc.

But Passiontide is not just a busy time; it is the time to pray more deeply and reflect on the love of God. The Paschal Mystery is the mystery of love. Out of love, God sacrificed His Son to redeem us. This is the time when we practice charity in response to God’s love for us. My favorite saint, Josemaría Escrivá, wrote:

In the Holy Sacrifice of the altar, the priest takes up the Body of our God, and the Chalice containing his Blood, and raises them above all the things of the earth, saying: Per Ipsum, et cum Ipso, et in Ipso — through My Love, with My Love, in My Love! Unite yourself to the action of the priest. Or rather, make that act of the priest a part of your life. (The Forge, 541)

This is a time when we are called to love God and to love our neighbors more deeply. As church musicians, we show our love through singing to God and uniting ourselves with the priest in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We should make every note a prayer to God, and we should not forget to set aside time in this busy week to speak to God privately.

How can we love our neighbor? St. Paul makes it clear: “Love is patient, love is kind” (1 Cor 13:4). We love our neighbor when we are prepared and punctual and give our best during rehearsals and liturgies. And we are loving when we are patient and kind to our fellow musicians when they make mistakes or we disagree. That’s how we can love one another.

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a blessed Holy Week and share a piece by Aurelio Porfiri. Maestro Porfiri has set a simple and beautiful melody to the text “Adoramus te, Christe“ (in English) as a refrain. The verses are taken from Isaiah 53, which is rarely seen in a sung form and is a great text to meditate on during this sacred time. This piece can be sung during Lent, Passiontide, on Palm Sunday, Good Friday and the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross.

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 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).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

“These French offices represent a new case of the old tendency towards local modification—which the Council of Trent had meant to repress. They are commonly attributed to Gallican ideas and are supposed to be not free from Jansenist venom. Some of these local French uses survived almost to our own time. They were supplanted by the Roman books in the 19th century, chiefly by the exertions of Dom Prosper Guéranger (d. 1875).”

— Dr. Adrian Fortescue (d. 1923)

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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.

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