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Views from the Choir Loft

As the Tension Grows

Richard J. Clark · March 18, 2016

GREAT BLESSING of daily Mass is the continuity from one Sunday to the next. Especially as each major season comes to a close, there are premonitions of the Feast and season to come. This is true as Ordinary Time approaches Advent. It is clearly obvious during Advent. Furthermore, the end of the Easter Season brings frequent reminders that Jesus will send another Advocate.

As Holy Week approaches, the tension is palpable. Each reading from John’s Gospel this past week foretells what is to come. It is no longer a secret that many want to kill Him. Many challenge Him. Meanwhile, Jesus speaks with authority of the relationship with His Father: “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father has taught me.” (John 8:28)

John’s Gospel then continues: “Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in Him.” However, the converse is also true: Because he spoke this way, many sought to kill Him.

Jesus redeems us all, suffering as one who is fully human, and fully vulnerable. Likewise, the blood of martyrs continues to spill today in our world. In a recent statement honoring the “Martyrs of Charity”, the USCCB describes that because they lived this way—the way of divine mercy—these four Sisters of Charity were put to death. The statement begins:

“Caring for the aging and dying is an act of love and mercy. Giving totally of oneself to serve the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters is an act of courageous faith. Thus, it is always a great sorrow when such acts of mercy lead to martyrdom.”

You can read the full statement here.

What we celebrate during Holy Week is not only a reminder of what Jesus suffered, it is a reminder that our Redeemer lives today as witnessed by the suffering of so many.

As the tension in the world grows, so does our faith, so does Jesus’ active presence in our lives. So must our sung prayer be that much more directed toward Jesus and His Father who sent him.

Soli Deo gloria

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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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
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Nothing should be allowed that is unworthy of divine worship, nothing that is obviously profane or unfit to express the inner, sacred power of prayer. Nothing odd or unusual is allowable, since such things, far from fostering devotion in the praying community, rather shock and upset it—and impede the proper and rightful cultivation of a devotion faithful to tradition.

— Pope Paul VI • 10/13/1966

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