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“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Improving the Liturgy

Fr. David Friel · September 18, 2016

HE LAST 150 years or so have been a very significant period as regards the sacred liturgy. Throughout that time, a Liturgical Movement has been afoot, striving to improve the manner and quality of our worship.

But how does one “improve” the liturgy? What does it even mean to speak about improving public worship?

Consider this perspective from the liturgical scholar, Robert Taft, SJ:

For over a century now the Christian Churches, first of the West, then also of the East, have been preoccupied with liturgical renewal, under the influence of what is known as “The Liturgical Movement,” a worldwide effort dedicated to making Christian liturgy better. But good liturgy is liturgy that glorifies God and sanctifies those glorifying him, and that is his gift to us, not ours to him. For we can glorify God only by accepting the unmerited gift of sanctification he freely gives us. If it is God who does it, how could it be better? It could be better from our side, for we too have a part in the liturgy, which is neither magic nor unconscious. So God’s part would better achieve its aim if we would drink more fully from the saving waters he offers us in the liturgy via a participation that would be more active, more conscious, more communal. 1

A similar outlook is encapsulated in a reflection by Pope Benedict XVI on the Regensburg tradition and the reform of the liturgy. The Pope Emeritus writes this:

Liturgy presupposes . . . that the heavens have been opened; only if this is the case is there liturgy at all. If the heavens are not open, then whatever liturgy was is reduced to role playing and, in the end, to a trivial pursuit of congregational self-fulfillment in which nothing really happens. The decisive factor, therefore, is the primacy of Christology. Liturgy is God’s work, or it does not exist at all. With this “first” of God and of his action, which looks for us in earthly signs, the universality of all liturgy and its universal public nature are given. . . . By opening up the heavens, [Christ] is also the one who does away with all earthly limitations.” 2

We can look back upon the last century and a half and evaluate the progress of the Liturgical Movement in the light of these two reflections, which place primacy on the action of God at work in the liturgy. In this process of evaluation, it would be easy to identity both strengths and weaknesses.

Looking forward, though, is always more of a challenge. What is the present course of the liturgical movement? What steps are we taking to better “our side” of the liturgy, as Taft calls it? In what ways are we striving to drink more fully from “God’s part”? In what ways is the Liturgical Movement making us more aware of God’s action of opening the heavens to us in the liturgy?

One encouraging sign is that proper liturgical formation is receiving greater emphasis in seminaries and among the laity. Surely, this should be one of the most important areas of concentration in any effort to renew the liturgy.

Another equally important dimension of the way forward is the need to return to the writings and vision of the leaders of the Liturgical Movement over the last century. We must become more familiar with such figures as Pope Pius X, Romano Guardini, Lambert Beauduin, Louis Bouyer, and Pope Benedict XVI, among many others. Doing so will ground us more deeply in the vision expressed in the two quotes above.

The era of Summorum Pontificum is still relatively young, and its impact has not yet fully unraveled. Sorting out the tensions caused by it (and by Anglicanorum Coetibus) will surely be a major part of the way forward in the Liturgical Movement.

Perhaps a wider understanding of “organic development” as it applies to sacred liturgy is a goal for which we might also hope. More systematic treatments of this topic would surely be welcome.

What other features or priorities do you envision for the future of the Liturgical Movement? Please feel free to comment with your thoughts.

Instaurare omnia in Christo




NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Robert F. Taft, S.J., Through Their Own Eyes: Liturgy as the Byzantines Saw It (Berkeley, CA: InterOrthodox Press, 2006), 1.

2   Joseph Ratzinger, “The Regensburg Tradition and the Reform of the Liturgy,” in Collected Works: Theology of the Liturgy, vol. 11 (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 2014), 466-467.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Authentic Liturgical Renewal Reform, His Holiness Pope Pius X Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —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
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    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

The People’s Hymnal suffers from a too literal and awkward translation. And even in the lovely Slovak “Memorare” in The Saint Gregory Hymnal we are still asked to sing “that anyone who sought thee, or made to thee his moan.” Why not “groan” or “bone” or even “phone?” The only thing necessary, it seems, is that it rhyme with “known.”

— Mons. Francis P. Schmitt (1958)

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