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Views from the Choir Loft

It is Finished

Andrew Leung · April 6, 2017

CTL It is Finished EING A SEMINARIAN requires me to offer my whole self to God and the Church, which also means that I don’t always get to do what I like. I definitely don’t get as much opportunities and time to get involved in church music as I used to. But because of this change, I learned to be thankful for each opportunity and I pray more intensely every time I sing.

During this season of Lent, I have been reflecting on the last words of our crucified Lord, “It is finished”. These very last words of Christ show his complete humility and obedience to God the Father.

From a human perspective, one should be very proud after knowing that he has saved many lives. And one would probably proudly look at the result, the numbers and the outcome of his works and sacrifice. However, our Lord chose to conclude his sacrifice with “It is finished”, and this is true humility.

For us, musicians, humility is not an easy virtue to obtain. We are taught to be confident, strong, not to stop and not to apologize after playing a wrong note. And we are always pursuing and striving for beauty and perfection. Humility, of course, doesn’t conflict with the above. Sacred music makes us realize the greatness of God and help us to stay humble before Him, who is the source of all beauty and perfection.

Christ’s last words are a great lesson on humility. They show the right attitude that a church musician should have as he serves. May the Lord help us not to focus on our success, glory and the words of praise from others; but help us to conclude every Mass and postlude with: “It is finished.”

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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Andrew Leung

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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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

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For the most part, a “good pope” is defined as someone who does what the critic would do if he were pope.

— William F. Buckley Jr. (6 September 1978)

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