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Views from the Choir Loft

Family Life and the Sacred Liturgy

Dr. Lucas Tappan · April 4, 2017

LMT Von Trapp Family Advent Wreath NE OF MY FAVORITE little tomes to pull off the shelf on a somewhat regular basis is Around the Year with the Trapp Family by Maria von Trapp. Whenever our family stands upon the threshold of a new liturgical season my wife and I look for ways to bring the Faith alive at home for our children (especially through music), which usually means connecting our home life to the liturgical life of the Church, and this easy-to-read book provides us with ideas-a-plenty. Last Sunday was no exception, especially after our oldest son noticed the statues and crucifixes in church draped in violet to mark the beginning of Passiontide.

For those of you who have never read this book, I encourage you to do so. Baroness von Trapp wrote the book in 1955 when the Liturgical Movement weighed heavily upon the minds and hearts of many in the Church, accompanied by a sincere desire to reawaken in men a love and appreciation for the Church’s Sacred Liturgy and its power to bear spiritual fruit in the lives of Her faithful. Maria’s family hailed from a country where, and an era when, God and the Sacred Liturgy were still the center of personal, familial and even national life, where the saving work of Christ in the Sacraments spilled copiously into everyday life. The Baroness’s work is simply her attempt to share with readers how her family lived its Catholic Faith, inspired by the Sacred Liturgy. While the customs she described might have been Austrian in flavor, she rightly noted they were Catholic in origin, and therefore didn’t necessarily belong to one nation or peoples.

I mention this book for several reasons today. First, I have often written how important it is for the family to sing at home, and how the Church’s music helps to form the faith of one’s children. Here one can read about a concrete example of this within a particular family. Secondly, I mention the book because I am somewhat envious of a family that had its own chapel (my wife and I are working on that), wherein our Lord resided in the Blessed Sacrament (my wife and I doubt that will ever happen), as well as a priest living with them for 25 years!

I am particularly struck by the Baroness’ love for the Church’s Liturgy. She wrote,“We always consider this the greatest honor for us, the singing family, the greatest reward for all the trouble that goes along with life in public, that we can sing for all the Divine Offices in church” (speaking of the Liturgies in Holy Week). The small parish church in Stowe, VT, where the family eventually settled, was fortunate indeed to hear the family sing the Office of Tenebrae on Wednesday of Holy Week. According to the authoress, the family sang the psalms of the first nocturne of Matins to their respective tones, while the antiphons were sung to Gregorian chant, Palestrina, Lassus and Victoria. The psalms of the second and third nocturnes were sung recto tono, while the family’s chaplain, Msgr. Franz Wasner and two of the von Trapp sons sang all of the lessons. Then followed the Office of Lauds.

I can’t imagine my family playing such an intimate role in the awesome ceremonies of Holy Week, but I am sure it made an awesome impression on the von Trapps. Obviously this is out of the reach of most families, but what if your family were to begin singing the great Passion Chorale, O Sacred Head Surrounded, each evening at the end of supper? Perhaps your family could include the opening line of the Reproaches in your night prayers as part of an examination of conscience or recited David’s great penitential psalm, the Miserere meus. If your children are fortunate enough to hear these in your parish they will make the connection between the Sacred Liturgy and everyday life. When they are weighed down by sin or perhaps far from the Lord (God forbid), they can call to mind the mercy of God and with David recite:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy. And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity. Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin… To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness: and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.

Here’s a video of the family singing for your enjoyment—definitely not music from Holy Week!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Maria von Trapp Last Updated: February 28, 2024

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About Dr. Lucas Tappan

Dr. Lucas Tappan is a conductor and organist whose specialty is working with children. He lives in Kansas with his wife and four children.—(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

A priest celebrating the Mass “ad orientem” is no more turning his back on the people than a teacher leading her students in the “Pledge of Allegiance” is slighting them by turning her back on them and facing the flag with them.

— Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone (6 April 2025)

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