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Views from the Choir Loft

The Sequences as Popular Works of Liturgical Creativity

Fr. David Friel · May 28, 2017

HE SEQUENCES of the Roman Rite have been a special interest of mine for several years. Their historical development, poetic composition, and liturgical codification are among the numerous facets of the sequentiarium that one can explore. The sequences are also among the most interesting musical aspects of the Mass, and they are especially notable for their charming piety.

About a year ago, I posted a Mini History of the Sequences that sketches the broad outline of how the sequences first came to be, how they proliferated, and how they were eventually curtailed.

I have written a new article in this month’s Adoremus Bulletin that presents a more detailed account of the sequences’ history and their importance within the Roman Rite. The fundamental assertion of the article is that the sequences are examples of authentic liturgical creativity. Born from within the liturgy, itself, the genre of the sequence came into being organically and was allowed to flourish.

The article takes a close look at the four sequences codified in Missale Romanum 1570 and the one added to the missal in the 18th century:

Victimae paschali — Easter

Veni Sancte Spiritus — Pentecost

Lauda Sion — Corpus Christi

Dies irae — Requiem

Stabat mater — Our Lady of Sorrows (added in 1727)

The full article is freely available on the Adoremus website: Liturgically Creative Writing: Popular Development of the Sequences in the Missale Romanum.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Adoremus Bulletin, Liturgical Sequences Last Updated: October 10, 2021

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book

If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Liberalism in religion is the doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion, but that one creed is as good as another… It teaches that all are to be tolerated, for all are matters of opinion. Revealed religion is not a truth, but a sentiment and a taste; not an objective fact, not miraculous; and it is the right of each individual to make it say just what strikes his fancy. […] Men may go to Protestant Churches and to Catholic, may get good from both and belong to neither.”

— Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman (May of 1879)

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