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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

The Real Reason We Sing

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · November 8, 2017

4015 Alfred Calabrese OST PEOPLE join a church choir because they love to sing sacred music. Some love the chance to sing chant or Renaissance polyphony, some love the chance to sing in extra things like concerts or during the Christmas season, some sing because they have their favorite pieces and they know that eventually the choir will get around to singing it again. There are several other reasons why people join choirs and they’re all good reasons. But sometimes it’s important to remind choirs the real reason we are doing what we’re doing.

Last Thursday we had the opportunity to sing for the first ever Requiem Mass for All Souls in our parish. We hired an orchestra, and for the propers sang the Fauré Requiem (with movements shifted appropriately). I constructed a catafalque, someone sewed a black pall, our priest wore a beautiful black vestment, we used the altar bells at the epiclesis and elevations (which has not happened here for years), and we had lots and lots of incense. It was a beautiful and seminal moment in the life of this parish. The choir loved doing it, but I felt that I needed to remind them that apart from the good feeling they got about themselves for being part of this, there was a bigger reason to consider.

Below is the letter I wrote to them following the Mass.

Dear Choir,

Thursday night was wonderful and I’m proud of your hard work and commitment. Like anything else, live renderings have their strengths and weaknesses and we can talk about all of that another time. But I’d like to bring a perspective to what we did, and why.

Q. Was it great fun to sing the Fauré Requiem? Of course.

Q. Was it neat to see the black vestments and black draped catafalque? Yes.

Q. Was it a cool to hear the altar bells rung during the Mass? You bet.

All of that is great and gives us reasons to love doing this. But here is what is really important. We, the Church, are the custodians of the good, the true, and the beautiful. What’s true is beautiful and what’s beautiful is true. The ars celebrandi (the way Mass is celebrated) is directly related to the idea of lex orandi, lex credendi (what we pray is what we believe).

Bells, smells, Latin texts, chants, beautiful vestments, reverent gestures, formal traditions, are more than just cool, neat, warm memories of days gone by. The art of the church in all its forms brings us out of the everyday culture and places us nearer to heaven. The Mass is truly the near-collision of earth and heaven, as close as we can get without actually piercing the veil.

We, as liturgical musicians, are caretakers of the most important of the sacred arts, and it should at all times be good, true, and beautiful. In a culture that is absent of beauty, when noise is all around us, when goodness is an unknown quantity, when ugliness and iconoclasm reign supreme in our architecture, when the secular has replaced the sacred, then what we did is important. Not because we are good, but because it is good.

I will always consider myself an academic, a teacher. And so you, by default, are a teaching choir, teaching those gathered in our church what the deposit of the faith is all about. The spiritual effect is immense and yet unknown. We may never know the fruits of it. But we know it is good, and true, and beautiful.

God bless,

Al

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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About Dr. Alfred Calabrese

Dr. Alfred Calabrese is Director of Music and Liturgy at St. Rita Catholic Church in Dallas, TX. He and his wife have two children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Equal Voices” Choir Pieces
    My colleague, CORRINNE MAY, has posted some delightful compositions for equal voices: that is, choirs consisting of all men or all women. Included there are settings of the “Ave Maria” and “Tantum Ergo.” They strike me as relatively simple and not excessively lengthy. (In other words, within reach of volunteer singers.) Even better, all the scores have been made available as instant PDF downloads, completely free of charge. Bravo!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
    The 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM was a transitional missal. It was on its way to becoming the 1970 version, but wasn’t there yet. It eliminated certain duplications, downplayed the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, expanded the role of laymen, minimized the Last Gospel, made many items optional, and so forth. Father Valentine Young spotted many typos in the 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM, especially incorrect accents. The Offertory Antiphon for this coming Sunday (OF kalendar) contains an error, citing the wrong verse from Psalm 118. It should be 118:107b, not 118:154. If you read verse 154, you’ll understand how that error crept in. [In this particular case, the error pre-dates the 1962 Missal, since the 1940s hand-missal by Father Lasance also gets it wrong.]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 26 October 2025, which is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the top-notch feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The Pope is not an absolute monarch whose thoughts and desires are law. On the contrary: the Pope’s ministry is a guarantee of obedience to Christ and to his Word. He must not proclaim his own ideas, but rather constantly bind himself and the Church to obedience to God’s Word, in the face of every attempt to adapt it or water it down, and every form of opportunism.”

— ‘His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI (11 May 2005)’

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