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Views from the Choir Loft

Repetition at the School Mass: “Do it again!”

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · January 30, 2018

90542 Christ Saves HAVE written before about the pedagogical components of the all-school Mass and how to prepare for it. One of the things, it seems, that confronts those responsible for the music for these Masses is the constant cry for variety. This commentary comes almost exclusively from adults, for whom monotony is anathema. All sorts of interesting bits of advice come one’s way, such as, ‘change the music every week or they’ll get bored,’ or ‘make it more fun,’ or ‘they won’t pay attention if you do the same things.’ But listen to what Chesterton had to say about children and repetition:

“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”
― G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy


Building up a reliable core of good, solid, orthodox music is not only important as a catechetical tool, but clearly helps with the idea of participatio actuosa. Any congregation—especially one composed primarily of children—feels more comfortable with things that they know, and if they grow to love them, they will rejoice in their repetition. The same holds true for the ars celebrandi of the school Mass. When priests try to entertain, when they try to win over their audience at the expense of the liturgy, and when they see their role as your best friend instead of in persona Christi, they do no one any favors.

A gentle and flowing stream runs its same, monotonous and joyful course day by day and year by year. It’s a beautiful thing. And over these days and years it smooths and polishes the river rocks in its bed so that they become perfected, like gems. So too the Mass, if it remains true and on course, will flow over these children, honing and polishing them to become beautiful and shining Christians.

So stay the course. Develop a strong core of excellent music and build a school repertoire. Perhaps a seasonal psalm on a month-by-month basis will work for you. Or choose just a few Mass settings, assigning each to a liturgical season, and put them in rotation. Repeat Entrance or Communion hymns once every three weeks or so. And don’t be discouraged. If something you’ve chosen doesn’t go well, don’t scrap it—try it again, and again, and see what happens. Some people might complain that you’re being formulaic or lazy. But just think of daisies, and don’t get tired of making them.

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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Dr. Alfred Calabrese

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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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

Random Quote

“In my capacity as the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, I continue to remind all that the celebration toward the East (versus orientem) is authorized by the rubrics of the missal, which specify the moments when the celebrant must turn toward the people. A particular authorization is, therefore, not needed to celebrate Mass facing the Lord.”

— ‘Robert Cardinal Sarah, 23 May 2016’

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