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Views from the Choir Loft

Just Released! • 2019 Pastoral Letter on Sacred Music (Archbishop Sample)

Richard J. Clark · January 25, 2019

RCHBISHOP ALEXANDER K. SAMPLE has just released a new pastoral letter on sacred music for Portland, Oregon. His Excellency freely admits that much of it was based on his previous letter released while bishop of Marquette, Michigan “since the values and ideas it promoted are both universal and enduring and are as valid today as they were then.”

      * *  (2019 Pastoral Letter) • Sing to the LORD a New Song

Notably he states:

“This is an important discussion to have, since so often the music selected for Mass is reduced to a matter of subjective “taste,” i.e. what style of music appeals to this or that person or group, as if there were no objective principles to be followed. There are indeed objective principles worthy of study and proper implementation…”

And he acknowledges the great effort of pastoral musicians and the challenge of change:

“…it must be acknowledged that pastoral musicians have labored long and hard in the wake of the Second Vatican Council to help accomplish the Council’s goals as it concerns the renewal of the Sacred Liturgy, especially the Mass. Indeed, many have made it their lives’ work to provide music for the Sacred Liturgy. The Church, including both clergy and laity, is grateful beyond words for their dedication and service…Although much of what follows may contravene the formation that many have experienced over recent years, this is in no way to be interpreted as a criticism of those dedicated church musicians who have offered their service with a generous heart and with good will.”

ESPITE ITS TITLE, notable is that Archbishop Sample states little of anything that is new. That is precisely his intention. His aim is catechesis for the sake of renewal. He bluntly states:

“Every pastor and music director has a serious responsibility to read and become familiar with the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council and the Church’s teaching documents on the liturgy and sacred music.”

Furthermore, one need go no further than 2007 US Bishops’ document Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship (STTL) to find parallels in Sample’s letter.

At times he evokes Pius X’s 1903 Motu Proprio on sacred music, Tra le Sollecitudini. (Pius X is not to be dismissed as a Pre-Vatican II relic; few are aware that he was was the catalyst for Vatican II reforms in music. He is even specifically named in Section VI on Sacred Music in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. (see §112) To understand Vatican II reforms on sacred music — and hence this letter — is to understand Pius X.)

Archbishop Sample also reminds us of Pius X’s outline of three qualities necessary for Sacred Music: sanctity, beauty, and universality. John Paul II reaffirmed this a century later.

ON GREGORIAN CHANT SAMPLE STATES:

“Given all of this strong teaching from the Popes, the Second Vatican Council, and the U.S. Bishops, how is it that this ideal concerning Gregorian chant has not been realized in the Church? Far from enjoying a pride of place in the Church’s Sacred Liturgy, one rarely if ever hears Gregorian chant. This is a situation which must be rectified. It will require great effort and serious catechesis for the clergy and faithful, but Gregorian chant must be introduced more widely as a normal part of the Mass. Some practical steps toward this are outlined in the Guidelines section of this pastoral letter.”

Furthermore, he notes the subtle but important distinction of “preparing the liturgy”, not “planning” it. He highlights the practice of singing the Mass, something not new here, but quite familiar from Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship (SttL). Also echoing SttL and the GIRM, Sample outlines the priorities of what to sing at Mass, i.e., Dialogues and acclamations, the propers, psalms, and hymn/songs. These priorities come as quite a surprise to many.

INTRIGUING IS A vocalized concern for proper pay, i.e. “economic justice,” for musicians:

”Pastors should see that musicians and those who direct them have opportunities for continuing education and authentic liturgical formation through agencies and events approved by the Archbishop. In accord with the Church’s teaching on economic justice, pastors are to ensure that those who direct sacred music in the parish receive just compensation for their time and skills, commensurate with their experience and level of training.”

F THERE IS LITTLE NEW here, why bother? The wisdom that brought us Vatican II is worthy of a new look. While universal wisdom does not change, we do. That is what Archbishop Sample is banking on.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Archbishop Alexander K Sample Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
    EVIN ALLEN was commissioned by Sacred Music Symposium 2025 to compose a polyphonic ‘middle section’ for the GLORIA from Mass III, often denoted by its trope name: Missa Kyrie Deus sempiterne. This year, I’m traveling from Singapore to serve on the symposium faculty. I will be conducting Palestrina’s ‘Ave Maria’ as well as teaching plainsong to the men. A few days ago, I was asked to record rehearsal videos for this beautiful polyphonic extension. (See below.) This polyphonic composition fits ‘inside’ GLORIA III. That is, the congregation sings for the beginning and end, but the choir alone adds polyphony to the middle. The easiest way to understand how everything fits together is by examining this congregational insert. You may download the score, generously made available to the whole world—free of charge—by CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED:
    *  PDF Download • Gloria III ‘Middle Section’ (Kevin Allen)
    Free rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #24366. Related News • My colleague, Jeff Ostrowski, composed an organ accompaniment for this same GLORIA a few months ago. Obviously, the organist should drop out when the polyphony is being sung.
    —Corrinne May
    “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
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    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
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

“Of course, the new [Easter Vigil] liturgy has greatly streamlined the symbology. But the exaggerated simplification has removed elements that used to have quite a hold on the mindset of the faithful. […] Is this Easter Vigil liturgy definitive?”

— Paul VI to Virgilio Noè (10 April 1971)

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