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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

Roger Scruton, Magister Pulchritudinis

Fr. David Friel · January 20, 2020

N MY third year of college seminary, I took an elective class that markedly shaped my worldview. The title of the course was “Aesthetics: Art & Beauty,” and it was taught by our seminary’s long-time, well respected, and deeply loved chair of philosophy, Dr. Atherton Lowry. The class opened my mind to the field of aesthetics, giving me a new vocabulary to describe the experience of beauty. The class challenged me, enlightened me, and convinced me that beauty matters. Beauty—in music, architecture, language, and so many other domains—matters immensely.

Among the many gifts I received from taking that course, one of the greatest was being introduced to the thought of Sir Roger Scruton. Articles and books by Scruton dotted the syllabus so generously that his voice formed the backbone of the course. My interest in his work was immediate. Reading him, I instinctively knew that I was sitting at the feet of someone who was—as his former student, Rabbi Sacks, put it—“bigger than the age.”

Scruton died of cancer earlier this month at age 75. His death has sparked a fitting round of tributes and retrospectives (e.g., here, here, and here).

Nearly two decades after taking that college elective, I had the opportunity to hear Scruton speak in person on an evening that ranks among the highlights of my time at The Catholic University of America. Beauty has continued to be an interest of mine since my first encounters with Scruton’s work, as is evident from my article, Is Beauty Subjective?, and the many previous blog posts I have devoted to the topic.

Scruton had his share of critics, largely due to his championship of political conservatism. Conservatism, for Scruton, is “the instinct . . . we all ultimately share, at least if we’re happy in this world. It’s the instinct to hold on to what we love, to protect it from degradation and violence, and to build our lives around it” (excerpted from this interview). Even his detractors, though, regarded him as an intellectual giant who could speak substantively on a wide array of topics. In some disciplines, he was without a living peer.

There is a difference between music that is technically correct and music that is beautiful, between buildings that are functional and buildings that are noble, between language that is communicative and language that delights. This much even those who may never have read Scruton would likely accept.

But why does beauty matter? Sir Roger Scruton speaks for himself:



May the Lord grant Roger Scruton rest, and may He renew in us an appreciation for that visible form of the good which is beauty.

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

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Beauty Last Updated: January 20, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —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

“Gerard Manley Hopkins once argued that most people drank more liquids than they really needed and bet that he could go without drinking for a week. He persisted until his tongue was black and he collapsed at drill.”

— A biography of Fr. Gerard M. Hopkins (d. 1889)

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