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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

Unveiling the songs of hope: fr Timothy Radcliffe op

Wilfrid Jones · May 2, 2020

We are enormously grateful to fr Timothy Radcliffe op, for permission to publish a translation of part of a talk he gave to the Institut de Pastorale des Dominicains in Montreal, Quebec on the 21st February last year.

One of the most significant thinkers in the Church today, fr Timothy was Master of the Order of Preachers from 1991 to 2001. He has been awarded twelve honorary doctorates (including a DD from Oxford) and the Michael Ramsay prize for theological writing for his seminal text What is the Point of Being a Christian?. He is a consulter to the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace and a fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford.

He begins by recalling a visit he made to war torn Syria in 2015, to a Carmelite monastery close to the ISIS frontlines.

 

ACH TIME that we celebrate the Lord’s supper we come face to face with death. Normally, this truth is hidden in my soul, but in Syria, as we were gathered in the chapel, this truth was unveiled again because there were people four kilometres away who would have taken great pleasure in beheading us… Perhaps this is why the suffering people of Homs truly live the Eucharist with a joy that we don’t always see in the West. The deep meaning of the Eucharist is therefore palpable: it is the covenant of eternal life. So going to mass isn’t a penitential or boring obligation, but the joy of those for whom death has lost its sting. Praying, song and music.

The Gospel of Mark tells us that the Lord’s Passover concluded with the singing of psalms, before he embarked on his Passion. After singing the psalms, He went to the Mount of Olives. This was probably the second part of the Hallel (Psalms 113 to 118) in which we praise the eternal God of love. Jesus confronts death with a song. There, not far from Da’esh [ISIS], we sang. The beauty of their psalms, sung in Arabic, haunts me still. It is thus that we Christian face suffering and death: with song and music. In Februrary 2015, when twenty-one Egyptian Coptic Christians were beheaded on a beach in Libya, they died singing to Jesus.

When one of our [Dominican] brethren is dying, it is our tradition that the whole community gathers around his bed and we sing the Salve Regina. Of course, sometimes a brother might open an eye and ask if we’re not being a bit hasty! I hope that at the hour of my death, the last thing I will hear will be the song of my brothers, probably with wrong notes. There was a brother who taught a lot in Canada, Osmund Lewry. At the age of 54 he was dying of cancer… For Easter all of the community went to his cell to celebrate the Mass of the Resurrection. After communion we sang the Regina Caeli and I went downstairs to search for champagne to celebrate the Resurrection. I said to Osmund “wasn’t the Regina Caeli beautiful?” he replied “yes, I should have died during it.” I replied, “you have no sense of timing!” He said “I was waiting for the champagne”.

I had to leave Jerusalem swiftly to be with my father a few days before he died. I asked him if there was anything I could do for him. He asked me to bring him his Walkman so that he could listen to Mozart’s Requiem and the Seven Last Words by Haydn. Maybe this is a universal reaction and not just Christians who want to have music when facing death.

Tansy Davies’ opera Between Worlds (2015) recreates the destruction of the twin towers in New York on the 9th September 2001. Somepeople were shocked that someone could compose an opera about such a horrible event, but perhaps opera is the only way to confront that brutality. The librettist, Nick Drake, said

“Putting the transforming power of music at the heart of the drama, we thought, might allow us to weigh the tragedy of what happened on 9/11, and yet discover some kind of light in that darkness. Music even seems to have played a role in helping some people on that day. A security guard sang hymns to those descending the stairs, to give them courage. Some relatives, lost for words as they spoke to loved ones on the phone, sang together.”

One day in April 2015, nineteen people were killed by a car bomb in the west of Baghdad. Karim Wasfi, the director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Iraq went to the site of the first explosion with his cello and in the midst of the rubble, he played one of his own compositions titled Baghdad Mourning Melancholy. Afterwards he said “I wanted to show what beauty can be in the ugly face of car bombs, and to respect the souls of the fallen ones”. Since that moment, every time there is an attack in Bahgdad (which is getting rarer thank God), Karim Wasfi goes there and plays music.

I could talk further, for example of the starving people of Leningrad who played Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony when they were assailed by the enemy in World War II.

To sing and make music is part of the ordinary lives of Christians, but for me it’s only in a place of suffering and danger that its profound hope is unveiled.

I wish to pose a question: what are the songs of hope that we are offering to our children here today?

Trans WJ

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

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Father Timothy Radcliffe Last Updated: May 3, 2020

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About Wilfrid Jones

Wilfrid Jones is a PhD student in the theology faculty of the Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, studying the theology and practice of sacred music.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    A Nice Hymn In Spanish
    In my humble opinion, this is a really beautiful hymn in Spanish. If I practice diligently, I’ll be able to pronounce all the words properly. If you’re someone who’s interested in obtaining a melody only version (suitable for your congregational ORDER OF WORSHIP) you can steal that from this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 21st in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir returns on Sunday, 24 August 2025. Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for it, which is the 21st 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 spectacular feasts website. When it comes to the feast of the Assumption (15 August 2025), I have uploaded the music list for that Mass—but not the “bi-lingual” Mass in the evening (Spanish, Latin, and English) which has completely different music.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Entrance Chant” • 21st Sunday Ordin. Time
    You can download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) which is coming up on 24 August 2025. Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. It’s set in a melancholy mode, but if you heard my choir’s female voices singing it your soul would be uplifted beyond belief. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, this morning I tried to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Solemn “Salve Regina” (Chant)
    How many “S” words can you think of using alliteration? How about Schwann Solemn Salve Score? You can download the SOLEMN SALVE REGINA in Gregorian Chant. The notation follows the official rhythm (EDITIO VATICANA). Canon Jules Van Nuffel, choirmaster of the Cathedral of Saint Rumbold, composed this accompaniment for it (although some feel it isn’t his best work).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

Many declare that Vatican Council II brought about a true springtime in the Church. Nevertheless, a growing number of Church leaders see this “springtime” as a rejection, a renunciation of her centuries-old heritage, or even as a radical questioning of her past and Tradition. Political Europe is rebuked for abandoning or denying its Christian roots; but the first to have abandoned her Christian roots and past is indisputably the post-conciliar Catholic Church.

— ‘Pope Francis’ Chief Liturgist (31 March 2017)’

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