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“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Throwing Away Our Birthright of Beauty

Fr. David Friel · May 3, 2020

ESTERDAY, the Church celebrated the feast of Saint Athanasius (c. 296-298 to 373), the exemplary bishop of Alexandria who proved himself not only a faithful and long-suffering shepherd to his people, but also a distinguished theologian.

He authored the remarkable “festal letters,” which make for good reading during Paschaltide.

The title of this post, however, is drawn from his treatise De incarnatione Verbi (“On the Incarnation of the Word,” PG 25:95-198), which might first seem a better fit for Christmastide. I would nevertheless like to reflect on this striking turn of phrase, which caught my attention because of its reference to beauty.

Athanasius begins this work (available here) with a defense of Christian belief in creation ex nihilo. Against the teachings of the Epicureans and Plato and the Gnostics, he argues that the infinite God created the universe not from pre-existent matter, but rather brought it into being “out of nothing and out of non-existence absolute and utter.” 1

He goes on to describe God’s intention in placing Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Still in chapter one of the treatise, Athanasius writes this:

He set them in His own paradise, and laid upon them a single prohibition. If they guarded the grace and retained the loveliness of their original innocence, then the life of paradise should be theirs, without sorrow, pain or care, and after it the assurance of immortality in heaven. But if they went astray and became vile, throwing away their birthright of beauty, then they would come under the natural law of death and live no longer in paradise, but, dying outside of it, continue in death and in corruption. 2

Notice first that, for Athanasius, the “life of paradise” is not some life hereafter, but rather life on earth in perfect accord with God’s will. Note, also, that this ideal life is what he characterizes as humanity’s “birthright of beauty.” We “throw away” this birthright by sin.

Later in the chapter, Athanasius writes that, by turning from eternal things to corruptible things, our first parents surrendered “the beauty of innocence with which they were created.” 3

What first struck me about these texts is the correspondence Athanasius sees between beauty and holiness of life. We have often written about beauty on Views from the Choir Loft, mostly from an artistic or aesthetic perspective. This great fourth-century bishop invites us to contemplate beauty from different angles, as 1) one of God’s original gifts, 2) the state of harmony with God, and 3) a quality of life in paradise.

May all Christians, during this Paschaltide, resolve not to throw away this birthright, but rather live in the beauty of innocence for which we were created!


NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Saint Athanasius, De incarnatione Verbi, no. 3, available from Christian Classics Ethereal Library online: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/athanasius/incarnation.ii.html.

2   Saint Athanasius, De incarnatione Verbi, no. 3, available from Christian Classics Ethereal Library online: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/athanasius/incarnation.ii.html.

3   Saint Athanasius, De incarnatione Verbi, no. 5, available from Christian Classics Ethereal Library online: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/athanasius/incarnation.ii.html.

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: May 3, 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

    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. However, on the feasts website, the chants have been posted for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), which is this coming Sunday: 6 July 2025.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —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

“Life need not mean something. Life is something. And what is it? It is: —the present moment (the only one I really have); —my body and soul; —the task at hand; Almighty God, (source of everything) asks just one thing: that I put my body and my soul into this one moment, this one task … that I might do it as God desires it to be done.”

— Based on an article by Robert Keim

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