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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF • “Spiritual Mass Plan for Church Organists”

Keven Smith · February 16, 2021

MUST THANK MY Corpus Christi Watershed colleague, Fr. David Friel, for his article last summer, “Bishop Sheen on Sanctifying the Moment.” Not only did he provide many helpful quotes from Bishop Sheen, but he also recommended the great prelate’s book, Calvary and the Mass.

I finally got a copy of the book and read it last week. It’s fantastic. It’s not a step-by-step explanation of the words or actions of the Mass, but rather a sort of spiritual game plan for maintaining the right kind of recollection at each part of the Mass.

Source: gospelimages.com

The book focuses on the Seven Last Words of Christ and links each of these words to a part of the Extraordinary Form Mass:

  • Confiteor: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34)
  • Offertory: Amen I say to you, this day you shall be with me in Paradise (Luke 23:43)
  • Sanctus: Woman, behold your son….behold your mother (John 19:26-27)
  • Consecration: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (Matthew 27:46)
  • Communion: I thirst! (Matthew 27:46)
  • Ite Missa Est: It is finished. (John 19:30)
  • Last Gospel: Father, into Your hands I commend My Spirit. (Luke 23:46)

As a Catholic, I was immediately eager to apply this book to the very next Mass I attended. As a Church musician (specifically, a choir director increasingly pressed into organ duties), I also wanted to apply this book to the Masses I play.

Playing the organ at Mass is a privilege and a joy. But as I’ve discussed here before, one of the challenges is to stay recollected—to be at Mass, and not just play at Mass. You play a bit, pray a bit, play a bit. You’re constantly jumping back and forth between your hand missal and the organ bench. And I don’t want to give up and say, “Well, if I’m playing five Sunday Masses, I only have to be prayerful at the first one to fulfill my obligation.” What a recipe for spiritual mediocrity!

One thing that has helped me immensely is the concept of “praying the organ.” Simply put, you improvise on the Gregorian chant and try to pray the text mentally as you’re playing. It’s a profoundly spiritual experience, and the results are audible to the congregation. Do it convincingly, and you might hear people tell you, “The music was very prayerful today.”

Even so, it’s hard to switch gears between praying the chant and returning to the missal. So Bishop Sheen’s book seemed to be an ideal way to tie together those stretches in between propers and make the Mass seem more cohesive for me when I’m playing.

Over the weekend, I used the book to put together a Low Mass Plan for Organists. This plan helps me integrate the Seven Last Words into my habit of praying the propers while I play them.

*  PDF Download • Mass Plan for Organists

I share this document not with any sense of authority, but as a starting point for your customization. (I think this plan can work for the Ordinary Form, too, but that’s not my bailiwick.) You’ll notice that the plan calls for nothing but improvisation. I know minimal repertoire, and I love to improvise on the chant propers. But you’ll do as you like.

You’ll also notice that this is a very bare-bones document. I include the text of the Seven Last Words, but you’ll want to read Bishop Sheen’s book to put meat on those bones.

My initial results? I used this Mass Plan in my five low Masses yesterday. As always, by the time the 7:00 PM Mass rolled around, it was challenging to keep my mind prayerful because I’m human. But I did better than usual. I found that each of these brief Last Words “anchored” me to each part of the Mass and kept me from overthinking how my playing was going or what I was about to play next.

Also, I had always understood that Mass is a re-presentation of Calvary. But this book drives the point home in an especially poignant way. You’ll excuse me if I never play in major tonality again. (I’m half-joking.)

In the Extraordinary Form, the organ will soon go silent for most of Lent. But I look forward to using this Mass Plan (with continued refinement) on Laetare Sunday as well as on the handful of feast days that permit organ. Many thanks to Fr. Friel, and of course, to Bishop Sheen.

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

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Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Tagged With: organ Last Updated: February 16, 2021

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About Keven Smith

Keven Smith, music director at St. Stephen the First Martyr, lives in Sacramento with his wife and five musical children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    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
    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    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

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

What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.

— Pope Benedict XVI, Letter accompanying “Summorum Pontificum” (7/7/07)

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