• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

We’re a 501(c)3 public charity established in 2006. We have no endowment, no major donors, no savings, and run no advertisements. We exist solely by the generosity of small donors.

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • Ordinary Form Feasts (Sainte-Marie)
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Catechism of Gregorian Rhythm
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
Views from the Choir Loft

It is time. Sacred Song and the Kingdom of God

Richard J. Clark · April 4, 2022

AINT AUGUSTINE’S famous and likely apocryphal quote “He who sings once prays twice” holds universal appeal for its inherent truth regardless of who said it. We do know Saint Augustine stated, “Singing is for the one who loves.” (St. Augustine, Sermo 336, 1 -PL 1844-1855, 38, 1472) Equally truthful, this quote appears in the first page of the US Bishops’ “Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship.” It eloquently distills why we sing: “Singing is a sign of God’s love for us and our love for him.” (SttL §2)

Choirs, musicians, and artists have suffered great loss in the last two years. Countless have persisted creatively and with endless adaptation. Our liturgies have demanded radical adjustments often with little notice. Perhaps there is no better touchstone for the tenacious flexibility of parish musicians than Holy Week of 2022, one different from each of the previous two years. As such, I wish to express great admiration and offer encouragement.

It is time.

MANY CHOIR DIRECTORS — even those with relatively robust choral programs of children and adults — acknowledge the necessary rebuilding process especially with children’s choirs. This challenge is worldwide. A notable director of multiple children’s choirs in Europe told me numbers are down not because people don’t want to sing, but because recruitment and development stopped for over a year while other children aged out of the program. Yet they persist now in performing even if with smaller numbers. This in turn models possibilities, drives recruitment, and offers some foundation upon which to rebuild.

Another prominent choir director in the United States noted the changing habits of families resulting in fewer children singing. Older children often moved on to other non-musical activities. This leaves younger and less experienced singers to take on more responsibility within a smaller ensemble.

The task before you has not not easy!

Of profound concern is changing habits of some that no longer include attending Mass in person or otherwise. Nothing replaces worshiping in the presence of the Real Presence! The consequences are devastating. We are at risk of losing a generation of children uneducated and unacclimated to the sacred and the transcendent — not to mention the impact upon their souls. The children are robbed not only of singing the Lord’s praise, but robbed of their relationship with God inherent in their baptism and intrinsically expressed through sacred music.

It is time.

It is past time.

I have been greatly uplifted in recent months and during the last two years by those creatively keeping the beacon of light of sacred music alive and even thriving. Doing so bolsters us all. Now it is time to rebuild, restart, renew commitment to children’s and adult choirs for the sake of catechesis and evangelization. Have not our liturgies required multiple radical adaptations during the last two years? So may our choirs require adaptation — and creative solutions — in order to persist, survive, and thrive. Many are!

Adapt repertoire. Adapt the use of personnel. Perhaps add adults to assist smaller numbers of children to foster development. Adults and children singing together at times is a very common practice taking myriad forms both formal and informal. It is a practice with history and tradition of well over a millennium. Tenacity amidst challenge fortifies the soul, spirit, and in time elevates art and beauty. My admiration for countless parish choir directors for their tireless efforts is beyond words.

WHY DO WE PERSIST?

It is so easy to give up, to differ, to delay (with every understanding to those who are immunocompromised; my family includes several). Children in particular have lost too much in the last two years. As a father of four I see their struggles; I see their tenacity and that of their friends and classmates. Often the children are wonderful examples to us all.

Matthew 18: 2-3 He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

We persist because when one sings, the Kingdom of God is found not beyond one’s reach, but within your heart. Singing even with smaller numbers is like the mustard seed:

Matthew 13: 31-32 “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’”

We persist because singing is a treasure of inestimable value to be pursued inexorably. It brings us in closer relationship with God and with each other.

Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED, but be joyful! The small or imperfect efforts we make now become the mustard seed that transforms a life forever. The seed you plant may convert one soul or many souls. The seeds you plant may in time save us all. Be joyful. It is time to reclaim our humanity with song. It is past time to reclaim our role in the sung Mass glorifying God and bring our brothers and sisters close to God. Sacred music, a healing balm is needed now more than ever. Music expresses the divine and only music the ineffable.

Sing!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Richard J Clark Last Updated: May 3, 2022

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

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).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    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
    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —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

“During Lent…the use of musical instruments is allowed only so as to support the singing. Nevertheless, Laetare Sunday (the Fourth Sunday of Lent), Solemnities and Feasts are exceptions to this rule.”

— ‘Roman Missal, 3rd Edition (2011)’

Recent Posts

  • Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
  • (Rehearsal Clips) • Sacred Music Symposium 2025
  • Hidden Gem: Ascendit Deus (Dalitz)
  • PDF Download • Soprano Descant — “Hail, Holy Queen Enthroned Above”
  • “Dom Jausions had a skilled hand. His transcriptions are masterpieces of neatness & precision.”

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.

The election of Pope Leo XIV has been exciting, and we’re filled with hope for our apostolate’s future!

But we’re under pressure to transfer our website to a “subscription model.”

We don’t want to do that. We believe our website should remain free to all.

Our president has written the following letter:

President’s Message (dated 30 May 2025)

Are you able to support us?

clock.png

Time's up