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Views from the Choir Loft

Pray (At Least) As Much As You Practice

Daniel Tucker · February 19, 2023

HE SEASON OF LENT will soon be upon us, during which we make extra time to devote to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. As musicians, we are well aware that certain “seasons” of our professional life – or of our calendar year – also demand extra time spent at the keyboard, or in front of the choir, or studying scores. For many of us, the self-discipline required to hone our musical craft through daily practice has become second nature. But I propose that we take the opportunity this Lent to transfer that same sense of self-discipline to honing (or rather, to letting God hone by grace) our interior lives.

Lately, I have been reading Dom Chautard’s The Soul of the Apostolate, a book that I would consider required reading for anyone who works in parish ministry. The central thrust of the book is reminiscent of that old Latin adage, nemo dat quod non habet – “you can’t give what you don’t have.” As parish musicians, our fundamental aim is to be conduits of that grace which God wants to lavish on the souls of His children through the beauty of liturgical music and the sacred liturgy. Dom Chautard, following St. Bernard of Clairvaux, challenges us not merely to be channels but to be reservoirs of this grace. Not to be “running on fumes,” as it were, but to be pouring ourselves out to our choristers and our parishioners and our co-workers from the overflow of grace that God pours into us through prayer. He writes:

“Is there anyone who does not know St. Bernard’s saying, to apostles: ‘If you are wise, you will be reservoirs and not channels’?…The channels let the water flow away, and do not retain a drop. But the reservoir is first filled, and then, without emptying itself, pours out its overflow, which is ever renewed, over the fields which it waters. How many there are devoted to works, who are never anything but channels, and retain nothing for themselves, but remain dry while trying to pass on life-giving grace to souls! ‘We have many channels in the Church today,’ St. Bernard added, sadly, ‘but very few reservoirs.’…As a mother cannot suckle her child except in so far as she feeds herself, so [the ministers of the Church] must first assimilate the substance with which they are later to feed the children of the Church…The interior life alone can transform divine truth and charity in us to a truly life-giving nourishment for others.”

My challenge to myself this Lent – and one which I propose to you, dear reader – is that I pray at least as much as I practice. If an hour at the keyboard is an hour well-spent, how much more an hour of silent prayer before Our Lord present in the Most Blessed Sacrament? If fifteen minutes of score study is a productive use of my time, how much more a daily rosary for the intentions of my family and friends? If ten dollars for lunch in the midst of a busy workday is money well-spent, how much more could be gained from skipping that meal and giving ten dollars as a stipend to have Mass offered for the holy souls in purgatory? And so on…

May God who, in His mercy, gives us both the grace to pray in the first place and then, in accordance with His will, the grace of answered prayers, pour these graces into our hearts with reckless abandon, so that we can be overflowing oases of His grace in a world so desperately in need of it.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: February 19, 2023

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About Daniel Tucker

Daniel Tucker is the Director of Liturgical Music & Organist at the Cathedral of St. Matthew in South Bend, IN. He holds degrees in music and religion from Western Michigan University and Yale University.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    William Byrd • Simple “Agnus Dei” Canon
    Time flies! Back in July, I posted a PDF setting of a perfect canon by William Byrd (d. 1623) arranged as an AGNUS DEI for three voices. Last Sunday, we sang that arrangement with our volunteer choir. To hear a ‘live’ recording of it, click here (Mp3). In my humble opinion, this would be a perfect piece for a choir just beginning to experiment with polyphony.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Glory To God” • (For Choir + Congregation)
    I wish to thank everyone for the nice comments I received vis-à-vis my Glory To God setting for Choir & Congregation. A gentleman with a musical doctorate from Indiana University wrote: “Love this setting so much. And I will pray, as you asked, for your return to composition more fully. You are very very good.” A female choir director wrote: “I love your harmonizations, your musicality, and the wonderful interplay you have with dissonance and consonance in your music. So fun to listen to, and great for intellect, heart, and soul!” A young woman from California wrote: “Thank you for releasing your new Glory To God in honor of Saint Noel Chabanel. I'm enjoying reading through the various parts and listening to your recordings.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    William Byrd • “Mass for Five Voices”
    Our volunteer choir is learning the “Sanctus” from William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices. You can hear a short excerpt (recorded last Sunday) but please ignore the sound of babies crying: Mp3 recording. We still have work to do—but we’re on the right track. Once we have some of the tuning issues fixed, I desire to use it as an example proving volunteers can sing complicated polyphony. — One of our volunteer choirs also sang that SANCTUS on 24 September 2023, and you can listen to how that came out.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“By no means would I offer the counsel that Mass be celebrated in languages other than Latin.”

— Archbishop Dwyer (one of the Vatican II fathers)

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