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Corpus Christi Watershed

Jesus said to them: “I have come into this world so that a sentence may fall upon it, that those who are blind should see, and those who see should become blind. If you were blind, you would not be guilty. It is because you protest, ‘We can see clearly,’ that you cannot be rid of your guilt.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Richard J. Clark • Article Archive

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. He is also Chapel Organist (Saint Mary’s Chapel) at Boston College. His compositions have been performed worldwide.—Read full biography (with photographs).

Richard J. Clark · October 9, 2015

Digital vs. Pipe Organ • Who Wins?

The debate between digital and pipe organs as been intensified by a collaboration between Sony’s GRAMMY®-nominated artist, Cameron Carpenter and organ builders Marshall & Ogletree. Is it a revolution?

Richard J. Clark · October 2, 2015

Believe. Connect. Disappear.

The older I get, I prepare more not to receive accolades, but to become invisible.

Richard J. Clark · September 18, 2015

Communion Antiphons for Advent • World Library Publications

World Library Publications has published settings of Communion propers for Advent. Listen here to beautiful recordings directed by Paul French.

Richard J. Clark · September 11, 2015

To What Shall We Aspire?

Set the bar high and hold precious our sacred treasury of music.

Richard J. Clark · September 4, 2015

Six Things Of Which We’ve Lost Sight

No. 3: Christ is the center of our music—not us.

Richard J. Clark · August 28, 2015

Frank La Rocca • Contemporary Music for the Sacred Treasury

If you are not familiar with the works of composer Frank La Rocca, you should be. His works move contemporary sacred music towards the realization of Vatican II.

Richard J. Clark · August 14, 2015

Entering the Mainstream Conversation

Will Cardinal Sarah’s recent letter make it into the mainstream conversation?

Richard J. Clark · August 7, 2015

That’s Entertainment, Folks!

Entertainment distracts from the Real Presence. We must lead. We must offer substance. Our spiritual lives depend upon it, as do those whom we serve.

Richard J. Clark · July 31, 2015

Personal Issues Manifested in the Mass

Personal tensions can rise to the highest boiling point during Mass and no other place.
Why is this? As it turns out, there’s a pretty interesting reason.

Richard J. Clark · July 17, 2015

Carpeting Is the Enemy of Congregational Singing

The removal of carpeting is the most effective way to improve many aspects of the liturgy. Externally, what benefits most is congregational singing.

Richard J. Clark · July 10, 2015

Saint Cecilia and an Angel Orazio Gentileschi and Giovanni Lanfranco

As church musicians, what sustains us?

As musicians, what sustains us? Certainly, good music is a requirement. Not just good music, but beauty itself.

Richard J. Clark · July 3, 2015

I Have No Idea How to Solve this Problem

A dilemma for parents that has resurfaced many times is how to manage raising children in the faith while working for the Church, and I have no idea how to solve it.

Richard J. Clark · June 26, 2015

Why It is Truly Right and Just to Sing the Preface

Like the Creed, the Preface is a unique place in the Mass where dogma of the Church is expressed. Furthermore, it expresses thanksgiving for the work of salvation.

Richard J. Clark · June 19, 2015

Bigger Fish to Fry

Weddings, with all of their challenges offer an important chance to evangelize. God calls us to be fishers of women and men. That’s the most important catch of all.

Richard J. Clark · June 12, 2015

BENEDICTA: Marian Chant from Norcia ~ Number 1 on the Billboard Charts

Perhaps the recent commercial success of sacred music is indicative of humanity’s natural hunger for transcendent union with the Divine.

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Common” Responsorial Psalm?
    I try to avoid arguing about liturgical legislation (even with Catholic priests) because it seems like many folks hold certain views—and nothing will persuade them to believe differently. You can show them 100 church documents, but it matters not. They won’t budge. Sometimes I’m confronted by people who insist that “there’s no such thing” as a COMMON RESPONSORIAL PSALM. When that happens, I show them a copy of the official legislation in Latin. I have occasionally prevailed by means of this method.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 5th Sunday of Easter (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 5th Sunday of Easter (18 May 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. The Communion Antiphon was ‘restored’ the 1970 Missale Romanum (a.k.a. MISSALE RECENS) from an obscure martyr’s feast. Our choir is on break this Sunday, so the selections are relatively simple in nature.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Communion Chant (5th Sunday of Easter)
    This coming Sunday—18 May 2025—is the 5th Sunday of Easter, Year C (MISSALE RECENS). The COMMUNION ANTIPHON “Ego Sum Vitis Vera” assigned by the Church is rather interesting, because it comes from a rare martyr’s feast: viz. Saint Vitalis of Milan. It was never part of the EDITIO VATICANA, which is the still the Church’s official edition. As a result, the musical notation had to be printed in the Ordo Cantus Missae, which appeared in 1970.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    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
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

“Oh, the happy choir director who is hired to start work on a brand new choir, or who walks into his first rehearsal a total stranger to the existing group—what a fortunate man he is! The new choir director who is a former member of the choir, or a member of the congregation, or the nephew of the alto soloist, or a former altar boy, or otherwise well acquainted with the choir, is in for a few headaches.”

— Paul Hume (1956)

Recent Posts

  • What No Musicologist Can Explain!
  • “Common” Responsorial Psalm?
  • A Gentleman (Whom I Don’t Know) Approached Me After Mass Yesterday And Said…
  • “For me, Gregorian chant at the Mass was much more consonant with what the Mass truly is…” —Bp. Earl Fernandes
  • “Lindisfarne Gospels” • Created circa 705 A.D.

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