Transcript Abbot Clement’s Talk on Monday, 13 May 2002
Today I would like to talk about why do we sing? And of course what we sing. Well the real reason we sing of course is that the church asks us to do so. And we’re obedient. But beside that reason, which is a good enough one, the tradition has shown us that this is expressive of the whole stance of the Christian. And it’s summed up rather well, I think, in the words of St. Augustine who said, " we need Confessio Laudis, Confessio Fidei, and Confessio Peccatorum." I say it in Latin because I like the word confessio it means to be a confessor, to be one who can stand and profess the truth of a faith just short of martyrdom. So we’re white martyrs when we stand in choir and we sing even if some of us sound like frogs! It’s ok.
Confessio Laudis, of course, means that we are aware of the supreme dignity of God and all his attributes and it just flows out of us. Now sometimes of course we think that that has to be loud and so on, it really doesn’t have to be but if one is present to the revelation of God then praise is normal, it flows. And you can think of any particular feast in which you are touched it just comes out. Recently we were giving the course on the book of Revelation, I mean book of Genesis, and it’s amazing how many authors talk about comparing Genesis I with Revelations 5 where John is describing how God is praised for the whole of creation. Worthy is the Lord, the creator, of wisdom, power, glory and so on. And of course they take the crowns and throw them at the foot of the altar, the throne.
Second one, of course, is fidei, that is the truths of faith. I’m sure all of us have our own songs that kind of express the season or the mystery. And of course the mysteries work with creation, redemption and sanctification. But. you know, it just catches you and says, "this is the feast and victory for our God," and boom you’re ready to celebrate Easter. And it just comes out. And the hymn is so powerfully expressive of the victory of redemption. Then the one that I think we find easiest to sing and pray about is Confessio Peccatorum. That is, if we’re really in touch with the mystery of God’s mercy toward us and our own sinfulness then this should be easy for us to sing out. "Kyrie eleison." And should really come from the heart the depth and there’s all kinds of expressions of that in the different hymns that Michael provides for us and also Paschal. But you know the problem with singing is that we don’t always feel up to it. And too often we’re no different than the world and we think we always have to "feel" things. But it really is a mission. God deserves to be praised. And so our stance in singing we have to remember that we fulfill a two fold purpose. That is we have our own particular authenticity before the Lord and then we have the authenticity that’s expressed in the text which far surpasses our capacity. Thank God because that’s exactly what is the point. God is worthy of infinite praise and for us to be able to express that perfectly it’s impossible. So we have to be generous when we come to choir. We have to be willing to understand our mission and give the praise and the confession that God deserves with all our heart, where our treasure is that’s where our loves are and that’s where the expression should come from. However, we can be sure, insofar as we are baptized into Christ, insofar as we receive the Spirit, in the power of the Church, that is the church supplies, for what is lacking to us. And we know this to some degree. Remember when the catholic station was in Cleveland, and we had done a number of vespers and Compline, how many times people would say they tuned the station in and they just prayed along with us. And so, we have a very important mission. It is impossible for us to fulfill it . But if you really even slightly aware of God’s presence and the mystery He wants to reveal to us then our response has to be confession of praise, confession of faith and a confession of our sinfulness praising His mercy.