Clarence Rufus Joseph Rivers (September 9, 1931 – November 21, 2004) was a Black Catholic priest and well-known composer of liturgical music. His work combined

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

worship with Black Gospel, making him an integral part of the

Black Catholic Movement The Black Catholic Movement (or Black Catholic Revolution) was a movement of African Americans, African-American Catholics in the United States that developed and shaped modern Black Catholicism. From roughly 1968 to the mid-1990s, Black Catholi ...

. He also wrote several books on music and spirituality.

Biography

Early life and education

Rivers was born in Selma, Alabama, but his family moved to

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

when he was young. It was there that he began his study for the priesthood. He did graduate work at Xavier and

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

Universities, as well as the Catholic University of America and L’Institut Catholique de Paris.

Priesthood

Rivers was ordained to the priesthood in 1956 by Archbishop Karl J. Alter. He was first African-American ordained in the

Archdiocese of Cincinnati The Archdiocese of Cincinnati ( la, Archidiœcesis Cincinnatensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese that covers the southwest region of the U.S. state of Ohio, including the greater Cincinnati and Dayton metropolitan ...

, Early after his ordination, he worked at St. Joseph Church, a historically-Black parish in Cincinnati’s West End neighborhood. He also was an English teacher at Purcell High School in the East Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati. He began to gain notoriety for his music during the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

, beginning with his " An American Mass Program," which combined

Gregorian Chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...

with the melodic patterns and rhythms of

Negro Spirituals Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a genre of Christian music that is associated with Black Americans, which merged sub-Saharan African cultural heritage with the ex ...

. (He was influenced in this tradition by Sr Sister Mary Elaine Gentemann, who had composed such a Mass in 1945.) Rivers' most beloved hymn was "God is Love," which he first performed at the first official

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

in the United States after the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

(which had opened the door in

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

for

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

Mass rather than

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

). The song was used as the Communion Hymn during the Mass, which was held during the 1964 National Liturgical Conference in

St Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. It received a 10-minute

standing ovation A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim. In Ancient Rome returning military commanders (such as Marcus Licinius Crassus a ...

. In 1965, Rivers formed a corporation named “Stimuli Incorporated” so that he could “share his gift of Blackness” with other Catholics. He became director of the National Office for Black Catholics' Office of Culture and Worship during the

, and there organized various conferences and workshops in addition to spearheading the NOBC's cultural journal, "Freeing the Spirit" (a motif Rivers would re-use in various other contexts, including as the title of a short memoir). During this time, he added to his team one Robert Ray, penman of the "Gospel Mass" choral setting sung by choirs worldwide ever since. He received his doctorate in African-American Culture and Catholic Liturgy from the

Union Institute Union Institute & University (UI&U) is a private university in Cincinnati, Ohio. It specializes in limited residence and distance learning programs. The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and operates satellite campuses ...

in 1978, and received the Berakah Award in 2002.

Death

He died unexpectedly in 2004 at the age of 73.

Legacy

Rivers was passionate about the drama of public worship, as well as the music that was the "soul" of worship. He was equally devoted to

African American culture African-American culture refers to the contributions of African Americans to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from mainstream American culture. The culture is both distinct and enormously influential on Ame ...

and was known for his lavish

vestment Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion, especially by Eastern Churches, Catholics (of all rites), Anglicans, and Lutherans. Many other groups also make use of liturgical garments; this ...

s and distinctive jewelry. In addition to being a gifted composer, he had an acclaimed vocal style. But it was his personal faith and belief in the liturgy as a place where one encountered

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

that motivated all of his work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivers, Clarence Rufus J 2004 deaths Musicians from Selma, Alabama American male composers Catholic University of America alumni African-American Catholics African-American Roman Catholic priests Yale University alumni 1931 births 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American people