Views from the Choir Loft

Saint Edmund Campion Missal • “Third Edition”

ULTON J. SHEEN said famously: “Evil has its hour; God has His day.” Since the 1960s, Catholics have witnessed catastrophic apostasy. Yet in the year 2022, things are taking place nobody could have imagined. Five days ago, Cardinal Zuppi, head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, led “Extraordinary Form” Vespers in the heart of Rome. Four days ago, the 1962 Missal was used in Saint Peter’s Basilica (!) by Monsignor Marco Agostini, MASTER OF CEREMONIES for Pope Francis. Three days ago, the USCCB Vice President and Archbishop of Detroit—who served on the Bishop’s Liturgy Committee alongside bishops like Cupich and Trautman—confirmed using the traditional PONTIFICALE ROMANUM. These are but a few examples.

Today, the next milestone has arrived:

* Third Edition • SAINT EDMUND CAMPION MISSAL
—Help your congregation follow the Traditional Latin Mass!
—Click here to purchase from Sophia Institute Press.

*  SAMPLE PAGES (A) • “Book Size Comparison”
*  SAMPLE PAGES (B) • “Cover Design”
*  SAMPLE PAGES (C) • “Color Pages” Ordo Missae
*  SAMPLE PAGES (D) • “Ancient Manuscripts”
*  SAMPLE PAGES (E) • “Holy Week” (1962 Version)
*  SAMPLE PAGES (F) • “Holy Week” (1950 Version)
*  SAMPLE PAGES (G) • “The Passion of our Savior”
*  SAMPLE PAGES (H) • “Gregorian Chant”
*  SAMPLE PAGES (I) • “Extremely High Print Quality”
*  SAMPLE PAGES (J) • “Additional Features”
*  SAMPLE PAGES (K) • “Explanations & Commentary”
*  SAMPLE PAGES (L) • “Artistic Woodcuts” Enhanced Digitally
*  SAMPLE PAGES (M) • “Special Alphabet for the 3rd Edition”

* PDF Summary • FIVE FANTASTIC FEATURES
—This brief list attempts to summarize the most salient aspects of this 832-page book.

Feedback: Someone who saw the draft manuscript wrote: “As a musicologist, liturgical enthusiast, and teacher I really enjoy all of the extra notes throughout (indicating propers that appear on other feasts, melodic details, antiphon verses, the prefaces on communion and offertory antiphons, references to manuscripts, papal and patristic notes and commentaries, etc.), and all of those B&W plates are just wonderful. Thank you for this book!”

PDF Download • “Our Father” (1 page)

Dutch organist, teacher, and conductor HERMAN STRATEGIER (d. 1988) studied under Hendrik Andriessen. He composed this unison setting with organ accompaniment for the LORD’S PRAYER (“Our Father”) which a children’s choir would find both within reach and worthy of the effort. The whole thing fits neatly on a single page. Strategier eventually became organist of Saint Catherine’s Cathedral in Utrecht. He also taught at the “Dutch Institute for Catholic Church Music” (Nederlands Instituut voor Katholieke Kerkmuziek).

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “Organ Interlude” (Manuals Only)

Monsignor Franciszek Walczyński (d. 1937) was a Polish composer. If you play the pipe organ, I encourage you to try out this ORGAN INTERLUDE FOR MANUALS ONLY (1-page PDF) which he composed. Walczyński taught plainsong at the seminary in Tarnów (about 50 miles east of Kraków). With his brother Stanisław—also a Catholic priest—he initiated the Saint Adalbert Society for the Support of Church Music, which ran annual workshops for their diocese. In July of 1894 (more than a decade before the appearance of the Editio Vaticana) Walczyński lectured on “congregational singing and Gregorian Chant.” On top of all that, Monsignor Walczyński founded an organists’ school in Tarnów and the SAINT ADALBERT CHOIR at the cathedral.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Eucharistic Prayer No. 2 on Sundays?

Highlighted in yellow (on this single-page PDF file) is documentation concerning whether the 2nd Eucharistic prayer may be used on Sundays.

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—Jeff Ostrowski

Preface of Saint Joseph (added by the pope)

You can see the “Præfatio de Sancto Joseph” inserted directly into the priest’s missal.

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—Jeff Ostrowski

“Predictable Rhymes?” • A Follow Up

We received considerable correspondence regarding my article, Two Ways to Defile a Hymn. More specifically, what really raised certain people’s hackles was its follow-up article dealing with the keyboard accompaniment for the CHRIST THE KING HYMNAL. But to quote Eliza Doolittle: “Have I said anything I oughtn’t?” Please examine this PDF file and see whether you agree. Were the editors of the BRÉBEUF HYMNAL incorrect to insist upon sophisticated and clever rhymes, rather than mind-numbingly predictable rhymes?

—Jeff Ostrowski

‘Ould’ But Not Good

Dom Samuel Gregory Ould (note the spelling) was a Benedictine monk at FORT AUGUSTUS ABBEY in Scotland. As musician, organist, and composer, Dom Ould was highly regarded. Moreover, he was considered an authority on Gregorian Chant. But not everything found in an old book—or, in this case, an “Ould” book—is necessarily praiseworthy. Consider this page from Dom Ould’s hymnal. Do you see the rhymes? They offend severely by ABR (“Abuse By Reuse”) and are utterly predictable. In my recent article—Two Ways to Defile a Hymn—I addressed this topic.

—Jeff Ostrowski