Views from the Choir Loft

Two Upcoming Lectures on Sacred Art

Corpus Christi Watershed · November 11, 2013

Click to enlarge image NJOY SOME of the most enchanting paintings from art history on Sunday, November 24th at 12:30PM in the church basement of Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Church in Newton, MA. Gwyneth Holston, Catholic artist and Corpus Christi Watershed blogger, will be giving a lecture on the story behind sacred art from the Gothic era through the Pre-Raphaelite. Each work discussed will have a link to the Advent season and the traditional feast days for the month of December.

Some of the featured works include:

The Last Judgment by Hans Memling

The Immaculate Conception by Tiepolo

The Portinari Altarpiece by Hugo van der Goes

FORMING THE ARTIST — An evening with David Clayton

The Catholic Artists Society and the Thomistic Institute in New York invite you to this third event in The Art of the Beautiful series. Internationally known artist, writer, teacher and broadcaster, David Clayton will speak on the formation of artists. The lecture will be held at the Catholic Center at NYU on November 16th at 7:30PM

Mr. Clayton is Artist-in-Residence and lecturer at Thomas More College in NH. He wrote, produced and presented the 13-part TV series, The Way of Beauty (2011). His writing appears in many publications and websites, including his popular blog:

* * The Way Of Beauty • A Wonderful Blog by David Clayton

The lecture will be followed by a reception and sung Compline, the nighttime prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours. Admission is free but space is limited. We encourage you to arrive early to get a seat!

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

‘Bogey’ of the Half-Educated: Paraphrase

Father Adrian Porter, using the cracher dans la soupe example, did a praiseworthy job explaining the difference between ‘dynamic’ and ‘formal’ translation. This is something Monsignor Ronald Knox explained time and again—yet even now certain parties feign ignorance. I suppose there will always be people who pretend the only ‘valid’ translation of Mitigásti omnem iram tuam; avertísti ab ira indignatiónis tuæ… would be “You mitigated all ire of you; you have averted from your indignation’s ire.” Those who would defend such a translation suffer from an unfortunate malady. One of my professors called it “cognate on the brain.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Father Cuthbert Lattey • “The Hebrew MSS”

Father Cuthbert Lattey (d. 1954) wrote: “In a large number of cases the ancient Christian versions and some other ancient sources seem to have been based upon a better Hebrew text than that adopted by the rabbis for official use and alone suffered to survive. Sometimes, too, the cognate languages suggest a suitable meaning for which there is little or no support in the comparatively small amount of ancient Hebrew that has survived. The evidence of the metre is also at times so clear as of itself to furnish a strong argument; often it is confirmed by some other considerations. […] The Jewish copyists and their directors, however, seem to have lost the tradition of the metre at an early date, and the meticulous care of the rabbis in preserving their own official and traditional text (the ‘massoretic’ text) came too late, when the mischief had already been done.” • Msgr. Knox adds: “It seems the safest principle to follow the Latin—after all, St. Jerome will sometimes have had a better text than the Massoretes—except on the rare occasions when there is no sense to be extracted from the Vulgate at all.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Music List” • 9 Nov. (Dedic. Lateran)

Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 9 November 2025, which is the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the sensational feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Reminder” — Month of November (2025)

On a daily basis, I speak to people who don’t realize we publish a free newsletter (although they’ve followed our blog for years). We have no endowment, no major donors, no savings, and refuse to run annoying ads. As a result, our mailing list is crucial to our survival. Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Gospel Options for 2 November (“All Souls”)

We’ve been told some bishops are suppressing the TLM because of “unity.” But is unity truly found in the MISSALE RECENS? For instance, on All Souls (2 November), any of these Gospel readings may be chosen, for any reason (or for no reason at all). The same is true of the Propria Missæ and other readings—there are countless options in the ORDINARY FORM. In other words, no matter which OF parish you attend on 2 November, you’ll almost certainly hear different propers and readings, to say nothing of different ‘styles’ of music. Where is the “unity” in all this? Indeed, the Second Vatican Council solemnly declared: “Even in the liturgy, the Church has no wish to impose a rigid uniformity in matters which do not implicate the faith or the good of the whole community.”

—Corpus Christi Watershed

“Our Father” • Musical Setting?

Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?

—Jeff Ostrowski