Views from the Choir Loft

Now Available! Online Latin Lectionary For Masses In The Ordinary Form

Corpus Christi Watershed · November 7, 2013

REPARING for the Third Edition of the Roman Missal in 2011, study sessions were given around the country, and one thing was noticed over and over again. Catholics had not been aware that the English Mass is a translation from the official Latin. It took an entire decade for MR3 to be translated into English … but that’s another story.

Perhaps the PDFs below will help remedy this situation. You can now download 8,000 pages—the entire Novus Ordo in Latin. A nice review was published by Deacon Harold Hughesdon (bio) in the 1970s.

+ FIRST VOLUME • Pages 1-733 (Missale Romanum cum lectionibus)

+ FIRST VOLUME • Pages 733-1273 (Missale Romanum cum lectionibus)

+ FIRST VOLUME • Pages 1273-1983 (Missale Romanum cum lectionibus)

+ SECOND VOLUME • Pages 1-613 (Missale Romanum cum lectionibus)

+ SECOND VOLUME • Pages 613-1305 (Missale Romanum cum lectionibus)

+ SECOND VOLUME • Pages 1305-1932 (Missale Romanum cum lectionibus)

+ THIRD VOLUME • Pages 1-739 (Missale Romanum cum lectionibus)

+ THIRD VOLUME • Pages 739-1303 (Missale Romanum cum lectionibus)

+ THIRD VOLUME • Pages 1303-2031 (Missale Romanum cum lectionibus)

+ FOURTH VOLUME • Pages 1-575 (Missale Romanum cum lectionibus)

+ FOURTH VOLUME • Pages 575-1189 (Missale Romanum cum lectionibus)

+ FOURTH VOLUME • Pages 1189-1831 (Missale Romanum cum lectionibus)

184 Missale Romanum Cum Lectionibus

185 Missale Romanum Cum Lectionibus

186 Missale Romanum Cum Lectionibus

187 Missale Romanum Cum Lectionibus

188 Missale Romanum Cum Lectionibus

189 Missale Romanum Cum Lectionibus

THIS BOOK was made available for free download courtesy of the Jean de Lalande Library. If you appreciate these efforts, please consider making a donation by using the link at the top of the page.

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

Season’s End Repertoire

Looking at the REPERTOIRE SHEET until the end of the choral season, I see that I’ve fallen behind schedule. (The last three months have been extraordinarily busy.) As you know, I have been providing organ harmonies for all the ENTRANCE CHANTS—as well as rehearsal videos—and you can see I’m behind where I planned to be. Now I must make up lost ground. However, the choir picks up the ENTRANCE CHANT with ease, so I’m sure it will all work out. My ‘unofficial’ harmonizations are being posted each week at the flourishing feasts website.

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF Download • “Funeral Procession”

From a mediæval Book of Hours, I was sent this glorious depiction of a Roman Catholic funeral procession by Simon Bening (d. 1561). The image resolution is extremely high. I’m not sure I know of a more beautiful illustration of a mediæval church. And I love how the servers are wearing red and pink cassocks!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Simplified Accomp. • Schubert’s “Ave Maria.”

Sometimes the organist must simultaneously serve as the CANTOR. (Those who work in the field of church music know exactly what I’m talking about.) One of our contributors composed this simplified keyboard accompaniment for Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” a piece which is frequently requested for Catholic funerals and weddings. In terms of the discussion about whether that piece is too theatrical (‘operatic’) for use in Church, I will leave that discussion to others. All I know is, many church musicians out there will appreciate this simplified version.

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF Download • “Anima Christi”

I received a request for an organ accompaniment I created way back in 2007 for the “Anima Christi” Gregorian Chant. You can download this PDF file which has the score in plainsong followed by a keyboard accompaniment. Many melodies have been paired with “Anima Christi” over the centuries, but this is—perhaps—the most common one.

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “Liturgical Law” (467 Pages)

On Good Friday during the middle ages, the pope privately recited THE ENTIRE PSALTER. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself by reading this passage by Dom Charles Augustine Bachofen (d. 1943). His famous book—called “Liturgical Law: A Handbook Of The Roman Liturgy”—was published by the Benjamin Herder Book Company, which was the American arm (operating out of St. Louis, Missouri) of one of the world’s most significant Catholic publishers. Dom Charles Augustine Bachofen was born in Switzerland but spent his career between the Benedictine monasteries at Conception (Missouri) and Mount Angel (Oregon). His 1931 masterpiece, Liturgical Law can be downloaded as a PDF file … 467 pages!

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Gregorian Chant Quiz” • 24 March 2026

How well do you know your Gregorian hymns? Do you recognize the tune inserted into the bass line on this score? For many years, we sang the entire Mass in Gregorian chant—and I mean everything. As a result, it would be difficult to find a Gregorian hymn I don’t recognize instantly. Only decades later did I realize (with sadness) that this skill cannot be ‘monetized’… This particular melody is used for a very famous Gregorian hymn, printed in the LIBER USUALIS. Do you recognize it? Send me an email with the correct words, and I promise to tell everybody I meet about your prowess!

—Jeff Ostrowski