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“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

St Teresa’s Dad and Standards

Veronica Brandt · October 19, 2013

St Teresa of Avila by P P Rubens St Teresa of Avila by Peter Paul Rubens, via Wikimedia Commons AST WEDNESDAY WAS THE FEAST of Saint Teresa of Ávila. Each morning one of my children reads out a short entry about the Saint of the day. This particular day we couldn’t find the book so I got out the Autobiography of St Teresa and threatened to read the whole thing – though my children know my eagerness for breakfast so they did not seem to take me seriously.

We read the first chapter, which is always fun to read, with her attempt at early martyrdom along with her brother. I love the account of building little hermitages and . Something else struck me this time:

My father was fond of reading good books and had some in Spanish so that his children might read them too.

Why does it mention specifically that some books were in Spanish? Because it is taken for granted that “good books” are in the language of scholarship – probably Latin. If you were educated enough to be able to read, then you were probably educated in the Latin language as well. Knowledge of Latin was a part of the furniture, so to speak. A precise language, common across cultural boundaries, holding the received wisdom of western civilisation.

Where did it go?

Back in my first year of Computer Science, the wonderful Richard Buckland said the most important thing about computer science was standards. Try as I might, I cannot find any similar quote in his current online lectures, which just goes to show how much computers have changed in the last sixteen years. If I have remembered the lesson incorrectly, I apologise, but leave the link to this fantastic teacher.

Standards make it possible to share content. I type up words in one part of the world. My computer converts this to binary and shares it with other computers which all know how to turn those 0s and 1s into the coloured light which comes out of your screen. How many standards are at work there? Some sort of text encoding, also a markup language or two, the joint photographic experts group (jpeg) encoding for the picture of St Teresa up there, hypertext transfer protocol to send all these bits across the telephone lines, etc. The list must be finite, but it is a surprisingly long list which we take for granted.

Common standards, a common language, remains a huge asset for building upon. Like Latin for classics and standards for computer programming, there is a wealth of received knowledge for providing music for the liturgy. Just as so many people use computers ineffectively through not understanding the foundations, so there is much liturgical confusion through breaking away from standards.

So let’s continue learning the building blocks of sacred music. Don’t underestimate the standards.

photo source

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. However, on the feasts website, the chants have been posted for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), which is this coming Sunday: 6 July 2025.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

Impelled by the weightiest of reasons, we are fully determined to restore Latin to its position of honor, and to do all We can to promote its study and use. The employment of Latin has recently been contested in many quarters, and many are asking what the mind of the Apostolic See is in this matter. We have therefore decided to issue the timely directives contained in this document, so as to ensure that the ancient and uninterrupted use of Latin be maintained and, where necessary, restored.”

— Pope John XXIII (22 February 1962)

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