• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

We’re a 501(c)3 public charity established in 2006. We have no endowment, no major donors, no savings, and run no advertisements. We exist solely by the generosity of small donors.

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • Ordinary Form Feasts (Sainte-Marie)
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Catechism of Gregorian Rhythm
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
Views from the Choir Loft

The Mystery of Missal vs. Gradual has been solved!

Jeff Ostrowski · May 25, 2014

467 graduale OUR PRIEST HAS FINALLY agreed to let you sing the Mass Propers! Your choir practices for weeks. Finally, the big day arrives, and you feel Mass went well.

However, the Parish Liturgist summons you to his office afterward, demanding to know why you didn’t sing the “correct” Communion chant. Dumbfounded, you consult the relevant sources:

GRADUAL: 2nd Sunday of Lent
Tell no one about the vision you have seen
until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.

MISSAL: 2nd Sunday of Lent
This is my beloved Son, with whom
I am well pleased; listen to him.

Your mind races, and you feel weak at the knees. You vaguely recall learning the difference between “spoken” and “sung” antiphons, but referring him to Google seems risky. The following dialogue ensues:

“Everything after 2011,” he continues, “must correspond exactly to the texts printed in the Altar Missal. That’s what they said at a diocesan workshop. Do you understand?”

Regaining your senses, you reply, “OK, then we’ll take the readings from the Altar Missal, too.”

PL: “No, the readings aren’t found in the Missal. Those come from the Lectionary.”

You respond, “The same thing is true of the Sung Propers, which come from the Roman Gradual. That’s why, for example, the Offertory antiphons aren’t printed in the Altar Missal.”

Whoever created the image on the upper right seems to understand that confusing subjects are best treated with a healthy dose of humor.

WHEN MISSAL ANTIPHONS DIFFER from the Roman Gradual, it’s not forbidden to sing the Missal text. Liturgical law has allowed this since 1970, and no one disputes this. 1 Both texts come from the Bible, which is the inspired Word of God. Surely, then, one text is not to be preferred, right? In fact, there are reasons to prefer the Graduale. For example:

(1) Before setting a text, qualified musicians examine the piece’s history. How have composers treated this text in past centuries? The Sung Propers often go back to the 7th century, whereas the Spoken Propers came into existence in 1969.

(2) Bishop Donald Trautman has pointed out that the Spoken Propers “were never intended to be sung,” and Archbishop Bugnini said the same thing.

(3) Tradition is very important to Catholics, so preferring prayers in use for 1500 years is natural.

(4) The Gradual Propers are given in the Jogues Missal, and we have an obligation to make it as simple as possible for our people to participate in the liturgy.

Why would our bishops create such a confusing situation? The complete documentation fails to provide a plausible motivation.

      What’s the answer to this mystery??

The Spoken Propers were most likely created to add variety to daily Masses. 2 Before the Second Vatican Council, some daily propers — Os Justi, Justus ut palma, Dilexisti, and so forth — were used with great frequency, and this lack of variety bothered some priests (while others found such repetition beautiful and edifying).

SPOILER ALERT!   Book 3 of the Jogues Series is a “Daily Mass Companion” containing every Spoken Proper that could ever be used — more info will be revealed soon!

A great deal of the confusion over “sung” vs. “spoken” propers stems from the fact that we call the big red priest’s book a Missal. (It ought to be called a Sacramentary.) In any event, the following chart helps:


SOME COMPOSERS CHOOSE the Sung Propers, while others set the Spoken Propers. Still others compose settings for both. The following examples use the Gradual texts exclusively:

Lalemant Propers (CCW, 2013)

Graduale Parvum (Birmingham Oratory, 2012) …courtesy CMAA

Arbogast Propers (St. Joseph’s College)

American Gradual (Bruce E. Ford, 2008)

Simple English Propers (CMAA, 2011)

Laudate Dominum Communion Antiphons (Motyka, 2012)

Needless to say, parishes which sometimes sing the official Latin melodies will want to use only the Sung Propers, since no official Latin melodies exist for the Spoken Propers. As the President of the CMAA has reminded us:

The texts in the Graduale Romanum are not the same as those of the Missale Romanum, and it is those of the missal which are printed in the disposable missals used in the parishes. I have often been asked, “Where can I find the Gregorian chants for the introits and communions in the missal?” The answer is, you cannot find them, because they were provided for use in spoken Masses only.

TO SUM IT ALL UP: The Roman Gradual is the Church’s official Song Book, and was revised following the Second Vatican Council. However, for Masses without singing, special “spoken propers” were added to the priest’s Altar Missal. Sometimes they match the Gradual, and sometimes they don’t.

FOR THE RECORD: Our current Missal contains 2,509  “spoken” antiphons. Some clown will doubtless joke: “That’s not enough variety for me. I require 2,678.”



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   To my knowledge, no author has ever denied that Missal antiphons can be sung.

2   Incidentally, Spoken Propers for daily Masses seldom correspond to the Sung Propers for daily Masses.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Graduale Romanum Roman Gradual Propers, Hymns Replacing Propers, Missal Antiphons Dont Match Roman Gradual, THE ADALBERT PROPERS Last Updated: January 18, 2025

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

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

“If we continue to tolerate sad examples of liturgical abnormalities, experimentation, abuse, and simply poor-quality liturgies, why should we single out those connected to the ancient rites of the Church for special vigilance? It just doesn’t seem right.”

— An Example of a response (sent to Pope Francis) Re: the TLM

Recent Posts

  • Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
  • Bishop François Charrière Vs. Hannibal Bugnini
  • 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • “My First Year with the Latin Mass” • A Music Director’s Perspective
  • Boston Auxiliary Bishop: “In offering the Traditional Mass for the first time, after removing the vestments, I knelt in the back pew and wept.”

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.

The election of Pope Leo XIV has been exciting, and we’re filled with hope for our apostolate’s future!

But we’re under pressure to transfer our website to a “subscription model.”

We don’t want to do that. We believe our website should remain free to all.

Our president has written the following letter:

President’s Message (dated 30 May 2025)

Are you able to support us?

clock.png

Time's up