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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

Permission Needed to Replace the Propers?—(5 of 7)

Andrew R. Motyka · February 24, 2015

WAS GLAD to see our new blogging colleague, Andrew Leung, post about permission in Hong Kong for replacing the propers of the Mass with other pieces of music. It gave me hope, or at least reconsideration, because from my end of things, the whole conversation we have been having about this so far is useless.

Say someone in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis writes a hymn: text, music, harmonization, everything, and he wants to follow the letter of the GIRM and get it approved for use in the Archdiocese or even the United States. What is his process for obtaining such approval? There is none. So he’ll call the Office of Worship, and upon hearing the word “music,” the call will be sent to me. I will be asked about what needs to be done to obtain approval, and my answer is, “I have no idea.”

It’s not that I am ignorant of the mechanism by which approval can be obtained in the USA; it’s that there is no mechanism. There is no process. Some bishops who take GIRM 48 seriously might want to see such a piece or collection, but in the end, what bishop has time for that?

So what should happen? Should the bishop delegate the process to a commission? Probably, just as Andrew Leung points out is the norm in Hong Kong. However, I also see several problems with this solution:

1. Every diocese, and every commission, is comprised of different people, with different skillsets, ideals, and opinions. There will be a wild lack of consistency over what gets through or not.

2. If this were kicked to the national level (the USCCB), we would be adding one more layer of bureaucracy to the process. I can’t imagine the chaos that an attempt at a “national hymnal” would cause.

3. From my understanding, as things stand now, approval by one bishop counts as approval for the whole country. Therefore, something approved in Seattle is cleared in Tampa, under the current law. This means that all you need is one out of hundreds of committees to clear your work to get it by, practically invalidating the safeguard of approval altogether.

4. The need for approval will be ignored anyway. As it stands now, the GIRM is ignored, and that is binding liturgical law. It’s not a suggestion, it’s not a guideline. It’s law, and people ignore it left and right anyway in more than just this area. Further legislation or bureaucracy will just incentivize the local parishes to tune out the law even more.

So what am I saying? Should the GIRM just be ignored on this point? No, what I am saying is that the solution to this issue is—to borrow political lingo—above my paygrade. I suspect and fear that the cat is just out of the bag on this one, and no legislation from above is going to fix it. I think our efforts would be better spent winning hearts and minds to the most fitting place that Gregorian Chant and the proper texts hold in the Mass than trying to legislate it from above.

This article is part of a series:

Part 1 • Richard Clark

Part 2 • Veronica Brandt

Part 3 • Andrew Leung

Part 4 • Dr. Lucas Tappan

Part 5 • Andrew Motyka

Part 6 • Cynthia Ostrowski

Part 7 • Aurelio Porfiri

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Hilgartner 20 November 2012 Last Updated: October 15, 2022

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About Andrew R. Motyka

Andrew Motyka is the Archdiocesan Director of Liturgical Music and Cathedral Music for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —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

There is a lack of that kind of organization which favors mature judgment. Move on, move on, get it out. Schemata are multiplied without ever arriving at a considered form. The system of discussion is bad … Often the schemata arrive just before the discussions. Sometimes, and in important matters, such as the new anaphoras, the schema was distributed the evening before the discussion was to take place … Father Bugnini has only one interest: press ahead and finish.

— Cardinal Antonelli (Peritus during the Second Vatican Council)

Recent Posts

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  • “What Martin Luther Said…”
  • “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • Worship the Lord in Holy Attire
  • “How to Conduct 90 Vespers Services Each Year and Live to Tell the Tale.”

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