Views from the Choir Loft

Rebuild my Church

Veronica Brandt · June 27, 2015

ODAY WAS THE LAUNCH OF THE Maternal Heart Building Fund Raffle. The aim is to restore the church of the only FSSP parish in Australia. There is much work to be done as the roof has been leaking for many years and only recently have conditions changed to make it possible to start carrying out the work required.

The church itself was the hospital chapel of the Little Company of Mary until 1988 when a Franciscan priest and a fledgling choir obtained use of the church for a Tridentine Rite Latin Mass every Sunday. From there the community has grown and become something of a hub for many apostolates.

I attended Mass at Maternal heart from about 1998 to 2007 and in that time I met my husband, married and had four children. It is a rather unique sort of community, which I didn’t really appreciate until we left. Many of my assumptions about Latin Mass Communities stem from a rosy nostalgia for Mass at Lewisham.

I will have to write more about that another day, as right now I have come home late from the pot luck dinner to launch the raffle, and Saturday is fast coming to a close here, although it is still Saturday morning on the computer which hosts this web page – that is a funny thought.

Click here for more about the Maternal Heart Community. Make sure you scroll down and listen to the recording of the Corsican Tantum Ergo – I heard them singing this after Communion. The celebrating priest afterwards said he happily kept the ablutions going a little longer to enjoy the music.

Click here to buy raffle tickets or make a donation. Hopefully they will soon post more images to show the extent of the repairs required. Some are quite urgent. Last time I attended Mass there some pews were cordoned off for fear of parts of the ceiling falling down.

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

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).

Dr. Mahrt explains the ‘Spoken’ Propers

In 1970, the Church promulgated a new version of the Roman Missal. It goes by various names: Ordinary Form, Novus Ordo, MISSALE RECENS, and so on. If you examine the very first page, you’ll notice that Pope Saint Paul VI explains the meaning of the ‘Spoken Propers’ (which are for Masses without singing). A quote by Dr. William P. Mahrt is also included in that file. The SPOKEN PROPERS—used at Masses without music—are sometimes called The Adalbert Propers, because they were created in 1969 by Father Adalbert Franquesa Garrós, one of Hannibal Bugnini’s closest friends (according to Yves Chiron).

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “Music List” (1st Sunday of Advent)

Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 30 November 2025, which is the 1st Sunday of Advent (Year A). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. The ENTRANCE CHANT is quite memorable, and the fauxbourdon setting of the COMMUNION is exquisite. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are available at the feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Music List” • Christ the King Sunday

Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 23 November 2025, which is the 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. In the 1970 Missal, this Sunday is known as: Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Universorum Regis (“Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe”). As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the magnificent feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Translations Approved for Liturgical Use”

According to the newsletter for USSCB’s Committee on Divine Worship dated September 1996, there are three (3) translations of the Bible which can be used in the sacred liturgy in the United States. You can read this information with your own eyes. It seems the USCCB and also Rome fully approved the so-called NRSV (“New Revised Standard Version”) on 13 November 1991 and 6 April 1992 but this permission was then withdrawn in 1994.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

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