Views from the Choir Loft

Los Angeles: Less Than A Week Away!

Cynthia Ostrowski · May 23, 2016

AVE YOU EVER BEEN to the Latin Mass? How about a Solemn High Mass offered by the FSSP District Superior? How about a Mass where sixty people sing polyphony and Gregorian chant under the baton of famous conductors? How about Pontifical Benediction?

I have huge news!

We cordially invite you to a momentous event to be held TUESDAY (May 31st) in West Hollywood:

4:30pm •• SOLEMN HIGH MASS —with FSSP District Superior

7:00pm •• CONFIRMATION & BENEDICTION —with Archbishop José H. Gomez

8:15pm •• CATERED DINNER —free to all who attend

(Please notice that Mass no longer begins at 3:30pm.)

Location : Saint Victor Church, 8634 Holloway Drive, West Hollywood, CA 90069

OES YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE need a boost? Do you feel a desire to draw closer to our Lord? Want to expose your children to the Extraordinary Form? Please come! Taking part in these ceremonies with devotion would be a magnificent way to show gratitude to our Lord. Moreover, the feast on 31 May is “Queenship of Mary”—and our Lord has promised special graces to those who honor his mother.

Your presence will show Archbishop Gomez that he was correct to ask the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter to begin an APOSTOLATE in Los Angeles. In fact, there’s no better way to demonstrate how we Angelenos value the traditional liturgy.

By the way, the music will be sensational, because it’s being provided by the Sacred Music Symposium. Famous conductors are traveling here specifically to direct these ceremonies.

Please help us spread the word!

A discussion about this post is underway.

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

About Cynthia Ostrowski

Cynthia Ostrowski holds a bachelor's degree (2005) in Geographic Information Science and a minor in Computer Science from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.—(Read full biography).

Which Mass?

In 1905, when the Vatican Commission on Gregorian Chant began publishing the EDITIO VATICANA—still the Church’s official edition— they assigned different Masses to different types of feasts. However, they were careful to add a note (which began with the words “Qualislibet cantus hujus Ordinarii…”) making clear “chants from one Mass may be used together with those from others.” Sadly, I sometimes worked for TLM priests who weren’t fluent in Latin. As a result, they stubbornly insisted Mass settings were ‘assigned’ to different feasts and seasons (which is false). To understand the great variety, one should examine the 1904 KYRIALE of Dr. Peter Wagner. One should also look through Dom Mocquereau’s Liber Usualis (1904), in which the Masses are all mixed up. For instance, Gloria II in his book ended up being moved to the ‘ad libitum’ appendix in the EDITIO VATICANA.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Like! Like! Like!

You won’t believe who recently gave us a “like” on the Corpus Christi Watershed FACEBOOK PAGE. Click here (PDF) to see who it was. We were not only sincerely honored, we were utterly flabbergasted. This was truly a resounding endorsement and unmistakable stamp of approval.

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF Download • “Atténde Dómine”

Although it isn’t nearly as ancient as other hymns in the plainsong repertoire, Atténde Dómine, et miserére, quía peccávimus tíbi (“Look down, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against Thee”) has become one of the most popular hymns for LENT—perhaps because it was included in the famous Liber Usualis of Solesmes. This musical score (PDF file) has an incredibly accurate version in English, as well as a nice version in Spanish, and also the original Latin. Although I don’t claim to have a great singing voice, this morning I recorded this rehearsal video.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Extreme Unction

Those who search Google for “CCCC MS 079” will discover high resolution images of a medieval Pontificale (“Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 079”). One of the pages contains this absolutely gorgeous depiction of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

PDF Chart • “Plainsong Rhythm”

I will go to my grave without understanding the lack of curiosity so many people have about the rhythmic modifications made by Dom André Mocquereau. For example, how can someone examine this single sheet comparison chart and at a minimum not be curious about the differences? Dom Mocquereau basically creates a LONG-SHORT LONG-SHORT rhythmic pattern—in spite of enormous and overwhelming manuscript evidence to the contrary. That’s why some scholars referred to his method as “Neo-Mensuralist” or “Neo-Mensuralism.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “O Come All Ye Faithful” (Simplified)

I admire the harmonization of “Adeste Fideles” by David Willcocks (d. 2015), who served as director of the Royal College of Music (London, England). In 2025, I was challenged to create a simplified arrangement for organists incapable of playing the authentic version at tempo. The result was this simplified keyboard arrangement (PDF download) based on the David Willcocks version of “O Come All Ye Faithful.” Feel free to play through it and let me know what you think.

—Jeff Ostrowski