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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Msgr. Knox • “Ten Commandments” for Crime Stories

Jeff Ostrowski · November 29, 2017

3779 Ronald Arbuthnott Knox OME READERS will remember I’m currently serving on a committee to create the St. Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal, which is turning out to be a marvelous and unique collection. One book that comes up constantly in our research is the 1939 edition of the Westminster Hymnal, which is quite different than Terry’s 1912 edition. (Feel free to download the 1939 edition here.)

With the possible exception of Dom Andrew Gregory Murrary (d. 1992), the person exerting the greatest influence on the creation of the New Westminster Hymnal was Msgr. Ronald Knox (d. 1957).

I recently stumbled upon the “Decalogue for Writers of Detective Stories” by Msgr. Knox:

Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction :

1.

The criminal must be mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to know.

2.

All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.

3.

Not more than one secret room or passage is allowable.

4.

No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.

5.

No Chinaman must figure in the story.

(N.B. Google “mysterious Chinaman”—a cliché of the genre.)

6.

No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right.

7.

The detective himself must not commit the crime.

8.

The detective is bound to declare any clues which he may discover.

9.

The “sidekick” of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal from the reader any thoughts which pass through his mind: his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader.

10.

Twin brothers, and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been duly prepared for them.

Knox was a founding member of the DETECTION CLUB and wrote several works of detective fiction, including five novels. The Detection Club was formed in 1930 by a group of British mystery writers, including Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and Ronald Knox. The first president was G. K. Chesterton. In addition to meeting for dinners and helping each other with technical aspects in their individual writings, the members of the club agreed to adhere to a code of ethics in their writing to give the reader a fair chance at guessing the guilty party. These fair-play “rules” were summarized by one of the members, Ronald Knox, in an introduction to an anthology of detective stories. They were never intended as more than guidelines, and not all the members took them seriously. (These are the ten rules listed above.)

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Andrew Gregory Murray d 1992, Dom Gregory Murray, Monsignor Ronald Knox Traditional Mass Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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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).

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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

In the Orthodox Churches they have kept that pristine liturgy, so beautiful. We have lost a bit the sense of adoration. They keep, they praise God, they adore God, they sing, time doesn’t count. God is the center, and this is a richness …

— Pope Francis (8/2/2013)

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