Views from the Choir Loft

2019 • Announcement of Easter & Moveable Feasts • Novus Ordo

Richard J. Clark · December 14, 2018

AUL J. MURRAY, Director of Music and Organist of Church of Our Saviour, New York, New York, has set the Announcement of Easter and the Moveable Feasts for the Novus Ordo. He has kindly made it available here for free download. While, the chant can be found in the Roman Missal Appendix, it is very convenient to have the dates already in the music!

Note, there are two versions: one for Dioceses that celebrate The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord on a Thursday, and those that move it to Sunday.

N KEEPING WITH an ancient practice of the Holy Church, the moveable feasts of the coming year are announced following the Gospel. Interestingly, the rubrics indicate that the Gospel be sung! (However, even if read, that should not stop one from singing the proclamation):

On the Epiphany of the Lord, after the singing of the Gospel, a Deacon or cantor, in keeping with an ancient practice of the Holy Church, announces from the ambo the moveable feasts of the current year according to this formula:

This Epiphany proclamation is a reminder of the centrality of the resurrection of the Lord in the liturgical year and the importance of the great mysteries of faith, which are celebrated each year. Although optional, this chant is a unique expression (and fun) that connects our present day to our ancient roots of the Church. It is a tradition that reminds of who we are, where we come from, and where we are going!

• Dioceses that celebrate Ascension on Thursday • (in the United States: Ecclesiastical Provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Omaha, Philadelphia):
• PDF Download • The Announcement of Easter and the Moveable Feasts • 2019.

• Dioceses that celebrate Ascension on Sunday:
• PDF Download • The Announcement of Easter and the Moveable Feasts • 2019.

* * YouTube • Epiphany Proclamation • DEMO • (Ascension on a SUNDAY)

This chant is a wonderful way to add additional reverence to the liturgy. By leading us through key moments of salvation history, this proclamation reminds us—on the very day in which Christ is revealed to all nations—of Christ’s redeeming power in all our lives and to the whole world.

Soli Deo gloria

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

About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

Pipe Organ “Answers” in Plainsong?

In 2003, I copied a book by Félix Bélédin (d. 1895), who was titular organist—from 1841 to 1874—at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Lyon (France). In 2008, we scanned and uploaded the book to the Lalande Online Library. Nobody knows for sure when the book was published; some believe it first appeared in the 1840s. In any event, one who examines this excerpt, showing GLORIA IX might wonder why it says the organ answers in plainsong. However, the front of the book explains, telling the organist explicitly when to “respond in plainchant.” This is something called organ alternatim. Believe it or not, the pipe organ would take turns with the choir, playing certain texts instrumentally instead of having them sung. I’m not very well-versed in this—pardon the pun—but if memory serves, ORGAN ALTERNATIM was frowned upon by the time of Pope Saint Pius X. Nevertheless, French organists kept doing it, even after it was explicitly condemned as an abuse.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Music List • (5th Sunday of Lent)

Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday, which is the 5th Sunday of Lent (22 March 2026). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. Traditionally, this Sunday was called ‘Passion’ Sunday. Starting in 1956, certain church leaders attempted rename both ‘Passion’ Sunday and ‘Palm’ Sunday—but it didn’t work. For example, Monsignor Frederick McManus tried to get people to call PALM SUNDAY “Second Passion Sunday”—but the faithful rejected that. I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Music List • (Holy Thursday, 2026)

Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for Holy Thursday, which is 2 April 2026. If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a more piercingly beautiful INTROIT, and I have come to absolutely love the SATB version of ‘Ubi cáritas’ we are singing (joined by our burgeoning children’s choir). I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Gregorian Chant Quiz” • 24 March 2026

How well do you know your Gregorian hymns? Do you recognize the tune inserted into the bass line on this score? For many years, we sang the entire Mass in Gregorian chant—and I mean everything. As a result, it would be difficult to find a Gregorian hymn I don’t recognize instantly. Only decades later did I realize (with sadness) that this skill cannot be ‘monetized’… This particular melody is used for a very famous Gregorian hymn, printed in the LIBER USUALIS. Do you recognize it? Send me an email with the correct words, and I promise to tell everybody I meet about your prowess!

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF Download • “Ubi Caritas” (SATB)

I remember singing “Ubi Cáritas” by Maurice Duruflé at the conservatory. I was deeply moved by it. However, some feel Duruflé’s version isn’t suitable for small choirs since it’s written for 6 voices and the bass tessitura is quite low. That’s why I was absolutely thrilled to discover this “Ubi cáritas” (SATB) for smaller choirs by Énemond Moreau, who studied with OSCAR DEPUYDT (d. 1925), an orphan who became a towering figure of Catholic music. Depuydt’s students include: Flor Peeters (d. 1986); Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel (d. 1953); Arthur Meulemans (d. 1966); Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989); and Gustaaf Nees (d. 1965). Rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #19705. When I came across the astonishing English translation for “Ubi Cáritas” by Monsignor Ronald Knox—matching the Latin’s meter—I decided to add those lyrics as an option (for churches which have banned Latin). My wife and I made this recording to give you some idea how it sounds.

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF Download • “Holy, Holy, Holy”

For vigil Masses on Saturday (a.k.a. “anticipated” Masses) we use this simpler setting of the “Holy, Holy, Holy” by Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989), a Belgian priest, organist, composer, and music educator who ultimately succeeded another ‘Jules’ (CANON JULES VAN NUFFEL) as director of the Lemmensinstituut in Belgium. Although I could be wrong, my understanding is that the LEMMENSINSTITUUT eventually merged with “Catholic University of Leuven” (originally founded in 1425). That’s the university Fulton J. Sheen attended.

—Jeff Ostrowski

On March 24th, 1945, Pope Pius XII, by the Motu Proprio “In cotidianis precibus” gave permission to all who recite the divine office to use a new version of the Psalter made by six Jesuit professors of the Biblical Institute. This, contrary to some expectations, was neither a revision of the existing Vulgate nor of Saint Jerome’s ‘Psalterium juxta Hebraeos’, but a new translation altogether, based on the Massoretic text, the versions, and (in a few instances) on conjectural emendations.

— Dr. T. E. Bird