Views from the Choir Loft

The UBI CARITAS chant for Holy Thursday

Jeff Ostrowski · April 5, 2012

Here are six (6) different free versions of the “Ubi Caritas” for Holy Thursday. It will be noted that the Simple English Propers and Simple English Psalm Tones versions use the English translation found in Roman Missal, 3rd Edition.

Click here to download this PDF file.

Free Sacred Resources for Holy Thursday, Year B has a whole bunch more free resources, including the Pange Lingua.

Offertory (1 John 2: 3-4)

Ant. Ubi cáritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
OR:
Ant. Ubi cáritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

1. Congregávit nos in unum Christi amor.
2. Exsultémus et in ipso jucundémur.
3. Timeámus et amémus Deum vivum.
4. Et ex corde diligámus nos sincéro. Ant.

5. Simul ergo cum in unum congregámur:
6. Ne nos mente dividámur, caveámus.
7. Cessent júrgia malígna, cessent lites.
8. Et in médio nostri sit Christus Deus. Ant.

9. Simul quoque cum beátis videámus
10. Gloriánter vultum tuum, Christe Deus:
11. Gáudium, quod est imménsum atque probum.
12. Saécula per infiníta sæculórum. Amen.

Ant. Where charity and love are, there is God.
OR:
Ant. Where love is found to be authentic, God is there.

1. The love of Christ has gathered us together into one.
2. Let us rejoice and be glad in Him.
3. Let us fear and love the living God,
4. and love each other from the depths of our heart. Ant.

5. Therefore when we are together,
6. let us take heed not to be divided in mind.
7. Let there be an end to bitterness and quarrels, an end to strife,
8. and in our midst be Christ our God. Ant.

9. And, in company with the blessed,
10. may we see your face in glory, Christ our God:
11. pure and unbounded joy
12. for ever and for ever. Amen.

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

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).

Music List • (2nd Sunday of Lent)

Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday, which is the 2nd Sunday of Lent (1 March 2026). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. This feast has magnificent propers. Its somber INTROIT is particularly striking—using a haunting tonality—but the COMMUNION with its fauxbourdon verses is also quite remarkable. I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.

—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

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

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