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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

The Importance Of Gestures

Jeff Ostrowski · November 2, 2012

ERY SOON, Watershed will be releasing a special pew book for the traditional Latin Mass (Extraordinary Form). We’re so excited: the book is extremely complicated and jam packed with amazing stuff, and I’m certainly not able to go into the details in a short little blog entry like this. However, one of the most singular things (to quote Sherlock Holmes) about the St. Edmund Campion Missal & Hymnal is that it pays special attention to the elaborate gestures in the traditional Latin Mass. I’m speaking here of the numerous instances where the priest bows, genuflects, kisses objects, makes the Sign of the Cross, holds his hands a certain way, etc. These gestures are fantastically ancient and truly beautiful: I’m glad our book goes to great lengths to show them.

It just so happens that these physical gestures of reverence and adoration play a huge part in Catholic worship . . . because it just so happens man is made of both body and soul. If man were soul only, physical gestures would, indeed, be unimportant. These gestures really do become wedded to the prayers in a way I never realized until I stopped attending the traditional Mass. I will speak more of this as time goes on.

As we know, the Reforms following Second Vatican Council got rid of almost all these gestures (the Council itself did not), and I have to wonder if this was a mistake. I sometimes wonder if the feeling of the time was akin to: “Modern Man does not need medieval feudal gestures like kissing and bowing and genuflecting. These are not essential to the prayer of Modern Man, who has progressed to such a level he can pray just as well without such gestures.” As time goes on, perhaps “mutual enrichment” will return some of the ancient gestures. Pope Benedict, a Peritus (special expert advisor) at the time of the Council, has called for a re√´valuation of how well the Reforms called for by the Council were realized by Pope Paul VI’s Consilium.

Now I see that I have typed too much (which usually happens) so I will have to continue my thoughts in another Blog entry.

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

Filed Under: Articles 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

    “Music List” • 17th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (27 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 Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Communion • “Ask & You Shall Receive”
    All of the chants for 27 July 2025 have been added to the feasts website, as usual under a convenient “drop down” menu. The COMMUNION ANTIPHON (both text and melody) are exceedingly beautiful and ancient.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Jeff’s Mother Joins Our Fundraiser
    To assist our fundraiser, Mrs. Kathleen Ostrowski has drawn several beautiful sketches which she offers to all our readers free of charge. If you have a moment, I invite you download them at this link.
    —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

“I vividly remember going to church with him in Bournemouth. He was a devout Roman Catholic and it was soon after the Church had changed the liturgy (from Latin to English). My grandfather obviously didn’t agree with this and made all the responses very loudly in Latin while the rest of the congregation answered in English. I found the whole experience quite excruciating, but my grandfather was oblivious. He simply had to do what he believed to be right.”

— Simon Tolkien (2003)

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