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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

New Collection Of Ancient Books About The Mass . . . Free!

Guest Author · May 13, 2013

The following is a guest article by Fr. Philip Clement:

Stand ye on the ways, and see and ask for the old paths which is the good way, and walk ye in it: and you shall find refreshment for your souls. — Jer.6:16

ITH THE RELEASE of Pope Benedict XVI’s motu proprio Summorum Pontificum in 2007, exposure to the Traditional Latin Mass has steadily increased throughout the world. There have also been many books recently published about the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, as many people are searching for a better understanding of the Holy Sacrifice in relation to the rubrics, the spirituality of the Mass, and even its historical development. While there are quite a number of books available on the market explaining the Traditional Latin Mass, there are also many out-of-print books that contain a wealth of information about this most perfect of our prayers.

Recently, the Sacrificium Sanctum website, the website for the Traditional Latin Mass at Incarnation Catholic Church in Tampa, has begun an initiative to build an E-Library dedicated to building a library of out-of-print books about the Traditional Latin Mass. These books are in .pdf format, which means they are readable on any computer and most e-Reader devices. Currently the ExLibris page (www.sacrificiumsanctum.org/ex-libris) contains 8 titles and is steadily growing. These titles were originally published in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and are treasure troves of Catholic teaching on the Mass. All of these titles are in the public domain and many are available online in an original scanned version. However, the ones on the Sacrificium Sanctum website are re-processed versions and are much cleaner and easier to read. If you are interested in learning more about the Ancient Liturgy of the Saints, consider downloading some of these ebooks and don’t let the wisdom of old be lost.

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

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Last Updated: January 13, 2020

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President’s Corner

    Music List • (2nd Sunday of Lent)
    Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday—1 March 2026—the 2nd Sunday of Lent (Year A). 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 available at the flourishing feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Particularly Beautiful
    The 2nd Sunday of Lent has magnificent propers. Its INTROIT is particularly striking—using a haunting tonality—but the COMMUNION with 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
    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

Quick Thoughts

    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

Random Quote

“The replies to this committee (of which Mgr Bugnini was the secretary) reveal a desire to reform the liturgy. In what sense? Out of 2,109 responses from bishops, just three expressed the desire to restore Communion under both kinds. There was a sizable demand for limited use of the vernacular, but only one French bishop wanted the entire Mass in French.”

— Fr. Dominic Allain (2019)

Recent Posts

  • Music List • (2nd Sunday of Lent)
  • Particularly Beautiful
  • PDF Download • “Funerals in the Ordinary Form”
  • Extreme Unction
  • Which Mass?

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