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Views from the Choir Loft

1965 English Mass Demonstration “Sign Of Peace”

Jeff Ostrowski · June 16, 2013

ROBABLY NINETY PERCENT of my blog entries are “made-to-order.” In other words, I write them when I feel inspired. The remaining ten percent are not “time sensitive” — that is, I keep them in reserve for a rainy day. Many of these are articles I wrote years ago, but never published for one reason or another. Today’s blog entry is one of the “ten percent.” I decided to release it because I saw a discussion on the NLM Blog about the “Sign of Peace.”

Monsignor Francis P. Schmitt documented the tumultuous introduction of the Novus Ordo Missae (which is now called the Ordinary Form). We have quoted him in the past, and we shall continue to do so. There’s a lot more material and some is quite interesting!

In 1965, Msgr. Schmitt described a “Demonstration Mass” in which he took part. At the bottom of this blog, I give a link to the full article. Here is an excerpt from the article:

On the structural side, I would only mention the boy-scout hand-shake which replaces the Pax, and which the promoters wish to be fairly noisy. It is no reflection on the reverential, if let’s-play-house, attitude of the ministers and participants of the dry-run I observed to state that the lady with whom I shook hands accused me of trying to steal her bracelet.

Wow! So the handshake started all the way back in 1965! I didn’t know that. Here in South Texas, people give a “hippie peace sign” to one another in the pews. I remember being pretty scandalized when I first saw it. After all, this is Church! But I digress . . .

Here’s another interesting quote from Msgr. Schmitt about early attempts at the “Sung Canon,” which I wrote about towards the end of a rejected article:

The most successful portion of the demonstration musically, is the adaptation of the Canon of the Mass to the formula of the Exultet.

Finally, here’s the entire article:

      * *  1965 Article by Fr. Frank Schmitt: “English Mass Demonstration” [pdf]

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: 1965 Missal Last Updated: November 5, 2021

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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 Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book

If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.

—Jeff Ostrowski
Sound Familiar?

1 June 1579: “The chapter passes a rule that anyone ascending to the new organ without official permission shall be fined a month’s pay.”

26 October 1579: “The altar boys remain always separate and distinct from choirboys—the one group learning only plainchant and assisting at the altar, the other living with the chapel-master and studying counterpoint and polyphony as well. Father Francisco Guerrero postpones his departure for Rome and instead spends the entire year in Seville making ready for the trip. In the meantime he neglects his choirboys. On 16 November, after considerable complaint against their unruliness and ignorance, he engages an assistant, Bartolomé Farfán.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“There are no hymns, in this sense, till the fourth century; they were not admitted to the Roman office till the twelfth. No Eastern rite to this day knows this kind of hymn. Indeed, in our Roman rite we still have the archaic offices of the last days of Holy Week and of the Easter octave, which—just because they are archaic—have no hymns.”

— Adrian Fortescue (25 March 1916)

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