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Views from the Choir Loft

Singing Propers and Ordinary . . . at Low Mass?

Jeff Ostrowski · August 19, 2013

955 Conception Abbey ODAY, I’LL BE SHARING a September 1937 article by Dom Gregory Hügle, O.S.B., one of the most important promoters of Gregorian chant in the early part of the 20th century.

      * *  1937 Article (Dom Gregory Hügle, OSB)

Now that I’ve shared the document, I shall make a few observations about this section:

Q. “Is it permitted to sing any part or all of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin (Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) at a Low Mass?

A. Yes, it is permitted to sing the parts mentioned in Latin. With regard to the Gloria the Roman decision remarks “that the intonation should be sung by the choir”.

Q. “Is it permitted to sing the same parts in English at a Low Mass?”

A. No, it is not permitted to sing these parts in the vernacular. Holy Church demands that the liturgical parts be sung in the liturgical language, which is “Latin”.

Q. “Is it permitted to sing any or all of the variable chants of the Proper (Introit, Gradual, Allelttia, Offertory, Communion) in Latin, at a Low Mass in English?”

A. Any parts of the Proper may be sung in Latin, but not in English, for the reason mentioned above. Low Mass is a liturgical function. If you select parts of the liturgical musical belonging to Holy Mass, the same must be sung in Latin.

This information, given in 1937 by Dom Hügle, is not generally known by those who celebrate the Extraordinary Form. As a matter of fact, it contradicts what many authorities say. Perhaps an expert of ceremonies can explain why in the combox.

Speaking of “odd” practices of the EF, I’ve mentioned elsewhere that the 1958 Instruction of Pope Pius XII allows the entire congregation to recite all the Propers (in Latin) along with the Celebrant. (!) This is never done. I doubt it ever was done, although a later publication, the New St. Joseph Sunday Missal and Hymnal (1966), tried to encourage this practice.

Dom Gregory’s words about the Gloria intonation are interesting. In my article, “Who should intone the Gloria at Mass?”, I mentioned that cantors were given permission to intone the Gloria following the Second Vatican Council. If Dom Hügle is correct, this was allowed in the Traditional Latin Mass.

PERHAPS THIS PRACTICE — singing Mass Ordinary & Propers at Low Mass — is not as crazy as it sounds. After all, there were all kinds of “compromises” in the pre-Conciliar Mass. People who really know the EF Mass will admit that only two Masses exist as far as the rubrics are concerned: “Solemn Mass” (with Deacon, Subdeacon, and incense) and “Low Mass.” These are the two we included in the Campion Missal. I’m told using incense without Deacon and Subdeacon required an indult for quite a while. Over the years, all kinds of different practices arose. I’ve even seen a “High Mass” with one server who tried to incense the Sanctissimum at the Elevation while still lifting the priest’s chasuble with his other hand. Here is what Fr. Fortescue said:

Our so-called Missa Cantata is the compromise of a compromise, a Low Mass, with singing as at High Mass, only justifiable to enhance the dignity of Sunday Mass when a deacon and subdeacon cannot be had. And the practice of saying a Low Mass while the choir sings bits of things is too dreadful to be described. (Adrian Fortescue, The Mass, p. 191)

My feeling is that Dom Gregory Hügle is probably correct. He was very highly respected in his day, and Prior of Conception Abbey, Missouri. The entire August 1933 edition of Caecilia was dedicated to Dom Gregory.

By the way, I’ve already talked a lot about vernacular hymns at Low Mass. Read part 1 and 6 of my six-part series to read what I’ve written about this.   [Click here and scroll down to the bottom to view my six-part series.]

One final comment: this 1937 edition of Caecilia gave readers a special “sneak peek” of a new set of accompaniments to the Kyriale which Achille P. Bragers was about to release. Years later, these would become quite famous. Click here to download the Bragers Kyriale for free or puchase the hardbound copy (high key & low key).

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Dialogue Mass With Vernacular Hymns, Low Mass Vernacular Hymns Last Updated: April 6, 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 Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for Pentecost Sunday (8 June 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. Because our choir is on break this week, the music is relatively simple.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    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
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

“These French offices represent a new case of the old tendency towards local modification—which the Council of Trent had meant to repress. They are commonly attributed to Gallican ideas and are supposed to be not free from Jansenist venom. Some of these local French uses survived almost to our own time. They were supplanted by the Roman books in the 19th century, chiefly by the exertions of Dom Prosper Guéranger (d. 1875).”

— Dr. Adrian Fortescue (d. 1923)

Recent Posts

  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
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  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
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