Views from the Choir Loft

Mass for Artists on May 4th in NYC

Gwyneth Holston · April 14, 2014

HE CATHOLIC ARTISTS SOCIETY will be hosting its annual Mass for Artists, Sunday May 4th at 3pm at the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, Manhattan. Members, patrons and friends of the society are invited to attend with their families.

This year’s Mass will mark the 15th anniversary of Bl. John Paul II’s Letter to Artists, published on April 4, 1999. To celebrate this anniversary, the Catholic Artists Society has chosen a Mass setting composed during JPII’s lifetime, the Berliner Messe by the Estonian composer, Arvo Part. Organist Jared Lamenzo will lead a professional choir in this contemplative setting of the Mass.

Mass will be offered according to the Missal of Bl. Pope John XXIII, who will be canonized with Pope JPII the previous Sunday. The celebrant will be Father Brian Taylor of the Church of St. Benedict in the Bronx. He will be assisted by Father Jean Paul Soler, pastor of the Church of St. Denis in Yonkers, NY, and Father Matthew Newcombe, chaplain at Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, NY. Monsignor Donald Sakano, pastor of the basilica of St. Patrick, will offer the homily.

A reception will follow in the Basilica courtyard, weather permitting.

Please RSVP for the reception by May 1st: catholicartistssociety@gmail.com

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

About Gwyneth Holston

Gwyneth Holston is a sacred artist who works to provide and promote good quality Catholic art. Her website is gwynethholston.com. Read more.

PDF • “Cantus Mariales” (192 pages)

Andrea Leal has posted an absolutely pristine scan of CANTUS MARIALES (192 pages) which can be downloaded as a PDF file. To access this treasure, navigate to the frabjous article Andrea posted Monday. The file is being offered completely free of charge. The beginning pages of the book have something not to be missed: viz. a letter from Pope Saint Pius X to Dom Pothier, in which the pope calls Abbat Pothier “a man versed above all others in the science of liturgy, and to whom the cause of Gregorian chant is greatly indebted.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

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—Jeff Ostrowski

Like! Like! Like!

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—Jeff Ostrowski

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PDF Chart • “Plainsong Rhythm”

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—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