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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

An Overview of the Music Program at Our Lady of the Atonement Church & Academy (Part 1)

Guest Author · May 19, 2014

HAT I SAW AND HEARD at Our Lady of the Atonement during my all-too-brief visit went far beyond what I had gleaned about the place from other sources. Fr Christopher Phillips has helped to build a tremendous team who have created an atmosphere where the very air you breathe is Catholic! The care for the sacred liturgy and discipleship formation, the school, the music: I recommend to every priest, school principal and church musician that they make a long visit and learn from what they have accomplished there in such a short time. May their tribe increase: floreat atque vivat!
— Rev. Fr. Christopher Smith


502 Atonement ANY READERS will be familiar with Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church in San Antonio, Texas. As the founding parish for the Anglican Use Liturgy within the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, it was established as a Personal Parish under the terms of the Pastoral Provision promulgated by St. John Paul II (1980). It was canonically erected on August 15, 1983, the same date on which the founding pastor, Rev. Christopher G. Phillips, a former Episcopalian priest, was ordained to the Presbyterate. The title “Our Lady of the Atonement” originated in the Episcopal Church in the 19th century, and was brought into the Catholic Church by the Graymoor Friars and Sisters of the Atonement in 1909. It is the only parish in the United States under the patronage of this particular title of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

501 Atonement From its very modest beginnings — eighteen members in all including Fr. Phillips, his wife and their five children — the parish has grown to over six hundred households. Throughout its history, the parish has never lost sight of one of its most important founding principles: the preservation, nurture, and sharing of the Anglican patrimony. One of the most tangible elements of this patrimony is the reverence of the liturgies, as celebrated according to the Book of Divine Worship, as well as its extraordinary sacred music program. Since 2004, the music program of the church and school has been under the leadership of Edmund and Chalon Murray, a husband and wife team who left thriving music programs in Boston — Edmund at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, and Chalon at a large parish metrowest of Boston — to make a leap of faith and move their family to San Antonio. Together, with the support of the pastor, they have built a program of exceptional breadth and quality.

      * *  Young Ladies of Atonement — Live Excerpt from School Mass (Audio Recording)


The Atonement Academy

500 Atonem A significant element in the growth of the parish has been the development of the parish school. In 1993, just after the tenth anniversary of the canonical erection of the parish, permission was sought to establish a parish school. When permission was granted by the archbishop, the members of the parish were able to accumulate sufficient funds in just six weeks which would allow the building project to proceed. On August 15, 1994, The Atonement Academy opened its doors with an enrollment of sixty-six (66) students in grades Kindergarten through Third. Additional grades were added each year. The upper school opened in 2004 and today the Academy has over five hundred fifty (550) students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through Twelfth. The Academy’s mission statement compels students “to strive for excellence in the physical, the intellectual, and the spiritual virtues through a challenging course of classical and Catholic education.”


499 Comm Music Curriculum

Since the very beginning, music has been an integral part of the curriculum. Part of Fr. Phillips’ vision in founding the school was to make the study of music available to every student and to become, in essence, though not in name, a choir school. However, unlike most choir school the students are not auditioned. Each student who attends The Atonement Academy receives choral music instruction four or five days per week for a total of approximately three hours per week. The curriculum includes age appropriate training in music theory, ear training, sight-singing and repertoire development. Elements from various music education methods are employed including Ward, Kodaly and Royal School of Church Music. The repertoire is founded on the English choral tradition, and draws from the best Catholic and Anglican sources. The Murrays are assisted by three additional faculty members: Miss Laura Johnson, Mr. Gary Marks and Mrs. Amy Zuberbueler, Director of the Ward Center of San Antonio.


Daily Mass

498 Communion Holy One of the most unique aspects to the education of students at The Atonement Academy is attendance at daily Mass. Each day the entire student body participates in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. On Monday through Thursday, the Mass is celebrated according to the Book of Divine Worship. On Fridays the Mass is celebrated in Latin according to the Ordinary Form. Each day, the music is provided by one of the school choirs which leads the singing of the hymn and the Ordinary of the Mass, and also sings an anthem or motet appropriate to the day or season. In addition, a schola of high school men sings a Communion antiphon taken from the Graduale Romanum, Graduale Simplex or one of the many collections of English propers. On feast days and solemnities the schola sings the complete Propers.


We hope you enjoyed this guest series by Mæstro Edmund Murray.


Atonement (Part 1)   •   Atonement (Part 2)

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Graduale Romanum Roman Gradual Propers, Our Lady Of The Atonement Academy Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 19th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (10 August 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 feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    This Sunday’s Communion Antiphon
    This coming Sunday—10 August 2025—is the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). The COMMUNION ANTIPHON is really gorgeous, and two of its features are worth mentioning. First of all, the Gospel reading assigned is from Saint Luke, whereas the the antiphon—although it matches the account—comes from Saint Matthew. (If anyone can point to a similar example, please notify me.) Furthermore, if you look at the authentic Gregorian Chant version posted on the feasts website, you’ll notice that it’s MODE III but ends on the ‘wrong’ note. A comparable instance of such a ‘transposed’ chant would be KYRIE IV.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Using “Ye” Vs. “You” Correctly
    Using “Ye” vs. “You” is rather tricky, because it depends upon which era one is trying to recreate—if that makes any sense. In other words, the rules haven’t always been the same for these two. Nevertheless, Father Philip George Caraman (the legendary Jesuit scholar) gives us a masterclass using Saint Luke’s Gospel. Father Caraman was close friends with Monsignor Ronald Knox, Evelyn Waugh, and Sir Alec Guinness.
    —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

“For any member of laity, who is at least somewhat literate, the ignorance of the Latin tongue, which we can call a truly Catholic language, indicates a certain lack of affection towards the Church.”

— Pope Pius IX

Recent Posts

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  • This Sunday’s Communion Antiphon
  • Using “Ye” Vs. “You” Correctly
  • Installment #3 • “Serious Problems with the Lectionary Translation”

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