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Views from the Choir Loft

Barack Obama & Catholic Sacred Music

Jeff Ostrowski · September 1, 2014

907 Nos Autem HE UNITED STATES has three coequal branches of government—Legislative, Executive, and Judicial—which prevent tyranny by means of checks and balances.

Similarly, the postconciliar liturgy has three “coequal” books: (1) Lectionary; (2) Gradual; and (3) Sacramentary. 1 Therefore, it’s necessary to know WHICH BOOK contains WHICH PART of the Mass. Suppose someone exclaimed: “I’ve looked carefully but cannot locate any Supreme Court rulings by Barack Obama.” The correct answer would be: “You won’t find any. You’ve mixed up the branches of government.” Likewise, someone might say: “Having looked carefully, I can’t find any Eucharistic Prayers in the Lectionary.” Again, the correct answer would be, “You’re looking in the wrong book.” 2

EARLIER THIS MONTH, OCP PUBLICATIONS made an announcement both thrilling and troubling. The exciting part is that OCP will publish, before the end of 2014, more than 400 musical settings for Proper antiphons. But here’s the troubling part:

The OCP editions will be available by the end of the year. The original intent of OCP was to create an English Gradual, but ultimately they chose not to include the Offertory Antiphons since they do not exist in the current Missal.   [source]

The statement by OCP is bizarre. It’s like saying: “We’d planned to include the Prefaces but didn’t, because they do not exist in the current Lectionary.”

The fact is, the Prefaces are not found in the Lectionary. Similarly, the Offertory antiphons are not found in the current Missal: they’re found in the Roman Gradual. While it’s true that some Entrance & Communion antiphons are found in the Missal, those are intended for use in Masses without music. If you don’t understand, read this article. (If you don’t have time to read it, just glance at the amusing image!) When questioned further, the same person added:

I can tell you that this project has been a learning process for all involved. […] The concept and understanding of the Gradual was new to many of the OCP editors.

I admit this subject can cause confusion. For instance, here are eleven different collections of the Propers in English, and each is slightly different:

      * *  Eleven Electrifying Collections — Mass Propers in English

Anyone trying to make sense of the Ordinary Form Propers should obtain the Jogues Missal, which presents each Proper in a beautiful & clear way. Moreover, the formatting of every single page is absolutely unique:

905 Jogues IMAGE



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   The Sacramentary is often called a “Missal,” but that’s not an accurate term.

2   I wish somebody had explained this to me in 2005, when I began working for the Ordinary Form. The Extraordinary Form has just one book—the priest’s red Altar Missal—containing all texts necessary for the celebration of Mass.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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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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    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
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    “Jeff, I wanted to personally thank you for your spiritual witness at the Symposium & often blogs that you write too. Praying that prayer in the mornings My God, my Father and my all (by Cardinal Merry Del Val), mentioning saints’ stories of Brébeuf, Jogues, John Vianney, monks who fought in WWII, their hard work in spite of terrible conditions, their relentless zeal for the faith, their genuine love for the laypeople they served, etc. Overall though—more than anything concrete I can point to that you did or said—it was your demeanor at the Symposium. I could tell you really absolutely love and believe the Catholic Faith. You don’t get that everywhere, even in Church circles. And your humility is what then makes that shine even brighter. It is super inspiring! God is working through you probably way more than you know.”
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    Those who head over to the Symposium Website will notice the tentative schedule for 2023 has been released. This is all very exciting! Very soon, we will begin accepting applications, so please make sure you have subscribed to our mailing list. If you are subscribed, that means you'll hear announcements before anyone else. (It’s incredibly easy to subscribe to our mailing list; just scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.)
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Random Quote

In the United States, Archbishop Kenrick had said in his “Moral Theology” that it was acceptable to sing the “Véni Sáncte Spíritus” before the sermon.

— Monsignor Schmitt (1977)

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