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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download: “Pray the Mass” (1959) Booklet & Cards

Veronica Brandt · September 13, 2014

Pray the Mass booklet and cards OU MIGHT REMEMBER a post I wrote a while ago about a booklet called Pray the Mass. Some asked that this be scanned in, so, at long last I can present to you:

      * *  PDF: “Pray the Mass” (1959) — 60 pages

The main part of the book is a walk through the Mass divided into 33 steps. The Appendix: Suggestions for Teaching the Mass recommends these steps be learnt in order, requiring each student to give the next step going around the class. The steps are broken up into four groups to make the memorisation more manageable.

I have entered them into a Quizlet flashcard set where they can be printed or studied online as desired. I added quotes from an English translation of the Mass to go with each step, some of which are quite long and come out quite tiny when printed as flashcards, but still readable.

Another tip for teaching can be found in Chapter 1 of Pray the Mass, where the author says ‘We shall collect pictures of the priest at Mass, and have a small altar and a tiny priest to go over again all the “steps” that we have learned.’

TWO EXCELLENT SOURCES OF PICTURES of the Mass are the Latin Missal and the Jogues Missal. Another is the website Sancta Missa, aimed at the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, like this booklet. A small altar and tiny priest could be improvised with a chess set or Lego®. You can see a very complete model of a sanctuary by James Prin. I hope that helps give some more ideas for passing on how to Pray the Mass.

860 Lego

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 Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

Alabama Assessment!

We received this evaluation of Symposium 2022 from an Alabama participant:

“Oh, how the Symposium echoed the words of Cardinal Merry Del Val: …choosing only what is most conformed to Thy glory, which is my final aim. In one short and fast paced week, the faculty and attendees showed me the hand of God and our Lady working in our lives. The wide range of education—from Gregorian Chant, jazz modes in organ improvisation, to ‘staying sane’ while leading a choir—were certainly first-class knowledge from the best teachers of the art. However, the most powerful lesson was learning how to pray as a choir. The sacrifice of putting songs together, taking time to learn the sacred text, meditating on the church teaching through the chants, and gaining the virtues required to persevere in these duties were not only qualities of a choir but of a saint. The sanctification of the lives of the attendees was a beautiful outcome of this event … and that in itself is worth more than a beautifully-sung Solesmes style chant!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
PDF Download • Trinity Sunday (22 pages)

Feel free to download this Organ Accompaniment Booklet for Trinity Sunday (Second Vespers). Notice how the modes progress by number. Psalm 1 is mode 1; Psalm 2 is mode 2; Psalm 3 is mode 3; Psalm 4 is mode 4; Psalm 5 is mode 5. I am told by an expert that other feasts (such as Corpus Christi) are likewise organized by mode, and it’s called a “numerical office.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
10 June 2022 • “Official” rhythm of plainsong

I continue to search for the most beautiful way to present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores. (Technically, the “pure” rhythm of the official edition is what everyone is supposed to use.) You can download my latest attempt, which is the Introit for this coming Sunday: Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Because this is not an ancient feast, the Introit had to be adapted (perhaps around 750AD). Prior Johner says the adaptation is “not an entirely happy one.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The Humanists abominated the rhythmical poetry of the Middle Ages from an exaggerated enthusiasm for ancient classical forms and meters. Hymnody then received its death blow as, on the revision of the Breviary under Pope Urban VIII, the medieval rhythmical hymns were forced into more classical forms by means of so-called corrections.”

— ‘Father Clemens Blume, S.J.’

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