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Corpus Christi Watershed

“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Those Selfless Ordinary Form Priests

Jeff Ostrowski · November 6, 2014

705 Bishop Germany RDINARY FORM priests often work tirelessly and receive very little support. Consider, first of all, the excessive size of today’s Novus Ordo parishes. A single priest often serves 2,000, 4,000, or even 11,000 families. Other OF priests offer Mass in several locations each weekend. This is quite a contrast to the “good old days” of Roman Catholicism, where Pastor and Curates could live peacefully, seldom leaving the Church, Rectory, School, and Garden. In our times, the priest is besieged by emails, phone calls, meetings, sick calls, and even text messages, asking him difficult moral questions that require an immediate (and correct) answer.

Moreover, many Ordinary Form priests possess little experience with authentic liturgy. When I say “authentic,” I mean stable. After all, the whole point of liturgy is stability and constancy. Pope Benedict XVI reminded us:

The greatness of the liturgy depends—we shall have to repeat this frequently—on its unspontaneity [Unbeliebigkeit].

The postconciliar reforms allow for an unbelievable amount of OPTIONS, referred to as “the tyranny of options” by critics. Many Ordinary Form priests were formed in liturgies changing radically from one day to the next. On top of that, some Traditionalists berate them constantly, convincing them they don’t know anything about liturgy. With so many duties, some Ordinary Form priests are tempted to say, “Forget about liturgy. It’s so confusing, and it changes so much. When I retire, I’ll have time to become an expert, but not now. Besides, very few of my parishioners seem to care about liturgy.” My brother (a seminarian) and his friends have assured me this is rather common.

AT THE SAME TIME, many Ordinary Form priests sense something horrifically wrong with their liturgies—especially the secular, emotional, uninspired, goofy, and sometimes heretical music that accompanies Mass. What can be done? Some might say “education,” but liturgy is an extremely complex subject (that’s why “Gradual” can mean four different things!) and for most is a less-than-stimulating thing to study.

701 Readings But there’s a fantastic solution! No words. Don’t explain anything. Just get them a copy of the St. Isaac Jogues Illuminated Missal, Lectionary, & Gradual. Opening up the book, they’ll see the readings, formatted in a gorgeous way. They’ll see the Propers, whose typesetting is unmatched. They’ll see the Ordinary of the Mass, containing luscious color images. They’ll see incredible woodcuts, explaining the meaning of our Faith.

This pew book presents a road map to authentic liturgical reform, which could be summarized thusly:

Sing the music of the Church—don’t replace it—and always allow your congregation to follow the Mass.

Finally, a reminder: the Jogues Missal is for the Ordinary Form, and was approved in 2014 for the United States of America by the USCCB.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: ICEL New Translation of the Roman Missal, Roman Missal Third Edition 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 Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —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

In a meeting that took place on 23 July 2014, Pope Benedict told Father Josef Bisig, FSSP, that “Pope Saint John Paul II had the firm intention to personally bestow the episcopal consecration on an SSPX priest on 15 August 1988.”

— Libre entretien sur l’été 1988, Sedes Sapientiæ, issue 160, summer 2022

Recent Posts

  • “Musicam Sacram” (5 March 1967) • Does It Apply?
  • “What Martin Luther Said…”
  • “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • Worship the Lord in Holy Attire
  • “How to Conduct 90 Vespers Services Each Year and Live to Tell the Tale.”

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