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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

[español] ‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime

Veronica Moreno · December 26, 2014

Una traducción del texto de Fr. David Friel del 26 de diciembre 2014
ÉRASE UNA LUNA DE INVIERNO
para nuestros lectores hispanohablantes.

IENTRAS CONTINUAMOS nuestra celebración del Nacimiento de nuestro Señor, aquí hay un hermoso villancico escrito por uno de nuestros patrones de CCW, San Juan de Brébeuf. Escribió el original en Wyandot (la lengua indígena Huron) como medio de evangelización.

En el himno, el padre de Brébeuf utiliza conceptos tradicionales de la religión Huron para transmitir la historia del Nacimiento de Cristo. Esta es “inculturación” en su sentido más verdadero y más saludable. Haga clic aquí para obtener una historia más completa de este villancico.

El autor fue un hombre valiente muy digno de nuestra emulación, y este es un hermoso poema muy digno de nuestra reflexión”.

Érase una luna de invierno,
ya huídos todos los pájaros,
que el poderoso Gitchi Manitou
envió coros de ángeles en su lugar;
en su luz, las estrellas se apagaron,
y los cazadores curiosos oyeron el himno:

R./ Jesús, tu Rey ha nacido,
Jesús ha nacido,
en excelsis gloria.

En una choza de leña rota
se encontró el tierno Niño,
un ropaje raído de piel de conejo
envuelve su entera belleza.
Pero a medida que se acercaban los valientes cazadores,
el canto del ángel sonó alto y fuerte: R./

La primera luna del invierno
no es tan redonda y hermosa
como era el anillo de gloria en
el indefenso Infante allí.
Los jefes de lejos se arrodillaron ante Él
con regalos de piel de zorro y castor.R./

Oh, hijos de la selva libre,
el canto de los ángeles es verdadero.
El Santo Niño de la Tierra y el Cielo
ha nacido hoy para ti.
Ven a arrodillarte ante el radiante Niño,
que te trae belleza, paz y alegría. R./

St. Jean de Brébeuf, c. 1643
(traducción de ccwatershed del la traducción de by J. Edgar Middleton, 1926, alt.)

¡Deseándoles a nuestros lectores mucha alegría a medida que continuamos dando la bienvenida a la Presencia de Cristo entre nosotros!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: CCWatershed en Español, spanish Last Updated: December 23, 2022

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About Veronica Moreno

Veronica Moreno is married to a teacher and homeschools five children. She has been cantor at her local Catholic parish for over a decade.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Good Friday Flowers
    Good Friday has a series of prayers for various parties: the pope, catechumens, pagans, heretics, schismatics, and so forth. In the old liturgical books, there was no official ‘name’ for these prayers. (This wasn’t unusual as ‘headers’ and ‘titles’ for each section is a rather modern idea.) The Missal simply instructed the priest to go to the Epistle side and begin. In the SHERBORNE MISSAL, each prayer begins with a different—utterly spectacular—flower. This PDF file shows the first few prayers. Has anyone counted the ‘initial’ drop-cap flowers in the SHERBORNE MISSAL? Surely there are more than 1,000.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music List • (3rd Sunday of Lent)
    Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday, which is the 3rd Sunday of Lent (8 March 2026). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. This feast has magnificent propers. Its stern INTROIT (“Óculi mei semper ad Dóminum”) is breathtaking, and the COMMUNION (“Qui bíberit aquam”) with its fauxbourdon verses is wonderful. I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Ubi Caritas” (SATB)
    I remember singing “Ubi Cáritas” by Maurice Duruflé at the conservatory. I was deeply moved by it. However, some feel Duruflé’s version isn’t suitable for small choirs since it’s written for 6 voices and the bass tessitura is quite low. That’s why I was absolutely thrilled to discover this “Ubi cáritas” (SATB) for smaller choirs by Énemond Moreau, who studied with OSCAR DEPUYDT (d. 1925), an orphan who became a towering figure of Catholic music. Depuydt’s students include: Flor Peeters (d. 1986); Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel (d. 1953); Arthur Meulemans (d. 1966); Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989); and Gustaaf Nees (d. 1965). Rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #19705. When I came across the astonishing English translation for “Ubi Cáritas” by Monsignor Ronald Knox—matching the Latin’s meter—I decided to add those lyrics as an option (for churches which have banned Latin). My wife and I made this recording to give you some idea how it sounds.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Dies Irae” • A Monstrous Translation
    It isn’t easy to determine what Alice King MacGilton hoped to accomplish with her very popular book—A Study of Latin Hymns (1918)—which continued to be reprinted in new editions for at least 34 years. This PDF file shows her attempt to translate the DIES IRAE “in the fewest words possible.” There’s a place for dynamic equivalency, but this is repugnant. In particular, look what she does to “Quærens me sedísti lassus.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Holy, Holy, Holy”
    For vigil Masses on Saturday (a.k.a. “anticipated” Masses) we use this simpler setting of the “Holy, Holy, Holy” by Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989), a Belgian priest, organist, composer, and music educator who ultimately succeeded another ‘Jules’ (CANON JULES VAN NUFFEL) as director of the Lemmensinstituut in Belgium. Although I could be wrong, my understanding is that the LEMMENSINSTITUUT eventually merged with “Catholic University of Leuven” (originally founded in 1425). That’s the university Fulton J. Sheen attended.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Grotesque Pairing • “Passion Chorale”
    One of our rarest releases was undoubtably this PDF scan of the complete Pope Pius XII Hymnal (1959) by Father Joseph Roff, a student of Healey Willan. One of the scarcest titles in existence, this book was provided to us by Mr. Peter Meggison. Back in 2018, we scanned each page and uploaded it to our website, making it freely available to everyone. Readers are probably sick of hearing me say this, but just because we upload something that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wonderful or worthy of imitation. We upload many publications precisely because they are ‘grotesque’, interesting, or revealing. Whereas the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal had an editorial board that was careful and sensitive vis-à-vis pairing texts with tunes, the Pope Pius XII Hymnal (1959) seems to have been rather reckless in this regard. Please take a look at what they did with the PASSION CHORALE and see whether you agree.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Older priests, therefore, should receive younger priests as true brothers and help them in their first undertakings and priestly duties. The older ones should likewise endeavor to understand the mentality of younger priests, even though it be different from their own, and follow their projects with good will.”

— Pope Saint Paul VI (7 dec 1965)

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  • “Dies Irae” • A Monstrous Translation

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