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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download: Rare Hymnal By Boston’s Archbishop

Jeff Ostrowski · January 12, 2015

461 William Henry O'Connell - Cardinal Archbishop of Boston ID YOU KNOW the Archbishop of Boston published a hymnal in 1915? It’s true: William Henry Cardinal O’Connell wrote the words and composed the melodies. (During his high school career, O’Connell excelled at music, particularly the piano and organ.)

      * *  PDF: Holy Cross Hymnal (1915)

Perhaps the most interesting part of the book is the page explaining how VERNACULAR HYMNS were sung during the low Mass in 1915:

      * *  PDF: Vernacular Hymns at Low Mass

Can you imagine singing all those vernacular hymns while Mass is happening? And how can there be a hymn for the blessing, which—at Low Mass & High Mass—takes a grand total of 25 seconds?!!

Here’s a reproduction of that PDF:

A good method of using these Hymns for devotion at Mass is the following:

Before Mass

Hymn to the Holy Trinity

— or —

Hymn to the Holy Spirit

Beginning of Mass

Hymn of Holy Mass

After Consecration

The Blessed Sacrament

At Communion

Holy Communion

At the Blessing

Hymn for the Blessing

Between the beginning of Mass and the Consecration may be sung:

Hymns to the Blessed Virgin Mary

— or —

St. Joseph

— or —

The Sacred Heart

— or —

The Guardian Angel

— or —

or any of the other Hymns as appropriate to the day.

A WHILE AGO, we posted a recording of Cardinal Cushing of Boston praying the Canon during JFK’s 1963 funeral Mass. Since that time, it appears the entire funeral has been posted online. Without question, the liturgy is deplorable. As you can see, there’s a soloist singing operatic songs most of the time, even during the reading of the Gospel. What cacophony!

When I asked a priest ordained in the 1950s to tell me the most horrible liturgy he’d experienced in the days prior to Vatican II, he immediately responded: JFK’s funeral said by Cardinal Cushing. It’s really too bad that it’s now on YouTube for all to see, because many will point to that example and exclaim, “See? That’s how every single pre-conciliar Mass was!”


P.S.

Many interesting things could be said about William Henry Cardinal O’Connell. Here’s an example:

O’Connell was late to two papal conclaves in a row—in 1914 and 1922—due to having to cross the Atlantic Ocean by boat. He made a protest to Pope Pius XI, who in response lengthened the time between the death of a pope and the start of a conclave. O’Connell was able to participate in the subsequent 1939 conclave, although by that time traveling by plane was possible.

Update:

Several years after we posted our version, archive.org has followed our lead.

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

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Tagged With: Holy Cross Hymnal 1915, Low Mass Vernacular Hymns, William Henry Cardinal OConnell Last Updated: April 6, 2021

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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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Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Iconographic tradition has theologically interpreted the manger and the swaddling cloths in terms of the theology of the Fathers. The child stiffly wrapped in bandages is seen as prefiguring the hour of his death: from the outset, he is the sacrificial victim, as we shall see more closely when we examine the reference to the first-born. The manger, then, was seen as a kind of altar.”

— Pope Benedict XVI (2012)

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