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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

Permission Needed to Replace the Propers?—(4 of 7)

Dr. Lucas Tappan · February 24, 2015

239 Bishop Sample ECENTLY Dan Craig wrote an article regarding the use—or lack thereof—of the Propers within the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, as well the practice of replacing the Propers with less than ideal texts.

In his closing statement, he opined: “I feel many of our present difficulties [he refers here to liturgical difficulties] would vanish if we simply followed the GIRM.” I agree with him wholeheartedly and confess that I find it rather odd that we tend to replace most of the Propers of the Mass (usually taken from Sacred Scripture) with songs that at best leave the believer in a confused theological state (I think of the text Sing a New Church Into Being). That being said, I don’t foresee those in authority publicly setting things aright any time soon. 1

To be honest, I think some of our clergy suffer from the same problem that many dads do, namely, they have lost all sense of what it means to lead as a father. A good father doesn’t raise his children by following the latest trends, but unfortunately that seems to be the rule of the day. What about the father who has a spiritual awakening and realizes that his family is far from where it needs to be? Should he merely resign himself to the fact that his family will never come closer to the good Lord? Sometimes good priests do the same thing. I have heard members of the clergy pass the buck and say they are waiting for their bishop to speak about the matter, or for the Church to take a stronger stance. The priest is waiting for the bishop, the bishop is waiting for the bishop’s conference, the bishop’s conference is waiting for Rome, and Rome is, well… You get the point.

Perhaps the only advise I can offer are a few points:

(1) Think of how far we have come regarding music in the Church, even in the last 20 years. I realize some readers feel the situations in their own parishes are hopeless, but take heart. There has been an explosion of interest in chant and other great liturgical music in the Church and the younger clergy are on board. Several years ago a good friend of mine was ordained for a rural diocese and asked me to provide music for his first Mass, which included the Simple English Propers and the English chants from the Roman Missal. Last May another friend was ordained who asked me to lead a Schola singing English Propers by Fr. Samuel Weber and Mass XIII. This year one of the seminarians from our parish is being ordained and he has asked that our parish’s Schola Cantorum sing the Propers from the Graduale Romanum and Juan Padilla’s Missa Ego flos campi for his first Mass. Take heart and be of good cheer. It won’t be long before one of these men comes to your parish.

(2) Priests, sing the Mass! You are the father of your congregation and you must lead by example. I don’t care if you can sing or not (I mean that sincerely). It will change the way your parish worships and will provide a welcoming environment for the propers.

(3) Start a choir school, especially if your parish already has a school. My parish graduates 50 students every year. In ten years that will be 500 students who love good liturgical music (Propers included) and know how to make it—and who will have been taught why the Propers are so important. Imagine how the liturgical landscape would change if even 100 parishes across the nation made the change. That would be 50,000 people in only 10 years! It is hard to beat an army that large.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Without question, some have taken steps in this area. For example, read the letter by Archbishop Alexander K. Sample.

This article is part of a series:

Part 1 • Richard Clark

Part 2 • Veronica Brandt

Part 3 • Andrew Leung

Part 4 • Dr. Lucas Tappan

Part 5 • Andrew Motyka

Part 6 • Cynthia Ostrowski

Part 7 • Aurelio Porfiri

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Hilgartner 20 November 2012, Hymns Replacing Propers Last Updated: October 15, 2022

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About Dr. Lucas Tappan

Dr. Lucas Tappan is a conductor and organist whose specialty is working with children. He lives in Kansas with his wife and four children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 27th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 5 October 2025, which is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the spectacular feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin. Readers will want to check out the ENTRANCE CHANT posted there, which has a haunting melody (in the DEUTERUS MODE) and extremely powerful text.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Kids’ Choir Sings Thomas Aquinas
    Last Sunday, a children’s choir I’m teaching sang with us for the very first time at Sunday Mass. Females from our main choir sang along with them. If you’re curious to hear how they sounded, you can listen to a ‘live’ recording. That’s an English version of TANTUM ERGO by Saint Thomas Aquinas. That haunting melody is called GAUFESTRE and was employed for this 2-Voice Arrangement of a special hymn for 9 November (“Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome”) which replaces a Sunday this year.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Reminder” — Month of September (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Did they simplify these hymn harmonies?
    Choirs love to sing the famous & splendid tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1952, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. In other words, their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1952 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. I really like the groovy Germanic INTRODUCTION they added.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Liberalism in religion is the doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion, but that one creed is as good as another… It teaches that all are to be tolerated, for all are matters of opinion. Revealed religion is not a truth, but a sentiment and a taste; not an objective fact, not miraculous; and it is the right of each individual to make it say just what strikes his fancy. […] Men may go to Protestant Churches and to Catholic, may get good from both and belong to neither.”

— Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman (May of 1879)

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  • “Music List” • 27th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • Kids’ Choir Sings Thomas Aquinas

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