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Views from the Choir Loft

Permission Needed to Replace the Propers?—(6 of 7)

Cynthia Ostrowski · March 1, 2015

217 Children Beach OU HAVE PROBABLY noticed I don’t weigh in on complex questions of liturgical music. I lack expertise 1 in that area. However, at various times in my life, I’ve attended Mass where the music sounded peculiar. To my ear, it often sounds “secular” (if that makes sense) and inappropriate. The early 2000s—when I attended college—now seem like a different lifetime, but I remember my classmates composing their own songs (with their own lyrics) and performing them during Mass, without any permission from the bishop. They are still doing this, although I have a question about how long they will be considered “hip.”

I may not have grasped the full import of Mr. Craig’s article, but I did read it. From what I can understand, people are replacing the official Church texts without sufficient clearance from the bishop.

I feel relieved, in a certain sense: the instances I mentioned earlier are against the rules. On the other hand, I feel confused: why doesn’t someone put a stop to this? I don’t want my family attending Masses where irreverent songs are used because I believe children instinctively “sense” when the liturgy is not celebrated in a dignified manner.

Where does this need come from; a need for everything to be new and created with haste? Why is so little consideration given to the ancient prayers which served satisfactorily for so many centuries? Like the waves of the ocean, the next generation rises and falls. Before we know it, our children will be running the show. Let’s teach them to value Sacred music treasury extolled by the Second Vatican Council.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   My focus is mainly on religious art and photography—areas in which I do have training.


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: Hymns Replacing Propers Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Cynthia Ostrowski

About Cynthia Ostrowski

Cynthia Ostrowski holds a bachelor's degree (2005) in Geographic Information Science and a minor in Computer Science from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.—(Read full biography).

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Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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“Pope Francis breaks Catholic traditions whenever he wants because he is free from disordered attachments. Our Church has indeed entered a new phase: with the advent of this first Jesuit pope, it is openly ruled by an individual rather than by the authority of Scripture alone or even its own dictates of tradition plus Scripture.”

— Fr. Thomas Rosica (31 July 2018)

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