Views from the Choir Loft

Amazing Opportunity for Los Angeles Catholics

Jeff Ostrowski · April 23, 2015

O YOU LIVE near Los Angeles? Would you enjoy attending a Latin Mass? Would you like to join a parish where the Extraordinary Form is offered exclusively? I have good news!

Mass in the Extraordinary Form
Saint Victor Church • 7:00pm Each Sunday
8634 Holloway Drive
West Hollywood, CA 90069

We’re a brand new community, but already have established numerous functions, parish organizations, altar server meetings, and so forth. We have a wonderful choir—100% volunteer—which sings the High Mass each week. Listen to this sample recording.

Catholics in Los Angeles can’t attend the Traditional Mass if they don’t realize it’s available each week! Please help spread the word. And parents with small children will love our cry room—right next to the Sanctuary, behind a glass window—which provides a remarkable view.

FR. JOHN BERG, Superior General of the Fraternity, will be visiting our parish—all the way from Switzerland! He will celebrate Mass with us on Pentecost Sunday, 24 May 2015, and attend a dinner immediately after Mass. This will be an unprecedented opportunity for you to speak with him, asking about the Traditional Mass, the FSSP seminaries, and so forth. An especially good opportunity, perhaps, for those considering a vocation to the priesthood.

Our Chaplain, Fr. James Fryar, sends you this brief video greeting.

To learn more, please visit: FSSP.la

Special to thanks to Msgr. Murphy who has allowed us to worship at
St. Victor Church until the Fraternity can obtain a permanent location.

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

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).

Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published

Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.

—Jeff Ostrowski

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Our choir is on break during the month of July. However, on the feasts website, the chants have been posted for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), which is this coming Sunday: 6 July 2025.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)

With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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