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Views from the Choir Loft

Jaw-Dropping Liturgical Manuscripts (7,055 Pages)

Jeff Ostrowski · April 6, 2015

998 Holy Sacred MSS HY DO WE LOVE our liturgical history? Does this love of ours truly make us “partakers of idolatry,” as the founder of the Mundelein Liturgical Institute recently asserted?

I don’t believe so. Our desires are natural and pleasing to God. We wish to pray using the exact same words—on the exact same days—as so many saints did. 1

Many now recognize that the innovations of Bugnini’s Consilium have impoverished the Roman Rite and were not faithful to the decrees of Sacrosanctum Concilium. This is due in large part to the internet, which has made available ancient manuscripts. Catholics can now see with their own eyes the antiquity of our liturgy.

Download 7,055 pages of ancient manuscripts below. They were made available 2 by Heinrich Heine University, and you can obtain high resolution versions by searching. The EF liturgy matches these manuscripts 98% of the time; whereas the OF liturgy sometimes 3 does not match.

Whenever possible, we have an obligation 4 to provide excerpts of ancient manuscripts for our choirs and congregations. Remember, the books below are just the tip of the iceberg!


MS-D-1 • Sacramentary … circa 867AD

506 pages.   Click here for a screenshot showing part of a page. That green circular thing is the famous “Vere Dignum Et Justum Est” monogram.


MS-D-3 • Missale … circa 955AD

621 pages.   Click here for a screenshot. Notice the drawing of Saint Augustine, as well as the famous monogram featured in the Jogues Lectionary.


MS-D-5 • Missale … circa 1507AD

267 pages.   Click here for a screenshot.


MS-D-6 • Cistercian Graduale … circa 1173AD

377 pages.   Click here for a screenshot.


MS-D-10A • Graduale … circa 1285AD

436 pages.   Click here for a screenshot.


MS-D-10B • Book of Hours … circa 1466AD

285 pages.   Click here for a screenshot.


MS-D-11 • Graduale … circa 1372AD

1,397 pages.   Click here for a screenshot.


MS-D-12 • Graduale … circa 1424AD

705 pages.   Click here for a screenshot.


MS-D-14 • Antiphonale/Graduale (Winter Section) … circa 1573AD

439 pages.   Click here for a screenshot.


MS-D-19 • Cistercian Graduale … circa 1491AD

317 pages.   Click here for a screenshot.


MS-D-20 • Graduale … circa 1507AD

241 pages.   Click here for a screenshot.


MS-D-27 • Graduale (Summer Section) … circa 1481AD

189 pages.   Click here for a screenshot.


MS-D-30 • Graduale (Winter Section) … circa 1502AD

427 pages.   Click here for a screenshot.


MS-D-32 • Cistercian Graduale (Winter Section) … circa 1552AD

431 pages.   Click here for a screenshot.


MS-D-35 • Graduale (Winter Section) … circa 1545AD

417 pages.   Click here for a screenshot.


UPDATE •   From a reader:

Bayerische Staatsbibliothek has made much available. Go to bsb-muenchen.de and search for e.g. Graduale, limit the search to “online resources” time to before 1600 (or whatever pleases you), and go wild. They have a wonderful policy in that whoever first asks for a digitalization of a particular manuscript pays for it and afterwards they put it online for free. Sample screenshot.

As I mentioned, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The Saint Gall library also has thousands of online images.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Moreover, our hearts and minds are lifted to God by the glorious artwork & melodies of our Catholic heritage.

2   The language and website—based in Düsseldorf—can be intimidating for Americans, so a former student kindly created the Google links you see on this page. Be sure to obey usage regulations posted on the Heinrich Heine website.

3   For instance, the Ordinary Form uses the Gradual antiphons for sung Masses, but uses the Missal antiphons for spoken Masses. The Gradual antiphons are ancient, whereas many of the “spoken” propers were created in 1969.

4   The Jogues Lectionary provides stunning manuscripts for the congregation to enjoy—as does the Campion Hymnal—both in full color. Congregations love seeing these!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Graduale Romanum Roman Gradual Propers, Sung Vs Spoken Propers Novus Ordo Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Jeff Ostrowski

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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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

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Due to Covid-19, California has basically been under “lock down” for 11 months, and these restrictions have had quite a detrimental effect on our choral programs. We are frequently limited to just 2-3 singers, on account of regulations by the government and our Archdiocese. However, although the number of singers is quite small, I was struck by the beauty of the singing last Sunday. Listen to this 15-second live excerpt and see if you agree?

—Jeff Ostrowski
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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

Random Quote

Why do we never sing “De Spiritu Sancto” (St. Athenogenes) in our churches? There are a dozen translations in English verse. Where could anyone find a better evening hymn than this, coming right down from the catacombs? Our hymnbooks know nothing of such a treasure as this, and give us pages of poor sentiment in doggerel lines by some tenth-rate modern versifier.

— Rev’d Adrian Fortescue (d. 1923)

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