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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

A hymnal in e-book format

Veronica Brandt · June 6, 2015

Gloria a Latin Hymnal OU MAY HAVE ALREADY SUNG from an electronic copy of the Liber Usualis. It was most likely a PDF, or perhaps you have the fancy Liber Pro app from iTunes.

Or you may have a collection of electronic copies of old hymnbooks already lying around the corners of your computer’s hard drive.

Most PDF books are simply scanned images. They can be slow to load and clunky to navigate. A better way might be to combe images of the music with regular text which can set out section headings, translations and explanations.

Enter the Gloria Latin Hymnal: 100 Traditional Latin Hymns in Gregorian Notation with English Translations by Patrimonium Publishing. It is a regular ebook available through Amazon combining images of Gregorian chant typeset with gregorio following each piece with an English translation in plain text.

There are lots of old favorites as well as a surprising number of pieces I have never heard before. How many of you have sung the Memorare? How about O Sanctissima in Gregorian notation? The sources include Cantus Mariales from 1903 by Dom Pothier, which must be where many of these gems come from.

If you are a blithe owner of a Kindle or not concerned with the details of typographical layout, feel free to stop reading here and go check out a free sample from Amazon.

The really impressive thing here is the technical juggling involved in preparing music for such a limited medium. It is crazy enough to try formatting a hymnal for a printed page, but for a format designed for flowing pages of uninterrupted text is quite a challenge.

The compiler, Michael Phillips, carefully tailored the book for a regular Kindle device. He chose the breaks in the music to allow enough space for the translation to fit on a 6” screen. That is probably a good median size to cater for, but on other devices the page dimensions change and the pictures and text act differently to fill the new space.

Here is how it looks on my cell phone:


laguentibus small text A page from the Gloria Hymnal on a phone.

Turning the phone on its side enlarges the music, but leaves no room for the translation, which overflows into its own page.

On the big screen the music becomes much clearer, but the translation shrinks relative to the music.


languentibus one page The same hymn on a large computer monitor.

You can change the text size setting in your ebook viewer as you wish. My picky side wants to fiddle with the default margin around the images, but I know this could upset how it works on other devices. Maybe, with time, Amazon will adjust their Cloud Reader to better adapt their ebooks for desktops. I don’t know, but I think I can live with it, especially as I get more absorbed in the actual content of the hymnal.

The reviews claim that all these hymns can be listened to by searching for recordings online. I’m not in a position to test that claim properly, but I would love to try.

I will be dipping into this little book for many months to come.

Maybe I’ll even get myself a Kindle.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Abbot Joseph Pothier of Solesmes, Cantus Mariales, Dom Pothier Cantus Mariales, Gregorio, Hymnbooks Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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President’s Corner

    Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
    The 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM was a transitional missal. It was on its way to becoming the 1970 version, but wasn’t there yet. It eliminated certain duplications, downplayed the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, expanded the role of laymen, minimized the Last Gospel, made many items optional, and so forth. Father Valentine Young spotted many typos in the 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM, especially incorrect accents. The Offertory Antiphon for this coming Sunday (OF kalendar) contains an error, citing the wrong verse from Psalm 118. It should be 118:107b, not 118:154. If you read verse 154, you’ll understand how that error crept in. [In this particular case, the error pre-dates the 1962 Missal, since the 1940s hand-missal by Father Lasance also gets it wrong.]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 26 October 2025, which is the 30th 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 top-notch feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Little Encouragement?
    In the Gospel, our Savior tells about 10 lepers who were healed. Only one went back to give thanks. Precious few express gratitude, yet many have endless energy to complain. For that reason, I deeply appreciate receiving messages like the following, which arrived a few days ago (about the parish where I direct in Michigan): “Last Sunday, a couple I knew from Grand Rapids was at Mass at 10:00 a.m. I got a chance to talk to them after Mass. I wanted to let you know what they said about the choir. They were absolutely floored by our sound!!!!! They both said they could continuously listen to our choir and the beauty of it. They asked me: “Do you always sound like that?” And they were also very surprised at how packed the church was. They said it was nice for them to be in such a full church. I just thought you would be interested to know their thoughts about our choir.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “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

Random Quote

The 1960s reformers had no chance of success since their goal was “recasting from top to bottom—and in a few months!—an entire liturgy which had required twenty centuries to develop.”

— Professor Louis Bouyer, close friend of Pope Saint Paul VI

Recent Posts

  • Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
  • “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
  • Little Encouragement?
  • Children’s Repertoire • Mueller’s Recommendations

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