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Views from the Choir Loft

A Most Devastating Change By Pope Paul VI

Jeff Ostrowski · July 28, 2015

462 Gradual vs. Missal Reformers frequently cited a statement 1 by Pope Pius X to justify their actions. But if they truly loved THE LITURGY, why did they mutilate it? Consider the words of Christoph Tietze:

In 1968, a questionnaire was sent to 12,000 liturgical experts. The first question was whether the proper texts of the introit should be omitted in recited Masses. Of the 1,388 responses, 71% voted in favor of recited introits and 29% voted to omit them.

To the next question, whether the “antiphons of the introit should be revised, so that they could be recited for spiritual fruit,” 91% answered affirmative. On the basis of these results, the Consilium of April 1968 decided that both the introit and communion antiphons should be recited in Masses without music, and that these texts should be revised for the new Missale Romanum.

Did you get that? 12,000 letters sent … yet only 1,388 responded. Moreover, the questionnaire only asked about Introits. Nothing was said about the Communion antiphons! This would indicate they really didn’t love the liturgy; they wanted to change the liturgy. And they did so based on responses from less than 11%.

The changes were only meant to apply to spoken Masses (“Masses without music”). Tietze correctly points out 2 that “it was always made clear that the Gregorian texts had primacy in sung Masses”—but this was ignored. Pew books like the Jogues Missal do restore the proper way (placing English versions alongside the official Latin) but why did it take five decades for such a book to arrive?

Bishop Charrière of Switzerland wrote the following around the time of the Second Vatican Council. The emphases are his, not mine:

E DO ACKNOWLEDGE that … more or less substantial changes are being requested from Rome. But those who are pleased with today’s situation—those who live the Liturgy as given by the Roman Church—are not complaining and do not say anything. Don’t we also have to give large consideration to the majority who are content? Isn’t their number as great—maybe greater—than the number of those who complain?

We are being told of a desire, which then tends to become widespread, for a substantial modification of the Liturgy. What is really universal is the desire to see the faithful always participating in the Mass to a greater extent and to see the priests always living from their liturgical prayer. But as for how this better participation of the faithful and priests can be achieved, we do not believe that those who speak the more loudly, those who somehow impatiently keep asking for endless changes, do represent the majority. A general survey of all the bishops would perhaps let us know the thoughts of those who do not say anything but who are content to see the Liturgy kept in its present form.

Finally, after such a long time, individual groups—and I believe CCW is one such group—are going back to the true liturgical movement, which was meant to help Catholics better appreciate the sacred liturgy.




NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   The 1903 Motu Proprio of Pope Pius X said: “Filled as we are with a most ardent desire to see the true Christian spirit flourish in every respect and be preserved by all the faithful, we deem it necessary to provide before anything else for the sanctity and dignity of the temple, in which the faithful assemble for no other object than that of acquiring this spirit from its foremost and indispensable font, which is the active participation in the most holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church.”

2   You can read Tietze’s full article.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Bishop of Chur, Missal Antiphons Dont Match Roman Gradual, Reform of the Reform, Sung Vs Spoken Propers Novus Ordo Last Updated: July 13, 2023

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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).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
    EVIN ALLEN was commissioned by Sacred Music Symposium 2025 to compose a polyphonic ‘middle section’ for the GLORIA from Mass III, often denoted by its trope name: Missa Kyrie Deus sempiterne. This year, I’m traveling from Singapore to serve on the symposium faculty. I will be conducting Palestrina’s ‘Ave Maria’ as well as teaching plainsong to the men. A few days ago, I was asked to record rehearsal videos for this beautiful polyphonic extension. (See below.) This polyphonic composition fits ‘inside’ GLORIA III. That is, the congregation sings for the beginning and end, but the choir alone adds polyphony to the middle. The easiest way to understand how everything fits together is by examining this congregational insert. You may download the score, generously made available to the whole world—free of charge—by CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED:
    *  PDF Download • Gloria III ‘Middle Section’ (Kevin Allen)
    Free rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #24366. Related News • My colleague, Jeff Ostrowski, composed an organ accompaniment for this same GLORIA a few months ago. Obviously, the organist should drop out when the polyphony is being sung.
    —Corrinne May
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    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
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.

— ‘His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)’

Recent Posts

  • PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
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