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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 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

    “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
    “Music List” • 27th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 5 October 2025, which is the 27th 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 spectacular feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin. Readers will want to check out the ENTRANCE CHANT posted there, which has a haunting melody (in the DEUTERUS MODE) and extremely powerful text.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Kids’ Choir Sings Thomas Aquinas
    Last Sunday, a children’s choir I’m teaching sang with us for the very first time at Sunday Mass. Females from our main choir sang along with them. If you’re curious to hear how they sounded, you can listen to a ‘live’ recording. That’s an English version of TANTUM ERGO by Saint Thomas Aquinas. That haunting melody is called GAUFESTRE and was employed for this 2-Voice Arrangement of a special hymn for 9 November (“Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome”) which replaces a Sunday this year.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Reminder” — Month of September (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Did they simplify these hymn harmonies?
    Choirs love to sing the famous & splendid tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1952, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. In other words, their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1952 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. I really like the groovy Germanic INTRODUCTION they added.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“It would be a grave error to imagine that the principle orientation of the sacrificial action is towards the community. If the priest celebrates «VERSUS POPULUM», which is legitimate and often advisable, his spiritual attitude ought always to be «VERSUS DEUM PER JESUM CHRISTUM», as representative of the entire Church.”

— Official Vatican Statement (25 September 2000)

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