• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • Our Team
  • Catholic Hymnal
  • Jogues Missal
  • Site Map
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Pontifical Solemn High Mass in Steubenville

Andrew Leung · September 17, 2015

CTL Pontifical Solemn High Mass AST TUESDAY, I was in Steubenville, Ohio, participating in and singing the Pontifical Solemn High Mass celebrated by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke. The two-and-a-half-hour long Mass started at 10:30 in the morning at St. Peter Catholic Church in downtown Steubenville. The church was packed and filled with students, professors, staff, families, laity and religious from around the area. About twenty priests from the Diocese of Steubenville, Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, Franciscan Third Order Regular, and Diocese of Columbus, Youngstown, Pittsburgh, Wheeling-Charleston, and Altoona-Johnstown assisted at Mass or sat in choir.

The Schola Cantorum Franciscana sang under the direction of Professor Nicholas Will. The schola is part of the Franciscan University of Steubenville’s Sacred Music Program. The program has been committed to the training of professional church musicians for nine years. It has been flourishing these past few years and is attracting more and more young singers and organists to join. A few other fellow alumni and myself had the privilege to sang with the schola and it was an incredible experience for me. The musical highlight of the Mass is the Messe Solennelle by French composer Louis Vierne. Here is what Steve Skojec of OnePeterFive had to say about the Mass and the music:

“For those who think Steubenville and tradition don’t mix, the college has several on-campus TLMs a month. On the particular and quite special occasion of Cardinal Burke’s visit, a Pontifical High Mass was also arranged at St. Peter’s, the local parish. Professor Nicholas Will, who teaches Sacred Music, played the organ in a style that would impress even the most demanding Frenchman, and he also directed the Schola Cantorum Franciscana in the Messe Solennelle by Louis Vierne. In general, I respect and appreciate the organ as a liturgical instrument, but my preference is for the human voice, sparsely adorned.

And Oh! Those human voices! It was an absolutely stunning performance. The Kyrie and the Sanctus in particular were incredibly moving. Many of the students who come to Franciscan are musically talented, but not all of them are limited to softly strumming guitars and Christian contemporary ballads. I do not overstate the case when I say this was the most powerful vocal performance I have ever heard in all my travels – including Rome, Vienna, and Salzburg.”

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski also agrees with him and said that the Mass and the music is “just magnificent in every way”. After the Mass, Cardinal Burke thanked Prof. Will personally and congratulated the schola on the impressive music. Dr. Michael Sirilla, a theology professor at Franciscan, told me that Vierne’s Kyrie was the most powerful Kyrie he has ever experienced. How powerful is it? Here is a recording of the Kyrie from Vierne’s Messe Solennelle:

    * *  Mp3 Audio • Kyrie from Louis Vierne’s Messe Solennelle

Director: Prof. Nicholas Will
Organist: Andrew Barnick, ’15
Audio Technicians: Dr. David Schaefer and Ryan Harner, ’16

The Mass and the music was definitely a very powerful experience for me personally. I have never been to a Pontifical Mass where the prelate wears his cappa magna. To attend a Solemn High Mass, the fullness of the Roman Rite, with a cardinal was a mountaintop experience! The beauty of the Liturgy, the arts and music really reflected the heavenly banquet. I believe this has to be the closest thing on earth to the heavenly Liturgy.

Vierne’s Mass is only the second French Mass I have sung in my musical career, the first one was Faure’s Requiem. I know! I still have many more to work on: Franck, Durufle, and many others. Anyway, as a singer, I really enjoyed the dramatic effects, the expressiveness and the color of the Messe Solennelle.

CTL Pontifical Solemn High Mass Gallery 9 CTL Pontifical Solemn High Mass Gallery 8 CTL Pontifical Solemn High Mass Gallery 7 CTL Pontifical Solemn High Mass Gallery 6 CTL Pontifical Solemn High Mass Gallery 5 CTL Pontifical Solemn High Mass Gallery 4 CTL Pontifical Solemn High Mass Gallery 3 CTL Pontifical Solemn High Mass Gallery 2 CTL Pontifical Solemn High Mass Gallery 1


Photo Credit: Drew Pultorak
More pictures of the Mass by Allison Girone.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe to the CCW Mailing List

Andrew Leung

About Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

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
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The free space which the new order of Mass gives to creativity it must be admitted, is often excessively enlarged. The difference between the liturgy with the new liturgical books, as it is actually practiced and celebrated in various places is often much greater than the difference between the old and new liturgies when celebrated according to the rubrics of the liturgical books.”

— Cardinal Ratzinger (1998)

Recent Posts

  • (Screenshots) • Proving Holy Saturday Took Place In The Morning
  • “Homily: Second Sunday of Lent” • Father Valentine Young, OFM
  • Part 2 • “Starting Your Own Traditional Latin Mass”
  • Is This Really The Same Church??
  • Solmization from the Inside

Copyright © 2021 Corpus Christi Watershed · Charles Garnier on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.