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Views from the Choir Loft

Papal Liturgies – Day 6 of the Papal Visit

Andrew Leung · September 28, 2015

I have to admit that I have mixed feelings for the Holy Mass concluding the World Meeting of Families on Sunday. The Holy Father celebrated this Mass, Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, at B. Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia on his last day in the country.

Holy Mass: 42:30

I think the setup of the outdoor “Sanctuary” is one of the best one I have ever seen for a Novus Ordo Mass. It is very tasteful and it has a great sense of holiness. In the video, you can also find that Fr. David Friel was serving alongside the papal masters of ceremonies once again. The Preface and the Eucharistic Prayer (Eucharistic Prayer III) was prayed in Latin.

There was a pretty good selection of preludes before the Mass including Sanctus from Durufle’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Hallelujah. I am also very happy to see that the Ordinaries of the Mass, including the Gloria and Credo, being chanted in Latin. However, I am very disappointed with the music at Communion. Is it just me, or is the gospel choir going flat every time when they sing “Taste and see”? I am not an expert in gospel music, but that sound definitely wasn’t pleasing.

One piece that got my attention is Sound the Bell of Holy Freedom, the official hymn for the World Meeting of Families, sung during the offertory (1:35:36). Here is a recording of the hymn sung by the Cathedral Choir in 2014:


The hymn tune, PHILADELPHIA, was written by composer Normand Gouin, former music director at Old St. Joseph in Philadelphia. The text was penned by Fr. Andrew Ciferni, O.Praem, a liturgist, teacher and scholar who is a native of South Philadelphia. Here is the full text:

1. Sound the bell of holy freedom; call all nations of the earth.
Sons and daughters of one Father, sent to spread God’s saving Word.
Come, and gather, as one fam’ly at the table of the Lord.

2. David branch from root of Jesse, Mary that vine’s flow’ring rose.
She brought forth for us the Savior as the angel did propose;
Overshadowed by the Spirit, by her “yes” new life arose.

3.Blessed Joseph, spouse of Mary, teacher of your God and Lord,
You did shelter and provide for wondrous child by kings adored.
Open to God’s Word in dreaming saved your child from Herod’s sword.

4. Jesus, youth in low’ly Naz’reth, faithful son, and loving child,
Guest and host at Cana’s wedding, finest wine you did provide.
You, our rock and you our shelter, keep us ever by your side.

5. At the cross a grieving mother, on the cross, her only son,
With all mothers and their children, Blessed Mary, you are one.
In our joys, and in our sorrows may we do as you have done.

6. Sound the bell of holy freedom; call all fam’lies of the world
To be fed by love incarnate; to proclaim God’s holy Word;
Through the love of Christ our brother, in the Spirit make us one.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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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).

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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
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

“…it would be a very praiseworthy thing and the correction would be so easy to make that one could accommodate the chant by gradual changes; and through this it would not lose its original form, since it is only through the binding together of many notes put under short syllables that they become long without any good purpose when it would be sufficient to give one note only.”

— Zarlino (1558) anticipating the Medicæa

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