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Views from the Choir Loft

Propers for Our Lady of Guadalupe (12 December)

Jeff Ostrowski · December 7, 2015

Providing music for the Traditional Latin Mass is not as hard as some believe. Below is a plan for a very simple—yet dignified & sacred—High Mass.

LET ME REMIND everyone that the full set of scores are available on the Goupil website.

12 December   •   OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE


As the priest processes in, the Introit is sung:

INTROIT   •   Score Video Mp3

As soon as the Introit is over, the Kyrie is begun. Any Kyrie can be sung, but Kyrie IX or Kyrie X would be especially appropriate. You can find everything you need for the Mass Ordinary at this website. 1 Make sure to pick out your starting pitches before Mass begins, because there will not be time for this. Write your starting pitches directly on the score.

When the Kyrie is finished, if the priest is in the middle of the Altar, that means he’s ready to intone the Gloria. Hum the first pitches, and he will intone the words “Gloria in excelsis Deo.” Then, continue singing the rest of the Gloria. Everything that was said earlier about the Kyrie applies to the Gloria.

The priest will sing (or read) the Epistle. Follow along in the Campion Missal, and when he’s finished, sing this: Gradual & Alleluia (PDF). There are also other options for singing these. 2

When you’re finished with the Gradual & Alleluia, the priest will sing the Gospel, and he might also give a sermon. Immediately after the Sermon, he will go to the Altar and sing “Dominus vobiscum.” As soon as you reply with “Et cum spiritu tuo,” count to fifteen, and then sing the Offertory Antiphon (PDF).

It is also allowed to sing the full version of the Offertory, if the choir is capable of doing so:

Offertory   •   Elegi et sanctificavi   •   Score Video Mp3

You can sing some Marian pieces after the Offertory Antiphon has been sung, until the server incenses the congregation. However, any pieces sung have to be appropriate for the feast/season. The Campion Missal has Latin chants starting on page 946. There is nothing wrong with simply having silence after the Offertory Antiphon has been chanted.

After the priest sings the Preface, begin the Sanctus. Everything said earlier about the Kyrie applies to the Sanctus.

The priest will sing the Pater Noster, and you reply “sed libera nos a malo.” Then, a few seconds later, the priest will sing “Dominus vobiscum.” As soon as you say “Et cum spiritu tuo,” count to ten, and then sing the Agnus Dei. Everything said earlier about the Kyrie applies to the Agnus Dei.

After the priest turns around, elevating the Sanctissimum, he’ll say three times: “Domine, non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum; sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea.” When he’s done saying that, sing the Communion Antiphon:

Communion   •   Non fecit taliter   •   Score Video Mp3

After you receive Holy Communion, you can sing something, but it must match the feast/season. The Campion Missal has Latin chants starting on page 946.

After Mass, a Marian hymn can be sung, and there are tons in the Campion Missal that would work for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. For example, numbers 905 through 919.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   The “Ordinary” refers to Kyrie, Gloria, (Creed), Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.

2   Of course, it is also allowed to sing the Full Gradual (pdf) and the Full Alleluia (pdf), but those should only be done when a choir has rehearsed them sufficiently.

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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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

    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

“Iconographic tradition has theologically interpreted the manger and the swaddling cloths in terms of the theology of the Fathers. The child stiffly wrapped in bandages is seen as prefiguring the hour of his death: from the outset, he is the sacrificial victim, as we shall see more closely when we examine the reference to the first-born. The manger, then, was seen as a kind of altar.”

— Pope Benedict XVI (2012)

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  • Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
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