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Views from the Choir Loft

Catholic Hymns Before Vatican II Will Shock You!

Jeff Ostrowski · February 28, 2016

NE OF OUR MOST CONTROVERSIAL articles appeared on 19 August 2013. That was the day we posted a 1937 article by Dom Gregory Hügle, OSB, affirming that selections from the Ordinarium Missae and Proprium Missae could be sung during LOW MASS. Some demanded that the post be taken down, e.g. the head of an anonymous “ultra-conservative” blog who sent several nasty emails. It seems that Fr. Hügle’s article contradicted a narrative this person had been promoting about the pre-conciliar liturgy and he felt the truth should be kept secret—I disagreed.

In spite of what you may have read online, hymns and selections from the Ordinarium Missae were often sung during Low Mass in English. Consider these pages from a 1913 hymnal published by a English Benedictine monk:

    * *  PDF Download • From a 1913 Roman Catholic Hymnal

Is this a fluke? No, because the hymnal’s IMPRIMATUR PAGE includes several distinguished clerics, including Francis Aidan Gasquet (who later became a Cardinal). 1 In light of this, the “hype” that accompanied Alexander Peloquin’s 1964 performance of a Mass Ordinary in English seems silly.

Those who have read the PREFACE to the Campion Hymnal realize that prior to 1965, Catholics were free to worship any way they wished. 2 After Vatican II, the strong emphasis on external participation caused some to neglect internal participation:




NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Unless I’m wrong, it isn’t every day that a Benedictine monk is elevated to the cardinalate.

2   This is why official rubrics for the congregation at Low Mass do not exist.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Francis Aidan Cardinal Gasquet Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Jeff Ostrowski

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 Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

6 January 2021 • Anglicans on Plainsong

A book published by Anglicans in 1965 has this to say about Abbat Pothier’s Editio Vaticana, the musical edition reproduced by books such as the LIBER USUALIS (Solesmes Abbey): “No performing edition of the music of the Eucharistic Psalmody can afford to ignore the evidence of the current official edition of the Latin Graduale, which is no mere reproduction of a local or partial tradition, but a CENTO resulting from an extended study and comparison of a host of manuscripts gathered from many places. Thus the musical text of the Graduale possesses a measure of authority which cannot lightly be disregarded.” They are absolutely correct.

—Jeff Ostrowski
2 January 2021 • Temptation

When I see idiotic statements made on the internet, I go nuts. When I see heretics promoted by people who should know better, I get angry. Learning to ignore such items is difficult—very difficult. I try to remember the words of Fr. Valentine Young: “Do what God places in front of you each day.” When I am honest, I don’t believe God wants me to dwell on errors and idiocy; there’s nothing I can do about that. During 2021, I will strive to do a better job following the advice of Fr. Valentine.

—Jeff Ostrowski
31 December 2020 • “COMITES CHRISTI”

The feasts for Saint Stephen Proto-Martyr (26 December), Saint John the Evangelist The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved (27 December), and the Feast of the Holy Innocents (28 December) seem untouched by any liturgical reforms. These are very powerful feasts—I believe they once possessed octaves—and I believe they could sometimes “overpower” a Sunday feast. The rules for octaves in the olden days are extremely complex. These feasts are sometimes referred to as a single entity as: Comites Christi (“Companions of Christ”). This is just a guess, but there seems to be a triple significance: STEPHEN martyred after Christ lived, JOHN was a martyr who knew Christ personally, and the HOLY INNOCENTS were martyred before Christ’s birth.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“You have thereby removed from the celebration of the Mass all superstitions, all greed for lucre, and all irreverence … removed its celebrations from private homes and profane places to holy and consecrated sanctuaries. You have banished from the temple of the Lord the more effeminate singing and musical compositions.”

— ‘Bishop Racozonus, speaking at the last session of the Council of Trent (1563)’

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