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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

Mass Propers • Fascinating Articles From 1924

Jeff Ostrowski · April 5, 2016

600 Gregorian TEVEN VAN ROODE—the master who typeset the entire book of “Simple English Propers”—has pointed out that an interesting series of articles was published by The Tablet in the 1920s about Mass Propers:

    * *  4 October 1924 • 433-436

    * *  11 October 1924 • 476-478

    * *  18 October 1924 • 497-499

    * *  25 October 1924 • 534-535

    * *  1 November 1924 • 564-566

    * *  8 November 1924 • 614-616

    * *  15 November 1924 • 636-638

    * *  22 November 1924 • 666-670

    * *  29 November 1924 • 702-703

They had wanted to give a monetary prize to the author of the best article, but the judges felt the essays were horrendous:

NE WRITER, instead of telling us how to sing the Proper, pleads for the abrogation of the Church’s law requiring the sacred words to be enounced by the choir at every High Mass or Missa Cantata. Another essayist, the holder of a musical degree, has astounded us by writing nineteen pages, in which neither Introit nor Gradual, neither Offertory nor Communion is so much as mentioned, the whole paper being devoted to the proper way of singing the Ordinary rather than to some good ordinary way of singing the Proper.

After conscientiously perusing and comparing all the papers whose authors have more or less complied with the terms of reference, the adjudicators have come to the conclusion that the batch does not contain an essay which could be properly given the prestige of “The Tablet’s Prize Essay on Voluntary Choirs and the Proper of the Mass.” Therefore, nobody has gained the modest prize of ten guineas which was offered. We have, however, increased the prize-money, and we are dividing it, as honoraria, among the writers of certain papers which will forthwith be printed, either abridged or in extenso.

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

    “Music List” • 17th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (27 July 2025). 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 the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Communion • “Ask & You Shall Receive”
    All of the chants for 27 July 2025 have been added to the feasts website, as usual under a convenient “drop down” menu. The COMMUNION ANTIPHON (both text and melody) are exceedingly beautiful and ancient.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Jeff’s Mother Joins Our Fundraiser
    To assist our fundraiser, Mrs. Kathleen Ostrowski has drawn several beautiful sketches which she offers to all our readers free of charge. If you have a moment, I invite you download them at this link.
    —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

“Unfortunately, on the one hand a deadly error in judgment placed the official leadership of this committee into the hands of a man who—though generous and brave—was not very knowledgeable: Cardinal Lercaro. He was utterly incapable of resisting the maneuvers of the mealy-mouthed scoundrel that the Neapolitan Vincentian, Bugnini, a man as bereft of culture as he was of basic honesty, soon revealed himself to be.”

— ‘Fr. Louis Bouyer, an important member of the Consilium’

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