Views from the Choir Loft

Church Madness 2016

Andrew Leung · April 13, 2016

AM NOT SURE if many of you are aware of this: there is an online competition going on right now! Church Madness 2016—a contest which allows everyone to vote and select the most beautiful Catholic church in the country—is entering its final week.

The competition started back in March with sixty-four nominated churches around the country. It is now down to four churches called the “Ferial Four.” There will be two churches left after tomorrow, so put down your vote now! You can also check the result of the previous match-ups on the same website (Most of the nominations are great! But be warned; there are some really bad ones, especially from the west coast.)

The four churches that entered the semi-finals are: St. John Cantius Church in Chicago, the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in DC, Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville and the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City.

CTL National Shrine

CTL Shrine Blessed Sacrament

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

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).

Father Adrian Fortescue on the “Agnus Dei”

Speaking about the AGNUS DEI, Father Fortescue wrote: “Agnus as a vocative is curious, evidently in order to reproduce the original text (John 1:29) exactly.” [Altera die vidit Joannes Jesum venientem ad se, et ait: Ecce agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccatum mundi.] Father Fortescue, as usual, is correct; but in some medieval manuscripts you can find “Agne Dei.” Here’s an an example of that.

—Jeff Ostrowski

List • Responses by each bishop!

This incredible website gives each bishop’s response to the recent MOTU PROPRIO Traditionis Custodes, a decree by Pope Francis which seeks to reduce the number of celebrations of the “Extraordinary Form” (Traditional Latin Mass): traditioniscustodes.info

—Jeff Ostrowski

Tomorrow is Sunday…

When you were in school, you would have gotten in trouble if you wrote the Roman Numeral “9” as viiii. You were supposed to write: IX. But look how an ancient manuscript writes “9” as a Roman Numeral. That’s the Introit Ecce Deus for tomorrow’s feast in the Extraordinary Form: The 9th Sunday after Pentecost.

—Jeff Ostrowski

These prayers were not peculiar to Good Friday in the early ages (they were said on Spy Wednesday as late as the eighth century); their retention here, it is thought, was inspired by the idea that the Church should pray for all classes of men on the day that Christ died for all. Duchesne is of opinion that the “Oremus” now said in every Mass before the Offertory—which is not a prayer—remains to show where this old series of prayers was once said in all Masses.

— Catholic Encyclopedia (1909)