Views from the Choir Loft

Propers for St. Joseph the Worker

Jeff Ostrowski · April 27, 2016

This coming Sunday in the EF is replaced by “Saint Joseph the Worker” (1 May).

Here’s the Introit:

By the way, the Rossini Propers, published in 1933, contain the feast of St. Joseph the Workman on 1 May. I’d like to know how this was possible, since this feast wasn’t around in 1933, right? The NOH—published during the 1940s and 1950s—does not contain this feast.

UPDATE :

Audio recordings, scores, and videos for this feast have been added to the Goupil website.

English translations are in the Campion Hymnal:

* * PDF Download • ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS

Here’s how it looks in the official 1962 Missale Romanum:

* * PDF Download • S. Ioseph Opificis

Here’s how it appears in the Fulton J. Sheen Missal (which is available online as a PDF):

* * PDF Download • Saint Joseph the Worker

I’m told this feast was added by Pope Pius XII to subtly contradict communism.

Latin title: “S. Joseph Opificis”

It is not in “Mass and Vespers” (Solesmes Abbey, 1957):

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

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).

11 October 2021 • “Sing All Verses?”

Some claim Catholics deserve condemnation because (unlike Protestants) Catholics often omit verses when singing hymns at Mass. Is that true? The wonderful Sophia Institute Press—as part of a series on authentic sacred music—has provided an answer (PDF) to this question.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Where do Catholics find hymns?

The wonderful Sophia Institute Press has begun a “Q+A” section which tackles common liturgical questions, and here’s a sample: “At a conference I recently attended, the speaker said hymns don’t belong at Mass; was he telling the truth?” And you can read the answer. To access the complete set (which is a work in progress), scroll towards the bottom of this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski

28 September 2021 • FEEDBACK

From a reader: “I have read the pages explaining the Blessed Sacrament in the Brébeuf hymnal and plan on continuing to contemplate them. Moreover, the Christ the King Hymn is beautifully sung on the recording you posted (to the Watershed blog), and I wish my church would sing these hymns instead of modern ones from Choral Praise. We receive a wonderful explication of the Eucharist through this hymn. I am always impressed at the simple yet beautiful melodies in the Brebeuf hymnal.”

—Jeff Ostrowski