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Views from the Choir Loft

Feast of Bl. Álvaro del Portillo

Andrew Leung · May 12, 2016

CTL Bl. Alvaro del Portillo ODAY IS THE FEAST DAY of Blessed Álvaro del Portillo, the successor of St. Josemaría Escrivá and the first prelate of the Opus Dei. Don Álvaro was beatified last year in Madrid and you may remember this post where I shared about the Mass of Thanksgiving for the Beatification.

Bl. Álvaro was one of St. Josemaría’s first followers. He was also among the first handful of members of Opus Dei, well before official Church approval. He became the first prelate and bishop of Opus Dei after it was named the first and only personal prelature of the Church in 1982. Under his leadership, Opus Dei was brought to many countries and they continue to encourage people to sanctify their lives through their daily work. His love for the poor, loyalty to the Church and the Holy Father is often recalled. Don Álvaro was a very close friend of St. John Paul the Great, and at his request, Álvaro founded the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross which is now thriving in Rome. Here is a short video about the life of Blessed Álvaro del Portillo by Romereports:

Opus Dei played a huge role in my formation as a Catholic, and it is because of Opus Dei, that I became interested in the liturgy and the Church’s Tradition. There is no doubt that they are defenders of the Church’s teachings and traditions. I would like to share one more video, the highlights of the transfer of the body of Bl. Álvaro from Saint Eugene to the Crypt of Our Lady of Peace. In this video, you will see beautiful vestments and the beautiful Chapel of Our Lady of Peace located in the headquarter of Opus Dei in Rome. The crypt church is the prelatic church of Opus Dei and the mortal remains of Saint Josemaría Escrivá are contained in a casket located beneath the altar.



Beato Álvaro de Portillo, Ora pro nobis!

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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Andrew Leung

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).

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Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

The ratio of voices in modern choirs is usually wrong. Basses should be numerically greatest, then altos, then tenors, then sopranos. One good soprano can carry a high “A” against 30 lower voices.

— Roger Wagner

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