Views from the Choir Loft

May Crowning • The Official Antiphon

Jeff Ostrowski · May 18, 2016

E TEND TO THINK of the May crowning as bright & joyful, since it occurs during the merry month of May. Did you know the liturgical books designate an antiphon for the May crowning ceremony? ¹

Do you agree the following is a DARK antiphon?

* * Vocal Score (PDF) • Organ Accompaniment (PDF)

Mary’s not just a happy Queen—she’s a fearful one. If you’ve ever been close to death, you can recall the serious terror that grabs hold of your mind & heart. The Church seems to be reminding us of how serious Mary’s role was: saying “yes” to the Redeemer.

You can hear this antiphon sung by more than fifty singers if you attend the 4:30pm SOLEMN MASS which I have spoken about already. Will I see you there?

It’s your chance to meet the FSSP District Superior and famous conductors like Dr. Horst Buchholz and Dr. Alfred Calabrese!

NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1 It’s the same antiphon used for Communion on 31 May in the 1962 calendar, which is called “Mary the Queen.”

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).

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