Views from the Choir Loft

I Am Moving Again!

Andrew Leung · August 25, 2016

N THE PAST TWO YEARS, I have moved twice: from Ohio to Georgia when I was appointed music director at St. Pius X, and then from Georgia back to Ohio when I decided to join the Diocese of Steubenville. And yes, I am moving again, but it’s a little further away this time. Due to some immigration complications, I won’t be returning to the USA for a few years. The Diocese of Steubenville has decided to send me to study at St. Joseph Seminary in Macau, China for the coming few years. I am very grateful for their support and allowing me to continue my seminarian formation.

I will be moving to Macau in less than a week. Please continue to pray for me and my discernment. I am very happy that I am sent to St. Joseph Seminary. It’s nice to live so close to home (Macau is only an hour away from Hong Kong). The seminary has a wonderful faculty and a very good formation team. Also, there are many historic Catholic churches in Macau, including the seminary and its church.

St. Joseph Seminary was founded by the Jesuits in 1728. The seminary building and the church was built and consecrated in 1758. The church was built in the Baroque style and it is the only church in Macau with a dome. A pipe organ was installed in the choir loft in 2009. On the St. Joseph side altar, an first class relic, a bone of the arm, of St. Francis Xavier is exposed for veneration. In contrast with the elaborate architecture of St. Joseph’s Church, the Seminary is a simple, neo-classical compound designed with an internal cloister garden. Here are some pictures of the seminary and the church:

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Next week, I will introduce more about the history and the churches of the Diocese of Macau.

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).

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Music Director Job • $80,000 per year

Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published

Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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