Beautiful Manuscript • Priest Offering Mass

Jeff Ostrowski · August 28, 2016

HE AMOUNT OF GORGEOUS medieval manuscripts being released on the internet these days is staggering. Those looking for a “starting point” will probably want to download these 7,055 pages. The following illumination shows a priest offering Mass. Someone sent this via email, and it really caught my eye:

If anyone has access to a high resolution copy of this manuscript—or info regarding its provenance—please send an email using the “contact” button at the top of the page.

Thank you!

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 Michigan. —(Read full biography).

Music List • (Immaculate Conception)

This coming Monday—9 December 2024—is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. In the United States of America, it is a holy day of obligation. Some have expressed interest in perusing my “ORDER OF MUSIC.” If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. The Offertory hymn we’re singing a cappella—set to the tune of FREUEN WIR UNS ALL IN EIN—is particularly beautiful and its text is extremely ancient. The Entrance Antiphon is also quite striking.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Organ Accompaniment • “Kyrie IV”

Fans of Gregorian Chant may wish to download the organ accompaniment (PDF file) I created for KYRIE IV a.k.a. Cunctipotens genitor Deus. It adheres to the official rhythm and was inspired by Flor Peeters (a famous Belgian organist and composer who studied with Oscar De Puydt at the LEMMENSINSTITUUT).

—Jeff Ostrowski

Which Gospel Acclamations?

Some have asked which Gospel acclamations (“Alleluia”) we use at my church. We use this gorgeous printed resource available on AMAZON PRIME. Once both congregation and cantor have sung their parts, our choir launches into a beautiful SATB “choral extension” (cf. Saint Noël Chabanel Mass Setting).

—Jeff Ostrowski

The Breviary in the Life of the Laity

Recently I have been enjoying looking through the inaugural (1927) edition of a 20th-century liturgical magazine called Orate Fratres. The July 1927 issue included an excellent article by a Chicago laywoman named Ellen Gates Starr entitled “The Delights of the Breviary: From the Point of View of a Lay Woman.” As we in the 21st century have recently undergone a (blessed!) re-translation of the missal into English, and as we await with joyful hope (please God, before Jesus comes back!) a similar re-translation of the breviary, the opening of her article reminded me of that old saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Nearly a hundred years ago, she penned words that could just as easily have been written today: “It is indeed a privilege to be allowed any participation, however slight, in the liturgical movement in the Church – the movement to bring back the classics of devotion, the Missal and the Breviary, into general use by the laity. The wonder is that they should ever have fallen into disuse. Nothing can take the place of these great universal prayers of the Church, the prayers of the Mass and the divine Office. One has only to know them to find them indispensable. And alas, how few of the laity know them!” I know that I have been tremendously nourished by regular praying of the breviary as of late, and my wish is that you and I, dear reader, may continue to nourish our interior lives with the official prayer of the Church, which present to us (in the Mass) and extend (in the Office) the fullness of Christ’s greatest gift to us – the gift of Himself – in the Most Holy Eucharist.

—Daniel Tucker

Principles vs Preferences

I ran into this idea recently: principles vs. preferences in planning out a curriculum or music lineup. In this idea, it is imperative to not misconstrue personal preferences into principles—that the music (or subject matter) is great because: “I have good taste, and I like it.” De gustibus… Education, study and docility to the Magisterium of the Church on matters of liturgical music must be present in those who make the music at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Hours. Who knows? Maybe you might start to prefer the music that is fitting according to the principles Catholic Sacred Music?

—William J. Fritz

Liquescent Notes in the Official Edition

The official edition—the EDITIO VATICANA itself—is somewhat inconsistent when it comes to liquescent notes. If you wish to see a perfect “apples-to-apples” comparison, click here. Such “inconsistency” was not owing to ignorance on the part of Abbat Pothier: the manuscripts themselves are inconsistent when it comes to liquescent notes.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

About Jeff Ostrowski