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Views from the Choir Loft

A Serious Question About Vatican II

Jeff Ostrowski · September 9, 2016

132 Archbishop of Utrecht CAPPA MAGNA ANY AUTHORS HAVE DISCUSSED the liturgical reforms following Vatican II. As Cardinal Ratzinger noted many years ago, the Council did not reform the liturgy. Rather, the Council said the liturgy should be revised:

“Elements which, with the passage of time…were added with little advantage are now to be discarded.”

If our Lord gives me the strength, someday I’d like to assemble—with the help of our readers—a succinct list that gives reforms done according to Sacrosanctum Concilium as well as reforms contrary to it. Such a list would also include key sources like Cardinal Antonelli, who served as secretary of the Consilium prior to Bugnini.

Many reforms were not in accordance with what the fathers of Vatican II specifically mandated. For example, most people associate Mass “facing the people” with Vatican II, but the Council never said a word about this practice. Most people think Vatican II abolished Latin, but in reality the Council declared that Latin must be preserved. Indeed, the fathers of Vatican II erupted with laughter when someone suggested there was a danger of the vernacular replacing Latin. Many other examples could be given. 1

Today I wish to discuss a different question. Vatican II spoke of “useless repetitions” in the liturgy, and said they should be examined and (possibly) eliminated. There is a real question about what the Council meant. Certainly it didn’t mean, for example, eliminating the 9-fold Kyrie, because in another place the same document says Gregorian chant should be given “first place” and even called traditional sacred music “the greatest treasure of the Church”—which probably annoyed architects and artists!

A liturgical change had taken place which went into effect on 1 January 1961. The final vote for Sacrosanctum Concilium happened on 4 December 1963. I’m told the actual document, however, had been “in production” for years—before the Council even began. Here’s an example of a rubric changed in 1961:

138 Tridentine Gospel Repeated


(Another example would be the Confíteor at Communion.)

In light of the fact that Sacrosanctum Concilium was being drafted at the very time these rubrical changes were happening, was that sufficient time for the bishops to “absorb” them and make informed decisions? Priests I’ve spoken to tend to like that 1961 change. 2

Perhaps a “useless repetitions” they had in mind would be the priest quietly reading certain prayers sung by the choir, such as the Introit—although I personally like that practice very much, and it’s difficult to see how “the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires” that the priest stop doing that. It has no effect whatsoever on the congregation.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   I have yet to encounter a serious scholar willing to defend the specific reforms of Vatican II. The very people involved in the reforms—who at the time were in favor of them, such as Fr. Louis Bouyer—have described the unbelievable, hasty, and shameful way many of these reforms were rammed through. Moreover, some bishops who were 100% in favor of the liturgical reforms, such as Bishop René H. Gracida, now believe the reformers went too far.

2   Indeed, this change had already been made in 1955 for the Holy Week services. Believe it or not, the priest had been required to read in a low voice all the Easter Vigil lessons as they were being sung. By the way, many people don’t realize that before the reforms of Pius XII, Easter actually began the day before Easter Sunday.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, Reform of the Reform Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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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).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
    EVIN ALLEN was commissioned by Sacred Music Symposium 2025 to compose a polyphonic ‘middle section’ for the GLORIA from Mass III, often denoted by its trope name: Missa Kyrie Deus sempiterne. This year, I’m traveling from Singapore to serve on the symposium faculty. I will be conducting Palestrina’s ‘Ave Maria’ as well as teaching plainsong to the men. A few days ago, I was asked to record rehearsal videos for this beautiful polyphonic extension. (See below.) This polyphonic composition fits ‘inside’ GLORIA III. That is, the congregation sings for the beginning and end, but the choir alone adds polyphony to the middle. The easiest way to understand how everything fits together is by examining this congregational insert. You may download the score, generously made available to the whole world—free of charge—by CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED:
    *  PDF Download • Gloria III ‘Middle Section’ (Kevin Allen)
    Free rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #24366. Related News • My colleague, Jeff Ostrowski, composed an organ accompaniment for this same GLORIA a few months ago. Obviously, the organist should drop out when the polyphony is being sung.
    —Corrinne May
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    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
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

“We turn to the East when we stand to pray, since this is where the sun and the stars rise. It is not, of course, as if God were there alone and had forsaken the rest of creation. Rather, when these earthly bodies of ours are turned towards the more excellent, heavenly bodies, our minds are thereby prompted to turn towards the most excellent being, that is, to our Lord.”

— Saint Augustine of Hippo

Recent Posts

  • PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
  • “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday

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