• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • Our Team
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Saint Antoine Daniel KYRIALE
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
  • Donate
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

Subscribe

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

* indicates required

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).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

The representative Protestant collection, entitled “Hymns, Ancient and Modern”—in substance a compromise between the various sections of conflicting religious thought in the Establishment—is a typical instance. That collection is indebted to Catholic writers for a large fractional part of its contents. If the hymns be estimated which are taken from Catholic sources, directly or imitatively, the greater and more valuable part of its contents owes its origin to the Church.

— Orby Shipley (1884)

Recent Posts

  • Did Pope Francis Just Publicly Rebuke the Prefect of Divine Worship?
  • Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “The Normal Syllabic Value” (6 Feb 2023)
  • Hymn by Cardinal Newman
  • Church Music Shouldn’t Be “Headache-Inducing”
  • Introit • Candlemas (2 February)

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.