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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

New Collection of Propers from GIA

Fr. David Friel · October 2, 2016

UBLISHING SETS of English Mass propers began to catch on in earnest only a few years ago. The trend began with individual efforts, largely published freely online. The trend is growing, apparently into something of a market.

An abundance of free, propers-based resources are available here at CC Watershed. The Simple English Propers project remains freely available here. Richard Rice’s Communio project is posted here for free download.

Several wonderful collections of propers have been released in recent years by CanticaNOVA Publications. There is also Fr. Weber’s excellent book, The Proper of the Mass for Sundays and Solemnities, still available through Ignatius Press. Filling a void for the oft-neglected offertory propers is Dr. Jon Naples’ outstanding collection, Offertory.

The field is no longer limited, though, to niche markets.

Interestingly, the trend towards propers has begun to find a home even in the large publishing houses of liturgical music. For example, just released by GIA Publications is the first volume of Honey from the Rock, a new collection that takes texts from the antiphons of the Roman Missal and sets them to music in a variety of genres. This is actually the first installment of a promised four-volume series from GIA.

There are other examples, too. Fr. Columba Kelly, OSB has settings of entrance and communion antiphons for the year available through OCP. International Library Publications offers a few collections of antiphons here.

For a long time, the Mass propers have not accounted for a very large share of the liturgical music publishing market. This is strange, of course, since the actual liturgical texts would seem the ideal texts for producing liturgical music. This new momentum says something about where we are in the project of restoring truly sacred music.

The fact that major publishers are offering collections based on proper texts is evidence that there is a market for this. Publishers would not be producing new vernacular settings of the propers if they did not expect them to sell. This means that the propers movement has achieved at least some degree of traction.

Needless to say, not all of the aforementioned resources are of the same quality or the same suitability for Catholic worship. Nevertheless, the fact that more publishers are taking seriously the need to provide music for the official liturgical texts, rather than simply songs of our own creation, is quite significant. It means that our ongoing grassroots efforts for truly sacred music, rooted in the liturgy of the Church, is bearing fruit.

Someone else reacting to the new collection from GIA might be disappointed, looking down about the modern music styles used by the composer. What I see, however, is hope.

Growing attention to the Mass propers—even in styles that may not epitomize universality, beauty, and holiness—is evidence that authentically Catholic liturgical music has promise.

Editor’s Note: Richard Rice recently released 900 pages of English Propers with accompaniment (Volume 1 and Volume) which can be downloaded free of charge if you create a Lulu username & password.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Alius Cantus Aptus, Authentic Liturgical Renewal Reform, CanticaNOVA Publications, Hymns Replacing Propers, Proper of the Mass in English, Propers, Roman Missal Third Edition, Simple English Mass Propers, Singing the Mass Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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President’s Corner

    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 27th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 5 October 2025, which is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the spectacular feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin. Readers will want to check out the ENTRANCE CHANT posted there, which has a haunting melody (in the DEUTERUS MODE) and extremely powerful text.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Kids’ Choir Sings Thomas Aquinas
    Last Sunday, a children’s choir I’m teaching sang with us for the very first time at Sunday Mass. Females from our main choir sang along with them. If you’re curious to hear how they sounded, you can listen to a ‘live’ recording. That’s an English version of TANTUM ERGO by Saint Thomas Aquinas. That haunting melody is called GAUFESTRE and was employed for this 2-Voice Arrangement of a special hymn for 9 November (“Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome”) which replaces a Sunday this year.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Reminder” — Month of September (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Did they simplify these hymn harmonies?
    Choirs love to sing the famous & splendid tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1952, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. In other words, their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1952 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. I really like the groovy Germanic INTRODUCTION they added.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“We must remember that the important elements of a rite are not the things that will first be noticed by a casual and ignorant onlooker—the number of candles, colour of the vestments and places where the bell is rung—but just those things he would not notice: the Canon, fraction and so on, the prayers said in a low voice and the characteristic but less obvious rites done by the celebrant at the altar.”

— Fr. Fortescue explaining that Anglicanism does not preserve Sarum

Recent Posts

  • “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
  • Involving Women in the Communion?
  • “Toward a More Sacred Style With Pastoral Charity” • Guest Article by Dr. Myrna Keough
  • “Music List” • 27th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • Kids’ Choir Sings Thomas Aquinas

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