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

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Views from the Choir Loft

Memorial of Pope Saint John Paul II

Richard J. Clark · October 21, 2016

CTOBER 22 is the Feast of Pope St. John Paul II. The optional memorial may be celebrated. Below are two resources to consider. One is a hymn tune introit by Kathleen Pluth that can be sung to any Long Meter tune.

The Lord chose him to be high priest.
And made His gifts in him increase.
He opened up His treasure store,
And made him rich forevermore.

(You can also order Pluth’s Hymn Tune Introits: Singing the Sundays of the Liturgical Year here.)

THE SECOND IS A FREE DOWNLOAD of the Mass in Honor of Pope Saint John Paul II. This is useful throughout the liturgical year.

DOWNLOAD Complete Score (2.3 MG):
PDF • Mass in Honor of Pope Saint John Paul II (for Schola, Organ, SATB)

DOWNLOAD Unison/Organist Edition:
PDF • Mass in Honor of Pope Saint John Paul II (for Schola, Organ)

• SATB Recordings by the St. Cecilia Choir, Boston, MA, with the 1999 Smith & Gilbert Organ:

      YouTube:  Penitential Act C | Kyrie
      YouTube:  Gloria
      YouTube:  Sanctus
      YouTube:  Memorial Acclamation A
      YouTube:  Memorial Acclamation B
      YouTube:  Memorial Acclamation C
      YouTube:  Doxology, Amen
      YouTube:  Agnus Dei

IN 2003, POPE SAINT JOHN PAUL II gave the Chirograph for the Centenary of Tra le sollecitudini of Pope Saint Pius X. As Gregorian Chant was arguably “dead” during much of his pontificate, Pope Saint John Paul II’s strong words on Gregorian Chant, are therefore even more notable:

12. With regard to compositions of liturgical music, I make my own the “general rule” that St Pius X formulated in these words: “The more closely a composition for church approaches in its movement, inspiration and savour the Gregorian melodic form, the more sacred and liturgical it becomes; and the more out of harmony it is with that supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple”. It is not, of course, a question of imitating Gregorian chant but rather of ensuring that new compositions are imbued with the same spirit that inspired and little by little came to shape it.

Soli Deo gloria

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Richard J. Clark

About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

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Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“It introduces us to a still and serious world, deserted and rigid, without colour, without light, without motion; it does not gladden, does not distract; yet we cannot break away from it.”

— ‘Schweitzer on the THEME from Bach’s “Art of Fugue”’

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