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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

PDF Download • “Mass of the Alabaster Jar” (2016)

Guest Author · October 27, 2016

(Mt 26: 7-8) |There came to him a woman having an alabaster box of precious ointment, and poured it on his head as he was at table. And the disciples seeing it, had indignation, saying: To what purpose is this waste?


708 Magdalene Brandon HE MASS SETTINGS I have composed and offer freely—Mass of the Alabaster Jar and Mass in honor of St. Veronica—are colorful yet simple settings of the Ordinary prayers intended for use during Advent, Lent, and any other time in which they would help draw people into the nobility and simplicity of the liturgy. They were also written with a practical purpose in mind: to be as “user-friendly” as possible without compromising beauty and appeal.

Assembly sheets have been included toward the end of each file:

    * *  PDF • “Mass of the Alabaster Jar” (2016)

    * *  PDF • “Mass in Honor of St. Veronica” (2016)

I live in the “thumb” of Michigan and am quite familiar with the challenges faced by many rural parishes with regard to music. Many accompanists and singers lack formal musical training and therefore experience difficulty performing most Mass settings. The keyboard accompaniments for my Mass settings were written to be easily played by pianists and organists of an intermediate skill level. Indeed, they are accessible to anyone who can read music and play simple traditional hymns. The melodies fit the contour and meaning of the prayer texts and can be sung easily without accompaniment.

These Mass settings can also be downloaded from the Corpus Christi Watershed Mass Tome.


We hope you enjoyed this guest article by Brandon Byrne.


BRANDON BYRNE currently serves as Interim Music Director at St. Christopher Catholic Church in Marysville, MI, and is pursuing a Diploma of Music Ministry from Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. He lives in Michigan with his wife and two children.

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

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Last Updated: January 13, 2020

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Quick Thoughts

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

“Young people have entrusted me with their absolute preference for the Extraordinary Form… […] But, above all, how can we understand—how can we not be surprised and deeply shocked—that what was the rule yesterday is prohibited today? Is it not true that prohibiting or suspecting the Extraordinary Form can only be inspired by the demon who desires our suffocation and spiritual death?”

— Cardinal Sarah to Edward Pentin (23 September 2019)

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