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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

GoFundMe Campaign • Needing Scholarships!

Jeff Ostrowski · March 10, 2017

O CURSE THE DARKNESS is easier than lighting a candle. Many good Catholics want to restore sacred music to our churches, but don’t know how. This post is not really aimed at church musicians—who often live paycheck to paycheck. It’s geared toward Catholics searching for a worthwhile place to invest money—in this case, helping Catholic musicians who can’t afford to attend the Sacred Music Symposium. (Part of Lent is “almsgiving”—not just fasting.)

We’ve never used “GoFundMe” before, but let’s try it:

    * *  GoFundMe • SYMPOSIUM SCHOLARSHIPS 2017

This 2-minute video has footage by James & Mikio Sheehan:

From a Seminarian in Los Angeles:

REETINGS AND THANK YOU SO MUCH for this wonderful service to the West Coast, especially the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. As a former participant, I was personally enriched and tremendously benefited from my time spent at the Symposium. In particular, my prayer life has grown deeper as I meditate on the music we spent many hours preparing to sing. There were so many moments when I felt beautifully aware of the presence of God working in and through my voice and words. Even more, I developed a much more refined sense of Sacred Tradition and the beauty of Gregorian Chant. Our instructors were extremely knowledgeable and completely opened up the music for us. Furthermore, the workshops helped me to develop my skills as a choir leader. Some of the skills I developed even allowed me to adapt music for a particular feast that same summer.

All of this was possible for me to experience because of the generous donations of people who contributed to the Sacred Symposium. As a Seminarian, I do not have the means to pay for such an occasion as the Sacred Symposium so I am indebted to these generous donors for allowing me to be enriched by this wonderful event. Now that I have experienced it, however, I believe it is all the more necessary that I continue to develop my new found skills. One particular area that I can improve which the Symposium will help is the ability to make rehearsal videos and other reference materials for choir members. This will greatly improve rehearsals and help the less experienced singers progress faster.


From a 12-year-old girl:

Y NAME IS _______ and I am twelve years old. I started singing in the FSSP.la Choir when I was ten. Since then, I have come to learn a lot about Sacred Music, and I love singing it. St. Augustine said, “When you sing, you pray twice.” Sacred Music has thought me how profound prayer is. During Mass, when singing, one can feel the adoration and reverence that God deserves.

Last year, I had my first opportunity to participate in the 2016 Sacred Music Symposium, and what a wonderful experience it was!  I had the opportunity to meet such wonderful people like Dr. Calabrese and Dr. Buchholz and the many wonderful singers who attended the Symposium. I was inspired by their talent and knowledge of Sacred Music. There were techniques provided on how to improve your vocals, by warming up and helpful information for music directors.

This year the Symposium has returned and I am very much excited to participate once again. I hope to expand my knowledge in Sacred Music and its history as I have come to treasure it. Participating in this year’s Symposium I hope to learn more skills that will help me as a young choir member and, God willing, one day a music director or an organist for the Church. I am so very grateful to those who generously provide scholarships for this Sacred Music Symposium.

Our campaign will end on 25 March 2017, the feast of the Annunciation, which was also the birthday of St. Jean de Brébeuf (1593AD).  We are trying to raise $2,500.

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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Jeff Ostrowski

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).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

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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

“Before any seminarian is accepted for ordination, he must not only strive for chastity but actually achieve it. He must already be living chaste celibacy peacefully and for a prolonged period of time—for if this be lacking, the seminarian and his formators cannot have the requisite confidence that he is called to the celibate life.”

— Archbishop Viganò (16 February 2019)

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