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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

PDF Download • Last Minute Holy Saturday File

Jeff Ostrowski · April 17, 2017

225 resurrection This was the last thing I created before the Easter Vigil:

* *  PDF • ALLELUIA with Laudáte (2-pages)

Eventually, I hope to create a “Musician’s Guide to Holy Saturday,” including both English and Latin, similar to what we made for Good Friday.

The 1955 rubrics say:

After the Priest’s Communion, Holy Communion is distributed, and the purification and ablutions take place as usual. For LAUDS of Easter Sunday, the following antiphon is sung.

[ Post sumptionem Sacramenti, distributio communionis, purificatio et ablutio fiunt more solito; deinde pro LAUDIBUS dominicae Resurrectionis in choro cantatur antiphona. ]

That’s actually the one place—the one place—where that famous Alleluia belongs, and could not fit more perfectly.

For the record, Psalm 116 was used on Holy Saturday prior to Pius XII:

“The use of Psalm 150 is a change from the experimental Easter Vigil (1951-1955) in which Psalm 116 was used for Lauds.” — Msgr. Frederick McManus, The New Holy Week (1956)

It’s not easy to imagine why 116 was found deficient, but Psalm 150 is also quite beautiful. And here’s a 13th-century manuscript that employs a variant “Alleluia” melody:

230 Holy Saturday ALLELUIA mode 1

The tone looks almost identical to the first mode (not the sixth) but is, in fact, Mode 6.

These ancient traditions—maintained for so many centuries with such care—make it difficult to accept the changes made by Pope Pius XII. 1 Indeed, I find it remarkable that so few speak about (or realize) what he did to the Psalter, which Pope John XXIII later reversed. Here’s the antiphon for Holy Saturday before the changes made by Pope Pius XII in 1950:

226 three women

Do you see how the artist included the holy women mentioned by the antiphon, in the most marvelous way?

Notice the strong tradition that existed for choosing GLORIA II with KYRIE I at Eastertide:

231 kyr

Indeed, the 1961 version of the Ordo Hebdomadae Sanctae chooses KYRIE I for the Easter Vigil and GLORIA II on Easter Sunday. Observe, too, the 13th-century KYRIE’s avoidance of the “Teutonic dialect” at the beginning of Kyrie I. This precise question would lead to bitter fights among the members the 1904 committee, established by Pope St. Pius X to restore the Church’s authentic Gregorian chant.

 


NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   And it is truly horrifying, in light of the ancient tradition of the Church, to hear the term used by Msgr. Frederick R. McManus: “experimental Easter Vigil.”

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

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Last Updated: September 16, 2020

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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 Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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President’s Corner

    Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
    The 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM was a transitional missal. It was on its way to becoming the 1970 version, but wasn’t there yet. It eliminated certain duplications, downplayed the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, expanded the role of laymen, minimized the Last Gospel, made many items optional, and so forth. Father Valentine Young spotted many typos in the 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM, especially incorrect accents. The Offertory Antiphon for this coming Sunday (OF kalendar) contains an error, citing the wrong verse from Psalm 118. It should be 118:107b, not 118:154. If you read verse 154, you’ll understand how that error crept in. [In this particular case, the error pre-dates the 1962 Missal, since the 1940s hand-missal by Father Lasance also gets it wrong.]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 26 October 2025, which is the 30th 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 top-notch feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Little Encouragement?
    In the Gospel, our Savior tells about 10 lepers who were healed. Only one went back to give thanks. Precious few express gratitude, yet many have endless energy to complain. For that reason, I deeply appreciate receiving messages like the following, which arrived a few days ago (about the parish where I direct in Michigan): “Last Sunday, a couple I knew from Grand Rapids was at Mass at 10:00 a.m. I got a chance to talk to them after Mass. I wanted to let you know what they said about the choir. They were absolutely floored by our sound!!!!! They both said they could continuously listen to our choir and the beauty of it. They asked me: “Do you always sound like that?” And they were also very surprised at how packed the church was. They said it was nice for them to be in such a full church. I just thought you would be interested to know their thoughts about our choir.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “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

Random Quote

“Prohibiting or suspecting the extraordinary form can only be inspired by the demon who desires our suffocation and spiritual death.”

— Robert Cardinal Sarah (23-sep-2019), chosen by Pope Francis to be the Vatican’s chief liturgist

Recent Posts

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  • “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
  • Little Encouragement?
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