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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

Ordo Missæ from “People’s Mass Book” (1964)

Jeff Ostrowski · August 14, 2017

4673 PEOPLES MASS BOOK 1964 OU WILL WANT to download these pages from the famous “People’s Mass Book” (1964), which was based on Omer Westendorf’s “People’s Hymnal” (1955). Our readers will remember the article dealing with the Elvis Presley Mass—something extremely relevant to the following document.

Notice how this 1964 book carefully 1 refers to the Low Mass. And notice what it says about “Masses without music” and “recited Masses”—were those prayers inserted by WLP, or am I missing something?

    * *  PDF Download • PEOPLE’S MASS BOOK

The translation of Eucharistic Prayer No. 1 is interesting. So is the part instructing the people to recite the ORATIO FIDELIUM (“Prayer of the Faithful”) while the priest is saying the Offertory prayers—which could not be said in English, if memory serves. 2 So much for entering more deeply into the Mass!

I could list more peculiar items, but instead I will let the reader discover them without my comments. Several aspects of this document strike me as inexplicable and bizarre. However, it certainly bolsters what we wrote about the Elvis Mass.

The book contains a bunch of interesting Mass settings at the end. Here’s the first page of something that will seem familiar to those who have looked at MR3. The book also contains a Mass based on the theme from “Dragnet,” a popular radio (and later television) program in those days. You can read more about that here.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Cf. the final two pages of the PDF file.

2   Fr. Valentine, a priest in those years, said they never bothered to allow them to be translated into English because they planned on eliminating them—which is precisely what they did.

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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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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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“The replies to this committee (of which Mgr Bugnini was the secretary) reveal a desire to reform the liturgy. In what sense? Out of 2,109 responses from bishops, just three expressed the desire to restore Communion under both kinds. There was a sizable demand for limited use of the vernacular, but only one French bishop wanted the entire Mass in French.”

— Fr. Dominic Allain (2019)

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