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Views from the Choir Loft

Printable Card • “Prayers at the Foot of the Altar”

Fr. David Friel · October 1, 2017

OR PRIESTS and servers new to the Extraordinary Form, it is often helpful to have a card from which to read the prayers at the foot of the altar until they are memorized. Finding the “perfect” card, however, is more difficult than one might expect.

Incorporating the best features of the various cards I have seen, while eliminating a wide array of defects, I am pleased to present my own feeble attempt at this useful altar card. It is available here in .pdf format:

    * *  PDF • Prayers at the Foot of the Altar

The file is set up in such a way that it is possible to print the card twice, using both sides of the same sheet of paper. After laminating and slicing the sheet once down the middle, you’ll have yourself two copies of the card.

What are the features of this card that I believe make it more useful than some of the other options available for purchase or download? They include the following:

1. The card presents the full text of Psalm 42, not simply the first and last words of each line.

2. It indicates where the Sign of the Cross is to be made with a “+” symbol.

3. Pertinent rubrics are included, in red ink.

4. Accent marks are included in the text.

5. The prayers for ascending the altar steps (Aufer a nobis and Oramus te) are provided.

6. Everything fits on a card half the size of a normal sheet of paper.

This card may be freely reproduced and distributed. Corrections and recommendations for improvement are quite welcome. I hope this resource proves useful to some of our readers!

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

Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: Altar Boy, Altar Serving Guide, Latin Mass, Traditional Latin Mass, Traditional Latin Mass Tridentine Rite Last Updated: December 6, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book

If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.

—Jeff Ostrowski
Sound Familiar?

1 June 1579: “The chapter passes a rule that anyone ascending to the new organ without official permission shall be fined a month’s pay.”

26 October 1579: “The altar boys remain always separate and distinct from choirboys—the one group learning only plainchant and assisting at the altar, the other living with the chapel-master and studying counterpoint and polyphony as well. Father Francisco Guerrero postpones his departure for Rome and instead spends the entire year in Seville making ready for the trip. In the meantime he neglects his choirboys. On 16 November, after considerable complaint against their unruliness and ignorance, he engages an assistant, Bartolomé Farfán.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“A father cannot introduce mistrust and division among his faithful children. He cannot humiliate some by setting them against others. He cannot ostracize some of his priests. The peace and unity that the Church claims to offer to the world must first be lived within the Church. ”

— Cardinal Sarah (14 August 2021)

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