Views from the Choir Loft

Three Entrance Antiphons for the Celebration of Marriage

Richard J. Clark · October 6, 2017

EDDINGS ARE a vital part of the sacramental life of the Church. Likewise, the music must reflect the joy of a life with Christ at the center.

The catalyst for this collection of simple Entrance Propers in English was Msgr. Rick Hilgartner. In 2016, I was assisting with music for an FDLC workshop on the Revised Order of Matrimony. During a lengthy discussion on processions, Msgr. Hilgartner suggested singing one of the three antiphons for Marriage in the Roman Missal, all of which he read aloud for emphasis. Another priest turned to me and made a gesture that I should get busy writing. Inspired by my wife, I got to work.

These texts are beautiful, inspiring, and should be sung in their own right. Singing the Entrance Antiphon at a wedding is not simply a liturgically conservative gesture. It is a progressive act—an invocation inviting God to permeate the center of their love. As the couple confers the sacrament upon each other, these texts are a beautiful way to being the Mass. They are a beautiful way to begin life together.

PDF Download:
* * Three Entrance Antiphons for the Celebration of Marriage • for Assembly, Cantor, SATB, Organ, Trumpet
* * Congregation inserts are included at the end.

ABOUT THESE SETTINGS
      • Designed to work for a Liturgical Procession
      • OR sung as a Gathering Song after the more typical procession
      • All are in the key of D to transition easily from any number of common processional pieces.
      • Antiphons are METERED in 4/4
      • The Verses are identical for all three: Psalm 128 — very appropriate for a wedding—and found as the verse for Deus Israel conjugat vos, the Introit from the Graduale Romanum for the Nuptial Mass.
      • While choirs are not the norm for weddings, the option is available.
      • Given the potential for varied instrumentation at weddings, guitar chords are provided. Although composed for organ and trumpet, these can be adapted for piano and other instruments.

Here are more free scores for weddings compiled and arranged by Jeff Ostrowski.

Finally, here are practice videos for the Nuptial Blessing: Nuptial Blessings • Practice Videos • Order of Celebrating Matrimony

Soli Deo gloria

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

About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

PDF • “Cantus Mariales” (192 pages)

Andrea Leal has posted an absolutely pristine scan of CANTUS MARIALES (192 pages) which can be downloaded as a PDF file. To access this treasure, navigate to the frabjous article Andrea posted Monday. The file is being offered completely free of charge. The beginning pages of the book have something not to be missed: viz. a letter from Pope Saint Pius X to Dom Pothier, in which the pope calls Abbat Pothier “a man versed above all others in the science of liturgy, and to whom the cause of Gregorian chant is greatly indebted.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Music List • (2nd Sunday of Lent)

Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday, which is the 2nd Sunday of Lent (1 March 2026). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. This feast has magnificent propers. Its somber INTROIT is particularly striking—using a haunting tonality—but the COMMUNION with its fauxbourdon verses is also quite remarkable. I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Like! Like! Like!

You won’t believe who recently gave us a “like” on the Corpus Christi Watershed FACEBOOK PAGE. Click here (PDF) to see who it was. We were not only sincerely honored, we were utterly flabbergasted. This was truly a resounding endorsement and unmistakable stamp of approval.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Extreme Unction

Those who search Google for “CCCC MS 079” will discover high resolution images of a medieval Pontificale (“Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 079”). One of the pages contains this absolutely gorgeous depiction of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

PDF Chart • “Plainsong Rhythm”

I will go to my grave without understanding the lack of curiosity so many people have about the rhythmic modifications made by Dom André Mocquereau. For example, how can someone examine this single sheet comparison chart and at a minimum not be curious about the differences? Dom Mocquereau basically creates a LONG-SHORT LONG-SHORT rhythmic pattern—in spite of enormous and overwhelming manuscript evidence to the contrary. That’s why some scholars referred to his method as “Neo-Mensuralist” or “Neo-Mensuralism.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “O Come All Ye Faithful” (Simplified)

I admire the harmonization of “Adeste Fideles” by David Willcocks (d. 2015), who served as director of the Royal College of Music (London, England). In 2025, I was challenged to create a simplified arrangement for organists incapable of playing the authentic version at tempo. The result was this simplified keyboard arrangement (PDF download) based on the David Willcocks version of “O Come All Ye Faithful.” Feel free to play through it and let me know what you think.

—Jeff Ostrowski