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Views from the Choir Loft

Rare Lenten Hymns You’ve Not Sung

Jeff Ostrowski · February 19, 2018

ERVING ON A COMMITTEE to produce the St. Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal has brought to my attention many wonderful Catholic hymns. Fr. Adrian Fortescue once said, speaking of an ancient hymn: “Where could anyone find a better evening hymn than this, coming right down from the catacombs? Our hymnbooks know nothing of such a treasure as this, and give us pages of poor sentiment in doggerel lines by some tenth-rate modern versifier.”

I could not find any written out versions of the Gregorian chant hymn Ex more docti mystico (6th century) so I created a clean version. Have you sung this great hymn?

* *  PDF Download • “Ex More Docti Mystico” (LENT)

The following is also very nice—but some of you may have sung it before, because it’s printed in many books:

* *  PDF Download • “O Sol Salutis” (LENT)

Here is a beautiful page from a book by John David Chambers:

90317 EX MORE DOCTI MYSTICO

A saint once commented on Psalm 50 (Miserere Mei) something to the effect of: “I wish we could all sin like David, if our repentance were to be as great as David’s…” If someone can send the exact quote, thank you in advance!

The book by Chambers is yet another book we came across in our work on the Brébeuf Hymnal.

By the way, there is another melody commonly used for “O Sol Salutis Intimis” (a.k.a. “Jam Christe Sol Justitiae”):

Abbot Pothier knew his stuff! No wonder Father De Santi called him “master of us all.”

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

Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: Ex More Docti Mystico, Jam Christe Sol Justitiae, O Sol Salutis Intimis, Rare Hymns for Lent Last Updated: February 25, 2023

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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 Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    Vespers Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent)
    The organ accompaniment booklet (24 pages) which I created for the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Lætare Sunday”) may now be downloaded, for those who desire such a thing.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Vespers Booklet, 3rd Sunday of Lent
    The organ accompaniment I created for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (“Extraordinary Form”) may now be downloaded, if anyone is interested in this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Weeping For Joy! (We Hope!)
    Listening to this Easter Alleluia—an SATB arrangement I made twenty years ago based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel—one of our readers left this comment: “I get tears in my eyes each time I sing to this hymn.” I hope this person is weeping for joy!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“In my opinion, there should be reached the aim that all priests could continue to use the old Missal.”

— ‘Cardinal Ratzinger, Letter to Wolfgang Waldstein (14 December 1976)’

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