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Views from the Choir Loft

Yesterday’s Solemn Mass Was An Inflection Point

Jeff Ostrowski · April 29, 2018

89294 Archbishop Alexander Sample Josef Bisig ONSIDER THE ACTIONS taken by three powerful groups in the 1990s: ICEL, OCP, and the USCCB Liturgy Committee. Now, on 29 April 2018, “take a step back” and consider—from among the thousands who attended yesterday’s Solemn Pontifical Mass at the National Shrine—just three clerics. Is this not an inflection point for the Traditional Latin Mass?

(1.) Father Andrew V. Menke
Executive Director
Secretariat of Divine Worship (USCCB)
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Fr. Menke assisted “in choro,” and the narrator points him out at the 2:14:42 marker!

(2.) Monsignor Andrew R. Wadsworth
Executive Director
International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL)

The ICEL executive director narrated the Mass for television!

(3.) Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample
Archbishop of Portland, Oregon
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Oregon Catholic Press

Archbishop Sample is the chairman of the board for OCP Publications!


All this is contrary to what the experts told us.

For example, on 26 March 1995, Fr. Brian W. Harrison wrote:

What all traditionalists really want, of course, is complete equality of status for the old rite of Mass, alongside the new rite. But this, I submit, is simply a pipe dream. It just is not going to happen. Already the head of the Vatican’s Ecclesia Dei Commission, Cardinal Innocenti, has made it clear that in his view the present arrangements permitting the old Mass should be seen as temporary and that the final end in view is the “integration” of traditionalist Catholics into the mainstream worship of the Latin rite—that is, full acceptance of the Mass of Paul VI. Not one of the Cardinals with any chance of being elected as the next pope has given any reason to think that he would grant full equality to the preconciliar rite of Mass, and, indeed, any such decision would probably be unenforceable: it would provoke uproar among most of the world’s bishops…

On 28 January 2007, just a few months before Summorum Pontificum was issued, Fr. Reginald Foster (who worked for four popes) declared categorically 1 that Pope Benedict XVI would not follow through: “He is not going to do it. He had trouble with Regensberg, and then trouble in Warsaw, and if he does this, all hell will break loose.” Then Fr. Foster revealed publicly his thoughts about the Traditional Latin Mass:

It is a useless Mass and the whole mentality is stupid. The idea of it is that things were better in the old days. It makes the Vatican look medieval.

Thousands who attended yesterday’s Mass do not consider the Extraordinary Form a “useless Mass.”



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Needless to say, Fr. Reginald Foster was dead wrong about whether Summorum Pontificum would be promulgated. It’s also instructive to notice how he parrots the secular news media regarding “trouble” in Regensberg and Warsaw.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Archbishop Alexander K Sample, National Shrine Immaculate Conception 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 Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Alabama Assessment!

We received this evaluation of Symposium 2022 from an Alabama participant:

“Oh, how the Symposium echoed the words of Cardinal Merry Del Val: …choosing only what is most conformed to Thy glory, which is my final aim. In one short and fast paced week, the faculty and attendees showed me the hand of God and our Lady working in our lives. The wide range of education—from Gregorian Chant, jazz modes in organ improvisation, to ‘staying sane’ while leading a choir—were certainly first-class knowledge from the best teachers of the art. However, the most powerful lesson was learning how to pray as a choir. The sacrifice of putting songs together, taking time to learn the sacred text, meditating on the church teaching through the chants, and gaining the virtues required to persevere in these duties were not only qualities of a choir but of a saint. The sanctification of the lives of the attendees was a beautiful outcome of this event … and that in itself is worth more than a beautifully-sung Solesmes style chant!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
PDF Download • Trinity Sunday (22 pages)

Feel free to download this Organ Accompaniment Booklet for Trinity Sunday (Second Vespers). Notice how the modes progress by number. Psalm 1 is mode 1; Psalm 2 is mode 2; Psalm 3 is mode 3; Psalm 4 is mode 4; Psalm 5 is mode 5. I am told by an expert that other feasts (such as Corpus Christi) are likewise organized by mode, and it’s called a “numerical office.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
10 June 2022 • “Official” rhythm of plainsong

I continue to search for the most beautiful way to present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores. (Technically, the “pure” rhythm of the official edition is what everyone is supposed to use.) You can download my latest attempt, which is the Introit for this coming Sunday: Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Because this is not an ancient feast, the Introit had to be adapted (perhaps around 750AD). Prior Johner says the adaptation is “not an entirely happy one.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Thus the priest-celebrant, putting on the person of Christ, alone offers sacrifice, and not the people, nor clerics, nor even priests who reverently assist. All, however, can and should take an active part in the Sacrifice. “The Christian people, though participating in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, do not thereby possess a priestly power,” We stated in the Encyclical Mediator Dei (AAS, vol 39, 1947, p. 553).

— Pope Pius XII (2 November 1954)

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