Views from the Choir Loft

Flos Carmeli for a Carmelite Novena

Veronica Brandt · July 7, 2018

OVENAS give a bit of variety to our family prayers. Today we are starting a Novena to Our Lady of Mt Carmel for a new monastery.

The prayers are beautiful, but I recognised the closing prayer as the Carmelite sequence Flos Carmeli – the name always reminds me of dessert, but maybe that’s just me.

Trawling the internet I found the words, the music, but nothing arranged for pleasant printing. A few hours later, and a little wiser about LaTeX and Gregorio, I can present you with this:

* * Flos Carmeli

For those who like the technical side, I used the package marginnote to put the translation in the right column. There were a few variations in the Latin words on different sources – it would be good to know the history of these. I went with the version on Gregobase, but changed consonantal “I“s to “J“s and split the ae ligatures to make it easier to notate the accents.

Our Lady of Mt Carmel, pray for us!

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

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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