Views from the Choir Loft

Masses to Begin at FSSP Parish in Philadelphia

Fr. David Friel · September 4, 2018

ANY READERS are already aware that, in April 2018, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia established a new “quasi-parish” for the purpose of extending additional pastoral care to local Catholics who worship in the Extraordinary Form.

This weekend will mark the beginning of Masses offered at the parish.

This new community has taken over the beautiful St. Mary’s Church (pictured), which served as a Polish national parish until it merged with another parish in 2014. The church, which sits at West Elm and Oak Streets in Conshohocken, PA, will now be staffed by a priest of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP).

The Extraordinary Form will remain available in numerous other places in the area. The chief advantage of this new quasi-parish is that it will serve as a place for families who choose to worship in the EF to live a full parish life, complete with all the Sacraments and devotions.

Effective September 9, 2018, the Mass schedule will be:

Sunday: 11 AM

Monday to Thursday: 7:15 AM

Friday: 6:30 PM

The founding pastor is Fr. Carl Gismondi, FSSP. May the Lord make his ministry fruitful, and may He pour forth blessings upon this new parish!

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

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 and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

William Byrd • Simple “Agnus Dei” Canon

Time flies! Back in July, I posted a PDF setting of a perfect canon by William Byrd (d. 1623) arranged as an AGNUS DEI for three voices. Last Sunday, we sang that arrangement with our volunteer choir. To hear a ‘live’ recording of it, click here (Mp3). In my humble opinion, this would be a perfect piece for a choir just beginning to experiment with polyphony.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Glory To God” • (For Choir + Congregation)

I wish to thank everyone for the nice comments I received vis-à-vis my Glory To God setting for Choir & Congregation. A gentleman with a musical doctorate from Indiana University wrote: “Love this setting so much. And I will pray, as you asked, for your return to composition more fully. You are very very good.” A female choir director wrote: “I love your harmonizations, your musicality, and the wonderful interplay you have with dissonance and consonance in your music. So fun to listen to, and great for intellect, heart, and soul!” A young woman from California wrote: “Thank you for releasing your new Glory To God in honor of Saint Noel Chabanel. I'm enjoying reading through the various parts and listening to your recordings.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

William Byrd • “Mass for Five Voices”

Our volunteer choir is learning the “Sanctus” from William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices. You can hear a short excerpt (recorded last Sunday) but please ignore the sound of babies crying: Mp3 recording. We still have work to do—but we’re on the right track. Once we have some of the tuning issues fixed, I desire to use it as an example proving volunteers can sing complicated polyphony. — One of our volunteer choirs also sang that SANCTUS on 24 September 2023, and you can listen to how that came out.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Impelled by the weightiest of reasons, we are fully determined to restore Latin to its position of honor, and to do all We can to promote its study and use. The employment of Latin has recently been contested in many quarters, and many are asking what the mind of the Apostolic See is in this matter. We have therefore decided to issue the timely directives contained in this document, so as to ensure that the ancient and uninterrupted use of Latin be maintained and, where necessary, restored.”

— Pope John XXIII (22 February 1962)