Archives for October 2018

Veronica Brandt · October 6, 2018

Archbishop Anthony Fisher Apologizes

Sparks of hope from the youth synod – an apology mentioning “unbeautiful” liturgies and witholding the Church’s treasury of prayers.

Guest Author · October 5, 2018

Success! • Sacred Music Retreat in Ohio

Immersion in what defines our very purpose as members of the choir.

Jeff Ostrowski · October 2, 2018

PDF Download • SATB Christmas Carol by Peter Lejeune • “Jam Désinant Suspíria”

I recorded all the voices, to demonstrate how it sounds…

“Music List” • 6th Sunday of Easter (Year C)

Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 6th Sunday of Easter (25 May 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are provided at the the feasts website.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Gloria in Spanish” • Free Accompaniment

Several people have requested an organ accompaniment for the GLORY TO GOD which prints the Spanish words directly above the chords. The Spanish adaptation—Gloria a Dios en el cielo—as printed in Roman Misal, tercera edición was adapted from the “Glória in excélsis” from Mass XV (DOMINATOR DEUS). I used to feel that it’s a pretty boring chant … until I heard it sung well by a men’s Schola Cantorum, which changed my view dramatically. This morning, I created this harmonization and dedicated it to my colleague, Corrinne May. You may download it for free. Please let me know if you enjoy it!

—Jeff Ostrowski

How Well Does ICEL Know Latin?

This year, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June 2025) will fall on a Sunday. It’s not necessary to be an eminent Latin scholar to be horrified by examples like this, which have been in place since 1970. For the last 55 years, anyone who’s attempted to correct such errors has been threatened with legal action. It is simply unbelievable that the (mandatory) texts of the Holy Mass began being sold for a profit in the 1970s. How much longer will this gruesome situation last?

—Jeff Ostrowski

Antiphons Don’t Match?

A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).

—Corpus Christi Watershed

When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962

There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop

—Veronica Brandt

The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum

Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.

—Daniel Tucker

To end an impropriety, noticed particularly at orchestral Vespers, when two or three Psalms are sung with full orchestra, and then the other Psalms and the Hymn are rapidly hurried through with organ accompaniment only […] we order that at Mass all portions of the text, including “Agnus Dei,” be sung with orchestral accompaniment. […] Moreover, the musicians are not allowed to put the instruments away and leave their places before the conclusion of the sacred function.

— Cardinal Patrizi (18 November 1856)