Views from the Choir Loft

Portland Publishes an “Archdiocesan Liturgical Handbook”

Fr. David Friel · November 18, 2018 ·

RCHBISHOP SAMPLE of Portland, Oregon gave a presentation this past week to the philosophy club at The Catholic University of America. His topic was very appropriate for the month devoted to All Souls: “It Comes to Us All: A Reflection on Our Own Death.” I attended the presentation, during which the archbishop spoke thoughtfully and beautifully about his experiences surrounding death and dying, as both a priest and a son.

Meanwhile, back in Portland, the archdiocesan Office of Divine Worship recently published an excellent new resource, entitled the Archdiocesan Liturgical Handbook. The book is available for free PDF download here, and it is also available for purchase in paper and kindle formats through Amazon.

At 350 pages, this is a substantial publication, and it addresses many topics, ranging from the pontifical celebration of Mass at the cathedral to the requisite pastoral care for couples seeking marriage. In addition to a very interesting section on funerals, the book also includes careful treatment of sacramentals, the repurposing of sacred objects, the catechumenate, Eastern & Orthodox Christians, and the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. This is by far the most comprehensive diocesan handbook on the liturgy I have ever seen.

Primarily the work of Msgr. Gerard O’Connor, director of Portland’s Office of Divine Worship, the publication also acknowledges the collaboration of the (arch)dioceses of Washington, Pittsburgh, and Denver. The text, itself, relies heavily upon official liturgical documents relevant to the many topics for which guidance and directives are offered.

N HIS introduction to the volume, Archbishop Sample describes the handbook as “a living document which guides and steers the liturgical praxis within our Archdiocese.” Most dioceses have some form of local liturgical regulations, but I doubt if very many have promulgated a document this complete.

By virtue of its quality and thoroughness, Portland’s Archdiocesan Liturgical Handbook serves as a model of the seriousness with which every local Church should approach the duty of divine worship.

About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served for five years as Parochial Vicar at St. Anselm Parish in Northeast Philly. He is currently a doctoral candidate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Could Pope St. Pius X Sing?

“On 12 March 1908, the complete publication of the Roman Gradual was issued by the Vatican Press. On that very day, Dom Pothier solemnly presented the first copy to the Holy Father. A witness of the audience says that Pius X wished to be the first to see the new book; he opened it at random, at page 128 of the supplement pro aliquibus locis—it was the Introit of the new Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Pope sang it with perfect taste to the last note.” (Catholic Choirmaster, February 1915)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Julius Bas Accompaniment

A very prolific harmonizer of Gregorian chant in the early 20th century was Mr. Julius Bas. He often uses a very strange technique, wherein he employs rests to eliminate the Alto, Tenor, and Bass voices. Consider what he did with “Lumen ad revelationem” here:

* JPEG • Lumen ad revelationem

It seems quite lazy, and I’ve never seen anyone else use such a technique, although Dr. Peter Wagner often switched to parallel octaves when he ran out of ideas… (Yuck!)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Hitting wrong notes

Fr. Valentine Young, OFM, used to say: “The organist can play 1,000 correct notes and one wrong note—and the only thing people will care about is the wrong note.” Last Sunday I hit some wrong notes, and felt bad. Then I remembered a story about Rudolf Serkin and started to chuckle. Charles Rosen (or was it Leon Fleisher?) told the story of Serkin playing a Beethoven Sonata in front of a large audience. The theme is all in octaves; but Serkin hit some wrong notes, and played parallel 7ths instead. This so unnerved him that every time the theme returned, he played the entire thing in parallel 7ths! We must remember that even the greatest hit wrong notes. Alfred Cortot, Vladimir Horowitz, Wilhelm Backhaus, Edwin Fischer, Sviatoslav Richter, Egon Petri—they all hit wrong notes, which we can hear on recordings. (Josef Hofmann was an exception, but he was super-human so he doesn’t count!)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Giovanni Doni is known for having changed the name of note “Ut,” renaming it “Do.” He convinced his contemporaries to make the change by arguing that 1) “Do” is easier to pronounce than “Ut,” and 2) “Do” is an abbreviation for “Dominus,” the Latin word for the Lord, Who is the tonic and root of the world. There is much academic speculation that Giovanni Doni also wanted to imprint himself into musical canon in perpetuity because “Do” is also ulteriorly an abbreviation for his family name.

— Giovanni Battista Doni died in 1647AD