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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

New Musical Settings for the Blessing of the Holy Oils

Fr. David Friel · March 24, 2019

HE ANNUAL blessing and disbursement of oils within the diocese is an eloquent expression of ecclesiology. Just as Jesus is the Christ—the Anointed One—who came to bring to bring good news to the afflicted and to bind up the brokenhearted (Isaiah 61:1), so the bishop blesses the sacred oils in order to perpetuate the Lord’s ministry within the local Church. The gathering of the priests, deacons, religious, and lay faithful of the diocese, together with their bishop, expresses the unity to which the Church is called. Apportioning the oils to each parish after the Chrism Mass highlights the connection between the bishop and the whole of the ministerial activity that takes place within his see.

Anointing, of course, is an action central to many of the Church’s liturgies. The Church makes use of sacred oils to initiate new Christians and to heal the sick, to ordain new clergymen and to dedicate new churches.

The Chrism Mass, as a whole, is perhaps the most exemplary manifestation of the local Church and of the bishop’s ministry. That the blessing and consecration of the sacred oils is among the principal features of this liturgy reflects the oils’ tremendous importance in the life of the Church.

The prayers for blessing and consecrating the oils have been newly translated and published in a ritual book entitled, Order of Blessing the Oil of Catechumens and of the Sick and of Consecrating the Chrism. It is available exclusively through the USCCB bookstore. This book took effect for all dioceses in the USA on Ash Wednesday 2019. The new prayers, therefore, are normative for the Chrism Mass from 2019 onward.

LONG with the fresh translations, this volume includes musical settings for the prayer texts and responsories. In order to assist bishops and liturgical musicians, the USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship has made PDF versions of these new chant settings freely available on their website.

The PDF chant settings include:

The hymn for the procession of the oils, O Redemptor (O Redeemer)

The prayer of blessing of the Oil of the Sick

The prayer of blessing of the Oil of Catechumens

The three texts related to consecration of the Chrism: 1) Invitation to Prayer, 2) Prayer of Consecration (first option), and 3) Prayer of Consecration (second option)

The website with the new musical settings also features useful catechesis on the significance of the rite of blessing and consecration. It offers recommendations, moreover, for the reception of the oils during the parish Mass of the Lord’s Supper.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: ICEL Chants, Proper of the Mass in English, Singing the Mass, USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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President’s Corner

    Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
    The 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM was a transitional missal. It was on its way to becoming the 1970 version, but wasn’t there yet. It eliminated certain duplications, downplayed the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, expanded the role of laymen, minimized the Last Gospel, made many items optional, and so forth. Father Valentine Young spotted many typos in the 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM, especially incorrect accents. The Offertory Antiphon for this coming Sunday (OF kalendar) contains an error, citing the wrong verse from Psalm 118. It should be 118:107b, not 118:154. If you read verse 154, you’ll understand how that error crept in. [In this particular case, the error pre-dates the 1962 Missal, since the 1940s hand-missal by Father Lasance also gets it wrong.]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 26 October 2025, which is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the top-notch feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Little Encouragement?
    In the Gospel, our Savior tells about 10 lepers who were healed. Only one went back to give thanks. Precious few express gratitude, yet many have endless energy to complain. For that reason, I deeply appreciate receiving messages like the following, which arrived a few days ago (about the parish where I direct in Michigan): “Last Sunday, a couple I knew from Grand Rapids was at Mass at 10:00 a.m. I got a chance to talk to them after Mass. I wanted to let you know what they said about the choir. They were absolutely floored by our sound!!!!! They both said they could continuously listen to our choir and the beauty of it. They asked me: “Do you always sound like that?” And they were also very surprised at how packed the church was. They said it was nice for them to be in such a full church. I just thought you would be interested to know their thoughts about our choir.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

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

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  • “Our Father” • Musical Setting?

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