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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

Saint Paul’s Choir School • Open Houses

Richard J. Clark · September 27, 2019

HE ONLY all boys Roman Catholic choir school in the United States, St. Paul’s Choir School, Harvard Square, is holding open houses soon (listed below). Additionally, the school is very happy to invite boys to “shadow” throughout the school day to get a hands-on experience. Financial aid is available. This is a special opportunity to explore a unique and life-changing Catholic education.


Educate & Elevate – Open Houses Following the Great Cathedral School Tradition

AINT PAUL’S Choir School provides boys in grades 3-8 with an extraordinary learning experience. SPCS integrates a rigorous, academic day school with the performance of choral masterworks at home, internationally, and with renowned groups such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Saint Paul’s features small classes and teaches the core subjects of Math, Literature, Social Studies, and Science along with Rhetoric, Latin, and Music Theory.

PDF • Download information here!

Boys who enter Saint Paul’s Choir School need only an interest in singing. Choral instruction, rigor, and practice shape them into the beautiful chorus and choristers Saint Paul’s is known for.

SPCS CORDIALLY INVITES you and your son to our Open Houses and vocal auditions on the following dates:

• Thursday, October 24 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
• Sunday, November 3 from 12:30-2:30 p.m.
• Thursday, January 30 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

For more information, click here to see our website or
click here to email Patrick Moran, Director of Admissions.

N A MORE PERSONAL NOTE, my son has begun his studies at Saint Paul’s Choir School. While he loved his previous school, he was thrilled to begin St. Paul’s. As parents, our interest in Saint Paul’s is just as much academic as it is musical (perhaps more). With academics—bolstered by new Headmaster, Dr. Thomas Haferd—coupled with unique performance opportunities, the boys are sought after by excellent high schools and colleges.

Most importantly, the boys are immersed in the traditions of the Catholic Faith, attending, and singing at Mass six days per week. They are guided by the Pastor and Senior Chaplain, Fr. William Kelly, who also graduated from St. Paul’s having studied with the school’s legendary founder and visionary, Theodore Marier. Notably it was at St. Paul’s where Fr. Kelly first considered the priesthood. (At the time it was called the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School. “St. Paul’s Choir School” is the original and current name.)

The greatest thing Saint Paul’s has to offer is its bedrock of Catholicism. Thomas Carroll, Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Boston implores that Catholic Schools embrace their Catholicism as their greatest strength. He writes in the Boston Pilot:

Some Catholic school leaders wrongly believe that they should de-emphasize faith as they seek to market their schools in a broadly secular society. This is a mistake. Given competition from free district schools and free charter schools, a Catholic school will not prevail by positioning itself as a tuition-charging secular (non-religious) school. Our schools can “go further with faith.” What Catholic schools offer is something more transcendent than any secular school can ever offer. This is our strength, not a weakness.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Catholic Education, Saint Pauls Choir School Harvard Square Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Music List • (5th Sunday of Lent)
    Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday, which is the 5th Sunday of Lent (22 March 2026). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. Traditionally, this Sunday was called ‘Passion’ Sunday. Starting in 1956, certain church leaders attempted rename both ‘Passion’ Sunday and ‘Palm’ Sunday—but it didn’t work. For example, Monsignor Frederick McManus tried to get people to call PALM SUNDAY “Second Passion Sunday”—but the faithful rejected that. I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music List • (Holy Thursday, 2026)
    Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for Holy Thursday, which is 2 April 2026. If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a more piercingly beautiful INTROIT, and I have come to absolutely love the SATB version of ‘Ubi cáritas’ we are singing (joined by our burgeoning children’s choir). I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “O Escam Viatorum” • (Holy Thursday)
    When I was very young, I erroneously believed the four psalms provided by the 1957 Liber Usualis—for Communion on Holy Thursday—were the “correct” music to sing on that first day of the TRIDUUM SACRUM. Those four psalms are: Psalm 22 (Dóminus regit me et nihil mihi déerit); Psalm 71 (Deus judícium tuum regi da); Psalm 103 (Bénedic ánima méa); and Psalm 150 (Laudáte Dóminum in sanctis ejus). It turns out I was way out in left field! While nothing forbids singing those psalms, many other options are equally valid. Our volunteer parish choir will sing this COMMUNION PIECE (joined by our burgeoning children’s choir) on Holy Thursday during Holy Communion. Needless to say, this will happen after the proper antiphon from the GRADUALE ROMANUM has been sung.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Stumped by “Episcopalian Hymnal” (1910)
    Some consider Songs of Syon (1910) the greatest Episcopalian hymnal ever printed. As a Roman Catholic, I have no right to weigh in one way or the other. However, this particular page has me stumped. I just know I’ve heard that tune somewhere! If you can help, please email me. I’m talking about the text which begins: “This is the day the Lord hath made; In unbeclouded light array’d.” The book is by George Ratcliffe Woodward, and its complete title is: Songs of Syon: A Collection of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs. Back in 2016, Corpus Christi Watershed scanned and uploaded this insanely rare book. For years our website was the sole place one could download it as a PDF file.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Dies Irae” • A Monstrous Translation
    It isn’t easy to determine what Alice King MacGilton hoped to accomplish with her very popular book—A Study of Latin Hymns (1918)—which continued to be reprinted in new editions for at least 34 years. This PDF file shows her attempt to translate the DIES IRAE “in the fewest words possible.” There’s a place for dynamic equivalency, but this is repugnant. In particular, look what she does to “Quærens me sedísti lassus.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Holy, Holy, Holy”
    For vigil Masses on Saturday (a.k.a. “anticipated” Masses) we use this simpler setting of the “Holy, Holy, Holy” by Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989), a Belgian priest, organist, composer, and music educator who ultimately succeeded another ‘Jules’ (CANON JULES VAN NUFFEL) as director of the Lemmensinstituut in Belgium. Although I could be wrong, my understanding is that the LEMMENSINSTITUUT eventually merged with “Catholic University of Leuven” (originally founded in 1425). That’s the university Fulton J. Sheen attended.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“How can we account for differences in the Gospel accounts? Well, suppose after we left Church today, there was a terrible accident or explosion or fire. Soon the news media would be here, interviewing people as to what they saw or heard. Each person would probably say or report what struck him—or what he saw or noticed. All these reports would be different and yet they would be true.”

— Fr. Valentine Young (February 2019)

Recent Posts

  • Music List • (5th Sunday of Lent)
  • Music List • (Holy Thursday, 2026)
  • “O Escam Viatorum” • (Holy Thursday)
  • PDF Download • Simplified Keyboard Accompaniments for Lenten Hymns
  • Ending Good Friday on “Mi” … ?

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