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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

Fascinating! • Tridentine “Permission Slip” (1985)

Jeff Ostrowski · October 23, 2019

80973 holy family OLINESS IS SOMETHING each one of us must attain. We have no choice except to be a saint—unless we want to spend eternity suffering in Hell. One of the great enemies of holiness is gossip; especially since it wastes energy that could be spent on good works. We must guard against dwelling on the evils in the Church. That being said, we are never obligated to hide the truth. If someone forced me to compile a list of the most corrupt bishops ever to serve in the United States, Archbishop Rembert Weakland (Milwaukee, 1977-2002) would definitely make the top ten. Bishops, priests, and monks who knew him dubbed Weakland “rotten to the core.”

Through Twitter, we were sent this fascinating “permission” slip:

    * *  PDF Download • “Permission Slip” to attend Latin Mass (1985)

It references a document bravely promulgated by Pope Saint John Paul II:

    * *  PDF Download • “Quattuor abhinc annos” (1984) — Latin/English

There is great concern over whether someone might bring a son or daughter:

80980 permission slip LATIN MASS

According to that letter, a parent is forbidden to bring, for example, a handicapped child, unless the child applied for (and received in advance) a “permission” slip. Archbishop Weakland seems terrified a young Catholic might experience what the saints for 1,000 years experienced—but what harm is there in attending Holy Mass?  Wicked beyond a doubt!

From Google, I see that Mr. Greg DiPippo has posted another “Tridentine permission slip” from Texas:

    * *  PDF Download • Diocese of Austin (1988)

Do you see what Bishop John McCarthy says at the bottom? 1

While I hope that this arrangement is satisfactory to you, I would ask you to be aware that the vast, vast majority of our people prefer to pray in a language that they understand, and it is the teaching of the Universal Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, that they be allowed to do so. Please continue to pray that Christ’s Church will grow evermore united.

Bishop John McCarthy was not telling the truth:

(1) The Second Vatican Council mandated the use of Latin. It was not a suggestion. For example: Read what page 18 says about “servetur.”

(2) The Second Vatican Council mandated the use of Gregorian chant. Gregorian chant is sung in Latin.

(3) Bishops such as John McCarthy were remarkably poor judges of what “the vast, vast majority” of Catholics felt and knew about the Catholic Faith, to say nothing of their erroneous predictions about “a new springtime.” He was in no position to say what Catholics “prefer.”

(4) Assisting at the Sacred Mass has very little to do with what Catholics prefer. I might “prefer” to attend Mass while laying on the beach—but that doesn’t mean it’s good for my soul.

Bishop John McCarthy should have spent his energy dealing with goofy, uninspired, undignified, heavily syncopated, embarrassing music being used at 1980s Masses. I was a young child, but I’ll never forget the type of music being sung, such as this piece by Paul Inwood:

    * *  Mp3 Sample • “Church” Music by Paul Inwood

Why did Bishop John McCarthy lack the courage to censure such composers? Why did the bishops not spend energy restoring truly sacred and transcendent music such as plainsong, Palestrina, Morales, Lassus, Guerrero, and so forth? These days, I know four (4) dioceses which have spent more than 700 million dollars creating hideous, ugly, disgusting cathedrals—yet these same dioceses claim they have no money to create decent music programs.

Around the same time, an article appeared in Los Angeles (23 February 1985):

Father Arthur Holquin, director of the Office of Worship, estimated that “less than 1%” of the diocese’s 500,000 Catholics would be interested in attending Tridentine Masses.

I don’t know whether Father Arthur Holquin is still alive, but I can tell him this: They tried to kill the traditional Mass, but it wouldn’t die. We are back! And the Weakland “permission slip” now looks totally absurd and bizarre.

On the bright side, many “enemies” of Tradition ended up switching their views. For example, the bishop who tried to shut down Mother Angelica because of “ad orientem” a few years later fell in love with saying the Traditional Latin Mass. To give another example, a priest in a major city (which shall remain nameless) once fired his musician for using Latin—yet that same priest now offers Mass exclusively in the Extraordinary Form. I could cite more examples.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   In contrast to Bishop McCarthy’s assertion that “the Universal Church, guided by the Holy Spirit” teaches that Catholic people are allowed “to pray [the Mass] in a language that they understand,” the Universal Church actually anathematizes those who say that the Mass ought only to be celebrated in the vernacular. Cf. Council of Trent (Session XXII, Canon IX): Si quis dixerit Ecclesiae Romanae ritum, quo submissa voce pars Canonis et verba Consecrationis proferuntur, damnandum esse: aut lingua tantum vulgari Missam celebrari debere; aut aquam non miscendam esse vino in Calice offerendo, eo quod sit contra Christi institutionem: anathema sit. [If anyone says that the rite of the Roman Church, by which a portion of the Canon and the words of the Consecration are pronounced in a quiet tone, is to be condemned: or that the Mass ought only to be celebrated in the common language; or that water is not to be mixed with the wine when offering the Chalice, for it is contrary to the institution of Christ, let him be accursed.] Furthermore, those who wish to understand Latin can learn the language—just as they can Spanish or Vietnamese.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Paul Inwood Composer, Tridentine Permission Slip Last Updated: September 1, 2021

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

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

“From six in the evening, his martyrdom had continued through the ghastly night until nine o’clock in the morning. After fifteen hours of torture rarely if ever surpassed in the bloody annals of the Iroquois, the soul of Gabriel Lalemant was freed from its charred and mutilated prison and summoned to join his comrade Jean de Brébeuf in the radiant splendor of God. March 17th, 1649, was the date; for Brébeuf it had been the sixteenth.”

— ‘Fr. John A. O’Brien, speaking of St. Gabriel Lalemant’

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