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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

Digitizing the Vatican Library

Fr. David Friel · January 15, 2020

Manuscript pageORKING with manuscripts has long been a labor limited to those with the time and resources to travel to libraries around the globe. In recent years, this has slowly begun to change, as more and more libraries have begun to make their collections available online. Such digitization projects are complex, so publishing an entire library online does not happen overnight. One very important collection that continues to expand its online offerings is the Vatican Apostolic Library (VAT).

Launched in 2010, the digitization of the Vatican Library (known as DigiVatLib and available here) has comprehensive goals. Ultimately, the plan is to make the library’s entire manuscript collection available online. The collection includes 80,000 codices, which will translate to 40 million scanned images. The DigiVatLib project makes use of International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) technology, which not only makes its own resources accessible, but also enables these resources to be easily searched and compared alongside the treasures of other major collections.

Digitizing manuscript libraries serves two principal purposes. First, it accomplishes long-term preservation of the materials for future generations. Second, it opens the collection’s treasures to a broad audience of scholars and interested parties. Both of these missions are immensely valuable.

Perusing the Vatican collection online turns up not only mesmerizing manuscripts, but also a large collection of coins and medals. Other treasures to be explored include incunabula, archival materials, and graphic and printed materials.

The homepage of the Vatican Library is worth a visit in its own right, but the digital collections warrant special exploration. One decade into the project, the results are fascinating.

Taking a few moments (or countless hours!) to pore over DigiVatLib is sure to provoke questions, curiosities, and new interests.

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

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Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 15, 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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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 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 also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

Had the Church never spoken on this matter, it would still be repugnant to our Catholic people’s sense of what is fit and proper in the holiest of places, that a priest should have to struggle through the prayers of the Holy Mass, because of such tunes as “Alice, where art thou?” the “Vacant Chair,” and others of more vulgar title, which, through the carelessness or bad judgment of organists, sometimes find their way into our choirs.

— Preface to a Roman Catholic Hymnal (1896)

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