Views from the Choir Loft

A Traditional—But Bizarre!—Way To Assist At Mass

Jeff Ostrowski · January 31, 2020

ECAUSE I served on the committee which produced the Brébeuf hymnal, I was allowed to examine all the source material. Our team spent five years scanning thousands of pages of old Catholic hymnals, so we would be fully aware of the traditions. (The quality of the hymns varied greatly.) Something we found often was a tradition of singing English throughout Low Mass. I know it sounds incredible, but Catholics used to sing vernacular hymns while the priest was quietly offering Mass in Latin. If you doubt what I say, feel free to examine the full documentation.

I won’t repeat what I’ve already explained about this bizarre practice, which I don’t endorse. Some people will probably object, saying children need a way to participate in Mass; and I do understand such a sentiment. But—in my humble opinion—these musical compositions and the poetry (see below) are of a very poor quality. Pope Leo XIII said people should pray the Rosary during Mass, and I feel that makes a lot more sense than (for example) singing English hymns while the priest quietly proclaims the Gospel. I don’t want to condemn people’s devotion; it just strikes me as bizarre.

Today, I release for your consideration another example of singing English during Low Mass, taken from the Crown of Jesus Roman Catholic Hymnal (London, 1864):

Here is page 23:

Here is page 24:

Here is page 25:

Here is page 26:

Here is page 27:

Here is page 28:

Here is page 29:

Here is page 30:

Here is page 31:

Here is page 32:

Here is page 33:

Here is page 34:

Here is page 35:

A closer view of that page:

Here is page 36:

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

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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 Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski

15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski

15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski