Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Booklet • Feast of the Purification (2 February)

Jeff Ostrowski · February 2, 2020

HAVE created a printable booklet for the Feast of the Purification “Pre-Mass” Blessing of Candles, Distribution of Candles, and Procession. One of the reasons it took longer than it should have is because the 1962 Missale Romanum deleted bits and pieces—here and there—for no apparent reason. I hope you’ll let me know of any errors you find:

* PDF Download • Booklet for the Procession
—This 8-page booklet contains the chants and rubrics for “Pre-Mass”.

The rest of the chants for the Mass—score, videos, Mp3 files, and so on—can be downloaded here:

* Saint René Goupil Website

Here is an example of what you’ll find there:

These documents support my “booklet” for the Blessing of Candles:

* PDF • Candlemas 1962 Rubrics (official)
—A document in Latin containing the official rubrics from the 1962 Missal.

* PDF Download • Dom Pothier’s 1896 Liber Usualis
—Published about 10 years before the Editio Vaticana.

* PDF Download • 1903 Liber Usualis (Dom Mocquereau)
—This is not the official edition, which is called the Editio Vaticana.

* PDF Download • Candlemas in the Solesmes Graduale (1908)
—This is the Editio Vaticana with rhythmic markings by Dom Mocquereau.

* PDF • Candlemas 1957 Rubrics & Plainsong
—This document is useful because of the English translations.

* PDF • Fulton Sheen Sunday Missal (1961)
—The editor was Fr. Philip George Caraman (d. 1998).

* PDF • Saint Edmund Campion Missal (©2012)
—These Candlemas pages come from the Saint Edmund Campion Missal.

I found this in a Roman Catholic Missal from 1806, printed in London for use of the laity:

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 Michigan. —(Read full biography).

Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)

With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Luis Martínez Must Go!

Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]

—Jeff Ostrowski

Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!

A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!

—Jeff Ostrowski

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

“Only against this background, of the effective denial of the authority of Trent, can one understand the bitterness of the struggle against allowing the celebration of Mass according to the 1962 Missal after the liturgical reform. The possibility of so celebrating constitutes the strongest, and thus (for them) the most intolerable contradiction of the opinion of those who believe that the faith in the Eucharist, as formulated by Trent, has lost its validity.”

— Cardinal Ratzinger, 2001