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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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Archives for July 2020

Jeff Ostrowski · July 31, 2020

“Stella Caeli Exstirpavit” • Gregorian Chant During Times Of Pestilence

I would give anything to know how these girls created this recording—because it’s free rhythm!

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Andrea Leal · July 28, 2020

8,000 entries • “Snippets Index” for New Hymnal

(Be patient while it loads) —Easy to use, fully complete; what more could you ask?

Jeff Ostrowski · July 28, 2020

Goal Met • Why We’re Grateful To Our Readers

The pop-up has been taken down…plus, a small gift to our readers!

Keven Smith · July 27, 2020

Ubi Caritas Goes Viral: My Thoughts

Have you seen the viral video of four men singing Ubi Caritas in a stairwell? Here are some thoughts on this phenomenon.

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Jeff Ostrowski · July 23, 2020

PDF Download • “Holy Week and Easter with Gregorian Chant” (797 pages)

Supremely rare Belgian book with Gregorian Chant!

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Jeff Ostrowski · July 22, 2020

22 July 2020 • Five Recent Messages

We are asking our readers to give $5.00 per month (or even $3.00 per month) so we can keep our website online. Here are five recent messages from donors: (#1) Your site is a Godsend. It must continue. I am a church mouse but I can afford $5 a month. Let’s help keep the beautiful […]

Jeff Ostrowski · July 22, 2020

21 July 2020 • From a Musicology PhD…

To you and your colleagues who helped produce the Brébeuf hymnal, I wanted to drop a line to say “bravo.” I just got a copy and immediately ordered the choral supplement (I ought to have just gotten it in the first place). What an achievement this book is! This is the sort of hymnal one […]

Jeff Ostrowski · July 21, 2020

“Pope Pius XII Psalter” • How different was it?

If this had caught on, every chant book—along with every psalm setting of Palestrina, Victoria, Morales, Guerrero, etc.—would have become “garbage” overnight.

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Dr. Gregory Hamilton · July 20, 2020

Biography • Dr. Gregory Hamilton

Dr. Gregory Hamilton is a widely published composer and accomplished performer currently on the faculty of Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas TX.

Fr. David Friel · July 19, 2020

The Gifts of Abel the Just

Offering an Acceptable Sacrifice

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Jeff Ostrowski · July 17, 2020

PDF Download • “Label Your Luggage”

Religious instruction from Fr. Robert Nash, SJ. (1943 Imprimatur)

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Jeff Ostrowski · July 14, 2020

PDF Download • “Saint Edmund Arrowsmith Mass”

The fourth installment—“Mass settings that work well, even with a single cantor + organist.”

Jeff Ostrowski · July 14, 2020

Wonderful emails received recently…

(#1) “Thank you for all the great work you do to provide music and rehearsal videos for all of us to use! It has been invaluable to those music and choir directors who’ve had to build a Gregorian chant schola from scratch! May God continue to bless all you do to promote sacred music for […]

Dr. Lucas Tappan · July 14, 2020

Obsequies for Msgr. Georg Ratzinger (1924-2020)

I doubt the Divine Office in the vernacular could have been more beautifully sung.

Keven Smith · July 14, 2020

Two Fast, Easy Ways for Church Musicians to Relieve Stress

One common place for musicians to feel wear and tear is in the neck. Here’s how to release it.

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Good Friday Flowers
    Good Friday has a series of prayers for various parties: the pope, catechumens, pagans, heretics, schismatics, and so forth. In the old liturgical books, there was no official ‘name’ for these prayers. (This wasn’t unusual as ‘headers’ and ‘titles’ for each section is a rather modern idea.) The Missal simply instructed the priest to go to the Epistle side and begin. In the SHERBORNE MISSAL, each prayer begins with a different—utterly spectacular—flower. This PDF file shows the first few prayers. Has anyone counted the ‘initial’ drop-cap flowers in the SHERBORNE MISSAL? Surely there are more than 1,000.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music List • (3rd Sunday of Lent)
    Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday, which is the 3rd Sunday of Lent (8 March 2026). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. This feast has magnificent propers. Its stern INTROIT (“Óculi mei semper ad Dóminum”) is breathtaking, and the COMMUNION (“Qui bíberit aquam”) with its fauxbourdon verses is wonderful. I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Ubi Caritas” (SATB)
    I remember singing “Ubi Cáritas” by Maurice Duruflé at the conservatory. I was deeply moved by it. However, some feel Duruflé’s version isn’t suitable for small choirs since it’s written for 6 voices and the bass tessitura is quite low. That’s why I was absolutely thrilled to discover this “Ubi cáritas” (SATB) for smaller choirs by Énemond Moreau, who studied with OSCAR DEPUYDT (d. 1925), an orphan who became a towering figure of Catholic music. Depuydt’s students include: Flor Peeters (d. 1986); Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel (d. 1953); Arthur Meulemans (d. 1966); Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989); and Gustaaf Nees (d. 1965). Rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #19705. When I came across the astonishing English translation for “Ubi Cáritas” by Monsignor Ronald Knox—matching the Latin’s meter—I decided to add those lyrics as an option (for churches which have banned Latin). My wife and I made this recording to give you some idea how it sounds.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “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
    Grotesque Pairing • “Passion Chorale”
    One of our rarest releases was undoubtably this PDF scan of the complete Pope Pius XII Hymnal (1959) by Father Joseph Roff, a student of Healey Willan. One of the scarcest titles in existence, this book was provided to us by Mr. Peter Meggison. Back in 2018, we scanned each page and uploaded it to our website, making it freely available to everyone. Readers are probably sick of hearing me say this, but just because we upload something that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wonderful or worthy of imitation. We upload many publications precisely because they are ‘grotesque’, interesting, or revealing. Whereas the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal had an editorial board that was careful and sensitive vis-à-vis pairing texts with tunes, the Pope Pius XII Hymnal (1959) seems to have been rather reckless in this regard. Please take a look at what they did with the PASSION CHORALE and see whether you agree.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“A penalty is decreed against clerics, who, being in sacred Orders, or holding benefices, do not wear a dress befitting their Order. […] In these days, the contempt of religion has grown to such a pitch that—making but little account of their own dignity, and of the clerical honor—some even wear in public the dress of laymen…”

— ‘Council of Trent (Session 14, Chapter 6)’

Recent Posts

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  • PDF Download • “Entrance Chant” for Holy Thursday (Plainsong in English)
  • “Dies Irae” • A Monstrous Translation

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