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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • “Order of the Mass without a Congregation” (1970)

Andrea Leal · September 12, 2020

NE OF THE CONTROVERSIES during the 1960s, now long-since forgotten, was the question of whether the private Masses of a priest could be said in the vernacular. The Second Vatican Council had declared as follows: “since the use of the mother tongue…frequently may be of great advantage to the people, the limits of its employment may be extended.” Although the Council had declared that the use of the Latin language was to be preserved in the Latin rites, (see Section 36.1) the reformers probably realized that once the Mass was in the vernacular, it would only be a matter of time before even private Masses would be changed to the vernacular.

I thought about this when I came across this interesting document from 1970 for Masses without a congregation:

*  PDF Download • Order of Mass (1970)
—NIHIL OBSTAT by Daniel V. Flynn; IMPRIMATUR by Joseph P. O’Brien.

In case somebody couldn’t download the PDF file, here are some screenshots:

74697-ORDER-of-Mass-1970
74697-ORDER-of-Mass-1970-B
74697-ORDER-of-Mass-1970-C

A few months ago, there was a controversy involving plagiarism, “ad orientem” celebration, and the Most Reverend Peter Christensen (Bishop of Boise, Idaho). Without rehashing the entire controversy, one of the false statements Bishop Christensen made—which was actually plagiarized from a priest named Fr. Paul Turner—is as follows:

“There has been an attempt to justify the ad orientem practice because the Order of Mass indicates places when the priest should face the people. (However, it never asks him to turn away, [!!!] as the preconciliar Missal did.)”

Articles by my colleagues have demonstrated the above statement is false; but it is interesting that the “Order of the Mass Without a Congregation” does actually tells the priest when he should face the Altar and when he not should face the Altar. This just goes to show that you cannot just take everything you find on the Internet at face value. Question everything, and whenever possible, go directly to the source.

As an aside, for those interested in the restoration of the Traditional Mass, it is important to remember that there are in fact small steps that can be taken to move towards a Mass which is more traditional in it’s expression. For example, although today Las Vegas has the Extraordinary Form, it was not always so. Before it was the EF, it was first a Novus Ordo Mass in Latin, ad orientem. The Novus Ordo in the vernacular but celebrated ad orientem is a simple but profound way to return focus to Christ.

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

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Ad Orientem, Bishop Peter Christensen Last Updated: September 12, 2020

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About Andrea Leal

Andrea Leal is a wife and homeschooling mother of 6 children. She serves as choir director for the Traditional Latin Mass in Las Vegas.—(Read full biography).

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President’s Corner

    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
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —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

The union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it, for in the past they have unhappily left it.

— Pope Pius XI (6 January 1928)

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