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Views from the Choir Loft

(Installment #8) “Catholic Hymnals” • Cynthia Ostrowski

Cynthia Ostrowski · September 15, 2020

Editor’s Note: Each contributor is reflecting upon Comparison of 15 Traditional Catholic Hymnals. Rather than rehashing Mr. Craig’s article, they were given freedom to “expand upon” this vast subject. Click here to read all the installments that have appeared so far.

UNG ON OUR kitchen wall is the morning prayer we say, written by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val and translated by Father Robert Skeris. It talks about how the Jesus Christ—the Son of God, Whose power is infinite and Who will be our Judge at the end of the world—lived a life of meekness, poverty, and humiliation. This paradox calls to mind what is believed about Julian the Apostate, the last pagan emperor of Rome. Shortly before dying, he supposedly exclaimed: “Pale Galilean, Thou hast conquered.” The emperor didn’t want to believe that someone Who had died the death of a criminal was also the Son of God.

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen was sensitive to paradox. He wrote that our Holy Catholic Faith began, surprisingly, with total catastrophe:

“Christianity, unlike any other religion in the world, begins with catastrophe and defeat. Sunshine religions and psychological inspirations collapse in calamity and wither in adversity. But the Life of the Founder of Christianity, having begun with the Cross, ends with the empty tomb and victory.”

I am not sure what I can add to Daniel Craig’s article comparing 15 hymnals, so I will share a recording I sang Soprano for. This melody was written by composer Kevin Allen, and it’s #869 in the Brébeuf hymnal:

Rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #869.

True Christianity is not related to the “prosperity Gospel” preached by Protestants. They claim that if you believe in Jesus, you will be rewarded in this life: a big house, fine clothing, the best food to eat, the nicest cars, etc. The Catholic Church rejects such a notion; and Bishop Fulton J. Sheen once speculated that people would become Christians for the wrong reasons if the prosperity Gospel were true. The reality is that some of the holiest saints of the Church, such as the Jesuit Martyrs of North America, lived lives of unspeakable hardship and severe poverty.

Earlier, I spoke of paradox. Number 869 in the Brébeuf hymnal (Solemn Hymn to the Son of God, an original hymn text by Father Dominic Popplewell) makes use of paradox. Most of the paradoxes should be fairly easy to understand, especially since the Scripture references were listed at the bottom of the page. For instance, this hymn speaks of Jesus Christ being the True Shepherd, but also the Paschal Lamb. The hymn is under copyright by the Brébeuf hymnal, so I can only provide a few verses:

2. Ever God, in time a man,
Limited, whom none may span,
Knowing all, whose wisdom grew, (Lk 2.52)
Paschal Lamb and Shepherd true:
(Jn 1.29, 36; I Cor 5.7; I Pt 1.19; Jn 10.11, 14; I Pt 2.25)

Who by yielding won the strife,
Who by dying garnered life,
Who departed, but to bide (Mt 28.20)
With the Church, your chosen Bride. (Eph 5.25-27; Ap 21.2, 9)

I would like to speak of the line that says: “Who departed, but to bide | With the Church, your chosen Bride.” Jesus said (John 16:7) that He must go: “And yet I can say truly that it is better for you I should go away; he who is to befriend you will not come to you unless I do go, but if only I make my way there, I will send him to you.” But Jesus said in Matthew 28:20 that He would stay: “Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” Is our Lord Jesus Christ here? Or not? We know that our Savior is present in the Holy Eucharist: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. The bishop of Mopsuestia (Theodore) writing in the 5th Century, said:

When Christ gave the bread,
He did not say,
“This is the symbol of my body,”
but, “This is my body.”
In the same way,
when He gave the cup of His blood
He did not say,
“This is the symbol of my blood,”
but, “This is my blood.”

We can also see Jesus in other ways. We see Jesus in the eyes of the poor. We see Jesus in the eyes of those who are persecuted. We see God in the wonders of Creation, such as mountains, clouds, oceans, and the snowflake. And Matthew 18:20 says: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them.” Theologians could probably explain more ways Jesus is here with us.

Father Popplewell’s hymn (#869) continues with more verses, making much use of paradox.

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

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Traditional Catholic Hymnals Last Updated: September 15, 2020

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About Cynthia Ostrowski

Cynthia Ostrowski holds a bachelor's degree (2005) in Geographic Information Science and a minor in Computer Science from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.—(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

St Ambrose had to be “corrected” by Pope Urban VIII. The ‘Iste confessor’ was greatly altered and the hymn for the Dedication of a Church—which no one ought to have touched—was in fact completely recast in a new meter. Singular demand, made by the taste of that particular epoch!

— Re: The hymn revisions of Pope Urban VIII (d. 1644)

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