Views from the Choir Loft

The Tiniest Prayer Books: the Key of Heaven

Veronica Brandt · September 19, 2020

When Jeff Ostrowski mentioned little tiny hand missals in his photo from World War II, I knew I had to show him these tiny treasures. I don’t have much background information on these as they came from secondhand bookshops. They seem to be fairly common, with a few friends on Facebook recognizing them. Some have treasured copies from their grandparents. Both of mine are made in Belgium but bear the names of Australian publishers.

Two copies of Key of Heaven — Two copies of Key of Heaven: 1905 and 1939.

They are in fairly poor condition. One particular seems to have been well used at Mass as the Method of Hearing Mass is particularly stained and worn. To give some idea of the scale, here are some pictures for comparison with some other small books: The Madonna Missal, Manual of the Children of Mary and The Imitation of Mary. Hmmm… quite a Marian theme going on here.

Now, let’s look inside! This first collection of photos comes from the older and smaller of the two. This one is dated 1905. The type is a little smaller and has an elegant red border around each page.

The other one comes from 1939 and has larger type and more illustrations. The front cover is detached and has a crucifix embedded inside with the indulgenced Prayer before a Crucifix printed on the facing flyleaf. It seems to be some sort of Mother of Pearl material used to make the cross. See here for a comparison with a more modern book using white plastic instead.

A quick web search revealed a similar such book under the same title is still available. It doesn’t look quite the same – for one thing this new edition is much larger measuring 6″x4″ whereas these older books are a tiny 4″x2.25″. It sounds like the idea is the same though.

It makes sense, when Mass and the Readings are in Latin, having a portable copy of your own vernacular translation makes sense. I wonder if Fr Gereon Goldman had such a book in German. I’ve heard stories of pocket prayer books or Bibles stopping bullets in wartime. There are even some made with a steel plate cover called Heart Shields.

All this goes to show that people did care about praying the Mass with understanding back in the days before ICEL.

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

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

“Simplified” Keyboard Accompaniment (PDF)

I’d much rather hear an organist play a simplified version correctly than listen to wrong notes. I invite you to download this simplified organ accompaniment for hymn #729 in the Father Brébeuf Hymnal. The hymn is “O Jesus Christ, Remember.” I’m toying with the idea of creating a whole bunch of these, to help amateur organists. The last one I uploaded was downloaded more than 1,900 times in a matter of hours—so there seems to be interest in such a project. For the record, this famous text by Oratorian priest, Father Edward Caswall (d. 1878) is often married to AURELIA, as it is in the Brébeuf Hymnal.

—Jeff Ostrowski

‘Bogey’ of the Half-Educated: Paraphrase

Father Adrian Porter, using the cracher dans la soupe example, did a praiseworthy job explaining the difference between ‘dynamic’ and ‘formal’ translation. This is something Monsignor Ronald Knox explained time and again—yet even now certain parties feign ignorance. I suppose there will always be people who pretend the only ‘valid’ translation of Mitigásti omnem iram tuam; avertísti ab ira indignatiónis tuæ… would be “You mitigated all ire of you; you have averted from your indignation’s ire.” Those who would defend such a translation suffer from an unfortunate malady. One of my professors called it “cognate on the brain.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Father Cuthbert Lattey • “The Hebrew MSS”

Father Cuthbert Lattey (d. 1954) wrote: “In a large number of cases the ancient Christian versions and some other ancient sources seem to have been based upon a better Hebrew text than that adopted by the rabbis for official use and alone suffered to survive. Sometimes, too, the cognate languages suggest a suitable meaning for which there is little or no support in the comparatively small amount of ancient Hebrew that has survived. The evidence of the metre is also at times so clear as of itself to furnish a strong argument; often it is confirmed by some other considerations. […] The Jewish copyists and their directors, however, seem to have lost the tradition of the metre at an early date, and the meticulous care of the rabbis in preserving their own official and traditional text (the ‘massoretic’ text) came too late, when the mischief had already been done.” • Msgr. Knox adds: “It seems the safest principle to follow the Latin—after all, St. Jerome will sometimes have had a better text than the Massoretes—except on the rare occasions when there is no sense to be extracted from the Vulgate at all.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Reminder” — Month of November (2025)

On a daily basis, I speak to people who don’t realize we publish a free newsletter (although they’ve followed our blog for years). We have no endowment, no major donors, no savings, and refuse to run annoying ads. As a result, our mailing list is crucial to our survival. Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Gospel Options for 2 November (“All Souls”)

We’ve been told some bishops are suppressing the TLM because of “unity.” But is unity truly found in the MISSALE RECENS? For instance, on All Souls (2 November), any of these Gospel readings may be chosen, for any reason (or for no reason at all). The same is true of the Propria Missæ and other readings—there are countless options in the ORDINARY FORM. In other words, no matter which OF parish you attend on 2 November, you’ll almost certainly hear different propers and readings, to say nothing of different ‘styles’ of music. Where is the “unity” in all this? Indeed, the Second Vatican Council solemnly declared: “Even in the liturgy, the Church has no wish to impose a rigid uniformity in matters which do not implicate the faith or the good of the whole community.”

—Corpus Christi Watershed

“Our Father” • Musical Setting?

Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?

—Jeff Ostrowski

These prayers were not peculiar to Good Friday in the early ages (they were said on Spy Wednesday as late as the eighth century); their retention here, it is thought, was inspired by the idea that the Church should pray for all classes of men on the day that Christ died for all. Duchesne is of opinion that the “Oremus” now said in every Mass before the Offertory—which is not a prayer—remains to show where this old series of prayers was once said in all Masses.

— Catholic Encyclopedia (1909)