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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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Views from the Choir Loft

Solemn Mass • Ruins of Saint Mary’s Cathedral (Nagasaki, 1949)

Jeff Ostrowski · November 10, 2020

ERY SOON, December 7th will be here. On that day in 1949, most Rev’d Paul Aijirō Yamaguchi, Archbishop of Nagasaki, celebrated a Solemn Pontifical Mass on the ruins of Saint Mary’s Cathedral in Nagasaki. This was in honor of the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Saint Francis Xavier in Japan and concluded with veneration of the right forearm—the arm he used to conduct blessings and baptisms—of Saint Francis Xavier (inside a reliquary). Father Xavier was a very important Catholic priest whom Father Valentine Young spoke about in one of his sermons.

Nagasaki remained largely devastated by the atomic blast of 1945. Its people were still dying—slowly—from radiation poisoning. Nevertheless, they wanted to honor Saint Francis Xavier, and somebody had a camera:

A different angle shows what is left of the Cathedral:

Here is yet another angle:

More photographs:

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Mass Outside Invalid?

Due to government restrictions, California has been “locked down” since March, and all our Masses are celebrated outside. A few weeks ago, someone on Facebook—who not surprisingly calls himself an ultra-traditionalist Catholic—was promoting the idea that all Masses offered outside are “invalid.” This theologian (self-proclaimed) even mockingly referred to outdoor Masses as “tent revivals.”

It would be good to remind everyone that, objectively speaking, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is of infinite value no matter where it’s offered: in a prison cell, outside under a tent, inside a church, and so forth. Indeed, Views from the Choir Loft for decades has been posting striking photos of the Mass celebrated outside. Saint Charles Garnier frequently offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on a boat while traveling from France to Canada. By the way, Father Garnier died on 7 December 1649AD.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: 1949 Traditional Latin Mass Ruins Nagasaki, Mass During World War Last Updated: November 18, 2023

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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).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “The Worm That Dieth Not”
    My pastor asked me to write a column for our parish bulletin with reflections on the sacred liturgy and church music. In my most recent article, I discuss “The Worm That Dieth Not.” At this website, you can access it conveniently; simply scroll down to the one dated 31 August 2025.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    A Nice Hymn In Spanish
    In my humble opinion, this is a really beautiful hymn in Spanish. If I practice diligently, I’ll be able to pronounce all the words properly. If you’re someone who’s interested in obtaining a melody only version (suitable for your congregational ORDER OF WORSHIP) you can steal that from this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 21st in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir returns on Sunday, 24 August 2025. Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for it, which is the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the spectacular feasts website. When it comes to the feast of the Assumption (15 August 2025), I have uploaded the music list for that Mass—but not the “bi-lingual” Mass in the evening (Spanish, Latin, and English) which has completely different music.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Solemn “Salve Regina” (Chant)
    How many “S” words can you think of using alliteration? How about Schwann Solemn Salve Score? You can download the SOLEMN SALVE REGINA in Gregorian Chant. The notation follows the official rhythm (EDITIO VATICANA). Canon Jules Van Nuffel, choirmaster of the Cathedral of Saint Rumbold, composed this accompaniment for it (although some feel it isn’t his best work).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

“In all this mediaeval religious poetry there is much that we could not use now. Many of the hymns are quite bad, many are frigid compositions containing futile tricks, puns, misinterpreted quotations of Scripture, and twisted concepts, whose only point is their twist. But there is an amazing amount of beautiful poetry that we could still use. If we are to have vernacular hymns at all, why do we not have translations of the old ones?”

— Fr. Adrian Fortescue (d. 1923)

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