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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

The “Winking” Part • Where’d Father Lasance Get It?

Jeff Ostrowski · November 30, 2020

HE INTROIT for Ash Wednesday—from chapter 11 in the book of Wisdom—says: “Miseréris ómnium, Dó­mine, et nihil odísti eórum quæ fecísti, dissímulans peccáta hóminum propter pæniténtiam et parcens illis.” A very popular Extraordinary Form hand-missal was published by Francis Xavier Lasance (d. 11 dec 1946). 1 Notice the way he translates that verse: “Thou hast mercy upon all, O Lord, and hatest none of the things which Thou hast made, winking at the sins of men for the sake of repentance, and sparing them.”

Where did Father Lasance get that translation, and why does it matter?

Whence Wisdom’s Winking?

When it comes to the Father Lasance liturgical translations, I had been under the impression he took his Ordo Missæ from a Catholic hand-missal published in 1806 (London) and the Scripture passages from the so-called “Douay-Rheims” translation. Let us look at the Father Lasance hand-missal, published—as far as I can tell—in the 1930s (English-only) and 1940s (English/Latin version). I believe Father Lasance took his translation directly from an 1806 (Roman Catholic) hand-missal published in London:

This translation seems to have been widely adopted; e.g. it appears in Mass and Vespers (Solesmes Abbey, 1957):

This translation does not come from the so-called Douay-Rheims Bible. The reason I say “so-called” is because what people call the “Douay-Rheims” is actually a revision by Bishop Richard Challoner (d. 1781), which is quite different from the authentic Douay-Rheims translation. The Douay-Rheims-Challoner does not use “wink,” and neither does Monsignor Ronald Knox, as you can see:

The original Douay-Rheims also does not use the word “wink”—instead using an unfamiliar word (“dissemble”) which the dictionary says means: conceal one’s true motives, feelings, or beliefs; disguise or conceal (a feeling or intention).

The 1990 Gregorian Missal does not use the word “wink,” as you can see:

The 1965 Missal does not use “wink,” as you can see:

Here is what the Westminster Bible says:

*  PDF Download • Westminster Bible
—The Westminster Version of the Sacred Scriptures was produced by Roman Catholics in England.

My understanding is that Father Adrian Fortescue (d. 1923) assisted William Wilfred Oates with the creation of a hand-missal, but I have never been able to obtain a copy. I would like to see what they did for the Ash Wednesday Introit.

Was He A Jesuit?

Some have asked whether Father Lasance was a Jesuit. Here is what a liturgical expert replied:

“Lasance was not a vowed member of the Company of Jesus. He was trained by them (classics and philosophy) at Xavier College in Cincinnati, did his theology at St Meinrad, and was ordained for the archdiocese of Cincinnati. It was during the last half of his life that he wrote the many prayer books, missals and devotionalia which were so widely used… He was not exactly of robust health, and he turned the years spent as an invalid to good use as a prolific author. It would not be inaccurate to refer to him as a spiritual son of St Ignatz, but more than that would be wide of the mark…”

Finally, here is how the Introit looked in the Middle Ages:

 


NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   I have never been able to ascertain the exact date of publication for the Missal published by Father Lasance, and it really doesn’t matter because numerous feasts were added after Father Lasance had already died, such as the “new” feast of the Assumption in the 1950s (“Signum magnum appáruit in cælo”).

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

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Father Lasance Missal Last Updated: December 1, 2020

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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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President’s Corner

    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —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

“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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