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Views from the Choir Loft

“Breathtaking Beauty” • Hymn for Christ the King

Jeff Ostrowski · October 26, 2021

HEN DID IT BECOME fashionable to tamper with the sacred liturgy? Contrary to what certain authors claim, Vatican II was not the first instance of this. Some point to the manufactured feast of Christ the King in 1925 as typical of liturgical tampering. Here are some reasons why: (1) It was manufactured, meaning the Propria Missae and hymns for the Divine Office are modern creations; (2) It disturbs the two traditional times honoring Christ the King, viz. the Epiphany and Palm Sunday; (3) It replaces a Sunday rather than being fixed to a date on the calendar; (4) It added a PREFACE, and after Vatican II hundreds more would be added, contrary to the traditional praxis. 1

Jeff Is Unqualified: I am not qualified to decide whether the feast of Christ the King should have been added in 1925. As a choirmaster, I simply deal with reality: It was added. Where can we find excellent hymns in honor of Christ the King? Without question, the best source is the Brébeuf hymnal. For example, page 758 has a beautiful text by Father Percival Jones set to the BRETON melody. At the bottom of the page, the Brébeuf hymnal includes a marvelous “text only version,” allowing melodic flexibility.

Mixing Things Up: Whenever the choirmaster selects a lesser-known hymn, it’s important to also include some “favorites.” Therefore, on the same Sunday we sang that hymn to Christ the King, we also sang the following (as a recessional):

Holy Communion Hymn: When it comes to Holy Communion, an excellent choice is “Pange Lingua” by Saint Thomas Aquinas. The following version is #366 in the Brébeuf hymnal, with an English translation by Robert Campbell, a Scottish attorney who published Hymns and Anthems for Use in the Holy Service of the Church (1850). He converted to the Catholic Church in 1852, but was never a priest—despite the erroneous claim made on page 251 of the American Catholic Hymnal according to the Motu Proprio of His Holiness Pope Pius X (1913).

Former Slave Holder? I have mentioned before that anyone who carefully examines the Brébeuf hymnal will find a few texts by people who were not Catholic. An example would be #860, which is by John Newton (d. 1807), who had an “interesting” life. He was captain of slave ships, and later became an investor in the slave trade. (England got rid of slavery about forty years before the United States did.) John Newton was captured, and became a slave himself (in Africa). He subsequently became an abolitionist and Anglican clergyman. One of the songs he wrote is “Amazing Grace.”

If you read everything I’ve written, you deserve a wonderful reward—and here it is:

*  PDF Download • Image of Christ the King
—Grandes Heures d’Anne de Bretagne circa 1500AD.

More hymns for Christ the King can be found at this link.


NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   For about 1,000 years, the Roman Rite only had about ten prefaces. Following Vatican II, they wrote or “adapted” hundreds of new ones. Indeed, the USCCB even manufactured a Preface for the 4th of July!

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

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Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: Christ the King, Hymn for Christ the King, Jean de Brebeuf Hymnal Last Updated: November 1, 2021

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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 Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    Vespers Booklet, 3rd Sunday of Lent
    The organ accompaniment I created for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (“Extraordinary Form”) may now be downloaded, if anyone is interested in this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Weeping For Joy! (We Hope!)
    Listening to this Easter Alleluia—an SATB arrangement I made twenty years ago based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel—one of our readers left this comment: “I get tears in my eyes each time I sing to this hymn.” I hope this person is weeping for joy!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “The Times” mentions CCW
    We were mentioned in article in an article by “The Times” (United Kingdom), as you can see here.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“What will be the results of this innovation? The results expected, or rather desired, are that the faithful will participate in the liturgical mystery with more understanding, in a more practical, a more enjoyable and a more sanctifying way.” [Enjoyable?]

— Pope Paul VI (26 Nov 1969)

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