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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF • “Hymn Suggestions For Each Sunday”

Jeff Ostrowski · March 9, 2022

HERE WAS A TYPE of “schizophrenia” in the liturgical movement of the last 150 years. On one hand, leaders of the liturgical movement wanted to control rigidly the participation of the faithful, claiming the “best” type of participation is saying the exact prayers the priest does—an idea which was condemned by Pope Pius XII in §108 of Mediator Dei (20 Nov 1947). On the other hand, leaders of the liturgical movement often encouraged (sometimes illicitly) “paraphrases” of the Mass, similar to a BETSINGMESSE.1

The Situation We Have • The reformers of the 1960s said they wanted people to “sing the Mass” rather than “singing at Mass.” However, when the time came they did the opposite; they de facto eliminated the Mass propers and replaced them with religious songs and hymns. We are 100% free to complain about this situation; but that’s the situation we have, whether we like it or not. A mature person knows how to work within the confines of reality. The conscientious choirmaster takes people where they are and then—carefully and prudently—leads them to something higher.

“RRRC” • In many situations, it would not be prudent to “rip away” and destroy everything the congregation knows. If the congregation is accustomed to singing hymns at Mass, only a lunatic would come in and ban all hymns. A better approach would be to replace the goofy modern songs with RRRC: “Rich, Robust, Roman Catholic” hymns. Sophia Institute Press has put together a list of hymns for each Sunday. See what you think of it:

*  PDF Download • “Hymn Suggestions For Each Sunday”
—For the “Ordinary Form” (Lent until Pentecost); “Extraordinary Form” charts are also being produced.

Personal Preference • For myself, I never use a “hymn list.” The Brébeuf hymnal has about 900 hymns; terrific texts with marvelous melodies. Sometimes I even switch the hymns at the last moment. It may depend on which singers are available; or we may be focusing on a particular SATB setting; or I might want to explore a new tune I’ve not done as often; or one of the choirs may be having “issues” with pitch that day; and so forth. I love the enormous range of options the Brébeuf hymnal provides, and choosing them is a breeze thanks to the impressive snippets index.

Hymns At Mass? • Occasionally, someone will say: “Hymns don’t belong at Mass—they only belong in the Divine Office.” But such a statement cannot withstand scrutiny. A position paper from Sophia Institute Press handles the matter very well—and I’m not going to repeat what is said there. I would simply note that “general Communion” (viz. the faithful receiving the Eucharist during Mass along with the Celebrant) fell out of favor for about 1,000 years. By the 1960s, it had been revived—and it made a huge difference at Mass. It adds approximately 15 minutes to each Mass. To give you some idea, let’s say there are 20,000 parishes in the United States. Doing a few basic calculations, “general Communion” added something like 3,920,000 hours to the celebration of Mass. The notion that hymns would not be used to “fill in” the liturgical action strikes me as absurd. Of course, motets and organ music would also work very nicely.


NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Indeed, the young Annibale Bugnini made a name for himself by forcing his congregation to participate according to his preferences. Specifically, Bugnini created Italian signposts with a vernacular “paraphrase” of the Mass prayers, and he forced the congregation to recite these signboards aloud while Mass was going on. On this, cf. Yves Chiron (Annibale Bugnini, 2018) page 25.

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

Filed Under: Articles, Featured, PDF Download Tagged With: Pius X Liturgical Movement, singing at Mass, Singing the Mass Last Updated: March 9, 2022

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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

    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

Soloists are dangerous in any church choir! Their voices frequently do not blend with those of the other singers to form a rich, integrated tone.

— Roger Wagner

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