“To go to Mass together will be the light of Sunday for a family.” — Pope Benedict XVI (2005)

Jeff Ostrowski · July 13, 2022

MM “To go to Mass together will be the
MM light of Sunday for a family.”
MM —Pope Benedict XVI
MM Saint Peter’s Square (October 2005)

This morning I received an email from Dripping Springs, Texas:

My name is _______ and I stumbled upon your website because I was searching for (public domain) Catholic line art. I was just confirmed this year at Easter Vigil. I have been looking at The Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal. It is absolutely beautiful and I would love to get one. I homeschool my kids and I include a hymn study in our curriculum. I would like to incorporate this one. However my problem is I am a new Catholic and I don’t know how to sing these. Are there any YouTube videos on how to sing the hymns? Thank you so much for your time.

The Answer: The answer is … Yes! There are 500+ free rehearsal videos at this website—and more are added each week!

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

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).

For the Upcoming Choir Season!

Last week, I posted an SATB choral setting of the SANCTUS in a ‘contemporary’ style. You might want to consider this piece for two reasons: (1) It’s extremely brief; (2) Free rehearsal videos are available for each individual part. The piece is by Father Lhoumeau.

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF Download • “Sunday Vespers” (22 pages)

When an organist accompanies Vespers, there is no time to think. It’s one thing after another: Bam – Bam – Bam. And that’s what makes Vespers difficult to accompany; there’s hardly even time to check the key signature for each piece! Therefore, although it’s far from perfect, I’m releasing this 22-page booklet:

PDF Download • SUNDAY VESPERS ACCOMPANIMENT

As time goes on, I will explain why I believe this booklet is important, my hopes for it, and why I selected the official edition, directly from the Vesperale Romanum. In spite of its imperfections, creating this (draft) booklet required much more effort than I had anticipated.

—Jeff Ostrowski

11 July 2022 • FEEDBACK

Someone who heard the CCW plainsong recordings with NOH accompaniment says: “For years I have travelled the continents and crossed the oceans of Gregorian chant in search of a composition and interpretation as sublime as this. The text and the melody are interwoven in a game of mirrors with the interpreters, the singer and the instrumentalist, so as to confer delicacy on the jubilation. The organ is soft, humble. This is what we hear from the singer. These artists have come together to produce beauty. In 1903, Pope Pius X, by motu proprio, restored Gregorian chant in the Latin Church. In his words: Sacred music must possess, to an eminent degree, the qualities proper to the liturgy, and notably the sanctity and delicacy of form, whence another characteristic spontaneously results, universality. I stress: the holiness and delicacy of forms result in universality, time and place. That is to say, sometimes the beauty of human hands gently caresses the face of the Eternal.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

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About Jeff Ostrowski