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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

Sequence For Martin Luther? • (Sung to the melody of “Victimae Paschali Laudes”)

Jeff Ostrowski · August 2, 2022

OD GAVE TO MAN free will. As a result, some members of the clergy do evil things. Our Blessed Lord Himself chose Judas as one of the Apostles! Our Lord did that—it would seem—to teach us something important. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen used to say: “If the Church were as pristine and holy as some demand, I would be afraid to join because I am a sinner.” Sometimes church legislation needs to change; and we have seen this throughout history.

Change In Approach • After the Council of Trent, there was an emphasis given to Sacred Scripture by “pruning” the many sequences that had developed over the centuries. (Broadly speaking, sequences don’t come from Sacred Scripture.) After Vatican II, we saw the reverse. The reformers who came after Vatican II generally chose to downplay Sacred Scripture; e.g. they eliminated about 50% of Sacred Scripture from each Mass. This decision by the post-conciliar reformers was almost ‘unforgivable’ because the Proprium Missae prior to Vatican II had been the primary way Catholics came into contact with Sacred Scripture, since it was divided into tiny little snippets, easily absorbed by the faithful.

Father Valentine’s Discovery • The reformers who came after Vatican II also carefully removed certain parts of Sacred Scripture, making sure congregations would never hear or sing those parts at Mass. An example would be Saint Paul’s warning about unworthy reception of Holy Communion. Father Valentine Young (d. 2020) discovered this omission in the 1980s. Later on, in 1997, Alfons Cardinal Stickler wrote about Father Valentine’s discovery:

Pastorally “unpopular” passages—often of fundamental theological and moral significance—were simply eliminated. A classic example is the text from I CORINTHIANS 11:27-29. Here, in the narrative of the institution of the Eucharist, the serious concluding exhortation about the grave consequences of unworthy reception has been consistently left out, even on the Feast of Corpus Christi.

A Sequence For Martin Luther?

Father Adrian Fortescue (d. 1923) wrote as follows:

“Luther’s Wicked Deceits” • The heretical contrafactum by John Nass was called Invicti Martini laudes intonant Christiani (“Christians sing aloud the praises of the invincible Martin”), and appeared in the 1520s. But on the weblog of Gerhard Eger, we find Pessimas Lutheri Fraudes, which is a Carthusian Sequence condemning the false teachings of Martin Luther, written by Thomas Kress (also circa 1520). The translation begins: “Luther’s most wicked deceits let Christians flee.”

*  PDF Download • ENGLISH TRANSLATION

How Does It Sound? • A note explains that this text it is to be sung to the tune of Victimae paschali laudes (the famous Easter sequence). Gerhard Eger explains: “The text cleverly adapts the Easter sequence to portray Luther as a veritable Antichrist.” Dr. Luca Ricossa, professor of Gregorian chant at the Haute école de musique in Geneva, has made a recording:

The heretical ex-monk Martin Luther did tremendous damage to the Bride of Christ—there’s no question about that. However, there were others as well: Henry VIII, John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, and so forth.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Bishop Fulton J Sheen, Contrafactum or Contrafact, Glaring Omission Vatican II Lectionary, Martin Luther Heretic, Rev Fr Adrian Fortescue Liturgy, Victimae Paschali Laudes Last Updated: August 2, 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

    Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
    The 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM was a transitional missal. It was on its way to becoming the 1970 version, but wasn’t there yet. It eliminated certain duplications, downplayed the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, expanded the role of laymen, minimized the Last Gospel, made many items optional, and so forth. Father Valentine Young spotted many typos in the 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM, especially incorrect accents. The Offertory Antiphon for this coming Sunday (OF kalendar) contains an error, citing the wrong verse from Psalm 118. It should be 118:107b, not 118:154. If you read verse 154, you’ll understand how that error crept in. [In this particular case, the error pre-dates the 1962 Missal, since the 1940s hand-missal by Father Lasance also gets it wrong.]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 26 October 2025, which is the 30th 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 top-notch feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Little Encouragement?
    In the Gospel, our Savior tells about 10 lepers who were healed. Only one went back to give thanks. Precious few express gratitude, yet many have endless energy to complain. For that reason, I deeply appreciate receiving messages like the following, which arrived a few days ago (about the parish where I direct in Michigan): “Last Sunday, a couple I knew from Grand Rapids was at Mass at 10:00 a.m. I got a chance to talk to them after Mass. I wanted to let you know what they said about the choir. They were absolutely floored by our sound!!!!! They both said they could continuously listen to our choir and the beauty of it. They asked me: “Do you always sound like that?” And they were also very surprised at how packed the church was. They said it was nice for them to be in such a full church. I just thought you would be interested to know their thoughts about our choir.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Tournemire could be charming or he could bite your head off. One day I could not replace him at St. Clotilde because I had a wedding to play at another church. Tournemire played on Sunday, period—that was all. He did not play weddings and so forth. (He put all that on my back.) So I went to Tournemire’s house to tell him, “Master, I am sorry but, for once, I cannot replace you. I have another obligation to fulfill.” He said, “Get out of here!” I left for good.

— Testimony of Maurice Duruflé

Recent Posts

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  • Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
  • “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • “Our Father” • Musical Setting?

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