UPPOSE YOU CAME into contact with someone who claims to be an expert in German folk songs, yet doesn’t speak a word of German. Wouldn’t you find that strange? Even more bizarre is this man’s defense: “I don’t need to know a single word of German to appreciate German folk songs.” But is such an assertion credible? Since the 1960s we have witnessed ‘progressive’ Catholics do something similar. In spite of the fact that we are LATIN RITE CATHOLICS, they will not tolerate anything in Latin. They are fine with Spanish, Greek, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and so forth. But Latin they will not brook. Indeed, Bugnini’s cadre in the 1960s attempted to eliminate from the Catholic Mass all foreign words—even Alleluia, Hosanna, and Amen—but the Congregation of Sacred Rites was able to prevent that from happening.1
“Veni, Veni Emmanuel” • We sing the famous O ANTIPHON PARAPHRASES (better known as O Come, O Come Emmanuel) in Latin, using a brilliant 2-voice arrangement from the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal. You can download the PDF score for free—along with rehearsal videos for each individual voice—by scrolling to #2002. Below is a ‘live’ recording (from last Sunday) by the 100% volunteer choir I direct:
NOH Bass-Line • The arrangement has a gorgeous bass-line which descends using stepwise motion. This was a technique used constantly by the NOH composers to give harmonizations a more interesting structure:
Ronald Knox • My choir also sings the O ANTIPHON PARAPHRASES in English, using the Brébeuf Hymnal translation by Monsignor Ronald Knox:
“O Antiphons” • Anyone who downloaded this organ accompaniment booklet (25 pages) probably noticed the 4th Sunday of Advent does not have any Magnificat antiphon of its own. That’s because it must be taken from the “O Antiphons.” The clearest and most concise explanation of the “O Antiphons” can be found here, and don’t forget to read the footnote:
* PDF Download • “O ANTIPHONS” • What are those?
—An excerpt from The Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal.
Obsessed With Them? • I once knew someone who considered himself the authority on the Roman Rite. He was obsessed with the O ANTIPHONS to a degree that was not healthy. He would say things like: “They’re the essence of Advent … the very essence of Advent … and hearing them I know it can only be the season of Advent.” I didn’t have the heart to tell this poor man that similar melodies occur at other times of the liturgical year. For example, take a look at the MAGNIFICAT ANTIPHON for the feast of the Ascension:
1 On Good Friday, the English translation of the Roman Missal uses Greek … but not Latin. This ferocious hatred of anything spoken in Latin is something utterly wrongheaded, deleterious, and embarrassing.
