In Praise of Adaptability

Dr. Charles Weaver · July 8, 2023

A proposal: if we are going to study something as important and mysterious as Gregorian chant, we ought to be able to perform it convincingly in several different ways.

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

About Dr. Charles Weaver

Dr. Charles Weaver is on the faculty of the Juilliard School, and serves as director of music for St. Mary’s Church. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and four children.—(Read full biography).

“Citation Needed” • Dom Foote of ICEL

Father Basil Foote, OSB, was organist at WESTMINSTER ABBEY MISSION (British Columbia, Canada). In 1984 he published an article called “Chanting in the Vernacular.” Twenty years later, it was republished by ADOREMUS—and that’s how it came to my attention. In that article, Dom Foote makes a claim I consider somewhat outlandish. At the very least, his statement with regard to the Latin accent needs some sort of citation. He has served on the Music Sub-Committee of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL).

—Jeff Ostrowski

Music List • “Corpus Christi” (Year A)

The 28-page Singers’ Booklet is included. Our children’s choir will join us for this Mass.

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—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF Download • “Rubric Challenge”

The feast of Corpus Christi is special for TLM altar boys. On that day, two of us thurifers got to walk backwards while using the THURIBLE. (That American custom, if memory serves, is not strictly described in the rubrics.) A few weeks ago on the CCW Facebook Page we posted this screenshot from a 1915 Roman Catholic hymnal. The challenge is to guess what the rubric says, which we blocked from view with a red box. So far, nobody has guessed correctly. Feel free to guess! Our email address is listed at the bottom of each page. UPDATE: The answer has been revealed as of 8 June 2026.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Time and Again We Are Asked…

John Baptist Singenberger (d. 1924) was a central figure of Catholic Church music. In this utterly fascinating excerpt (Single-Page PDF), Singenberger writes: Time and again we are asked: “Is the Gregorian chant to be accompanied by the organ?” As a young student in Saint Gall, Singenberger befriended SEBASTIAN GEBHARD MESSMER, the future Archbishop of Milwaukee (Wisconsin). The two graduated together in 1861. The school they attended (Saint George’s Seminary) was a “seminary”—but in the older European sense. In other words, it provided a classical education without necessarily leading to ordination. Singenberger remained a layman his whole life, but Messmer was eventually made archbishop—by Pope Saint Pius X—of the very archdiocese in Wisconsin where Singenberger would spend his American career, giving him a powerful ecclesiastical ally.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Reminder” — Month of June (2026)

On a daily basis, I speak to people who don’t realize we publish a free newsletter (although they’ve followed our blog for years). Since we were founded in 2006, not one of our board members has ever accepted any remuneration whatsoever—not a penny. We have no endowment, no major donors, no savings, and refuse to run annoying ads. As a result, our mailing list is crucial to our survival. It couldn’t be easier to subscribe! Just scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Thee” + “Thou” + “Thine”

Few musicians realize that various English translations of Sacred Scripture were granted formal approval by the USCCB and the Vatican for liturgical use in the United States of America. But don’t take my word for it! Here are four documents proving this, which you can examine with your own eyes. Some believe the words “Thine” and “Thou” and “Thee” were forbidden after Vatican II—but that’s incorrect. For example, they’re found in the English translation of the ‘Our Father’ at Mass. Moreover, the Revised Standard Version (Catholic Edition) mentioned in those four documents employs “Thine” and “Thou” and “Thee.” It was published with a FOREWORD by Westminster’s Roman Catholic Archbishop (John Cardinal Heenan).

—Jeff Ostrowski

“[Sacrosanctum Conclium’s implementation was] horrible, if we judge the debate on the liturgy as we have it today. Very few bishops would be proud to say they had a hand in it. Communion in the hand was never mentioned in the debate, neither was the word table (mensa) to take the place of altar—place of sacrifice… In my opinion the Debate on the Liturgy has been hijacked. The Council was…to reform, not to change completely.”

— Bishop Ignatius Doggett (who took part in Vatican II)

In Praise of Adaptability

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About Dr. Charles Weaver

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