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Corpus Christi Watershed

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

Our Editorial Policy

Corpus Christi Watershed · July 22, 2023

UST BECAUSE YOU SEE something published on our website, that doesn’t mean all our contributors agree with it. Nor does it de facto mean our editorial team endorses it. In the olden days, music journals often published opposing viewpoints. Here at Corpus Christi Watershed, we sometimes follow that tradition. Needless to say, we would never permit views contrary to the holy Catholic Faith—but when it comes to musical matters, we don’t rule out opposing views. If somebody is bothered by disagreements (e.g. disagreements over plainsong rhythm) it might be best to skip those articles. Our volunteers have produced something like 40,000 Pdf scores, Mp3 files, and rehearsal videos. Therefore, there’s plenty of variety for everyone to enjoy on our blog! Over the years, we’ve received beautiful messages of encouragement. These emails mean more to us than you’ll ever know.

Hate Mail • We’ve also received enormous amounts of hate mail. For instance, several years ago, an email we sent said THANK YOU to readers who’d generously given us donations. In response, someone accused us of “attacking people in nursing homes unable to provide financial support for your efforts.” For years, we received acrimonious messages from a gentleman angry our articles refer to the CLOSING HYMN as a RECESSIONAL. According to this person, there’s no such word. He told us countless times: “One can only process to and from the Altar; one cannot recess from the Altar.” And here’s a message in response to an article on plainsong interpretation (!) we published:

If you ever gaslight me in any way ever again, it won’t be good. Back off. Hold yourself accountable for all the atrocities that you have committed against humanity. Other than apologize and making the wrong right you can zip it. **** off.

Anyone on the internet knows hate mail “goes with the territory”—and this is nothing compared to what our Savior suffered for our sins. Nevertheless, by reading these examples, perhaps you can understand better why cherish we the messages of encouragement sent to us.

Submitting a Guest Article:

We welcome guest submissions! (Remember that not every submission will be published.)

Formatting Your Submission • We have good reasons for our requirements. We want your article to look sensational. You’ve probably noticed our blog entries are usually tiny “works of art”—rather than “cut and paste.” If you employ special formatting, your article might have a greater chance of being rejected. Please avoid any special formatting. By “special formatting,” we mean text that has been aligned to the right or center, funky line spacing, footnotes, endnotes, and/or anything else that won’t display correctly on the various web browsers (and iPhones) that read our blog articles. However, if it is absolutely necessary, you may include a paragraph or so in blockquote:   <blockquote></blockquote> Your submission ought to look like this. On our blog, it will actually turn out like this.

Final Reminders • Please send a picture along with your submission. If you don’t have a picture, please indicate what sort of picture you’d like, and we’ll take care of the rest. Using bold letters, underlined text, or colored text is not allowed. If you wish to emphasize a particular idea, careful and skilled writing will suffice. It is allowed to use italics, but you must add them yourself, using the following code:   <em></em> Your blog submission ought to be sent to us in one of the following formats:

(a) .TXT document  (b) .DOC file  (c) .PDF document

Please email your submissions to us: chabanel@ccwatershed.org.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: July 23, 2023

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 28th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 12 October 2025, which is the 28th 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 dazzling feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Offertory” for this Sunday
    This coming Sunday, 12 October 2025, is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). Its OFFERTORY ANTIPHON (PDF) is gorgeous, and comes from the book of Esther, as did the ENTRANCE CHANT last Sunday. Depending on a variety of factors, various hand-missals (all with Imprimatur) translate this passage differently. For instance, “príncipis” can be rendered: King; Prince; Lion; or Fierce lord. None is “more correct” than another. It depends on what each translator wants to emphasize and which source text is chosen. All these pieces of plainsong are conveniently stored at the blue-ribbon feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Why A “Fugue” Here?
    I believe I know why this plainsong harmonizer created a tiny fugue as the INTRODUCTION to his accompaniment. Take a look (PDF example) and tell me your thoughts about what he did on the feast of the Flight of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Egypt (17 February). And now I must go because “tempus fugit” as they say!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    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
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

After sixty years as teacher, composer, and organist, I may state that the Gregorian Chant should be part of the basic material of any musical education, be it religious or secular. The study of it enormously enlarges the spiritual background of any musician. Whereas students in literature will always be required to study Dante, Petrarch and Chaucer, why neglect Gregorian in music education?

— Flor Peeters

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