• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

We’re a 501(c)3 public charity established in 2006. We have no endowment, no major donors, no savings, and run no advertisements. We exist solely by the generosity of small donors.

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • Ordinary Form Feasts (Sainte-Marie)
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
Views from the Choir Loft

Palestrina Would Not Recognize This! • (Plus: Hopeful Signs)

Jeff Ostrowski · October 2, 2023

HE HOLY MARTYRS of North America were Jesuits who had their nails bitten off, their fingers sawn off, their tongues cut out, and were roasted (slowly) over fires for months. In spite of all that, their desire to suffer for JESUS CHRIST could not be satiated. In one incident, Father Isaac Jogues (d. 1646) knelt at the side of René Goupil, who was bleeding profusely from his wounds. “Dearest brother,” he said, “God has acted strangely toward us. But He is the Lord and the Master. What is good in His eyes, that He has done. As it has pleased Him, so be it. Blessed is His Holy Name forever.”

“God Has Acted Strangely” • In a certain sense, God has acted “strangely” in our day. Powerful clerics have attempted to forbid the Sacrifice of Calvary (!) from being celebrated inside a parish church. On the other hand, Canon Law (932 §1) stipulates: “The eucharistic celebration is to be carried out in a sacred place.” And yet, the following concert (see below) was allowed to take place in a church! Who can make sense of this?

A Different Type Of Jesuit • On 21 September 2023, composers Dan Schutte, Father Roc O’Connor (SJ), and Father Bob Dufford (SJ) joined together at Old Saint Patrick’s Church in Chicago for a concert called: “Sing to the Mountains!” The men stood in the Sanctuary of the church. A crowd of middle-aged and elderly people in the audience sang songs like Be Not Afraid, Sing to the Mountains, and Here I Am, Lord. Many consider those ditties to be a mixture of Broadway and folk—i.e. not suitable for Mass. Pictures from the event:

Palestrina Aghast! • Masters such as Palestrina (who died in the arms of Saint Philip Neri), Guerrero, Lassus, Byrd, Marenzio, Morales, Jacobus Händl, Zachariis, Bernabei, Nanino, Croce, Zoilo, Clemens Non Papa, Gabrieli, Josquin, Ingegneri, and Victoria wrote music of incomparable excellence for the sacred liturgy. Their compositions have never been surpassed. The purity of their melodies, the timelessness of their harmonies, and their utter command of counterpoint boggles the mind even today. Suppose you invented a time-machine to zip back to the 16th century. Suppose you showed them elderly men standing in the SANCTUARY playing secular instruments. What would they have thought?

The Bible • In the Gospel of Saint Matthew, we read: “Woe to the world because of scandals. For it must needs be that scandals come: but nevertheless woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh.” Perhaps we could do a better job shining the light on scandals. It seems like the same mistakes are made over and over again. For instance, my colleague ANDREA LEAL recently posted a video from a major Catholic publisher. I’m not going to repeat everything Andrea already said, but I would note the USCCB had previously given exclusive rights over the psalter to a private, non-Catholic company. Jeffrey Tucker of the CMAA found out about this and attempted to sound the alarm, but very few listened. (Dr. Jerry Galipeau was an exception, and it reflects well on him.) Recently, it was announced that ICEL has given exclusive rights (!) to sell the new LITURGY OF THE HOURS hymns to that same company! That company’s president declared on 30 September 2016:

“I’ve had the honor to work with these three wonderful people [Marty Haugen, Michael Joncas, and David Haas] for more than 30 years, and I can’t overestimate the profound impact that they’ve all had for me personally, for everyone at GIA Publications, and for the worshiping church at large.”

Déjà Vu • Why was that non-Catholic company given exclusive rights to sell (!) the hymns of the LITURGY OF THE HOURS? Do we really want a company that has been “profoundly impacted” by David Haas “for more than 30 years” to have exclusive rights to sell prayers that Catholic priests are required to say each day?

Signs Of Hope • Some claim that efforts to strangle and persecute Catholics desirous of traditional worship and orthodox teachings demonstrate that certain clerics in power deeply fear the groundswell. Si habuerítis fidem sicut granum sinápis, dicétis monti huic: Transi hinc illuc, et transibit, et nihil impossíbile erit vobis. Let’s pray that our leaders respond to what Pope Saint John Paul II called the “legitimate aspirations” of the People of God. Young Catholics especially appreciate and love the MISSALE VETUSTUM. Indeed, I didn’t see a single young person in any of the pictures of their audience. Not a single one. Am I wrong?

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Arthur Cardinal Roche, Dan Schutte Mass of Christ the Savior, Missale Vetustum Last Updated: October 3, 2023

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

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).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for Pentecost Sunday (8 June 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. Because our choir is on break this week, the music is relatively simple.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

An Indult of the “Commission for Russia” (25 November 1929) authorizes Bishops and Administrators Apostolic in Russia to permit the celebration of Mass and the reception of Holy Communion in the afternoon or evening, on condition that a Eucharistic fast of four hours from noon be observed.

— Sacred Congregation of Rites, 25 nov 1929

Recent Posts

  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
  • “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday
  • “Participation” • Recovering its Receptive Dimension

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.

The election of Pope Leo XIV has been exciting, and we’re filled with hope for our apostolate’s future!

But we’re under pressure to transfer our website to a “subscription model.”

We don’t want to do that. We believe our website should remain free to all.

Our president has written the following letter:

President’s Message (dated 30 May 2025)

Are you able to support us?

clock.png

Time's up