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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

Relics of Father Brébeuf Touring the United States!

Jeff Ostrowski · February 29, 2024

ATHER NICHOLAS NELSON kindly alerted me to an article in the National Catholic Register explaining that the holy relics of Saint Jean de Brébeuf are currently touring the United States. As the article puts it: “The skull of Saint Jean de Brébeuf, packed in a Volkswagen manned by three Jesuit priests, is slowly making its way across the USA.” The tour will end in New York City on 6 March 2024. The relics of his fellow missionaries, Saint Gabriel Lalemant (d. 17 March 1649) and Saint Charles Garnier (d. 7 December 1649), travel along with his skull.

25 March • If you open the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal and look on page 921—incidentally, one of the book’s most beautiful pages—you can learn why 25 March is a very special day in the life of Father Brébeuf. In honor of this RELIC VOYAGE I’ve decided to give 25% off my 10-hour seminar (Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster) until 25 March 2024:

*  Seminar • SECRETS OF THE CONSCIENTIOUS CHOIRMASTER

Coupon Code •  Anyone who uses the secret coupon code (“SAVE25”) will instantly save 25% on that seminar until 25 March 2024.

Excerpt from the Life of Saint John Brébeuf:

N THE MORNING of March 20 the Jesuits at Sainte-Marie received full confirmation of the Iroquois retreat. They had heard too of the fate of Brébeuf and Lalemant, and the missionary Father Jacques Bonin was sent with seven armed Frenchmen to Saint Ignace to recover their bodies. The party passed through Saint Louis, where the ground was strewn with uncounted dead Hurons and Iroquois. On to Saint Ignace they continued, where all was gruesome silence and death. Among the ashes of the burned-out cabins charred corpses were scattered, and they came upon the blackened, mutilated body of Brébeuf. The mangled remains of Lalemant they found with the tortured Hurons a short distance away. Tenderly Father Bonin and his companions lifted the two bodies on stretchers of bark and carried them the six miles to Sainte-Marie. They were laid side by side on the floor of the living room. Priests, brothers, donnés, and workmen gazed at them with awe and lovingly examined them. Father Bonin knelt for two hours by the body of Gabriel, who had been his dearest friend, and kissed the wounds as he would the relics of a saint. “They are the relics of the love of God which alone triumphs in the death of martyrs,” exclaimed Father Ragueneau.

The missionaries had learned—from a few Hurons who had escaped the holocaust at Saint Ignace—details of the torture and death of Brébeuf and Lalemant. Confirmation now was before their eyes. The bodies of Brébeuf and Lalemant were cleansed and clothed in priestly vestments and placed in roughhewn boxes. Through the night they reposed before the Blessed Sacrament. “We buried these precious relics,” relates Father Ragueneau, “on Sunday, March 21, with so much consolation and such tender feelings of devotion in all who were present at the obsequies that I know none who did not desire rather than fear a similar death, and who did not regard himself as blessed to live in a place where, perhaps a few days from then, God would accord him the grace of shedding on a similar occasion both his blood and his life. Not one of us could force himself to pray to God for them, as if they had any need of prayer. On the contrary, our spirits were carried up toward Heaven where, we had no doubt, their souls resided. Be this as it may, I pray to God that he fulfill in us His Will, even to death, as He has done toward them.”

Father Jean de Brébeuf was fifty-six when he gave his body to the Iroquois and his soul to God. With heavy heart Father Ragueneau wrote to his superior in France, telling the loss of their ablest missionary. When Brébeuf first set foot in Huronia twenty-three years before, he recalled, there was not a Christian in that extensive territory. Since that day nearly seven thousand had been baptized, and to Brébeuf more than to any other that long line of conversions must be credited.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: February 29, 2024

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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

    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) 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
    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
    “Reminder” — Month of October (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “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
    Did they simplify these hymn harmonies?
    Choirs love to sing the famous & splendid tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1952, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. In other words, their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1952 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. I really like the groovy Germanic INTRODUCTION they added.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Who dreamed on that day that within a few years, far less than a decade, the Latin past of the Church would be all but expunged, that it would be reduced to a memory fading in the middle distance? The thought of it would have horrified us, but it seemed so far beyond the realm of the possible as to be ridiculous. So we laughed it off.”

— Most Rev’d Robert J. Dwyer, Archbishop of Portland (d. 1976)

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  • New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”

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