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Views from the Choir Loft

We’ve Heard From Sister Anne Flanagan, FSP!

Corpus Christi Watershed · June 3, 2024

The following came from Sister Anne Flanagan, FSP
[“FSP” stands for Filiae Sancti Pauli.]

EAR JEFFREY: Blessed James Alberione exhorted his followers : “Hymns should primarily be expressions of faith, and deep faith.” But Saint Ambrose is said to have added: “The voice sings in order to enjoy, while the mind exercises itself in deepening its faith.” (I would be indebted to anyone who could please locate the source of this quote, which appears in the FOREWORD of our 1980 community hymnal!) Both criteria are more than admirably satisfied when the ancient Eucharistic hymn, Sancti Venite (“Come, All Ye Holy”) attributed to Saint Sechnall of Dunshaughlin (d. 447AD) is sung to FORTESCUE, a new composition for four-part voices found in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal, which my community has adapted for three-part women’s voices on Holy Thursday. It fulfills Blessed Alberione’s vision for sacred music, as communicated to the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master in 1947: “Well-prepared hymns, when well sung, uplift the sentiments [of the heart] and lead them to God.” We were so grateful when permission was granted by the copyright holders to include FORTESCUE in the new hymnal I’m working on for our North American province (Daughters of Saint Paul).

To access this hymn’s media in the Brébeuf Portal, click here.

On 3 June 2024,
Jeff Ostrowski replies
to Sister Anne Flanagan:

EAR SISTER: I’m so glad to hear from you, and I’d like to thank you for the wonderful example you give the world by your religious life! I realize the Catholic Church has problems, yet how wonderful it is to know that Almighty God never ceases to call men and women to his service in a special way (as He has done with you and others). I was thrilled to see from your biography that singing is such a huge part of your life and vocation. I’m also delighted that you fell in love with FORTESCUE. It was named in honor of FATHER ADRIAN FORTESCUE—considered by some the preëminent scholar of the 20th century—because it was he who composed an English translation that matches perfectly the original Latin. Father Fortescue died in 1923, the same year as Abbat Joseph Pothier, the greatest Gregorianist since Guido d’Arezzo. Before leaving for the hospital (where he died of cancer), Dr. Fortescue entered his little church for a long and final farewell and was seen to kiss fervently the Altar on which he’d so often offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, about which he’d written so profoundly. For the record, if you’re interested to see a manuscript from the seventh century containing that text, click here.

I was in Los Angeles for ten years, but never had an opportunity to teach FORTESCUE to my choir, which consisted 100% of volunteers. They preferred a melody called CHRIST IST ERSTANDEN, which I’m told is the Church’s oldest vernacular melody. (Some books also refer to it as “Christus Ist Erstanden”.) Indeed, at my final Mass in Los Angeles—which interestingly fell on the feast of Corpus Christi—my choir lovingly sang that very melody. Below is a ‘live’ recording from that Mass:

To access this hymn’s media in the Brébeuf Portal, click here.

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

Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: CCWatershed Feedback, Christ Ist Erstanden, Christus Ist Erstanden HYMN, Sister Anne Flanagan FSP Last Updated: January 24, 2025

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “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

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

Ambrose and Prudentius took something classical and made it Christian; the revisers and their imitators took something Christian and tried to make it classical. The result may be pedantry, and sometimes perhaps poetry; but it is not piety. “Accessit Latinitas, discessit pietas.”

— Fr. Joseph Connelly (1954)

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