T WAS ACTUALLY the leaders of the church—who should have been holiest of all—who betrayed OUR BLESSED SAVIOR, handing Him over to be put to death. I suspect everyone reading this article could point to a powerful church leader who’s engaged in scandalous behavior. But evil isn’t confined to the clergy! As someone who’s been involved with ‘traditionalist’ communities all over the globe since the 1990s, I saw how—almost without exception—the members who were the most judgmental, pharisaical,1 and hyper-critical of everyone else were leading immoral lives behind closed doors. The bottom line: Every community has a few bad apples. 🍎
(1 of 3) Moving Forward • The legendary FATHER ADRIAN FORTESCUE reminds us that “any part of Scripture may be read with profit on any day.” While it’s true some post-conciliar liturgical changes were ill-advised (a reality later acknowledged by the reformers themselves), nobody in those days asked for my opinion—because I wasn’t around. [I wouldn’t be born for another twenty years.]
(2 of 3) Moving Forward • Rather than ceaselessly bemoaning mistakes made, we should follow the example of the saints. Great saints never asked: “What can I get away with? How much leniency does liturgical law allow?” Instead, they returned to the holy traditions of the past. Let’s remember what FATHER FORTESCUE wrote in 1913: “From every point of view, we of the old Church cannot do better than sing to God as our fathers sang to him during all the long ages behind us … [with texts] from that golden age when practically all Christendom was Catholic.”
(3 of 3) Moving Forward • This coming Sunday is the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time. I selected a musical setting by the CHAUMONOT COMPOSERS GROUP, which is a version in English of the traditional INTROIT. In the pre-conciliar calendar, this INTROIT fell on the 11th Sunday after Pentecost. In the post-conciliar calendar, it’s assigned to the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time. (This score shows the ancient Gregorian version, called “Deus in loco sancto suo.”)
Here’s my attempt to record it:
(Score in English) • (Organ Accompaniment)
Other Versions:
1964 Setting • In 1964, Father Paul Arbogast published a collection called: Complete English Propers for the High Mass for All Sundays and Principal Feasts Set to Gregorian Melodies Adaptable to Psalm Tones or Harmonized Settings under the auspices of the “John XXIII Series of Liturgical Music.” Here is Father Arbogast’s setting of the ENTRANCE CHANT for 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
1984 Setting • In 1984, Deacon Patrick Cunningham published a collection called “Chants for the Church Year” dedicated to the memory of Rev. Charles Dreisoerner, a Latin professor at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. Here is Deacon Cunningham’s setting of the ENTRANCE CHANT for 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
1965 Version • The Anglicans produced a book of plainsong adaptations in 1965. Here is their setting of the ENTRANCE CHANT for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
2020 Setting • In 2020, Bruce Ford produced The American Gradual: Proper Chants of the Mass Adapted to English Words. Below is Ford’s setting of the ENTRANCE CHANT for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
2011 Setting • In 2011, the Church Music Association of America released a collection called: “The Simple English Propers.” It was made available as a hard copy and also free online (licensed in the Creative Commons). Here’s the SEP setting of the ENTRANCE CHANT for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
2012 Setting • Sometime around 2012 (?) Father Columba Kelly composed a setting of the ENTRANCE CHANT for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time shown below. (Note: The syllables on the first line need to be scooted to the right. That was surely a typo.)
1957 Setting • In 1957, Healey Willan (an Episcopalian organist) produced a set of propers. Below is his setting of the ENTRANCE CHANT for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
2013 Setting • In the 2013, the Lalemant Propers were made available (in print and as a free PDF download). These settings are extremely simple. Below is the Lalemant setting of the ENTRANCE CHANT for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
2014 Setting • In 2014, the Benedict XVI Institute (Archdiocese of San Francisco) published a book called Proper of the Mass: Entrance, Offertory and Communion Antiphons for Sundays and Solemnities, with English adaptations by Father Samuel Weber, OSB. For reasons which aren’t entirely clear, this collection sets the Spoken Propers, which were designed for priests offering Mass privately or without music. Here is Father Weber’s setting of the ENTRANCE CHANT for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
1964 Setting • The Sisters of the Most Precious Blood (O’Fallon, Missouri) published a collection of Gregorian Chant in English in 1964. Here’s their setting of the ENTRANCE CHANT for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
1 Such people frequently “live” on the internet, where they complain bitterly about the post-conciliar liturgy and try to convince others that salvation can’t be obtained unless one prays from a particular BREVIARY, wears a particular type of lace surplice, or celebrates feasts according to a calendar printed in a particular year.
