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

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.”

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
    • Jeff’s Mom Joins Fundraiser
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Catechism of Gregorian Rhythm
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Feasts Website
  • 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

“Ash Wednesday” • Banned after 93,000 Views!

Jeff Ostrowski · February 24, 2025

OR EVERY RULE, there is an exception. Our blog is 100% dedicated to positive things: providing more than 85,000 free musical scores, articles, instructional films, Mp3 recordings, rehearsal videos, and so forth. But if you search hard enough, you’ll discover an occasional article highlighting something scandalous in the Church. Sunshine is the best disinfectant. In 2019, we posted a video from Germany with truly offensive “sacred music” for Ash Wednesday. Within 48 hours, it received approximately 40,000 views. Then YouTube (and other film-hosting companies) removed it. Their actions were reprehensible as the video is covered under the “fair use” doctrine.1 Two years later, I was notified that somebody is going around banning—in spite of the “fair use” doctrine—the video from numerous platforms. It was posted on Facebook and within 24 hours garnered 35,000 views before Facebook ‘canceled’ the video. It’s remarkable that people are spending such energy making sure nobody sees the video yet they weren’t ashamed to use such music at Mass.

This video keeps
being removed illegally
although it falls under
the “fair use” category:

*  Direct Download • 22.4MB
—Download this video file directly from GloriaTV.
*  Direct Download • 22.4MB
—Download this video file directly from a Google Mirror.
*  Complete Mass • On YouTube
—Ash Wednesday Mass • Basilica of St. Cunibert (6 March 2019).
*  Watch Video • On GloriaTV
—Watch this video on GloriaTV.

Ash Wednesday’s True Music

Now, let us speak of the real music for Ash Wednesday; I don’t know any feast which makes greater use of tone painting. For instance, consider “Juxta Vestíbulum,” which is one of the antiphons sung during the distribution of ashes. The theme of “weeping before the Lord” is quite prominent on Ash Wednesday:

In another antiphon for the distribution of ashes—“Immutémur Hábitu”—we again find very mournful melodies:

Something happens Ash Wednesday which, as far as I know, is unique in the repertoire of Cantus Gregorianus, viz. a musical motif gets repeated in the different chants. Juxta Vestíbulum has it:

The Communion Antiphon also has it:

Another chant sung while the ashes are distributed—“Emendémus In Mélius,” famously set by composers like Pierre de Manchicourt (d. 1564) and Father Cristóbal de Morales (d. 1553)—has the melody three times:

70991-EMENDEMUS-2nd
70991-EMENDEMUS
70991-EMENDEMUS-3rd

The Ash Wednesday Entrance Antiphon (“Miseréris Ómnium Dómine”) has the motif twice:

70990-INTROIT
70990-INTROIT-2nd

Many more beautiful instances could be cited. For example, the way “Atténde Dómine” is set sounds like we are “calling out” to God.

Father Frederick Oakeley

Canon Frederick Oakeley (d. 1880) was a Catholic priest and disciple of Saint John Henry Newman. He was best known for the Christmas Carol: “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” Canon Oakeley published a book of hymns called Lyra Liturgica. I’m curious to know what readers think of this Ash Wednesday hymn:

*  PDF Download • ASH WEDNESDAY HYMN
—By Canon Frederick Oakeley (d. 1880), a Catholic priest.

Perhaps these verses seems a little “quaint” compared to the hymn texts chosen for professional liturgical collections, such as the Brébeuf hymnal. Yet, Canon Oakeley’s was inspired by his love for God, and that’s very important!

1 The “fair use” would take too long to describe in detail. It allows tiny excerpts of videos and articles to be shared freely.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Canon Frederick Oakeley, Dominik Susteck Ash Wednesday Last Updated: February 24, 2025

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

    Latin Liturgy Association
    We note with pleasure that Mrs. Regina Morris, president of the Latin Liturgy Association, has featured—on page 4 of Volume CXXIX of their official newsletter—the three (3) terrific versions of the Stations of the Cross found in the Brébeuf Hymnal. One of the main authors for the blog of the Church Music Association of America said (6/10/2019) about this pew book: “It is such a fantastic hymnal that it deserves to be in the pews of every Catholic church.”
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “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 which source text is chosen and what each translator wants to emphasize. All these pieces of plainsong are conveniently stored at the blue-ribbon feasts website.
    —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

The representative Protestant collection, entitled “Hymns, Ancient and Modern”—in substance a compromise between the various sections of conflicting religious thought in the Establishment—is a typical instance. That collection is indebted to Catholic writers for a large fractional part of its contents. If the hymns be estimated which are taken from Catholic sources, directly or imitatively, the greater and more valuable part of its contents owes its origin to the Church.

— Orby Shipley (1884)

Recent Posts

  • Latin Liturgy Association
  • Important Quote by a Church Musician
  • Fulton J. Sheen Played The Pipe Organ!
  • “Music List” • 28th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • Dr. Samuel Backman • “Rooted In Tradition: The Allegory of a Tree”

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.