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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

A Gentleman (Whom I Don’t Know) Approached Me After Mass Yesterday And Said…

Jeff Ostrowski · May 19, 2025

ESTERDAY AFTER MASS, a gentleman whom I don’t know approached me in the church parking lot. In an excited tone of voice, he exclaimed: “I read your article in the bulletin this week; it was superb. You’re an excellent writer, and your article last week also hit the ball out of the park.” I can’t deny: I was thrilled to receive such a compliment. A few months ago, I was asked by my pastor to contribute a weekly column to our bulletin. In my heart, I had doubts as to whether anyone would read my articles. I do remember Father Valentine Young being astonished when someone told him they never read the bulletin. His response was: “What do you do during the homily?”

Feedback And Praise • The daily offering by Raphael Cardinal Merry Del Val says: “I am ready to accept indifferently from Thy hands, and in the way most pleasing to Thee: health or sickness; riches or poverty; a long life or a short one; friendship or hatred…” That means we must always do what’s right: Period. Saint John Bosco reminded his boys they must never commit sin in pursuit of “human respect.” Nevertheless, it’s really nice to get positive feedback. The gentleman—whose wife was seated in his vehicle—struck me as quite sincere.1

The bulletin articles I’ve written so far are below. I tried to keep them pithy, and powerful. You can judge for yourself whether I was successful:

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  • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
    • 2025 04 13th • “Introduction to the Series”
    • 2025 04 20th • “As in Delirium a Man Talks”
    • 2025 04 27th • “Wouldn’t That Be Bizarre?”
    • 2025 05 04th • “Neither Tennis Court Nor Supermarket”
    • 2025 05 11th • “The Entire Hall Burst Into Uproarious Laughter”
    • 2025 05 18th • “Doesn’t the Church Want Us to Understand?”
    • 2025 05 25th • “Why Do We Sing in Both?”
    • 2025 06 01st • “The Church’s Oldest Latin Eucharistic Hymn”
    • 2025 06 08th • “Intriguing Invitation”
    • 2025 06 15th • “Hit the sack” doesn’t mean pound a bag.
    • 2025 06 22nd • Three Words in a Psalm
    • 2025 06 29th • Pope Leo XIV on Polyphony
    • 2025 07 20th • “What Luther Said”
    • 2025 08 10th • “Pope Leo XIV Has Announced…”
    • 2025 08 17th • “Emanations From Penumbras”
    • 2025 08 24th • More On That Latin “Gloria”
    • 2025 08 31st • “The Worm That Dieth Not”
    • 2025 09 07th • “Professor Bouyer’s Regret”
    • 2025 09 14th • “Anti Vs. Ultra”
    • 2025 09 21st • When they get “spitting” mad
    • 2025 10 05th • “Polished Stones for 9 November”
    • 2025 10 12th • “A Surprising Irony”

(1 of 3) Jeff Is Ignorant • Truly brilliant minds such as Newman, Fortescue, Knox, or Skeris would laugh if they knew that I was putting myself forth as an author. And I certainly don’t pretend to know much! One thing that’s always confused me is the existence of contradictions in church law.

(2 of 3) Jeff Is Ignorant • For example, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal clearly states that “Songs or hymns may not be used in place of the responsorial Psalm” (§61). Yet we know that sometimes hymns are prescribed by the liturgical books themselves to replace the Responsorial Psalm. Moreover, the GIRM explicitly says one may replace the Responsorial Psalm “with a metrical psalm.” As a matter of fact, a “metrical psalm” is nothing more than a hymn; e.g. look up THE PSALTER OF JOHN DAYE in the famous edition by Thomas Sternhold and John Hopkins. How can such a contradiction be explained?

(3 of 3) Jeff Is Ignorant • Sometimes, a contradiction is the result of faulty translation. The document on the liturgy promulgated by Vatican II—“SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM”—contains some faulty English translations. Consider the following sentence:

Quæ totius populi plena & actuosa
participatio, in instauranda
et fovenda sacra Liturgia,
summopere est attendenda…

Here’s the usual translation:

In the restoration & promotion of
the sacred liturgy the full & active
participation by all the people is the
aim to be considered above all else…

But that’s a flawed translation. The actual meaning is:

In restoring and nurturing the sacred
Liturgy this full and active
participation of all the people
is very much to be considered…

But sometimes it’s not a matter of a faulty translation. For example, here’s a section from SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM which I struggle to understand:

34. The rites should be distinguished by a noble simplicity; they should be short, clear, and unencumbered by useless repetitions; they should be within the people’s powers of comprehension, and normally should not require much explanation.

It’s nonsense to say the rites should be “short.” Indeed, the post-conciliar reforms made the MASS OF THE CATECHUMENS much more lengthy than it was before! I’d be interested to know how readers interpret that sentence. If only the word “short” could be changed to “not excessively lengthy,” I believe I could live with that.

1 As church musicians, we almost never get compliments. I’m not sure why that is. As a result, those rare occasions when we do receive complimentary words feel especially meaningful and fulfilling.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Daily Offering Cardinal Merry Del Val, Raphael Cardinal Merry Del Val Last Updated: August 25, 2025

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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

    Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
    The 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM was a transitional missal. It was on its way to becoming the 1970 version, but wasn’t there yet. It eliminated certain duplications, downplayed the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, expanded the role of laymen, minimized the Last Gospel, made many items optional, and so forth. Father Valentine Young spotted many typos in the 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM, especially incorrect accents. The Offertory Antiphon for this coming Sunday (OF kalendar) contains an error, citing the wrong verse from Psalm 118. It should be 118:107b, not 118:154. If you read verse 154, you’ll understand how that error crept in. [In this particular case, the error pre-dates the 1962 Missal, since the 1940s hand-missal by Father Lasance also gets it wrong.]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 26 October 2025, which is the 30th 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 top-notch feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Little Encouragement?
    In the Gospel, our Savior tells about 10 lepers who were healed. Only one went back to give thanks. Precious few express gratitude, yet many have endless energy to complain. For that reason, I deeply appreciate receiving messages like the following, which arrived a few days ago (about the parish where I direct in Michigan): “Last Sunday, a couple I knew from Grand Rapids was at Mass at 10:00 a.m. I got a chance to talk to them after Mass. I wanted to let you know what they said about the choir. They were absolutely floored by our sound!!!!! They both said they could continuously listen to our choir and the beauty of it. They asked me: “Do you always sound like that?” And they were also very surprised at how packed the church was. They said it was nice for them to be in such a full church. I just thought you would be interested to know their thoughts about our choir.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —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
    “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

Random Quote

“Our Christian people regard with great joy everything that contributes to the splendor of the ceremonies. Jesus—who was poor in His private life—received ointment on His feet. See Thomas Aquinas (Prima Secundae, q. 102, art. 5, ad 10) and the holy Curé of Ars. The Church has always loved beautiful churches, and so forth. We must preserve our sacred patrimony and make sure sacred objects do not become secular possessions.”

— Abbot & Council Father denouncing “noble simplicity” during Vatican II

Recent Posts

  • Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
  • “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
  • Little Encouragement?
  • Children’s Repertoire • Mueller’s Recommendations

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