Views from the Choir Loft

“Tell Me Lies; Tell Me Sweet Little Lies.” • Re: Post-Conciliar Lectionary Problems

Jeff Ostrowski · July 18, 2025

ROWING UP, I remember a song with these lyrics: “Tell me lies; tell me sweet little lies.” According to Google, the song was written by a band called FLEETWOOD MAC, founded in 1967. I didn’t realize Apple computers were so popular in the 1960s, but I guess that shows what I know! And I must admit that it’s far better to name a band after a Mac than a PC. In any event, those words came to my mind thinking about the post-conciliar LECTIONARY, which has a sad and sordid history. Apropos of this, our organization has reached the final stages of an agreement with several authors who have written a chronicle about the simony problem that arose in the United States after the Second Vatican Council.¹

Little Lies • For the moment, let’s consider just one example. The 1970 LECTIONARY makes the following claim:

Notice they didn’t say “altered” or “modified” or “bowdlerized.”

But look what they printed in 1970, hoping nobody would notice:

Here is what they falsely claimed to be reprinting:

A Sneaky Trick • Do you see how they shamelessly modified the original? Do you see how they completely destroyed the rhyme scheme in a puerile effort to make the language less sacral and more casual? The whole point of a SEQUENCE is to sing it. That’s literally how it developed in the first place. Its poetic rhythm is its raison d’être—but they cared not. And don’t even get me started on how their vandalism destroyed the ‘register’ of the poem.

We’ve had 55 years of this nonsense. Enough!

We must have the courage to fix such things.

1 You’ll be hearing tons more about this soon, so please stay tuned. If we don’t confront these problems—honestly and soberly—they’ll never get solved.

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

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).

PDF Download • “Cordero de Dios”

Feel free to download this setting of the “Cordero de Dios” (AGNUS DEI) in Spanish. The congregation gets an interesting melody within reach, the organist gets a straightforward accompaniment, and the person assembling the ORDER OF WORSHIP gets a ‘ready-to-paste’ plainsong version. Try this setting of the “Santo, Santo, Santo” (SANCTUS) if you desire one that’s easy to sing and includes a simple organ accompaniment. For the record, I have harmonized the Spanish “GLORIA” found in the MISAL ROMANO, Tercera Edición. Click here to download that.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Be Joyful Mary” • Organ Interlude

Peter Piel (1835–1904), was a Roman Catholic composer named “Royal Music Director” under Wilhelm I, King of Prussia.

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—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF Download • “Our Father” (1 page)

Dutch organist, teacher, and conductor HERMAN STRATEGIER (d. 1988) studied under Hendrik Andriessen. He composed this unison setting with organ accompaniment for the LORD’S PRAYER (“Our Father”) which a children’s choir would find both within reach and worthy of the effort. The whole thing fits neatly on a single page. Strategier eventually became organist of Saint Catherine’s Cathedral in Utrecht. He also taught at the “Dutch Institute for Catholic Church Music” (Nederlands Instituut voor Katholieke Kerkmuziek).

—Jeff Ostrowski

Preface of Saint Joseph (added by the pope)

You can see the “Præfatio de Sancto Joseph” inserted directly into the priest’s missal.

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—Jeff Ostrowski

“Predictable Rhymes?” • A Follow Up

We received considerable correspondence regarding my article, Two Ways to Defile a Hymn. More specifically, what really raised certain people’s hackles was its follow-up article dealing with the keyboard accompaniment for the CHRIST THE KING HYMNAL. But to quote Eliza Doolittle: “Have I said anything I oughtn’t?” Please examine this PDF file and see whether you agree. Were the editors of the BRÉBEUF HYMNAL incorrect to insist upon sophisticated and clever rhymes, rather than mind-numbingly predictable rhymes?

—Jeff Ostrowski

‘Ould’ But Not Good

Dom Samuel Gregory Ould (note the spelling) was a Benedictine monk at FORT AUGUSTUS ABBEY in Scotland. As musician, organist, and composer, Dom Ould was highly regarded. Moreover, he was considered an authority on Gregorian Chant. But not everything found in an old book—or, in this case, an “Ould” book—is necessarily praiseworthy. Consider this page from Dom Ould’s hymnal. Do you see the rhymes? They offend severely by ABR (“Abuse By Reuse”) and are utterly predictable. In my recent article—Two Ways to Defile a Hymn—I addressed this topic.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“However well equipped and trained a choir may be, all its good points may be obscured by an unsuitable accompaniment. In fact the organist can, in a large measure, either make or mar his choir. It must be owned, however, that the accompanist of Plainsong has to contend with many difficulties. […] The purist will still find his best enjoyment of the chant when it is sung unaccompanied, but to most a becoming accompaniment gives an added charm.”

— Benedictines of Stanbrook (1905)