The following came from Dennis M.
[We usually redact names for anonymity’s sake.]
APPRECIATED VERY MUCH the opportunity to download your MUSICAL TEMPLATE for Funerals which you uploaded to the Corpus Christi Watershed website a few days ago. Nevertheless, I am puzzled by number 7. There should be no organ interlude at the Offertory, as the documents state clearly that organ (or other instruments) can only be used to support singing at the Funeral Mass.
Jeff Ostrowski answered (below).
Posted on 5 February 2026.
Before I say one word, I should probably point out that—in spite of what I wrote on the TEMPLATE (PDF file) you reference—I’ve never actually played an ORGAN INTERLUDE during the Offertory because the plainsong (Dómine Jesu Christe) is fairly lengthy, so I never have time. But since I’m a somewhat nervous person, I always like to have a “Plan B.” Broadly speaking, much of the post-conciliar legislation concerning sacred music is muddled and self-contradictory, although I take no pleasure in saying this. For instance, there was a document published in the 1970s by the USCCB Committee on Divine Worship called “The Place of Music in Eucharistic Celebrations.” [This document—promoted heavily by people like Monsignor Frederick McManus—was finally was abolished in 2007.] The document told Catholic musicians that singing psalms (!) during Mass “may create problems rather than solve them.” On the other hand, before Vatican II, the pipe organ was forbidden during funerals … yet the “Missa pro defunctis” was without question the most popular item for which to create organ accompaniments in those days! So there seems to have been a gap between the official legislation and ‘what was happening on the ground’ in most parishes … at least in the United States.
In terms of an explicit ban on organ interludes during funerals (for the 1970 Missal) I’m not aware of such a document. Perhaps one of our readers can email me a specific citation?
By the way, my friend Mæstro Fritz reminded me that certain Church leaders follow a principle: “A law that’s not enforced ceases to be a law.” Perhaps he’d be willing to weigh in, citing chapter and verse?
Those who carefully examine the articles I’ve published over the last 10 years will notice I take Church documents very seriously. On the other hand, the Catholic Faith is eminently rational. In spite of what some claim, we are not ‘robots’ who blindly follow rubrics in a legalistic and mindless way. What I’m suggesting is that we have an obligation to consider the reason certain customs and laws came into being. A century ago, French cathedrals were massive, with enormous and luxurious pipe organs. Playing the organ at Mass (sadly) sometimes became a “concert.” Famous French organists would play all during the Low Mass, giving a type of organ ‘recital’ or performance. In those days, the pipe organ was a symbol of joy and festivity.
Does it make sense to look at things the same way today? Taking away the pipe organ; what effect would that have on most Catholics today? In Texas, a certain person once approached me after Mass. (I will not reveal his name because he’s currently the musical director for a Roman Catholic archdiocese.) He approached me with a bewildered look on his face. He introduced himself, and told me how amazing it was to hear me play the pipe organ Mass. Then he asked: “Is that actually allowed?” Remember, this person is currently director of music for an archdiocese. He was literally asking me whether it’s allowed to play the pipe organ at Mass. And that’s why I ask whether a rational person working in the Church today could argue that ‘taking the organ away’ will be experienced as a lack of festivity. To describe things another way: it’s absurd to speak of ‘removing’ something if the person in question has never experienced it in the first place. It would be like ‘punishing’ someone by revoking their privileges to travel to the planet Jupiter.
As always, please let me know
if you agree with my analysis.
Update:
A reader has sent the following email: “Interestingly, I rewatched part of Pope France’s funeral, and organ instrumentals (organ interludes) are played during the Offertory.”
