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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.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College (B.A. in Liberal Arts) and The Catholic University of America (M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy), Dr. Peter Kwasniewski is currently Professor at Wyoming Catholic College. He is also a published and performed composer, especially of sacred music. Read more.

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · September 4, 2014

Mass Among the Poor

Does it seem strange that religious orders dedicated to serving the poor would also be rediscovering the traditional Latin Mass?

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · August 28, 2014

The Awesomeness of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

A Benedictine monk helps us appreciate the tremendous miracle of the Mass, which is the central point of all earthly reality.

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · August 21, 2014

Why the Mass is the Key to the New Evangelization

We hear a lot these days about the New Evangelization, but not so much about the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And yet the Mass is at the very heart of our mission.

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · August 14, 2014

Important Resources for Liturgical Reform (7 of 7)

“Who could have anticipated such a Renaissance of music-making in the desert of postmodernity? Yet this was but the first wave, and now we are enjoying a second…”

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · August 7, 2014

St. Thomas on the “Asperges” (Sprinkling Rite)

St. Thomas did not comment specifically on the custom of sprinkling the people with holy water prior to the principal Sunday Mass; but he did explain exactly why it’s a good idea to do such a thing.

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · July 31, 2014

Away with the World—Let Heaven Enter

Music, for a Christian, should serve the same purpose as everything else in life: weaning us from excessive attachment to this world and lifting our souls heavenward.

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · July 24, 2014

“What Shall I Render to the Lord…”

It is impossible for us, by ourselves, to make a just return to the Lord for all He has given to us. But “with the Lord, nothing is impossible.”

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · July 17, 2014

Basic Steps To Improve Music At Your Parish — Part 2

I have been asked to recommend some ways in which any parish in the United States could improve the music used at Mass. Some parishes may already have taken the following two steps, in which case my advice will be nugatory for them, but if your parish has not yet done so, now’s the time to begin.

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · July 10, 2014

Pope Francis on Sound Doctrine, Memory, and Adoration

“One of the most common canards now broadcast is that Pope Francis cares but little for the sacred liturgy…”

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · July 3, 2014

Music Rules Over Us

Music is like a food that either makes us healthy or sick; indeed, it shapes our souls in its image.

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · June 26, 2014

On the Objectivity of the Beautiful

Can we really rank the works of fine art? Is one composer greater than another, one piece of sacred music more beautiful than another? Or is it all relative?

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · June 19, 2014

Archbishop Sample’s Letter On Sacred Music (4 of 8)

“Everything in God’s good creation is hierarchically ordered, and the virtue of each part is to belong to the whole in the right way…”

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · June 12, 2014

Art as Affirmation and Sacrifice

True art affirms the Catholic Faith—and represents a spiritual sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to the Lord.

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · June 5, 2014

What the Ordinary Form Could Be: The Vienna Oratory

Have you ever wondered what a Novus Ordo High Mass might look like? Read on…

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · May 29, 2014

The Danger of Being Arbitrary in the Liturgy

Traditional practices form a coherent whole, as they developed organically together. In many ways the liturgical reform was mechanistic and ideological.

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    (Part 2) • Did they simplify this hymn?
    Choirs love to sing the resplendent tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1929, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. Their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Father Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1929 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. As always, the Germans added an organ INTRODUCTION. For the record, I posted a different harmonization a few months ago which was downloaded more than 2,000 times.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF • “Lectionary Comparison Chart”
    Various shell corporations (in an effort to make money selling Sacred Scripture) have tinkered with the LECTIONARY texts in a way that’s shameful. It’s no wonder Catholics in the pews know so few Bible passages by heart. Without authorization, these shell corporations pervert the official texts. Consider the Responsorial Psalm for the 1st Sunday of Advent (Year A). If you download this PDF comparison chart you’ll notice each country randomly omits certain sections. Such tinkering has gone on for 60+ years—and it’s reprehensible.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Monsignor Klaus Gamber Speaks!
    An interesting quotation from the eminent liturgist, Monsignor Klaus Gamber (d. 1989): “According to canon law, a person’s affiliation with a particular liturgical rite is determined by that person’s rite of baptism. Given that the liturgical reforms of Pope Paul VI created a de facto new rite, one could assert that those among the faithful who were baptized according to the traditional Roman rite have the right to continue following that rite; just as priests who were ordained according to the traditional Ordo have the right to exercise the very rite that they were ordained to celebrate.”
    —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 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 recitation of the Office of the Dead, the Christmas Office, the spectacle of the days of Holy Week, the sublime chant of the Exultet, beside which the most intoxicating accents of Sophocles and Pindar seemed to me to be insignificant—all of this overwhelmed me with respect and joy, with gratitude, repentance, and adoration!”

— Paul Claudel (1913)

Recent Posts

  • PDF Download • “Marian Antiphon Booklet” (4 pages) + Five Rhythmic Considerations
  • False Accusations
  • (Part 2) • Did they simplify this hymn?
  • PDF • “Lectionary Comparison Chart”
  • “Can Choral Music Survive?” • 3 Reasons It Will

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