The Church’s Oldest Latin Eucharistic Hymn
May I tell you a secret?
Jesus said to them: “I have come into this world so that a sentence may fall upon it, that those who are blind should see, and those who see should become blind. If you were blind, you would not be guilty. It is because you protest, ‘We can see clearly,’ that you cannot be rid of your guilt.”
A theorist, organist, and conductor, Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He completed studies in Education and Musicology at the graduate level. Having worked as a church musician in Los Angeles for ten years, in 2024 he accepted a position as choirmaster for Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Michigan, where he resides with his wife and children. —Read full biography (with photographs).
How does the conscientious choirmaster get this snowball rolling?
We get tons of messages from readers; perhaps we should do a better job sharing them. In 2010, composer Dan Schutte published “Mass of Christ the Savior,” based upon the theme song from the My Little Pony television cartoon. Earlier today, someone under the moniker “Praying Girl” wrote as follows: “I wonder how many people […]
How close are Anglicans to Catholics, in terms of their religious practices?
How well do you know hymnody? A few days ago, we recorded this really beautiful hymn as part of a Roman Catholic Spanish hymnal project we’re helping with. Can you name that tune? (We’re looking for the correct name of the melody.) If you give up—or if you want to verify your answer—click here for […]
Jennifer Urquhart wrote to us: “I’m currently involved in providing music for a non-specialist choir which will sing a TLM for the Sacred Heart. Since those propers changed in 1929, the one in the figured Liber Usualis (1924) now has the wrong texts.” Jennifer placed those propers into modern notation, which you can download as […]
Click here to listen to our 100% volunteer choir singing this famous hymn without organ. By way of comparison, you can hear the same choir sing that hymn accompanied by the pipe organ if you click here. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Please feel free to email me and tell me which you like better.
If you were arrested and charged with being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
This SATB setting by Father Francisco Guerrero is brief but magnificent.
Including a ‘live’ recording of the Church’s oldest Latin Eucharistic Hymn, which comes from a 7th-century Irish manuscript.
Including a splendid harmonization of “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name.”
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The soul-stirring hymn used on ASCENSION THURSDAY at Vespers—and also used on the Sunday which follows the Ascension—was called in the 7th century: “Jesu Nostra Redemptio.” After 1631AD, the title of that hymn was changed to “Salutis Humanae Sator.” The melody assigned by the Vatican Commission on Gregorian Chant is rather mournful (and very difficult […]
Here is a ‘live’ recording from the Mass on Ascension Thursday (2024): Hymn for the Ascension. I could not be prouder of this parish choir, which consists 100% of volunteers. To learn more about this hymn, please visit #704 in the hymn portal. I have argued that—in addition to CARMEN GREGORIANUM, organ music, and polyphony—hymns […]
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