“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)
I have noticed that where the Editio Vaticana has a descending perfect fourth for the Gradual of Christmas Midnight Mass, many ancient manuscripts have a descending perfect fifth, which is pretty cool: Example A — Example B. The Vatican Edition is a CENTO, and never made any claim to be anything other than a CENTO. […]
The Brébeuf Hymnal provides ancient (Roman Catholic) English translations of this hymn, but Eleanor Parker found versions in Anglo-Saxon!
Did you know I communicate with dead Catholic composers? I’m not joking.
Abbot Pothier included a section called “De Ritibus Servandis In Cantu Missae.”
When a monk hears the bell, he stops whatever he’s doing and immediately goes to prayer. It is the voice of God calling us to pray, to avoid sin, and to forget the things of this world and think of Him.
Attendance was standing room only. Afterwards, the children presented roses to Mary—as the entire parish prayed the Rosary—and then we consecrated California to Jesus Christ.
As the Gloria during Mass suggests, we should “thank Him simply because of His great glory.” When is the last time you did that?
My recent post on the repercussion has induced some to ask: “Can we just sing whatever rhythm we want for the Vatican Edition? What about mensuralism? What about Bonvin and Vollaerts?” For those of us who work in the Extraordinary Form, we must follow the rhythm of the Editio Vaticana, and this was addressed in […]
Consider the melody found in “Le Graduel Romain,” published in 1800—nine years before Napoleon Bonaparte kidnapped Pope Pius VII
Before the reforms of the “Code of Rubrics” (1961), antiphons at Vespers were abbreviated in a cool way. For example, look at this antiphon, Ecce Veniet (from Vespers on the 4th Sunday of Advent). But that tradition—as far as I know—ended in 1961, with §191 which said: “The whole antiphon is always said before and […]
Each monastery had its own particular way of singing plainsong.
Yes, these are extraordinary times—and they require something extraordinary from us.
One who translates Aquinas expects to be cross-examined by those who understand philosophy and Latin; but Bible translators are liable to be cross-examined by anybody, because everybody thinks he knows what the Bible means.
It happened during the “Mass of the Presanctified” celebrated on Good Friday, 30 March 1877.
The Solesmes rhythmic markings, which often contradict the official rhythm, do such damage to the antiphons of the Divine Office that—in my humble opinion—they should be abandoned. (In reality, this will never happen.) But sometimes, they do great damage to the melody of the Graduale Romanum, and I would offer the Offertory for the 1st […]
The election of Pope Leo XIV has been exciting, and we’re filled with hope for our apostolate’s future!
But we’re under pressure to transfer our website to a “subscription model.”
We don’t want to do that. We believe our website should remain free to all.
Our president has written the following letter:
President’s Message (dated 30 May 2025)
