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.”
Gregorian Chant does not follow the example of Baroque composers, who strongly emphasize (“slam”) the tonic accent. Cantus Gregorianus has a very sophisticated way of honoring the text—an approach which goes far beyond the “goo goo gah gah” approach of slamming the tonic accent. Thousands of examples in the Gregorian repertoire demonstrate this reality, but […]
I had the good fortune of being assigned to the same mission field twice: the first time in 1956 when I was first ordained.
We have witnessed the downfall of so many “famous” Catholics—including priests—who had pretended to be holy, but were caught committing terrible sins. In a particular way, EWTN was harmed because several of their biggest stars were exposed. I was thinking about whether something holy can be “tainted,” and what that means. Fulton Sheen made mistakes, […]
Also included: “Can amateurs sing polyphony?”
A recent article—Glaring Omission from Post-Vatican II Lectionary—has generated enormous traffic, and has become one of our most popular articles. During that article, I made reference to our position on “political” articles. If anyone cares to know about my political views, please download: Only In Secret And With Horror. I have explained my views in […]
I don’t know whether all of you will agree with me when I say: “life is not fair”—but I would imagine older people would agree.
In the 1980s, Father Valentine wrote to a Vatican Congregation in Rome about this omission. It still hasn’t been fixed.
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Under Covid-19, certain “pre-conciliar” practices have been mandated by the same bishops who previously declared such things to be evil.
For several months, we have discussed the complicated history of the various Christmas feasts: the Baptism of the Lord, the feast of the Holy Family, the Epiphany, and so forth. During a discussion, someone questioned my assertion that in some places Christmas had been part of the Epiphany. As time went on, of course, the […]
In 1947, this book was given a double “Imprimatur” by Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York.
Why have I been so blessed, and spared such hardships?
“Narrative lies” cannot exist without a storyteller.
Statements so appalling, egregious, and atrocious they must be corrected…
A book published by Anglicans in 1965 has this to say about Abbat Pothier’s Editio Vaticana, the musical edition reproduced by books such as the LIBER USUALIS (Solesmes Abbey): “No performing edition of the music of the Eucharistic Psalmody can afford to ignore the evidence of the current official edition of the Latin Graduale, which […]
