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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Dr. Tappan • Article Archive

Dr. Lucas Tappan is a conductor and organist whose specialty is working with children. He lives in Kansas with his wife and four children.—Read full biography (with photographs).

Lucas Tappan · February 27, 2019

Strive for Greatness!

Stop trying to make everything easy, and therefore unimportant.

Lucas Tappan · February 12, 2019

The Cantor and Congregational Singing

I wonder if we haven’t lost sight of the cantor’s original purpose of fostering congregational singing…

Lucas Tappan · November 27, 2018

Millennials and Authenticity

But what do we mean by authenticity?

Lucas Tappan · November 13, 2018

Incredible Advent/Christmas Resource for Families

Download this incredible resource for families who wish to live the liturgical life more deeply with the home.

Lucas Tappan · November 7, 2018

Chorister Catechesis

Be mindful of the immense power that you as a choir director having in orienting your choristers toward Heaven.

Lucas Tappan · October 30, 2018

A Refresher on Chorister Training

There are three areas that are especially helpful to be competent in when working with children.

Lucas Tappan · October 25, 2018

Leeds Cathedral and the Schools Singing Program

In addition to great choir schools at our cathedrals, the Church needs grass roots programs like this throughout our parishes.

Lucas Tappan · September 13, 2018

The Problem with the Universal Prayer of the Church

Young people today aren’t yearning for the ancient expressions of the Church’s liturgical life merely due to a distorted view of a supposedly golden former age…

Lucas Tappan · August 31, 2018

New Catholic Choral School…in Detroit!

“Qui bene cantat bis orat!”

Lucas Tappan · August 7, 2018

Precious in the Eyes of the Lord is the Death of His Faithful One

We have all encountered these moments that sustain us along our pilgrim way and I assume the same could be said of all the Holy Martyrs.

Lucas Tappan · July 20, 2018

A Model for Parish Revitalization (Ordinary Form)

“Being Evangelical Catholics requires that we know the Gospel, believe the Gospel, live the Gospel, and share the Gospel with others—and this begins and ends for us in the sacred liturgy…”

Lucas Tappan · July 11, 2018

The Sung Canon

Since the Canon cannot be recited “silently” in the Ordinary Form, I wonder if chanting it might be one answer to the lack of transcendence we often encounter within Mass.

Lucas Tappan · July 3, 2018

Impressions from Sacred Music Colloquium 2018

I thought today I would share with readers some of my impressions of the wonderful events that took place.

Lucas Tappan · June 5, 2018

The Beauty of Dance

There shall surely be dancing in Heaven.

Lucas Tappan · May 15, 2018

Too Much Emphasis On Liturgy? • A Response

Perhaps the supposed over emphasis on the Liturgy among younger Catholics today is just a response to its devaluation since the 1960s.

Lucas Tappan · April 30, 2018

Choosing Choral Repertoire

Is it okay for choirmasters to program the same piece several Sundays in a row?

Lucas Tappan · April 17, 2018

Teaching Gregorian Chant to Boys with Changed Voices

The boys encountered the same learning curves the adult men had previously, but their facility in solfege speed up the learning process.

Lucas Tappan · April 10, 2018

Tone Quality and Your Singers

Ultimately it doesn’t matter if your choir resonates well and sings beautiful vowels but can’t communicate via the music…

Lucas Tappan · February 20, 2018

Building Your Choir Vocally

If more choirmasters were honest with themselves, they would probably acknowledge that no more than 25 to 40 percent of their singers are actually leaders within their choirs.

Lucas Tappan · February 13, 2018

Review • Fr. White’s Tools for Rebuilding

I’m edified by Fr. White’s work, but hope his regard for “church growth” doesn’t negate the Sacramental and supernatural nature of the Church.

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

6 January 2021 • Anglicans on Plainsong

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 is no mere reproduction of a local or partial tradition, but a CENTO resulting from an extended study and comparison of a host of manuscripts gathered from many places. Thus the musical text of the Graduale possesses a measure of authority which cannot lightly be disregarded.” They are absolutely correct.

—Jeff Ostrowski
2 January 2021 • Temptation

When I see idiotic statements made on the internet, I go nuts. When I see heretics promoted by people who should know better, I get angry. Learning to ignore such items is difficult—very difficult. I try to remember the words of Fr. Valentine Young: “Do what God places in front of you each day.” When I am honest, I don’t believe God wants me to dwell on errors and idiocy; there’s nothing I can do about that. During 2021, I will strive to do a better job following the advice of Fr. Valentine.

—Jeff Ostrowski
31 December 2020 • “COMITES CHRISTI”

The feasts for Saint Stephen Proto-Martyr (26 December), Saint John the Evangelist The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved (27 December), and the Feast of the Holy Innocents (28 December) seem untouched by any liturgical reforms. These are very powerful feasts—I believe they once possessed octaves—and I believe they could sometimes “overpower” a Sunday feast. The rules for octaves in the olden days are extremely complex. These feasts are sometimes referred to as a single entity as: Comites Christi (“Companions of Christ”). This is just a guess, but there seems to be a triple significance: STEPHEN martyred after Christ lived, JOHN was a martyr who knew Christ personally, and the HOLY INNOCENTS were martyred before Christ’s birth.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Liberalism in religion is the doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion, but that one creed is as good as another… It teaches that all are to be tolerated, for all are matters of opinion. Revealed religion is not a truth, but a sentiment and a taste; not an objective fact, not miraculous; and it is the right of each individual to make it say just what strikes his fancy. […] Men may go to Protestant Churches and to Catholic, may get good from both and belong to neither.”

— Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman (May of 1879)

Recent Posts

  • “Homily for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany” (EF) • Father Valentine Young, OFM
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  • What Color Is B-Flat? Life as a Musician with Synesthesia
  • Catholic Choirmasters • Never Fall For This!
  • 6 January 2021 • Anglicans on Plainsong

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