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Views from the Choir Loft

Ordo Cantus Missae — English Translations

Jeff Ostrowski · July 29, 2013

UPDATE:

Download the complete Ordo Cantus Missae here in PDF.

599 Ordo Cantus Missae IMAGE Click to enlarge image NE FACTOR standing in the way of authentic liturgical reform had to do with the books. Many books were printed only in Latin, but the people who should have understood that language no longer did. However, I will speak more about this problem at another time. The reason I brought it up should become obvious as you read on.

The Lalemant Propers were recently given official approval for liturgical use by the bishop of the diocese where they were published. While the bishop’s approval was not technically required by current Ecclesiastical law, this approval is yet another positive encouragement and reminder that we ought to be singing the Propers at Mass (under normal circumstances) and not replacing them with something else.

UPDATE:

Download the complete Ordo Cantus Missae here in PDF.

HE LALEMANT PROPERS correspond to the Novus Ordo (“Ordinary Form”), so they follow the ORDO CANTUS MISSAE, just like the Simple English Propers.
Now . . . what the heck is the Ordo Cantus Missæ?

The Ordo Cantus Missæ is a book published in 1970 which assigns all the Mass Propers to the new (Novus Ordo) calendar. Most of the Propers for the Sundays stayed the same as they were in the 1962 Missale Romanum. In other words, it usually just “points” the user to various Sundays from the old calendar (found in Pothier’s 1908 Graduale).

First, let me give you the documents, and then I’ll make some observations:

* *  Prænotandum Ordo Cantus Missæ (Latin version)

* *  Prænotandum Ordo Cantus Missæ (as found in the 1974 Graduale)

Here are three (3) different English translations:

* *  Prænotandum Ordo Cantus Missæ (English Translation by Canon George Davey)

* *  Prænotandum Ordo Cantus Missæ (English Translation by Richard Chonak)

* *  Prænotandum Ordo Cantus Missæ (English Translation posted by Dr. Paul Ford)

To make life easy, you can also download this:

* *  Several Articles talking about the Ordo Cantus Missæ

NLESS YOU ARE A SUPER GENIUS, it will probably be necessary to read the above documents several times to fully understand them. Here are two observations that seem worth stressing:


1. Notice the footnote in the 1974 Graduale published by Solesmes, giving justification for why they omitted the so-called neo-Gregorian Communion antiphons:

“Illæ melodiæ in hac editione privata omittuntur.”
(These melodies have been omitted in this book, which is a private edition.)

Most folks don’t realize that the 1974 Solesmes Graduale is a private edition. The Ordo Cantus Missæ is the official post-Conciliar book. This reminds me of how most people fail to realize that the 1908 Editio Vaticana was not created by Solesmes. People like myself and Jean-Pierre Noiseaux have been stressing this (in vain) for more than a decade. In any event, the so-called neo-Gregorian Communions can still be sung, but Solesmes didn’t want to encourage their use, so they left them out. Pretty sneaky, if you ask me.


2. Notice, too, what the Ordo Cantus Missæ says about the Gloria (below are three different English translations):

“The hymn Gloria in excelsis is begun by the priest, or, if appropriate, by a cantor. It is presented either by a cantor and choir in alternation, or by two choirs responding to one another.”

“The hymn, Gloria in excelsis Deo, is intoned by the priest or by the cantor, if that is convenient. It is continued alternately by the cantors and the choir or by two choirs alternating.”

“The hymn Gloria in excelsis is intoned by the priest or, if more convenient, by the cantor. It is sung either by cantors and choir alternating or by two choirs antiphonally.”

The Ordo Cantus Missæ, then, has absolutely no preference as to whether the priest ought to intone the Glory to God. Since there is no preference, it seems best to follow the long-standing tradition of the Church, wherein the priest alone intones the Gloria. For centuries, this has been done (although some Mozart Masses seem not to respect this tradition).

By the way, all of the Mass settings in English I have composed for the New Translation can be intoned by the Celebrant. The video on the right comes from my St. Edmund Arrowsmith Mass Setting.

This article is part of a series:

Part 1   •   Part 2

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Bugnini ORDO CANTUS MISSAE, Ordinary Form Ordo Cantus Missæ, Ordo Cantus Missae, ORDO CANTUS MISSAE NOVUS ORDO Last Updated: September 29, 2023

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“Indeed, we may not hope for real Latin poetry any more, because Latin is now a dead language to all of us. However well a man may read, write, or even speak Latin now, it is always a foreign language to him, acquired artificially. It is no one’s mother tongue. Does a man ever write real poetry in an acquired language?”

— Rev’d Adrian Fortescue (d. 1923)

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