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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.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Benedict Brought Peace To The Church With “Summorum Pontificum”

Jeff Ostrowski · January 28, 2014

834 Latin Mass OPE BENEDICT XVI brought peace to the Church by his 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. In the letter accompanying it, he said:

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.”

The fact is, for a long time, Catholics have had to accept a great injustice. On the one hand, certain bishops were admitting all kinds of inappropriate things (especially secular music) into the liturgy, owing to catchwords like “inclusivity, pastoral considerations, cultural sensitivity, ministerial creativity, and avoidance of rubrical rigidity.” On the other hand, Catholics who ardently desired sacred and traditional liturgy were often not allowed to have it. As László Dobszay put it, describing a similar situation:

“If the right is given to African tribes to include their pagan traditions in the liturgy, I think the same should also be given to the rite of a thousand year-old Christian Church, based on a much older Roman tradition.”

Seeing this gross injustice, Pope Benedict XVI set things right. There’s not really much I can add to Professor Dobszay’s quote, except to point out that people who distorted the Council’s true teachings could only do so because the internet didn’t exist yet. With the advent of the internet, granting full access to the actual documents, distortion has become much more difficult. To give just one example, are you aware that some bishops banned Latin in their dioceses after the Council, in spite of §36 of Sacrosanctum Concilium? Somebody published a list of dioceses which did that, but I can’t seem to find it at the moment. Regardless, priests who lived during that period have assured me this actually did happen.

YESTERDAY, OUR HOT WATER HEATER BROKE. And our car wouldn’t start, so here I am riding my bike on the absolute coldest day of the year. As I’m riding, stray dogs leap out at me and sometimes cause me to tumble. My temptation is to turn around and get even with those dogs. But what good would that do?

That’s like the Church. I see petty snipers everywhere. They get their digs in against the Church whenever they can. Like my mother used to say, “Any old stick will do to beat the Church.” But, Pope Benedict XVI didn’t focus on the “stray dogs.” He focused on something positive: bringing peace to the Church.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Latin Mass, Pope Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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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

    A Nice Hymn In Spanish
    In my humble opinion, this is a really beautiful hymn in Spanish. If I practice diligently, I’ll be able to pronounce all the words properly. If you’re someone who’s interested in obtaining a melody only version (suitable for your congregational ORDER OF WORSHIP) you can steal that from this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 21st in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir returns on Sunday, 24 August 2025. Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for it, which is the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the spectacular feasts website. When it comes to the feast of the Assumption (15 August 2025), I have uploaded the music list for that Mass—but not the “bi-lingual” Mass in the evening (Spanish, Latin, and English) which has completely different music.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Entrance Chant” • 21st Sunday Ordin. Time
    You can download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) which is coming up on 24 August 2025. Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. It’s set in a melancholy mode, but if you heard my choir’s female voices singing it your soul would be uplifted beyond belief. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, this morning I tried to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Solemn “Salve Regina” (Chant)
    How many “S” words can you think of using alliteration? How about Schwann Solemn Salve Score? You can download the SOLEMN SALVE REGINA in Gregorian Chant. The notation follows the official rhythm (EDITIO VATICANA). Canon Jules Van Nuffel, choirmaster of the Cathedral of Saint Rumbold, composed this accompaniment for it (although some feel it isn’t his best work).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

The eminent theologian Suarez (who died in 1617) […] took the position that a pope would be schismatic “if he, as is his duty, would not be in full communion with the body of the Church as, for example, if he were to excommunicate the entire Church, or if he were to change all the liturgical rites of the Church that have been upheld by apostolic tradition.”

— Monsignor Klaus Gamber (1981)

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