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Views from the Choir Loft

Problematic Sequence Translations In Our Current Lectionary

Jeff Ostrowski · June 2, 2014

399 GIA Worship IV EVERAL FULLY APPROVED pew books avoid the Sequence translations found in the current Lectionary. Examples include GIA’s Worship IV, the Gregorian Missal (Solesmes, 2012), and the Jogues Illuminated Missal.

As a member of the Jogues editorial committee, I’m happy to reveal why we made this choice. First, I’ll give a tiny bit of history. Then, I’ll mention some problems with the current translation. Finally, I’ll explain our solution.

When the Lectionary first appeared in 1970, it included two translations for each Sequence: one prose, one poetic. However, the prose version was eventually dropped. Furthermore, the poetic version was bowdlerized and given an erroneous copyright. 1

An irrational fear of Thee, Thou, and Thine caused the removal of such words, damaging the meter and making the bowdlerized version impossible to sing to the original chant tune:

Original 1964 Version:
Come, thou Holy Spirit, come!
And from thy celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!

Come, thou Father of the poor!
Come, thou source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine!

Bowdlerized Version:
Come, […] Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!

Come, […] Father of the poor!
Come, […] source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.

The whole point of these “poetic” translations was to match the Latin rhythm exactly. However, the meter was wrecked when somebody decided words like “reconcileth” were too hard to understand:

Original Latin:   Reconciliávit peccatóres.   (10 beats)
Original 1964 Version:   Reconcileth sinners to the Father.   (10 beats)
Current Lectionary Version (Bowdlerized):   Reconciles sinners to the Father.   (9 beats)

Original Latin:   Quid vidisti in via?   (7 beats)
Original 1964 Version:   What thou sawest, wayfaring.   (7 beats)
Current Lectionary Version (Bowdlerized):   What you saw, wayfaring.   (6 beats)

When we consider the ingenious efforts of the poet — who perfectly matched the rhyme scheme, meter, and accents of the original Latin — we recognize how audacious and unacceptable is such vandalism. Look how they treated the Lauda Sion of St. Thomas Aquinas:

Original 1964 Version:
Laud, O Sion, thy salvation,
Laud with hymns of exultation,
Christ, thy king and shepherd true:

Bring him all the praise thou knowest,
He is more than thou bestowest,
Never canst thou reach his due.

Bowdlerized Version:
Laud, O Zion, your salvation,
Laud with hymns of exultation,
Christ, your king and shepherd true:

Bring him all the praise you know,
He is more than you bestow.
Never can you reach his due.

Someone might exclaim, “Oh, who cares about meter?” But things get even worse. For instance, yours doesn’t rhyme with “divine” :

Original 1964 Version:
O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of thine,
And our inmost being fill!

Where thou art not, man hath naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.

Bowdlerized Version:
O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!

Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.

They even replaced the “sexist” word man, but such changes weren’t sufficient for some. Observe how somebody carefully deleted every reference to God being “He” or “Him” throughout the entire 1970 Lectionary.

CONSIDERING THIS TEXTUAL VANDALISM, our choice was simple, since current law does not require use of the Lectionary version. In the Jogues Illuminated Missal, we provided two (2) translations for each Sequence: metrical & literal.

Parishes lacking a choir will probably want to use the first version, which we set to simple-yet-beautiful melodies. A single cantor could easily lead the traditional tunes we chose. However, parishes with excellent choirs will probably sing the Sequence in Latin, and each member of the congregation can actively participate by means of the superb literal translations we placed alongside the Latin, printed in massive fonts. 2

Also pertinent are comments by the Consilium Secretary regarding vernacular translations of Latin poetry: “There are so many beautiful texts which can never have the same effectiveness in translation.”



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Documentation of the erroneous attribution is here, for those who care about such things. Today, I shall speak of the bowdlerization only.

2   A question remains about the Lauda Sion, which (unlike the Veni Sancte Spiritus and Victimae) is an optional Sequence. It has a “shorter version,” and (frankly) is much less familiar and very long. We don’t know what most parishes will do for the Lauda Sion, but we gave two special options that (in our view) will be appreciated greatly.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Liturgical Translation of Sequences, Novus Ordo Lectionary 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

    PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
    EVIN ALLEN was commissioned by Sacred Music Symposium 2025 to compose a polyphonic ‘middle section’ for the GLORIA from Mass III, often denoted by its trope name: Missa Kyrie Deus sempiterne. This year, I’m traveling from Singapore to serve on the symposium faculty. I will be conducting Palestrina’s ‘Ave Maria’ as well as teaching plainsong to the men. A few days ago, I was asked to record rehearsal videos for this beautiful polyphonic extension. (See below.) This polyphonic composition fits ‘inside’ GLORIA III. That is, the congregation sings for the beginning and end, but the choir alone adds polyphony to the middle. The easiest way to understand how everything fits together is by examining this congregational insert. You may download the score, generously made available to the whole world—free of charge—by CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED:
    *  PDF Download • Gloria III ‘Middle Section’ (Kevin Allen)
    Free rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #24366. Related News • My colleague, Jeff Ostrowski, composed an organ accompaniment for this same GLORIA a few months ago. Obviously, the organist should drop out when the polyphony is being sung.
    —Corrinne May
    “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
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    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
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

Thus in 1905 the Vatican Kyriale appeared with rhythmic signs and the following legend: “Præsens exemplar, rhythmicis signis a Solesmensibus monachis ornatum, typicae Vaticanæ editioni de cætero plane conforme repertum est.” (This copy, provided with rhythmic signs by the monks of Solesmes, completely agrees in every other respect with the Vatican original.)

— Dom Gregory Hügle, OSB

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