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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

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

    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 27th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 5 October 2025, which is the 27th 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 alongside the official texts in Latin. Readers will want to check out the ENTRANCE CHANT posted there, which has a haunting melody (in the DEUTERUS MODE) and extremely powerful text.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Kids’ Choir Sings Thomas Aquinas
    Last Sunday, a children’s choir I’m teaching sang with us for the very first time at Sunday Mass. Females from our main choir sang along with them. If you’re curious to hear how they sounded, you can listen to a ‘live’ recording. That’s an English version of TANTUM ERGO by Saint Thomas Aquinas. That haunting melody is called GAUFESTRE and was employed for this 2-Voice Arrangement of a special hymn for 9 November (“Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome”) which replaces a Sunday this year.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Reminder” — Month of September (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Did they simplify these hymn harmonies?
    Choirs love to sing the famous & splendid tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1952, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. In other words, their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1952 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. I really like the groovy Germanic INTRODUCTION they added.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“I would hope there is a place [at Mass] for the avant-garde in the same way I think there has to be a place—and we have to be careful with this—a place for Jazz and a place for Evangelical and all of that. […] On theological grounds, I do think we need interaction with the culture at the level of high art or at the level of more commercial pop culture.”

— Fr. Anthony Ruff (22 June 2016)

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