Views from the Choir Loft

Articles

Jeff Ostrowski · December 24, 2012

Biography • Jeffrey M. Ostrowski

Jeff holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas . . .

Fr. David Friel · December 24, 2012

Midnight Mass

A Timeless Tradition

Aurelio Porfiri · December 22, 2012

Aurelio Porfiri

Aurelio is renowned as a conductor, theorist, organist, author …

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · December 22, 2012

Reason and Mystery

Let us not abandon the heart of the mind and the mind of the heart.

Fr. David Friel · December 21, 2012

What Jesus Looked Like

An Idea

Dr. Lucas Tappan · December 21, 2012

Biography • Dr. Lucas Tappan

Lucas founded the Most Pure Heart of Mary Schola in 2011…

Cynthia Ostrowski · December 20, 2012

Latin Mass In The Pantheon (Rome)

Many people might not realize the Pantheon has been a Catholic Church for centuries.

Fr. David Friel · December 18, 2012

The Antidote to Violence

Welcoming the Child

Fr. David Friel · December 14, 2012

Advent vs. the Saints

Can We Have a Truce?

Cynthia Ostrowski · December 14, 2012

How To Purchase More Than One Book On LULU

This is a video with many tips on how to use LULU.

Fr. David Friel · December 8, 2012

The Hope of Sinners

Mary Immaculate

Jeff Ostrowski · December 6, 2012

He’s At It Again . . . And Again.

Perhaps the reader is wondering why I keep saying the same thing over and over again . . .

Fr. David Friel · December 2, 2012

The Worth of Waiting

Of Advent & Strawberry Festivals

Fr. David Friel · November 30, 2012

Andrew’s Orations

Why I Love Being a Roman Catholic

Fr. David Friel · November 26, 2012

Vision of the Apocalypse

Perfect Harmony

“Truly Great Processional” • (Pipe Organ)

I stumbled upon this live recording of a PROCESSIONAL I played on the pipe organ in 2002. It’s an excerpt from a much longer composition by Sebastian Bach. In those days, there weren’t sophisticated recording devices allowing one “fix” wrong notes. (Perhaps they existed, but we didn’t have machines like that.) So it was necessary to play the entire piece from beginning to end. If you’re a church organist, feel free to download the PDF score. I suppose it’s only a matter of time until some joker uses “artificial intelligence” to play music at church … but there’s something so satisfying about playing an organ in real life.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Proof Which All Can Immediately See!

“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing,” as the famous maxim goes. Over the years, I’ve observed malicious attacks on the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal. Rather than scoring a ‘hit’ on the Brébeuf Hymnal, its attackers often reveal profound ignorance. I’ve been advised never to reply … but I break that rule today. Certain voices online assert that the Brébeuf Hymnal is “untraditional” because it includes both the Urbanite and pre-Urbanite versions of the hymns. But if only they would glance at a copy of the 1913 VESPERALE (printed by order of Pope Saint Pius X) they would see how mistaken such statements are.

—Jeff Ostrowski

New Bulletin Article • “8 June 2025”

My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for the parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article includes a few anecdotes about Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen and Abraham Lincoln.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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