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When it seemed Father Jean de Brébeuf and his companions were about to meet death on 28 October 1637, he wrote a letter to his superiors. Here’s an excerpt: “It is a singular favor that His Goodness gives us, to allow us to endure something for love of Him. Now it is that we consider […]
I consider myself a “flexible” choirmaster. When I sing with men who have low voices, I join with them at a low pitch. Here’s an excerpt from yesterday, which was LAETARE SUNDAY (the 4th Sunday of Lent). Later that same day, I sang at another Mass with a singer who has a very high voice. […]
I agree with Keven Smith that Covid-19 has been a huge boon to my skills of improvisation on the organ. I wanted to share this amazing email (which gave me such joy), sent to me by somebody I don’t know: “My name is —— and I attended the 7:00pm Mass today at St Vitus. The […]
Like everyone else, we are struggling under the Covid-19 restrictions. The number of singers we’re allowed have has been reduced in a severe way. But we charge forward, trusting in God. Here is a 50-second live excerpt from Mass last Sunday here in Los Angeles. Not many voices, but still beautiful (in my humble opinion).
Due to Covid-19, California has basically been under “lock down” for 11 months, and these restrictions have had quite a detrimental effect on choral programs. We are frequently limited to just 2-3 singers, on account of regulations by the government and our Archdiocese. However, although the number of singers is quite small, I was struck […]
According to Monsignor Frederick R. McManus, there were “policemen” serving the Sanhedrin in the time of Our Blessed Lord. Look at this awful translation in the 1966 “Saint Andrew Bible Missal” from 1966. Yuck!
One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” […]
In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a […]
We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the […]
Some readers have had difficulty finding this article, which we scanned and posted circa 2008, so here it is: The Attack On The Vatican Edition: A Rejoinder The Styria Press (Graz and Vienna), 1907. Reprinted in Caecilia, Vol 87, No. 1 (Spring, 1960). The article is by Dr. Peter Wagner, a student of Father Michael […]
Gregorian Chant does not follow the example of Baroque composers, who strongly emphasize (“slam”) the tonic accent. Cantus Gregorianus has a very sophisticated way of honoring the text—an approach which goes far beyond the “goo goo gah gah” approach of slamming the tonic accent. Thousands of examples in the Gregorian repertoire demonstrate this reality, but […]
We have witnessed the downfall of so many “famous” Catholics—including priests—who had pretended to be holy, but were caught committing terrible sins. In a particular way, EWTN was harmed because several of their biggest stars were exposed. I was thinking about whether something holy can be “tainted,” and what that means. Fulton Sheen made mistakes, […]
A recent article—Glaring Omission from Post-Vatican II Lectionary—has generated enormous traffic, and has become one of our most popular articles. During that article, I made reference to our position on “political” articles. If anyone cares to know about my political views, please download: Only In Secret And With Horror. I have explained my views in […]
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For several months, we have discussed the complicated history of the various Christmas feasts: the Baptism of the Lord, the feast of the Holy Family, the Epiphany, and so forth. During a discussion, someone questioned my assertion that in some places Christmas had been part of the Epiphany. As time went on, of course, the […]