Views from the Choir Loft

Donate to Corpus Christi Watershed

LEASE HELP Corpus Christi Watershed remain free to all; we don’t want to place it behind a paywall. Please help us keep the website free of ugly advertisements. Please help us avoid the necessity of obnoxious “pop-up” windows begging for money. Please help us continue to provide insightful articles, fabulous rehearsal videos, scans of rare books, beautiful choral scores, and so much more! Donating is simple and secure:

* * Donate • Via Cornerstone

Specify which kind you desire:
Monthly or One-Time Gift.

People who cannot donate by Cornerstone may use a cheque.

Look how easy it is to give:

* 1 July 2020 • “To all who care about Corpus Christi Watershed”
—A letter from the President of Corpus Christi Watershed.

* 19 June 2020 • “Watershed Will Never Be The Same”
—A letter from the President of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Amazon Smile (Free Money)

We’d have more than enough money
if everyone just clicked this link
before making an Amazon purchase:

Before you buy on Amazon,
please CLICK HERE
forcing 0.5% of your purchase
to come to us since
we’re a 501(c)3 public charity.

Learn more:

* A New Sacred Music Institute • with Free Tuition!

6 January 2021 • Anglicans on Plainsong

A book published by Anglicans in 1965 has this to say about Abbat Pothier’s Editio Vaticana, the musical edition reproduced by books such as the LIBER USUALIS (Solesmes Abbey): “No performing edition of the music of the Eucharistic Psalmody can afford to ignore the evidence of the current official edition of the Latin Graduale, which is no mere reproduction of a local or partial tradition, but a CENTO resulting from an extended study and comparison of a host of manuscripts gathered from many places. Thus the musical text of the Graduale possesses a measure of authority which cannot lightly be disregarded.” They are absolutely correct.

—Jeff Ostrowski

2 January 2021 • Temptation

When I see idiotic statements made on the internet, I go nuts. When I see heretics promoted by people who should know better, I get angry. Learning to ignore such items is difficult—very difficult. I try to remember the words of Fr. Valentine Young: “Do what God places in front of you each day.” When I am honest, I don’t believe God wants me to dwell on errors and idiocy; there’s nothing I can do about that. During 2021, I will strive to do a better job following the advice of Fr. Valentine.

—Jeff Ostrowski

31 December 2020 • “COMITES CHRISTI”

The feasts for Saint Stephen Proto-Martyr (26 December), Saint John the Evangelist The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved (27 December), and the Feast of the Holy Innocents (28 December) seem untouched by any liturgical reforms. These are very powerful feasts—I believe they once possessed octaves—and I believe they could sometimes “overpower” a Sunday feast. The rules for octaves in the olden days are extremely complex. These feasts are sometimes referred to as a single entity as: Comites Christi (“Companions of Christ”). This is just a guess, but there seems to be a triple significance: STEPHEN martyred after Christ lived, JOHN was a martyr who knew Christ personally, and the HOLY INNOCENTS were martyred before Christ’s birth.

—Jeff Ostrowski