Views from the Choir Loft

Glaring Omission Vatican II Lectionary

Jeff Ostrowski · August 2, 2022

Sequence For Martin Luther? • (Sung to the melody of “Victimae Paschali Laudes”)

Dr. Luca Ricossa has made a YouTube recording of this Sequence!

Jeff Ostrowski · April 11, 2022

PDF Download • SATB “Refrain” for Good Friday

Is it “traditional” to receive Holy Communion on Good Friday?

Jeff Ostrowski · January 8, 2022

Re: Glaring Lectionary Omission • “Setting The Record Straight”

They were: (1) Cardinal Palazzini; (2) Cardinal Stickler; (3) Cardinal Mayer; (4) Cardinal Oddi; (5) Cardinal Casaroli; (6) Cardinal Gantin; (7) Cardinal Innocenti; (8) Cardinal Ratzinger; (9) Cardinal Tomko.

Jeff Ostrowski · June 4, 2021

They Did Something Bad & Inexplicable • (Documentation Included)

I beg you on my hands and knees to read verses 12-20.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Jeff Ostrowski · January 23, 2021

Glaring Omission from Post-Vatican II Lectionary

In the 1980s, Father Valentine wrote to a Vatican Congregation in Rome about this omission. It still hasn’t been fixed.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Music Director Job • $80,000 per year

Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published

Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Pope Pius XII Hymnal?

Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

“Hybrid” Chant Notation?

Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

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