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Views from the Choir Loft

“Proper Of The Mass” (Ignatius Press) • Part 2 of 7

Richard J. Clark · April 17, 2015

R. WEBER’S LANDMARK book The Proper of the Mass for Sundays and Solemnities published by Ignatius Press is a great gift to the Church. He bends over backwards to make the propers as user friendly as possible. The texts are in English. There are multiple settings of each proper, which accommodates choirs of varying levels. Each psalm verse is written out. One could not ask for anything more.

A Publication like this begs an interesting question. What would the state of liturgical music look like today if such a resource were available immediately after Vatican II and many parishes adopted it? While difficult to imagine a typical parish adopting this today, fifty years ago, such a publication would have provided continuity. For many, it may have been a natural outcome of Vatican II.

While much of the confusion and misunderstanding following Vatican II was inevitable, such a collection would have set a model as did the works of Theodore Marier with hymnody, psalms settings, and singing the mass. But with respect to the propers, the hole we are digging ourselves out of would perhaps not be quite as deep. “Option 4” of the GIRM would not be the default setting as readily as it is today.

BUT CONJECTURE IS USELESS. History has played itself out and continues to do so. We have had fifty years to look upon the great successes and failures of the implementation and interpretation of Vatican II. That this resource—and a flood of new ones—are becoming available, points to a new awakening in the Church. Even mainstream publishers are beginning to take notice and provide new resources. We are only at the dawn of this awakening, but the sun is rising.

Death is necessary for rebirth. Despite Vatican II’s call for a renewal in Gregorian Chant, its death was nearly universal save a few beacons of light that kept it alive. What we are experiencing now is the rising after death. Progress may appear very slow to us, but what is true will always live on.

This article is part of a series on Fr. Weber’s Book of Propers:

Part 1 • Andrew Motyka

Part 2 • Richard Clark

Part 3 • Veronica Brandt

Part 4 • Fr. David Friel

Part 5 • Andrew Leung

Part 6 • Dr. Lucas Tappan

Part 7 • Jeff Ostrowski

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Proper of the Mass in English, Propers Ignatius Press by Fr Samuel Weber Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Vespers Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent)
    The organ accompaniment booklet (24 pages) which I created for the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Lætare Sunday”) may now be downloaded, for those who desire such a thing.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Vespers Booklet, 3rd Sunday of Lent
    The organ accompaniment I created for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (“Extraordinary Form”) may now be downloaded, if anyone is interested in this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Weeping For Joy! (We Hope!)
    Listening to this Easter Alleluia—an SATB arrangement I made twenty years ago based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel—one of our readers left this comment: “I get tears in my eyes each time I sing to this hymn.” I hope this person is weeping for joy!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“To treat harmony and rhythm in this matter was a difficult matter. Facing numerous problems both large and small—that arose constantly—we understood that a flawless harmonization of Gregorian chant cannot be created by improvisation, no matter the competence and ability of the organist or harmonist.”

— ‘Mons. Jules Van Nuffel, NOH Preface’

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