Views from the Choir Loft

Archives for June 2013

Corpus Christi Watershed · June 4, 2013

06 • Lalemant Conversations: Dr. Scott Smith

Dr. Scott Smith speaks about the Mass Propers in a “live” phone interview.

Jeff Ostrowski · June 4, 2013

What Is Currently Happening? Let’s Be Honest.

Why do 99% of Catholic Churches replace 100% of the Mass Propers 99% of the time?

Cynthia Ostrowski · June 4, 2013

Catholic Line Art, Black and White • Installment #19

I will be releasing hundreds of these B/W religious line art drawings for free and instant download. These beautiful Catholic “woodcuts” were done with magnificent skill. “Download Free Traditional Catholic Clipart”

Jeff Ostrowski · June 3, 2013

Free Musical Scores For Catholic Weddings

Nuptial Mass Responsorial Psalms, Gospel Acclamations, Introits, Offertories, simple organ interludes, training videos, PDF scores, and more . . . all for free!

Fr. David Friel · June 2, 2013

Corpus Christi

Not the Watershed, but True Worship

Jeff Ostrowski · June 1, 2013

A Most Magnificent Monogram

Can you find all the letters in this ancient symbol? Every Catholic knows how the Preface begins: “It is truly right and just, our duty and salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks . . .”

Veronica Brandt · June 1, 2013

As easy as (G)ABC

Including newly typeset Gregorian chant in your booklets has never been easier.

Hidden Treasure!

If you haven’t yet had an opportunity to check out the feasts website …what are you waiting for? Each week it grows more extensive. We believe you’ll want to download some of the musical scores being compiled on that website.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Music List” • Feast of the Epiphany

Some have expressed interest in perusing the “ORDER OF MUSIC” I prepared for the Feast of the Epiphany. If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. The EPIPHANY SEASON according to the 1970 liturgical calendar is exceedingly brief and was placed underneath the Christmas season. That’s a real shame, because there are so many great Epiphany hymns…

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Entrance Chant” • Feast of the Epiphany

Download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the Feast of the Lord’s Epiphany (5 January 2025). The authentic Gregorian version is famous and beloved, but many attempts to create English adaptations for it turn out rather stale and boring. I like this setting because it departs from Mode ii. Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, this morning I attempted to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.

—Jeff Ostrowski

The Dedication of a Musician

I am reading the biography of a musician (Leo Sowerby), and I read a quote that makes my head shake in sorrow: “[Sowerby] also cultivated a rhetoric that pushed aside questions of his personal life, stating repeatedly for instance it would be impossible for him to do what he did as a musician while also being married.” I think most readers of this blog who cultivate an active Catholic life and who diligently follow the teachings of the Church in its fullness might agree: one cannot be a good husband/wife/father/mother/priest/religious and become one of those rarified musicians who are able to dedicate all their time to hone their craft. However, might I suggest that this wholly misses the point of being an artist. St. John Paul II says that man is generous by nature. In other words, it is in the very being of what it is to be human to be giving of oneself. An artist who is truly living their God-given talent gives freely of themselves first in their vocation, and then their contemplation of beauty will not be stifled by their life in communion with others. Rather, that giving of self is the underlying impetus and drive that will influence and mold their art in ways that living a worldly-minded, “self-fulfilled” life can never do. “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

—William J. Fritz

“Reader Feedback” • 6 January 2025

A message we received: “Thank you so much for all of your tireless and selfless work in building up the Kingdom of God and Helping us on the path toward heaven! Your work for many years now has borne much fruit in my life and in the lives of whom I work with. May the Lord bless and protect your very important apostolate.”

—Corpus Christi Watershed

“Lessons and Carols”

Seen online! Dr. Samuel Backman conducted a “Lessons and Carols” service with his choir, and someone produced this lovely vignette.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

“Only against this background, of the effective denial of the authority of Trent, can one understand the bitterness of the struggle against allowing the celebration of Mass according to the 1962 Missal after the liturgical reform. The possibility of so celebrating constitutes the strongest, and thus (for them) the most intolerable contradiction of the opinion of those who believe that the faith in the Eucharist, as formulated by Trent, has lost its validity.”

— Cardinal Ratzinger, 2001