Views from the Choir Loft

“For Immediate Release” • Re: Society for Catholic Liturgy Conference in Los Angeles

Corpus Christi Watershed · September 22, 2016

HE MOST REVEREND Archbishop José H. Gomez, Monsignor Andrew Wadsworth (ICEL’s Executive Director), Father Andrew Menke (USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship, Associate Director), and Bishop Elias Zaidan (Maronite Catholic bishop) are just a few of the speakers you’ll hear at the Liturgical Conference coming to Los Angeles from 29 September through 1 October, 2016.

But a change has been made.

The website of Dr. Anthony Lilles (St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo) informs us that Thursday and Friday will still be at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, but Saturday has been moved to USC Caruso Catholic Center (844 West 32nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007).

Saturday includes the PLENARY SESSION with Fr. Andrew Menke of the USCCB, who will review the current status of various liturgical projects taken up by the US Bishops.

108 • USC (“Our Savior Church”)

107 • USC (“Our Savior Church”)

106 • USC (“Our Savior Church”)

105 • USC (“Our Savior Church”)

104 • USC (“Our Savior Church”)

103 • USC (“Our Savior Church”)

Saturday morning at 8:00am, a Solemn High Mass will be offered with Sacred polyphony & Gregorian chant. The priests and choir are from the new Los Angeles Apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter.

109 USC Caruso Catholic Center

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

“Music List” • Midnight Mass (Christmas)

Some have expressed interest in perusing the “ORDER OF MUSIC” we followed for our Christmas Midnight Mass. If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. The English version of “In Splendóribus” we’re singing for the COMMUNION CHANT is short but striking.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Silent Night” • Easy Organ Arrangement

Here’s an organ accompaniment (PDF) in three different key signatures: MIDDLE, HIGH, and LOW. The Latin lyrics (“Silens Nox”) are courtesy of Father Valentine Young, OFM (d. 2020). The organ harmonies are very simple, yet beautiful. Those who desire such a thing may also download a Singer’s Version. Choirs will ‘pick up’ this piece up with minimal rehearsal time. Here’s a live recording from Midnight Mass from a few years ago: LIVE RECORDING.

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF Download • “Chart For Each Mode”

On 13 December, Dr. Weaver posted an article about the EIGHT CHURCH MODES. I thought it might be helpful to create this mode chart (PDF) which gives the various names for each mode of Gregorian Chant. If you notice any errors, please let me know!

—Jeff Ostrowski

“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

Epiphany Proclamation 2025

Each year, without fail, someone asks me to typeset the Epiphany Proclamation, an announcement of moveable feasts chanted each year on the feast of the Epiphany. As a result, you may now find an archive of 23 such proclamations in PDF ready to print HERE.

—Veronica Brandt

The Breviary in the Life of the Laity

Recently I have been enjoying looking through the inaugural (1927) edition of a 20th-century liturgical magazine called Orate Fratres. The July 1927 issue included an excellent article by a Chicago laywoman named Ellen Gates Starr entitled “The Delights of the Breviary: From the Point of View of a Lay Woman.” As we in the 21st century have recently undergone a (blessed!) re-translation of the missal into English, and as we await with joyful hope (please God, before Jesus comes back!) a similar re-translation of the breviary, the opening of her article reminded me of that old saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Nearly a hundred years ago, she penned words that could just as easily have been written today: “It is indeed a privilege to be allowed any participation, however slight, in the liturgical movement in the Church – the movement to bring back the classics of devotion, the Missal and the Breviary, into general use by the laity. The wonder is that they should ever have fallen into disuse. Nothing can take the place of these great universal prayers of the Church, the prayers of the Mass and the divine Office. One has only to know them to find them indispensable. And alas, how few of the laity know them!” I know that I have been tremendously nourished by regular praying of the breviary as of late, and my wish is that you and I, dear reader, may continue to nourish our interior lives with the official prayer of the Church, which present to us (in the Mass) and extend (in the Office) the fullness of Christ’s greatest gift to us – the gift of Himself – in the Most Holy Eucharist.

—Daniel Tucker