Views from the Choir Loft

This Saturday! • Solemn Pontifcal Mass in D.C.

Andrew Leung · April 26, 2018

WAS INFORMED THAT a Solemn Pontifical Mass will be offered in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception this coming Saturday, April 28, at 1pm.

The Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample, Archbishop of Portland, Oregon, will be celebrating the Mass in the Extraordinary Form; and he will be assisted by famous clergy from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. The Mass is being celebrated in honor of the 10th anniversary of Summorum Pontificum.

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If you are living near Washington DC, this is something you do not want to miss! The music—including Victoria’s Missa Salve Regina and other Renaissance motets—will be provided by the Basilica Choir; and the Propers will be sung by the schola of St. Mary Mother of God Parish at the nearby Chinatown.

The Mass will be broadcast by EWTN.

AM ALSO AWARE OF another Solemn High Mass that happened about two weeks ago on Low Sunday (Sunday within the Octave of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday). The Mass was held at the National Shrine of St. Alphonsus of Liguori in Baltimore, MD, which was recently entrusted to the Fraternity. The historic Shrine was founded in 1845 and exists within the Diocese of Baltimore, the oldest Catholic Diocese in the United States.

Pictures of the Mass can be found on An American Photographer. The Mass was celebrated by Fr. Joel Kiefer, FSSP, the pastor of the Shrine. Fr. Kiefer was the associate pastor at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Atlanta, GA, prior his current assignment. I had the privilege to meet him when I was the director of music at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Conyers, GA. I would sing with the schola at St. Francis de Sales occasionally on special feast days during weekdays.

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

About Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

“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