Views from the Choir Loft

Ronald Knox • His Actual Voice!

Jeff Ostrowski · September 18, 2018

ONSIGNOR RONALD KNOX is definitely in the “Top Five” when it comes to men who have influenced the creation of the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal. The Breviary translations by Msgr. Knox—which so few people today know about—are absolutely fantastic and sui generis. Each word is carefully chosen, and he often brings out hidden meanings from the Pre-Urbanite versions in ways only a genius could. Moreover, Knox was heavily involved with the creation of the New Westminster Hymnal; something confirmed by his biographer, Evelyn Waugh. ¹

We can reveal more about our project once the Brébeuf Hymnal has been released…and it’s very close to hitting the market. Perhaps as soon as October!

One of the committee members sent me the voice of Msgr. Knox, giving a splendid lecture:

* * Mp3 Download • “The Incarnation and Childhood” (Ronald Knox)

By the way, I love his accent; especially the way he pronounces “history” and “theory.” Knox was a close friend of the young Fulton J. Sheen, and it’s not hard to imagine the influence the older priest had on the younger preacher:

One of these days, I hope some brilliant author comes out with a modern biography of Knox—it would be a bestseller!

NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1 The New Westminster Hymnal—in terms of what they set out to do in that era and how they went about accomplishing their goal—was a major inspiration for our project.

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

About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

“Music List” (4th Sunday of Advent, Year C)

This coming Sunday—22 December 2024—is the 4th Sunday of Advent (Year C). Some have expressed interest in perusing my “ORDER OF MUSIC.” If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. The English version of “Roráte Cæli” we’re singing for the ENTRANCE CHANT is magnificent.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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—Jeff Ostrowski

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—Jeff Ostrowski

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—Corpus Christi Watershed

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—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