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Jesus said to them: “I have come into this world so that a sentence may fall upon it, that those who are blind should see, and those who see should become blind. If you were blind, you would not be guilty. It is because you protest, ‘We can see clearly,’ that you cannot be rid of your guilt.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

“Glad Trad” vs. “Rad Trad”

Jeff Ostrowski · March 20, 2021

COTT HAHN recently made a distinction between “glad trads” and “rad trads.” Perhaps someday I will have an opportunity to comment on that, although I’m not sure anyone cares how I feel. For the moment I can only say—from personal experience—that many of the Rad Trads have faded away, while the Glad Trads have grown exponentially since my family began attending the Traditional Latin Mass in the early 1990s. Nevertheless, Rad Trad authors still exist on the internet, and some of them are extremely ferocious and dangerous. 1 They harm the Catholic Church very much.

When Father Isaac Jogues became a willing captive of the Iroquois, he underwent suffering and humiliation too terrible for words. Some of the experiences he endured were rather strange. For instance, he was kept in a tiny room—without clean drinking water—in the scorching summer heat. For months he sat there, in extreme pain, reading the Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis over and over again. This ordeal was somewhat strange; he was alone, dressed in lay clothing, missing several fingers, probably very bored. On a much smaller scale, we in 2021 are called to do something strange. We must avoid reading the ravings of Rad Trads. We must never respond to them or acknowledge them, because they crave attention and “clicks.”

An Example: An ex-parishioner has spent the last few years spreading nasty rumors about my parish and our FSSP priests. He attacks us because we have Mass in a tent. (We have thousands of parishioners and can’t squeeze in our tiny little church—that’s why we’re trying to raise money to build a new church and we’ve already raised 3 million dollars.)

This malicious numbskull claims that our Masses are “invalid” because they happen underneath a tent. He calls our Masses “tent-revivals.” But check out this manuscript from the 14th century:

It looks like our church! Even though we have six Masses each Sunday, we just can’t fit all the people who want to attend.

Trusting In God: We will get a church in God’s good time. It’s not for us to question why God allows certain things to happen. Over the last year, our government has printed trillions of dollars—and I know people who have gotten rich off “Covid relief” in a very dishonest way. But Our Lord has asked: For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?


NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   I know several who are cowardly hypocrites who live in an alternate reality…but that’s another story for another day!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.
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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Latin Mass, Traditional Latin Mass Last Updated: March 20, 2021

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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).

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President’s Corner

    “Entrance Chant” • 4th Sunday of Easter
    You can download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the 4th Sunday of Easter (11 May 2025). Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. The English adaptation matches the authentic version (Misericórdia Dómini), which is in a somber yet gorgeous mode. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, this morning I tried to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music List • “Repertoire for Weddings”
    Not everyone thinks about sacred music 24/7 like we do. When couples are getting married, they often request “suggestions” or “guidance” or a “template” for their musical selections. I created music list with repertoire suggestions for Catholic weddings. Please feel free to download it if you believe it might give you some ideas or inspiration.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Beginning a Men’s Schola
    I mentioned that we recently began a men’s Schola Cantorum. Last Sunday, they sang the COMMUNION ANTIPHON for the 3rd Sunday of Easter, Year C. If you’re so inclined, feel free to listen to this live recording of them. I feel like we have a great start, and we’ll get better and better as time goes on. The musical score for that COMMUNION ANTIPHON can be downloaded (completely free of charge) from the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

It was thought important that the song should actually accompany the distribution of Communion. A Carolingian explanation of the Mass remarks that during the Communion “soft melody should touch the ear [of the faithful] so that hearing this sound they would busy themselves less with distracting thoughts and … their hearts would be moved to humble love for that which they receive.”

— Father Josef Andreas Jungmann
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