Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”
One could be forgiven for believing that arranging hymns in alphabetical order would make them easier to find. Believe it or not, that’s actually one of the worst decisions an editor could make. This very brief video explains why.
If you asked random Catholics to recite in English—without reference to a book—a stanza from the “Tantum Ergo” of Saint Thomas Aquinas, how many do you think could?
Perhaps you’re saying to yourself: “Jeff comes across as super ungrateful.”
I could give a zillion more examples of my disability.
Including a Eucharistic Hymn (#142) every Catholic should know!
He screamed into the telephone: “There’s no such thing as Gregorian Chant!”
Instead, Saint Francis knelt down and kissed the priest’s hands…
Half a decade has passed since nine (9) colleagues from Corpus Christi Watershed contributed texts, melodies, and harmonizations to a special hymn book in honor of North America’s patron saint, Father John Brébeuf. The website promoting it was massively overdue for a facelift. As of a few minutes ago, I can report that it’s been […]
From a female choirmaster: “Thank you for your recent article, Jeff. We here in _____ absolutely love our Brébeuf hymnals! They have saved my life as a choir director! ☺️ The ease with which my choir members plunge into a new hymn using the ‘common melodies technique’ is so wonderful. You can see the relief on […]
The cruelest thing you can do to anyone is…
We must remember the lesson of the rock.
Today, I release another movement of the “Saint Noël Chabanel Mass Setting” (for use in the Ordinary Form).
As if the canonic sections were insufficiently stupendous, the composer works in stepwise ascending lines juxtaposed with lines in augmentation.
The hubris on the part of OCP is breathtaking.
Including two (2) haunting and powerful Eucharistic hymns.
