Views from the Choir Loft

Pre-1955 Holy Week

Jeff Ostrowski · August 30, 2024

Leaked Document! • Comparison Chart—New Responsorial Psalms (“Abbey Psalms & Canticles”)

The NAB tried to use “overly casual” language—and the results are often an abomination.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 11, 2023

“Truly Bizarre!” • Easter Vigil on Easter Sunday?

Rather than allow the traditional times, the Vatican gave permission to allow the Easter Vigil to be celebrated on the morning of Easter Sunday!

Jeff Ostrowski · March 29, 2023

“Seventy-Three (73) Changes” • Which Pope Pius XII Made to Holy Week

If we feel compelled to condemn these changes, let’s at least spend time learning what they are!

Jeff Ostrowski · April 10, 2021

PDF Download • Vespers for Holy Thursday?

“Custom preserves many things in liturgy after their first reason has ceased.” —Father Adrian Fortescue

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Corpus Christi Watershed · March 31, 2021

New Website! • “Restore The 1954 Holy Week”

We are pleased to observe how this site included our liturgical PDF files.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Jeff Ostrowski · March 16, 2021

Three Radical Liturgical Changes • (Pope Pius XII)

I love Venerable Pius XII very much, but this particular change was unconscionable.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Jeff Ostrowski · February 28, 2021

(Screenshots) • Proving Holy Saturday Took Place In The Morning

Five reasons keeping Holy Saturday in the morning is a good idea.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Jeff Ostrowski · July 23, 2020

PDF Download • “Holy Week and Easter with Gregorian Chant” (797 pages)

Supremely rare Belgian book with Gregorian Chant!

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Jeff Ostrowski · April 2, 2018

I Was Wrong to Dread the “Pre-1955” Holy Week

Five (5) differences between the ancient rites of Holy Week (“Pre-1955”) and the Pius XII version.

Jeff Ostrowski · June 21, 2017

Holy Week Bulletin from 1943

Notice when the ceremonies begin!

“Entrance Chant” • Christ the King

Download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the Solemnity of Christ the King (24 November 2024). It mimics the Mode III Latin version in a truly spectacular way. Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, I attempted to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Music List” • (33rd Sund. Ordinary Time)

This coming Sunday—17 November 2024—is the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B. 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. You’ll notice we’re learning Moreau’s “Congregational Polyphonic Enhancement” for the OUR FATHER. For the record, our opening hymn is particularly beautiful. So is the Mode 6 ENTRANCE CHANT.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Lectionary Errors

If you look at the official Responsorial Psalm (PDF) for this coming Sunday, you’ll notice the current Lectionary has the wrong refrain. Why is this a big deal? Why even mention such a thing? Everybody makes mistakes, right? Here’s why it matters. The USCCB—which makes money by selling the sacred liturgical texts—has historically been ruthless when it comes to such matters. When various publishers point out errors to them, their response has been: “If you dare to correct the error, we’ll sue you.” These errors are not a matter of nuance; e.g. sometimes the previous (English) edition of the Lectionary got them right! Bottom Line: mandatory, indulgenced, liturgical texts shouldn’t be sold; they should be freely available to all Catholics.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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

Principles vs Preferences

I ran into this idea recently: principles vs. preferences in planning out a curriculum or music lineup. In this idea, it is imperative to not misconstrue personal preferences into principles—that the music (or subject matter) is great because: “I have good taste, and I like it.” De gustibus… Education, study and docility to the Magisterium of the Church on matters of liturgical music must be present in those who make the music at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Hours. Who knows? Maybe you might start to prefer the music that is fitting according to the principles Catholic Sacred Music?

—William J. Fritz

Liquescent Notes in the Official Edition

The official edition—the EDITIO VATICANA itself—is somewhat inconsistent when it comes to liquescent notes. If you wish to see a perfect “apples-to-apples” comparison, click here. Such “inconsistency” was not owing to ignorance on the part of Abbat Pothier: the manuscripts themselves are inconsistent when it comes to liquescent notes.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Although the Mass contains much instruction for the faithful, it has nevertheless not seemed expedient to the fathers that it be celebrated everywhere in the vernacular. The holy synod commands pastors and everyone who has the care of souls to explain frequently during the celebration of the Masses, either themselves or through others, some of the things that are read in the Mass, and among other things to expound some mystery of this most Holy Sacrifice, especially on Sundays and feastdays.”

— ‘Council of Trent, XII:8 (1562)’