Views from the Choir Loft

USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship

Fr. David Friel · March 24, 2019

New Musical Settings for the Blessing of the Holy Oils

The USCCB has provided freely downloadable versions of the musical settings of these newly translated texts.

Fr. David Friel · July 15, 2018

Society for Catholic Liturgy Conference 2018

To be held 27–29 September 2018, the conference will focus on the legacy of Msgr. Romano Guardini.

Fr. David Friel · December 31, 2017

USCCB Assesses Impact of “Magnum Principium”

Seven Observations on Liturgical Translation and the Recent Motu Proprio

Fr. David Friel · December 17, 2017

Gray Book for Baptism of Children Approved

How will the “confirmatio” and “regonitio” processes unfold in light of “Magnum principium”?

Fr. David Friel · July 30, 2017

Pastoral Care of Persons with Disabilites

Catholics with disabilities have a right to participate in the sacraments as fully as other members of the local ecclesial community.

Fr. David Friel · March 13, 2016

The Rite of Marriage, Second Edition

The release date has been set. What will be new in the new Rite of Marriage?

Fr. David Friel · November 23, 2014

What Will ICEL Do Next?

Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth gives details on what ICEL is doing now that the Roman Missal project has been completed.

Fr. David Friel · May 4, 2014

Parish May Crownings

A strong devotional life in the parish church will naturally support and strengthen its liturgical vitality.

Fr. David Friel · February 9, 2014

Celebrating Parish Weddings

New Rubrics for Use of the Gloria

Fr. David Friel · January 5, 2014

Ministry vs. Edification

Do the People “Minister” to their Priests?

Fr. David Friel · December 22, 2013

The Book of Non-Blessings

Of Advent Wreathes & Christmas Crèches

Corpus Christi Watershed · December 15, 2013

Florida Priest Named Head Of USCCB Divine Worship Secretariat

Please note: It’s Fr. Michael J. Flynn … not Michael J. Fox! 🙂

Richard J. Clark · June 7, 2013

The “Heart and Soul” of STTL: The Three Judgments: One Evaluation

If there is any one section of “Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship” to become very familiar with, it is this one, and for rather intriguing reasons.

“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

“Entrance Chant” • 4th Sunday of Advent

Download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the 4th Sunday of Advent (22 December 2024). Set in the first mode—just like the authentic version—this setting manages to capture the “essence” of the Gregorian setting in quite an admirable way. Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, this morning I attempted to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Communion (4th Sunday of Advent)

The COMMUNION ANTIPHON (PDF) we’re singing for the 4th Sunday of Advent has a particularly gorgeous melody. The text (from the prophet Isaiah) is also quite beautiful and is cited toward the beginning of Saint Matthew’s Gospel. It certainly seems like most of the Advent antiphons come from the book of Isaiah…

—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