Wednesday, August 19, 2009

What are they singing at the Vatican?

I was thrilled to receive yesterday a packet of booklets from St. Peter's containing the order of Mass for Sundays. They are beautifully produced in every way: for Easter, Lent, and Ordinary Time, plus one for Vespers.

I'm looking at the Ordo for Ordinary Time now. On the left side of the page are the translations in Italian, Spanish, and English. On the right side is the Latin with the music: 100% Gregorian in Gregorian notation. For the ordinary of the Mass, the ordo uses Mass XI, "Orbis Factor," along with Credo I. The schola sing the propers of the day or seasonal propers from the Simplex. The whole of the Mass is in Latin, so far as I can tell.

I'm not entirely sure what went on at the Vatican in the last decades but I suspect that this is a great improvement. In any case, these are wonderful booklets, and a great example to the rest of the world. Congratulations to Fr. Pierre Paul, director of music, for doing so much to encourage and solidify these trends.

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