A New English Gradual for the Ordinariate

We are very glad to hear that a new English-language Gradual, created specifically (but not exclusively) for the use of the Ordinariate, The Saint Peter Gradual: The Chants of the Mass for Sundays, Solemnities, and Feasts, has recently become available from Newman House Press. This is a resource which English-speaking Catholics may also use to enhance celebrations of the Mass in the Ordinary Form; choir directors would do well to use such chants wherever possible, since they define the distinct character of each Mass. It has been edited by a priest of the Ordinariate, Fr Carl Reid, adapting The English Gradual edited by Francis Burgess.

The Gradual uses hieratic English (Prayer Book English), that elevated form of English that is most familiar to Catholics when they pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be (Lesser Doxology) and the Hail Holy Queen. It employs modern notation, which certainly aids accessibility for most contemporary readers. Its size and weight makes it entirely manageable in the hand, and the printing is easily readable. Readability is further aided by the tone or hue of the paper.

If someone is planning to order 10 or more copies, the price drops from $25 US to $15 US per copy (40% discount). Please see this link at Newman House Press for to order: http://newmanhousecatholicbooks.org/ Our thanks to Mr Wendell Clayton for sharing this information with us.

Leaves from an 18th-Century Cistercian Gradual

The website of the library of Clairvaux Abbey, famously the home of St Bernard, has a number of digitized manuscripts available for consultation; among them, this beautifully illustrated Gradual, which also includes chants for Terce and Vespers, from the first part of the 18th century. Other liturgical books from the collection, as well as a variety of Bibles, Patristics works, copies of the Rule of St Benedict etc., can be investigated by clicking here.

“Gradual and Antiphonal of the church of Clairvaux, on solemnities and feasts of sermons.” In point of fact, this particular book only includes a small number of major feasts. - Since the Cistercians, with characteristic simplicity, never doubled any of the antiphons in the Divine Office, the traditional Roman terminology for the grades of feasts, “double, semidouble, simple,” was not very useful to them. The highest grade of feast was therefore called “sermonis - of a sermon”, to indicate that a sermon was supposed to be delivered to the community on that day. The other grades were called “two (publicly sung) Masses”, “twelve readings (at Matins)”, “three readings” and “commemoration.”

Decorative page before Christmas

Decorative page before the Annunciation

The first antiphon of Vespers on Christmas Eve 

Dominican Gradual of 1950 Reprinted

I am pleased to announce another new offering from Dominican Liturgy Publications. We have just reprinted the Graduale iuxta Ritum Sacri Ordinis Praedicatorum, originally published by the Order in 1950. This was the last edition of the Dominican Gradual. It contains the Mass Propers for the Entire Year, as well as those of Votive and Ritual Masses. In addition it includes the Dominican Kyriale, with all the authentic medieval Dominican Ordinaries and the music for the responses at Mass. The on-line publication page limit (800 pages) required that we omit the supplement with extra Roman chant Mass Ordinaries, but as these are widely available both in published and electronic forms, this seemed a small price to pay for making this book available.

The volume is hardback, lies open easily, and has 800 pages, including the general index. The price is $35.25. When a used copy of the original edition can be found on the market, the price runs between $50 and $125, so this a very economical alternative. Although this is a scanned reprint the quality is quite good. You can see what the printing looks like using the "preview" on the order page.

If you would like to purchase over 20 copies for your choir, I can offer a discount price of $33.00. Please write me directly (my email link is on the left sidebar at Dominican Liturgy) about this and other discounts for larger bulk purchases. (This discount is not available when ordering direct).

May reprint make this music better known in our Dominican churches and among choirs who perform Dominican chant. More information for this book is at this link.