Status of Mass Propers Added by Pius XII
  • FSSPmusic
    Posts: 507
    In another recent thread, someone asked about the official status of the Vatican edition and legislation concerning it. Where exactly were the chants added during the pontificate of Pius XII promulgated? Was it the initiative of the Holy Father himself, the Sacred Congregation of Rites, the monks of Solesmes, or someone else? Do the melodies of these chants as they appear in post-Pius XII (but pre-novus ordo) editions of the Graduale Romanum and Liber Usualis have "official Vatican edition" status, and how do we know?
    --Queenship of Mary (May 31)
    --St. Joseph the Workman (May 1)
    --Assumption (August 15) revised Proper of the Mass
    --Immaculate Heart of Mary (August 22)
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  • FSSPmusic
    Posts: 507
    I've mentioned it elsewhere, but the Pius XII gradual for the Assumption uses the Vulgate text in the Missal but the new Bea Psalter text in the chant books, resulting in the most significant Missal-Gradual divergence of any text.
    Graduale Romanum: concupiscet rex pulchritudinem tuam. ℣. Tota decora ingreditur filia regis, texturæ aureæ sunt amictus ejus.

    Missale Romanum: concupiscit rex decorem tuum. ℣. Omnis gloria ejus filiae Regis ab intus, in fimbriis aureis circumamicta varietatibus.
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  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,526
    I don’t like the change but not changing the text to the new psalter would have been great.
  • gsmisek
    Posts: 10
    FSSPmusic wrote:
    the Pius XII gradual for the Assumption uses the Vulgate text in the Missal but the new Bea Psalter text in the chant books


    I've checked several altar missals from 1951 through 1962 and none have the Vulgate text for this gradual. What is your source?

    I would guess "concupiscit" is a typo, because the Vulgate text is "concupiscet rex decorem tuum".

    The authentic gradual (Audi filia ... quia concupivit, with verse 5 as the verse), which is the gradual designated for the usus recentior solemnity of the Assumption, is that of the feast of St. Cecilia in the usus antiquior, GR1961, p. 655, and its text is from a pre-Vulgate translation ("quia concupivit rex speciem").

    Interestingly, the OCM doesn't even list the Bea psalter (v. 14 verse) version for ad libitum use, unlike many other neo-gregorian chants listed in the ad libitum section.
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  • FSSPmusic
    Posts: 507
    Well, this is embarrassing! I relied on a faulty text from the St. Edmund Campion Hymnal (2nd1st ed.):
    image
    Here is the 1962 typical edition of the Missal:
    image
    Thank you for the correction!
    Screenshot 2026-04-23 134137.png
    786 x 352 - 24K
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    1490 x 456 - 190K
  • FSSPmusic
    Posts: 507
    The third edition of the St. Edmund Campion corrected the verse but left "concupiscit rex decorem tuum."
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
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