"Clerics! Seminarians! Rejoice!"

With these enthusiastic words, Fr. Z. introduces a new book for review from the Canons at St. John Cantius in Chicago. "This is a book they prepared," he writes. Well, that isn't quite the full story of where the book is from or who prepared it, but more on that in a moment.

What book? The Canticum Clericorum Romanum: Roman Clerical Chants - The Epistles, Gospels, and Orations of the 1962 Missale Romanum in Musical Notation. Fr. Z explains:

This is a book, if you are a priest, seminarian, lay person involved in liturgical worship in the Extraordinary Form, You.Should.Buy." (emphasis in the original; bold added)

Why?

Priests, deacons (actual deacons and priests who serve as deacons), laymen who serve as “straw subdeacons”... must sing texts. You wind up looking at examples of paradigmatic texts in, say, the Liber Usualis, and then you look at the Missale, perhaps making a photocopy, perhaps penciling in lines under the vowel where you are supposed to go up....

Sound familiar?

This book has it all. Or almost this book, because it is volume ONE.

In other words, this book provides everything a priest or deacon needs, with all the notation and musical cues, to chant everything in the usus antiquior liturgy. As Fr. Z says, "Guessing how to sing that prayer? Not anymore."

Now back to where the book is from and who prepared it. In a recent Catholic Herald article, entitled "Ten Catholics do amazing work," Mary O’Regan profiles the work of Canadian Michel Ozorak, who "was recently awarded the Golden Rose by the Friars Minor of Chicago for making Gregorian Chant sheets accessible to the whole world." Noting the significance of Ozorak's work, she adds: "Nothing like this has been available before. (emphasis added) Several books provide the tones for chanting, but one needs to be expert in Gregorian Chant to use them."

Our readers may remember our earlier posts "Michel Ozorak to Receive Golden Rose Award on April 3" (Musings, March 27, 2011), and "Biretta Books to Publish Ozorak Chant Sheets in Book Form" (Musings, April 10, 2011).

The Golden Rose is an award traditionally awarded to accomplished Catholics by Popes, a custom now followed by the St. John Cantius Society in granting the award to Mr. Ozorak. The publisher of Mr. Ozorak's book, Biretta Books, is the publishing arm of the St. John Cantius Society. The book cover design was done by a professional artist member of St. John Cantius, Jed Gibbons. The fleur de lis was incorporated because it is the logo of Mr. Ozorak's home parish, Assumption Church in Windsor, Ontario, (found all over the sanctuary floor, various walls, etc.) and is reflective of Michel’s French heritage.

The St. John Cantius web site is managed by Fr. Scott Haynes, but the actual design work is done by two of the brothers in the order who formerly worked in IT. What they do is absolutely top notch. If you get a chance, see the book itself – just beautiful.