Resources

Roman Missal

• The Roman Missal, 2011, 3rd typical edition, English
• Ordo Cantus Missae, Latin, 1. ed., 1972, pp. 177 ff.
• Ordo Cantus Missae, Latin, ed. 2, 1988, pp. 174 ff.
• There is a third edition? but not on Internet Archive.
• Order of Mass, Latin and English
• Missale Romanum, 1962

Scripture and Liturgy

• Lectionary
  • Daily Readings – USCCB, including responsorial psalms.
    • Calendar
  • Lectionary for Weekday Mass, published 2002; is this the current edition?
  • Daily Roman Missal, 2003, with readings, responsorial psalms, alleluias.
  • The Catholic Lectionary Website, compiled by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.
• Bible
  • NAB
  • Nova Vulgata
    • Liber Psalmorum
  • Revised Grail Psalms; formerly at GIA (read only) but that link has died.
• Divine Office/Liturgy of the Hours
  • iBreviary provides texts of the Liturgy of the Hours (1970) in multiple languages, and the Divine Office (“Vetus Ordo”, 1962) in Latin.
  • Universalis provides texts of the Liturgy of the Hours (1970) in English and Latin.
  • Divinum Officium provides texts of the Divine Office (1962) in multiple languages.
  • Breviarium Gregorianum provides the Divine Office (1962) with chant music notation, in Latin with translations to English and other languages.

Organizations and Instructions

• Church Music Association of America
  • 24 Questions on Sacred Music (HTML with option for PDF download or purchase printed booklet)
  • Resources
    • Liturgy: how to sing the Roman Missal chants, presidential prayers, etc.
  • Chant Café blog
  • Musica Sacra Forum
    • Which psalm translations are acceptable?, see chonak’s answer in post 6.
  • Rules Governing Chant: Intro from Liber Usualis (1961?) (PDF)
  • Ordo Cantus Missae introduction (unofficial translation) (PDF)
• ChantBlog
• Gregorian Books
• Advice from the Diocese of Leeds
• Saint Gabriel Family of Parishes

Music publishers and retailers

—sometimes providing free music!

• CanticaNOVA Publications
  • Liturgical planning
• Sacred Music Library
• Paraclete Press
• LiturgyTools.net lists other music publishers

Strategy

• How to Start Your Own Garage Schola
• The Blueprint: Sacred Music in Your Parish (PDF)

Official Church Documents

• Sacrosanctum Concilium, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, from the Second Vatican Council,
• General Instruction for the Roman Missal (GIRM), United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
• General Instruction for the Roman Missal (GIRM), at the Vatican web site, “Including Adaptations for the Dioceses of the United States of America”
• Musicam Sacram (1967)
• Tra Le Sollecitudini (1903)
• Voluntati obsequens (1974, accompanying “Jubilate Deo”)
• Sing to the Lord (USCCB, 2007) (“official”??)
  • Discussion:
    • ‘I can now see why they decided to vote on this as a set of “guidelines” which do not require the recognitio of the Holy See.’
    • ‘approved overwhelmingly (88%) by the U.S. bishops last month. The document had originally been proposed as a legislative document, but …’

Collections of Music

General

• See also the Roman Missal above; some of them have music.
• Church Music Association of America
  • Liturgical Resources from CMAA, including what parts are to be sung, who is to sing them, how to sing (for priest, deacon, etc.), and mass ordinaries (unison, polyphonic, “equal voices”, requiem)
  • CMAA Music Downloads
  • The Parish Book of Motets
  • Recordings of the annual sacred music colloquia.
  • See also below under Organizations and Instructions
• CPDL: ChoralWiki, Choral Public Domain Library
  • Category:TB
• IMSLP, International Music Score Library Project
• Sheet music library of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, FSSP, Littleton, Colorado.
• Sacred Music Library: Useful Links
• Catholic Antiphon Renewal Project
• Psallite Domino (ServiamScores. I am not exactly sure where this should fit.)

Gregorian Chant

• GregoBase scores, a database of Gregorian scores
• Benjamin Bloomfield’s tools for GABC transcription, psalm tones, readings, and propers
• Solfege introduction and exercises, FSSP
• Corpus Christi Watershed
• Gregorian Chant Psalmody
• Long Beach Chant
  • Psalm Tones for Introit and Communio
• St. Meinrad Archabbey Downloads includes materials from courses by Fr. Columba Kelly and various collections of psalm tones.
• Fr. Samuel S. Weber
  • Proper of the Mass, vol. 1: Sundays and Solemnities (Ignatius Press)
  • The Proper of the Mass Organ Accompaniment
  • Proper of the Mass, vol. 2: Weekdays (PDF)
  • Proper of the Mass, vol. 3: Saints (PDF)
  • Proper of the Mass, vol. 4: Ritual and Votive Masses (PDF)
  • Purchase the Proper of the Mass books
  • Hymnal for the Hours
  • Hymnal for the Hours
• ICEL Music for the Roman Missal
  • Copyright policies
• Gregorian Chant Hymns
• Cantus Index: Catalog of Chant Texts and Melodies

Kyriale

• Diocese of Leeds Missal Tones (organ accompaniments, PDF)

Graduale

• Graduale Romanum (1974)
  • PDF
  • Print
• Graduale Triplex, an edition of the Graduale with notation from the most ancient manuscripts
• Graduale Simplex
  • PDF
  • Translation of Praenotanda
  • Print
• English-language adaptations of the Graduale Simplex
  • Bruce Ford, By Flowing Waters
  • Aristotle Esguerra, The Choral Graduale Simplex
  • Fr. Samuel Weber, Simple Gradual
    • Part of Sacred Music US (Google Sites), which says “This is an older site”, some of which is not simple!
    • Site was unreachable on 2025 March 4.
      
    • New site: Sacred Music US (WordPress)
• CC Watershed Mass Propers in English
  • “Palmer & Burgess or the American Gradual or Arbogast or whatever to obtain English adaptation” recommended
• Communio, downloadable communion chants with multiple verses, Latin and English

Responsorial Psalms

• Responsorial Psalms for Weekday Mass: Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter by Anthony Ruff, OSB
• Chabanel Psalms, responsorial psalm settings by various composers. NOTE: Formerly free, these are now behind the Corpus Christ Watershed paywall. Some composers have begun moving their work out of Corpus Christi Watershed:
  • Richard Rice’s Responsorial Psalms
• Daily mass responsorial psalms from the Antiphon Renewal Project
• The Genevan Psalter (metrical)

Anglican Chant

Some composers, noting that English texts do not always fit well with Gregorian chant tunes, have composed new chant tunes in the Gregorian style. But in making chants that fit English texts, the Anglicans are ahead of us, with a long tradition of Anglican chant. Why should we not use it?

Many hymnals contain a selection of Anglican chants. In addition, there is:

• An index to Anglican Chants
• Saint Mary’s Chant Book

Hymns and Hymnals

• Worship: a hymnal and service book for Roman Catholics, 1986
• Hymn Descants
• Saint Augustine’s Lyre
• Hymnology Archive

Listening

• GradualeProject
• SanctaMissa.pl. —We do not endorse their schism!!! but they sing well.
• Chants of the Roman Missal (English), from National Association of Pastoral Musicians, with a thoughtful explanation of how they adapted Latin chants to English texts.
• LiveMass.net broadcasts of FSSP masses; some of them I hope will be High Masses.
• The Devotional Hymns Project aims to share and preserve Catholic hymns in English written between 1850 and 1950 with audio recordings.