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7 things you didn't know about the St. Meinrad antiphons.

Fr. Columba Kelly's St. Meinrad Entrance and Communion antiphons in English are an absolute treasure. I've used them plenty of times and they feel completely intuitive to the English language and, at the same time, authentic to the original Gregorian form.

Here are some cool things you may not know about them:

1. He adapted the Roman Missal antiphons from the original Gregorian Melodies, (where applicable), keeping the same mode and melodic contour as the original Latin chants.

2. The best thing Oregon Catholic Press ever did was publish these as a set in modern notation with organ accompaniment. They have modern notation files in the OneLicense database.

3. The square note editions are still completely free.

4. There is a congregational refrain that is lifted (most of the time) from a portion of the same chant. You can use these a number of ways. Start and end with the full chant but treat the short refrain like a responsorial psalm, for example.

5. You can add verses to extend the communion antiphon. The text of the verses are printed beneath the antiphons. Use that with the St. Meinrad Psalm Tones here. Simply match the mode number with the psalm tone in that same mode (see red circles below). You sing one line of psalm text for each measure, always jumping to the final measure for the final line of each verse.


6. You can shorten the psalm tones to make them easier. To do this, sing only 2 lines of text with measures 1 and the final measure, like so:
The heavens declare the glo-ry of God and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands.

7. The texts of the antiphons will match the text in your missalette exactly, as these are the official translations from the Roman Missal. Therefore, people will have help following along with the chant. They will understand that you are singing part of the liturgy.

Thank you for this incredible legacy, Fr. Columba Kelly. May you rest in peace.



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