Composer Publishes Hymnal That Is Bound To Please Traditional Catholics

A new hymnal promises “the greatest hits” familiar to Catholics who love the traditional Latin Mass and are seeking beauty and meaning that transcends time.

Scholar and composer Peter Kwasniewski and his Os Justi Press are offering a new hymnal that is bound to interest Catholics who not only regard tradition as essential, but know beauty also leads to God. In an exclusive interview, he described the selection of the Gregorian chant and traditional hymns as a work of love.

Dr. Kwasniewski’s numerous books have focused on fine arts and the liturgy of the Church. In an exclusive interview, he said that the Catholic faith is encoded in the many works of music, sculpture, painting, architecture, especially in Europe, where he spent years teaching. Of his numerous books, he has recommended especially two focusing on beauty: Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness and Good Music, Sacred Music, and Silence. His work can be seen at peterkwasniewski.com, “Tradition and Sanity,” CantaboDomino, and at his Os Justi Press publishing house.

Professor Kwasniewski holds a doctorate from the Catholic University of America, and has taught at the International Theological Institute in Austria, the Franciscan University of Steubenville, and Wyoming Catholic College, the latter of which he was a founder. There he directed the Choir and Schola, and taught theology, philosophy, and fine arts courses. With his Os Justi Press, he has placed himself squarely within a vibrant revival of traditional Catholic art, literature, and music.  

Os Justi Press, which he founded in 2016, offers not only new works, but also out-of-print classics that otherwise can only be found at universities, used book stores, or as online editions In an exclusive interview, he said Os Justi seeks to reintroduce beauty and sound doctrine to Catholic believers and parishes.

In the interview, he said that the name of his publishing house comes from the Introit of the Confessors,’os justi meditabitur sapientiam’:“the mouth of the just meditates wisdom,” which in turn comes from the Psalms. “As someone who loves the traditional Mass, the Introits were very much in my mind when I started this company while teaching at Wyoming Catholic College. And I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to bring back into print good Catholic works,’” he said.

His newest offering is Our Lady of Mount Carmel Hymnal, which is an attractive hardbound edition offering settings of the Mass with Gregorian chant and traditional hymnody. Professor Kwasniewski admitted that he has a whole bookcase full of hymnals, even going back to the 18th century, that he has consulted. Oregon Catholic Press offers, for example, Glory & Praise, JourneySongs, Rise Up & Sing, and Spirit & Song. OCP is perhaps best known for publishing the work of Dan Schuette, a former Jesuit best known for 'Here I am Lord.' There is the Gather Catholic hymnal published by GIA, which also offers Worship. For its part, EWTN has The Adoremus Missal. When asked why another Catholic hymnal is needed, he said, “A new hymnal is needed because, while there are lots of hymns out there, good hymns, atrocious hymns, from all periods, there are different needs and communities that sing in different ways.”

In an earlier interview at One Peter Five, he said that a “new wave of rationalism” came through the Church following Vatican II and swept away the tangible visual and musical means through which the Faith is transmitted. "The result was a vacuum of beauty, a true emptiness -- a kind of 'real absence' instead of real presence,” he said, while linking it to the loss of faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, which “was partly precipitated by the loss of beauty in churches and in the liturgy.”

Seeing that there is a vast amount of public domain material available, he noted that other publishers merely photocopy and reprint editions that are hard to read. “I wanted to do a better job,” he said, and said that his first offering was Italo-German theologian Romano Guardini’s Sacred Signs.  In the ten years since he started Os Justi, Dr. Kwasniewski has published several biographies by English writer Hilaire Belloc, The Breviary Explained by Pius Parsch, The Orthodox Eastern Church by Adrian Fortescue, The Holy Rosary in Chant, and, significantly, A Missal for Young Catholics, which includes the text and prayers in Latin and English for the traditional Mass. He developed the latter of these so that his own children could easily follow the traditional Mass.

As for other hymnals that offer chant and traditional hymnody, Dr. Kwasniewski said, “I’ve been disappointed by the lack of  selection in them. They tend to be slim, and don’t include all the hymns people like to sing. They don’t include many chant selections, but offer perhaps one or two chant  Masses. They don’t have the breadth and the depth.” The new hymnal is believed to be the largest Catholic hymnal now available.

Os Justi Press promises that Our Lady of Mount Carmel Hymnal “draws upon all that is best and most beautiful in our Catholic heritage of sacred music.” With over 600 hymns, it starts with  a full Gregorian Kyriale in chant notation: all 18 Solesmes Ordinaries, 11 settings of the Creeds, the text and chants of traditional Requiem and Nuptial Masses, while many hymns have organ introductions.

There are traditional hymns for every season of the liturgical year, and unlike other hymnals, there are 70 separate pieces to commemorate the Blessed Virgin Mary alone, seven for Saint Joseph, and hymns for saints such as The Holy Innocents, Martin of Tours, Teresa of Avila, Dominic, and hundreds more. “There is no dumbing down, no political correctness,” Professor Kwasniewski said. The cover was designed by his son, Julian Kwasniewski, who has also designed other books for the press.

Dr. Kwasniewski credited Rick Wheeler for editing the new hymnal over the course of 15 years. Wheeler is a singer who has performed under the batons of Riccardo Muti and Leonard Bernstein, and was associate director of music for the inception ceremony of Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver. “He sought out making the perfect Catholic hymnal, from the beginning,” Dr. Kwasniewski said, adding, “I do think it is the best Catholic hymnal out there, and probably works best where the Latin Mass is a significant component.”

Author Joseph Pearce said in an exclusive interview that he applauds Os Justi Press for bringing back classic works by Catholic writers such as Belloc. Regarding the new hymnal, Pearce said, “With regard to liturgy, as Pope Benedict XVI never tired tellin us, the liturgy is the most beautiful manifestation of God’s love for us and it’s important for us to show our love for Him by ensuring that liturgy is as beautiful as possible. So, keeping tradition alive in the liturgy is crucial. New hymnals with old traditional hymns are also essential because we don’t want our liturgy to be dreadful popular music that will be out of date tomorrow. We want timeless classics as part of the timeless beauty of the liturgy.”

For Os Justi Press, Pearce has written a foreword for each of two reprints of books by Hilaire Belloc. Pearce applauded Os Justi Press, as well as Cenacle Press at Silverstream Priory in Ireland and Mysterium Press in England, for being part of what he called a revival of Catholic literature. “It’s indicative of a Hillaire Belloc revival, which is overdue, because he and Gilbert Keith Chesterton were the two giants of the Edwardian period with regard to Catholic letters. Belloc’s been in Chesterton’s shadow for far too long,” he said. Pearce is the author of Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc.

Pearce is a scholar of literature who has written extensively on British writers, including Belloc, Chesterton, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. He is the author of Faith of Our Fathers: A History of True England, among other books. Like Dr. Kwasniewski, he advocates for beauty, not only in  literature and liturgy, but in all human endeavours, having written Beauteous Truth: Faith, Reason, Literature and Culture.

Referring to collaborator Rick Wheeler, Dr. Kwasniewski said that each of them have worked as music directors in parishes and choirs in different states and countries. “We’re both very familiar with the traditional Catholic world and we have a good sense of what people want at the Latin mass. They want classic hymns, Gregorian chant. They want nuptial and requiem Masses. We are based on decades of experience, so we put together what we would want to see and what other people are interested in.”