Fr. Lucien Deiss, CSSp was a French Catholic priest, biblical scholar, and liturgical composer. He was born in Eschbach, Bas-Rhin, on 2 September 1921, and died on 9 October 2007 at the age of 86.
Best known to Roman Catholics in the U.S. through his scriptural songs such as “All the Earth” “Keep in Mind” and “Grant to Us, O Lord,” Fr. Deiss was also widely known in Europe and the United States as a scholar in the fields of Sacred Scripture and Patristics. He was selected by Pope Paul VI to coordinate the Lectionary psalter following the Second Vatican Council. His “Biblical Hymns and Psalms” was the first significant way that millions of Catholics in the U.S. came to sing the Word of God and treasure it in their hearts. For this he was given an honorary Doctorate in Sacred Music from Duquesne University. A tireless advocate of the reforms of Vatican II, Fr. Deiss continually encouraged those who worked in liturgical reform in this country to remain fervent in prayer to the Holy Spirit, and he dedicated much of his life to liturgical catechesis through workshops and the well-known “Deiss days” sponsored by WLP (then World Library of Sacred Music). He was, above all, a man of prayer, dedicated to the celebration of the Eucharist, and was always filled with a gentle and loving humor.
Vatican II: When beauty disappeared.
Fr. Lucien Deiss considered the Traditional Latin Mass a fossil.
It is not sufficient for the future to be able to capitalize on the past and to restore an ancient liturgy, as if the fabrication of some great fossil, perfectly executed, were sufficient to resolve contemporary questions.
Fr. Lucien Deiss, Visions of Liturgy, page 22
What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches…
Pope Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum
Bibliography
Visions of Liturgy and Music for a New Century https://archive.org/details/visionsofliturgy00deis
Dancing for God
https://archive.org/details/dancingforgod00deis
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucien_Deiss
https://hymnary.org/person/Deiss_L
https://www.ocp.org/en-us/artists/717/lucien-deiss-cssp#bio
https://web.archive.org/web/20071011204306/http://www.wlp.jspaluch.com/wlp/