The Graduale is dated 1698. The Antiphonale was discovered in a seventeenth century mission. The manuscripts contain unique material. Ten percent of the chants in the Antiphonale are not included in either the Dominican or Roman Antiphonalia. Three percent of the chants included in the Graduale are not included in either the Dominican or Roman Gradualia.

The manuscripts were compared with the Antiphonale Sacrosantae Romanae Ecclesiae Pro Diurnis Horis, the Antiphonarium Sacri Ordinis Praedictorium Pro Diurnis Horis, the Sacrosanctae Romanae, Ecclesiae De Tempore et De Sanctis and the Graduale Sacri Ordinis Praedictorium. The calligraphies of the manuscripts were so similar, a comparison was made to ascertain whether the same scribe had copied both manuscripts. To date the manuscripts, the paper content and the watermarks on the paper were analyzed. The watermarks in both manuscripts are characteristic of the same era.

Previous studies regarding the music in sixteenth century Roman Catholic missions in New Spain revealed the Indians were taught to sing and play European musical instruments so they could provide music for religious services. Music was used as a tool to accelerate the conversion of the Indians to Christianity.

No other study has been done concerning music that was actually performed at the Mexican missions, therefore, the writer's analysis of the Antiphonale and Graduale fills a void in the history of missions in New Spain.

This study of an Mexican Antiphonale and Graduale was done to catalog the contents of the manuscripts, discover who wrote the manuscripts, date them, learn where they were used and whether they were related.

The study of the Antiphonale and Graduale revealed that the manuscripts are Dominican. The inscription in the Graduale is signed by Andres Garcia, servent of St. Dominic. The Antiphonale was originally from a mission in San Lucas Camotlan, Oaxaca, Mexico, which was the center of Dominican missionary activity. Twenty-six percent of the chants in the Antiphonale are included in the Dominican Antiphonarium but not the Roman Antiphonarium, thus the manuscript is closest to the Dominican Antiphonarium. Prominence is also given to Dominican Saints, Catherine and Dominic.