Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Today is the second “O” antiphon, O Adonai. For a reflection on this antiphon, we will turn to that great liturgical commentator, Servant of God Dom Prosper Guéranger, Abbot of Solesmes (d. 1875). O Sovereign Lord! O Adonaï! come and redeem us, not by thy power, but by thy humility. Heretofore, thou didst show thyself to Moses thy servant in […]
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O Wisdom! Advent is drawing to its close, and it’s time again for our annual look at the O Antiphons. These antiphons are part of the prayers at the liturgical hour of Vespers (evening prayer) for the 17th through the 23rd of December – the 24th is of course the Christmas Vigil itself. They are ancient prayers, possibly dating back […]
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In honour of Saint Cecilia, whose feast day it is today, I’d like to invite you to Saint Patrick Church in Tacoma this evening for an hour of Eucharistic Adoration. Music will be provided by Mrs. Victoria Solenberger and Ms. Amy Gallwas. For several of the songs, they will be accompanied by a schola, which includes my very lovely bride. […]
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Part 5 in an ongoing series of essays on the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. If I had to guess, I’d say that the part of the General Instruction that has been read by the fewest is Chapter II: The Structure of the Mass, Its Elements, and Its Parts. Why? Because when you read it, you quickly come to […]
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Happy Feast of All Saints! This is the day where we celebrate all the saints, known and unknown: the Church Triumphant. We ask them to pray for us. I for one could use all the help I can get! This day has been a feast since the sixth or seventh century, thanks to the abbots of Cluny, and it was […]
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Can we talk about Gregorian chant? Because All Souls Day – coming up on November 2nd – has some doozies. I confess that I was a fan of chant long before I was a Catholic. In part, God used the beauty of this kind of music to draw me to Him. Specific chants are prescribed for each Mass in both […]
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Rose Window, Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Tacoma For most of the Catholic world, tomorrow is the feast of the Most Holy Rosary. For most of the Catholic world, this is a memorial of various sorts. Since, however, my parish is dedicated to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, for us it is a Solemnity. And we’re […]
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Saint Jerome should be the patron saint of grumpy old men. Born in the Roman province of Dalmatia in modern Slovenia, he studied in Rome starting in about the year 360. During a journey to Syria in 373, he fell ill and had a vision that caused him to devote the rest of his long life to the service of […]
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Nine months after the solemnity of her Immaculate Conception, celebrated on 8 December, today we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a feast so ancient that it is celebrated on the same day in both East and West. Or, we would be celebrating it if it weren’t Sunday. Nevertheless, today is the day of the Virgin’s birth. Giotto’s […]
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Chanted from the version given in the Codex Calixtinus. Neither Ordinary nor Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, but rather from the Mozarabic Rite.
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Today, the Second Sunday in the Octave of Easter, is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday. Pope John Paul II proclaimed the Sunday after Easter as the Sunday of the Divine Mercy (Dominica II Paschæ seu de divina misericordia) in accord with the visions of the Divine Mercy received by Saint Faustina. But what is the Divine Mercy? In short, […]
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NOTE: Particularly if this article leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, you’ll want to read the follow-up. It is a sort of apologia. Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Novus Ordo Missae by Pope Saint Paul VI in his Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum. There is, so far as I can tell, no mention of this […]
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In April of 1974, Pope Saint Paul VI issued a small book called Jubilate Deo containing various Latin chants. Copies were sent as “a personal gift” to all the Bishops of the world. In the accompanying letter from the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, we read, In presenting the Holy Father’s gift to you, may I at the same time […]
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At our parish of Holy Rosary, the clergy and servers pray Psalm 43 (42) before Mass in the narthex. Well, since we were forced to move to the auditorium this past November, we pray it in the hallway outside. This psalm begins with the antiphon, “I will go to the altar of God”, or in Latin, “Introíbo ad altáre Dei”. […]
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Feeling rather melancholy this evening, and one of the psalms from Vespers particularly struck home. Super flumina Babylonis ibi sedimus et flevimus : * cum recordaremur Sion : In salicibus in medio ejus * suspendimus organa nostra. Quia illic interrogaverunt nos, qui captivos duxerunt nos, * verba cantionum : Et qui abduxerunt nos : * Hymnum cantate nobis de canticis […]
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