Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Last night’s Tenebræ service was sublime. It lasted about an hour and a half, and just being in that gathering in deepening darkness as the sound of chanted prayer filled the church was an experience I’ll not soon forget. We had about eighty or so people there – far more than we had anticipated. We only printed about thirty service […]
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The Season of Lent comes to its end this evening, as we celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. This celebration commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, the source and summit of Church life. Unlike most Protestants, the Catholic and Orthodox (and others of the Apostolic Tradition) believe that God is really there, wholly present in the consecrated bread and […]
» Read moreThe following is the Holy Week schedule for the parishes of Holy Rosary and Saint Joseph in Tacoma. There’s a lot there. One thing to bear in mind is that the Holy Triduum is essentially one giant liturgy (with some serious overnight breaks) that begins with the Introit of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, continues through […]
» Read moreThis Wednesday evening at 8:00pm, our parish of Holy Rosary will celebrate a Tenebræ service. You are most welcome to join us. What is Tenebræ? The word itself is Latin for “shadows”. It is a Holy Week service tied to the prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours, being a concatenation of Matins and Lauds, anticipated the night before. In […]
» Read moreThis weekend, Holy Week begins with the Sunday of Lord’s triumphal entry into Jersusalem – Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Although Good Friday is coming – the Passion and Death are coming – for the moment, this moment, joy resounds as our King arrives in His city. In most parishes throughout the world, the principal Mass is celebrated by […]
» Read moreIf you haven’t yet discovered Sister Vassa’s videos, you owe it to yourself to take a look. She’s an Orthodox nun and teaches Liturgical Studies at the University of Vienna. And she’s fantastic. Her YouTube channel. Her web site.
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Although it no longer appears on the Universal (Roman) calendar, today is one of two feasts of Saint Benedict celebrated by Benedictines throughout the world. This is the day in the year 547 when Saint Benedict of Norcia died. Saint Benedict is generally considered the founder of western monasticism, and his Rule spread throughout the west as the Roman Empire […]
» Read moreFor the first time since the last of the Benedictines left our parish, possibly longer, we celebrated chanted Vespers in the church last night. So that’s the first time in twenty years at least. Probably closer to forty. It was glorious. I really wish somebody had thought to take photos. We had originally printed thirty booklets for the congregation, but […]
» Read moreThroughout most of the world, today is the great Feast of the Epiphany. My American readers, however, will recall celebrating the feast this past Sunday. For reasons I can’t quite fathom, in the dioceses of the United States this feast has been moved to the Sunday between January 2 and January 8. Needless to say, this upsets the whole “Twelve […]
» Read moreAs I do every year, I shall end this Advent chant sequence with the hymn assembled from the O Antiphons. I‘ve also posted one of my favourite carols, which is particularly appropriate in the deeps of Christmas Vigil. Come to Midnight Mass! For those of you in Tacoma and environs, I invite you to come to our parish of Our […]
» Read moreWe come to the last of the O Antiphons, for tomorrow is Christmas Eve, the Vigil of the Nativity. I mentioned yesterday that the O Antiphons were arranged backwards into the song Veni, Veni Emmanuel. This was by design, for the Antiphons themselves are a backwards acrostic. The first letters of the Messianic titles — Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, […]
» Read moreWith Christmas just days away now, we hear the penultimate O Antiphon this evening. I mentioned a couple of days ago that the antiphons might sound vaguely familiar to you. In the 12th Century, an unknown composer compiled versions of the O Antiphons into a single Advent hymn, called Veni, Veni Emmanuel. You know the English version as O Come, […]
» Read moreIt is altogether right and proper that we should celebrate Christ as the bringer of light on this, the day of the winter solstice. This was an ancient holy day in many religions, as indeed it continues to be. On this, the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, where people for eons have begged their divinity for […]
» Read moreContinuing on with our annual tradition, we come closer and closer to the birth of the Messiah, “the holy one, the true, who holds the key of David, who opens and no one shall close, who closes and no one shall open” (Revelation 3:7). The key is the symbol of authority. Christ is the Key of the House of David […]
» Read moreBy now some of you might be thinking that the O Antiphon words are sounding kind of familiar, even though you’re not really up on your Gregorian Chant. In fact, these antiphons are some of the earliest attested antiphons in the Divine Office, being mentioned in passing in the works of Saint Boethius in the early sixth century. They’re rooted […]
» Read moreToday is the second “O” antiphon, O Adonai. It has been a long time since I’ve sung these properly, and I very much miss chanting Vespers in community. One of my great hopes is that our chapel will be finished this time next year, so that we may pray these antiphons there. Of course, I said that last year as […]
» Read moreO 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 for the 17th through the 23rd of December – the 24th is of course the Christmas Vigil itself. They are ancient prayers, possibly dating back to the […]
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