Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Christmas is over, all too soon, and we have now entered into a new season of the liturgical year. This is the time of the year that does not fall into the great seasons of Advent or Christmas, Lent or Easter. Nowadays, this is given the rather uninspired name of “Ordinary Time”. This is a translation of the Latin term […]
» Read moreIn the popular imagination, today’s (slightly moved) celebration of the Epiphany is all about the Magi from the East who traveled to worship the Christ child and gift him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But that’s not the whole story, for the Epiphany actually celebrates three separate events, only one of which is Magi with their three gifts. In Vespers tonight, […]
» Read moreThis year, I’m going to forgo my lamentation of the mobile Epiphany. For today, 6 January 2012, is the 600th birthday of one of the most truly remarkable women who ever lived. And she was burned at the stake when she was 19 years old. She was known as Jehanne la Pucelle, Joan the Maiden. In 1429 at the tender […]
» Read moreAn odd day, this. I woke this morning from a dream where I was reading some sort of history book. It was very much like the big thick history books published in the 50s and 60s that I read when I was much younger, the kind you can still get at second hand book stores. I could smell the book […]
» Read moreIt’s the first of January, and I’m clearly looking and feeling my very best after last night’s festivities. We rarely throw parties, but when we do, we invariably overdo it a bit. Last night’s feast had libations aplenty and a table groaning with food for our family and friends old and new. Everybody brought something to share. Combine that with […]
» Read moreI‘ve written twice before about Saint Thomas Becket, whose feast day is today. This year, I’d like to just quote a small passage from G.K. Chesterton on the matter of Becket’s martyrdom: When four knights scattered the blood and brains of Saint Thomas of Canterbury it was not only a sign of anger but a sort of black admiration. They […]
» Read morePlease pray for the soul of a man you probably did not know. He was my neighbour, and he was a tireless force for good on the Hill for twenty years. He was found dead of natural causes in his home this morning. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus Deus, in Sion, et tibi […]
» Read moreThe rest of the world thinks Christmas is over, with the possible exception of those who celebrate Boxing Day today or those fond of partridges in pear trees. Oh, how wrong they are. For like Easter, Christmas isn’t just one day, but a season! It continues from Christmas Day through the Epiphany (January 6). In some places, this season is […]
» Read moreO great mystery, and wonderful sacrament, that animals should see the new-born Lord, lying in a manger! Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy to bear Christ the Lord. Alleluia! (The Original Latin) O magnum mysterium, et admirabile sacramentum, ut animalia viderent Dominum natum, jacentem in praesepio! Beata Virgo, cujus viscera meruerunt portare Dominum Christum. Alleluia.
» 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 Christmas songs, which is particularly appropriate in the deeps of Christmas Vigil. And for those of you in Tacoma, I invite you to come to our parish of Saint Rita and celebrate the […]
» 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 literally days away, 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 songwriter compiled versions of the O Antiphons into a single Advent hymn, called Veni, Veni Emmanuel. You know the English version as O Come, O […]
» 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, 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). “And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder: and he shall open, and none […]
» Read moreBy now some of you might be thinking that the O Antiphon words might be 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. The […]
» Read moreToday is the second “O” antiphon, O Adonai. It has been a long time since I’ve sung these properly, perhaps two years, 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. These videos, which I will […]
» Read moreWisdom! Advent is drawing to its close, and it’s time again for 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 earliest days of the Christian […]
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