O Emmanuel

"The Great antiphon for 23 December sung by the Dominican student brothers in Oxford."

The Feast of All Saints

Today was All Saints Day. Today is a good day to pray the Litany of the Saints:



A setting of the Te Deum composed for this feast by Domenico Scarlatti:



Painting by Blessed Fra Angelico.

Blessed John Paul II

Today the Church remembers Blessed Pope John Paul II on her calendar for the first time.

Here is the Second Reading for today's Office of Readings: today's reading. It is taken from Blessed John Paul's Inaugural Homily.

(A couple of links via Whispers in the Loggia.)

Belated Easter Post

Many weeks late, a chant from the Mass for Easter. The "alleluia" (that can be) sung before the reading of the Gospel: Alleluia Pascha Nostrum.

"Alleluia. Christ our Paschal victim is sacrificed. Alleluia"

.

More on the celebration of Easter from ChurchYear.Net:

All about the Easter Triduum.

All about the Easter Season.

Another version of the chant above, this time accompanied by the Indian sitar. Very beautiful.

Laetare Sunday

Today is the 4th Sunday of Advent, sometimes called Laetare Sunday because the entrance chant or introit of the mass begins with the word Laetare which means "rejoice".

Today's readings from mass.

A bit about Laetare Sunday from the old Catholic Encyclopedia and from Wikipedia. It's roughly mid-way between Ash Wednsday and Easter. In a way it's like the church stops to take a breath on it's journey towards Easter Sunday.

Traditionally, on this Sunday priests can wear pink, excuse me, rose vestments at mass.

The introit that gives the day it's name is from Isaiah 66:10,11 and Psalm 121(122):

"Rejoice, 0 Jerusalem; and gather round, all you who love her;
rejoice in gladness, after having been in sorrow; exult and be
replenished with the consolation flowing from her motherly
bosom. jr. I rejoiced when it was said unto me: "Let us go to the
house of the Lord."



Personally, I'm really fond of todays gradual, or chant between the readings. You will almost never hear it sung outside the old traditional Latin mass (Extraordinary Form) because it the Ordinary Form it's place is usually taken by the Responsorial Psalm from the lectionary for Mass. I happen to like responsorial psalms, I think they were a good idea, but I also really like this chant, it's one of my favorites. It's also taken from Psalm 121(122) and called Laetatus Sum:

"I rejoiced when it was said unto me: "Let us go to the house of
the Lord." ,. Let peace reign within your walls, and abundance in
your towers."

Divine Office Downloads

"We created this download so that any Bible can be used a “short breviary”. The table contains the entire order of the Psalter of the 1962 Roman Breviary for all seven canonical hours of the divine office for all seven days of the week....."

1962 Psalter Chart (pdf)

"We created this download for anyone who wishes to pray the “Before” and “After” Divine Office prayers, but does not have them included within their Breviary...."

Breviary Bookmark

Fuller descriptions, and more downloads, from Churchlatin.com: link.

Communion Chant for Lent

"Intellege Clamorem Meum", a communion chant for the season of Lent, as found in the Graduale Simplex ( a collection of simpler chants for the Mass).

"Give ear, O Lord, to my words, understand my cry"
Psalm 5:2

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

Everything you wanted to know about Lent from Aggies Catholics: The Annual Lenten Mega-Post for 2011.

Praying Lent from Creighton University.

A Comprehensive Guide to Lent: History, Resources, Links, and FAQ from ChurchYear.Net including their fine Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan.

This plan is included in the Fr. Jerabek's Lenten Reading Plans page along with ones dedicated to the saints, to Fr. Faber and Cardinal Newman, and to St. Jean Marie Vianney.

From Dom Prosper Guéranger's "The Liturgical Year"

Lent - Preface
Ch. 1 - The History of Lent
Ch. 2 - The Mystery of Lent
Ch. 3 - Practice During Lent

Introit or entrance chant for Ash Wednesday, Misereris Omnium:

Feast of All Souls

On the occasion of All Souls Day ( and in Mexico Day of the Dead)

"Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Te decet hymnus Deus, in Sion,
et tibi reddetur votum in Ierusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam;ad te omnis caro veniet.
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis."

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord ,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
A hymn becomes you, O God, in Zion,
and to you shall a vow be repaid in Jerusalem.
Hear my prayer;to you shall all flesh come.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them





Articles on yesterday's Feast of All Saints here and here.

Assumpta Es Maria In Caelum

A few days ago on Sunday was the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Planty of information about it at ChurchYear.Net. Better late than never, I honor the day by posting a little Gregorian Chant for the Feast.

The official book of music for Mass is the Roman Gradual but there is a lesser known book, also official, that is meant for smaller churches that might find the more complicated melodies in the Roman Gradual to be too difficult. It's called the Gruaduale Simplex or Simple Gradual and an example can be viewed below. This is the introit or entrance antiphon from the Graduale Simplex, Assumpta Es Maria In Caelum:




Many of the antiphons in the Graduale Simplex were adapted from the Divine Office so anyone fortunate to sing the Liturgy of the Hours for the day might have sung this same melody.

Alleluia Pascha Nostrum

In honor of Easter and its Octave, a chant for the mass of Easter Sunday:

Alleluia! Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Alleluia!

Introit or entrance chant for mass on the 2nd Sunday of Easter (tomorrow): Quasi Modo

Here's another clip of the same chant: Quasi Modo Geniti Infantes

Friday of Sorrows

At Sub Tuum blog Br. Stephen points out that today is the commemoration of Our Lady of Sorrows on the calendar of the Extroardinary Form. That's no longer the case in the modern Roman Rite (Ordinary Form), it is commemorated on September 15, but in my family we still call today Viernes de Dolores or "Friday of Sorrows". Appearantly traditions are still observed on this day in some places such as this procession in Huelva, Spain.

Br. Stephen has a photo collection of Sorrowful Virgins and Pietas here.

Friday of Sorrows

At Sub Tuum blog Br. Stephen points out that today is the commemoration of Our Lady of Sorrows on the calendar of the Extroardinary Form. That's no longer the case in the modern Roman Rite (Ordinary Form), it is commemorated on September 15, but in my family we still call today Viernes de Dolores or "Friday of Sorrows". Appearantly traditions are still observed on this day in some places such as this procession in Huelva, Spain.

Br. Stephen has a photo collection of Sorrowful Virgins and Pietas here.

The Feast of the Annunciation

Today is the the Feast of the Annunciation. A bit about today’s holy day from ChurchYear.Net.

All About the Solemnity of the Annunciation

Some of the chants for today’s Mass are the same as those for the 4th Sunday of Advent. Among them, the Introit, or entrance chant, Rorate Caeli:






The antiphon and psalm verse are taken from Isaiah 45:8 and Psalm 18 (Vulgate numbering):

“Skies, let the Just One come forth like the dew, let him descend
from the clouds like the rain. The earth will open up and give
birth to our Saviour. V. The heavens declare the glory of God, and
the firmament proclaims the work of his hands.”


The Communion, or communion chant, Ecce Virgo:






The antiphon is also from the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 7, Verse 14:

“Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name
shall be called Emmanuel.”

This recording also adds the corresponding verse from Psalm 18 (“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hand”, same as in the introit).

Also in honor of tdoay, from the Rosary Sonatas by Heinrich Ignaz Biber:

Rosary Sonata #1, The Annunciation

Rejoice

Today is the 4th Sunday of Lent, "Laetare Sunday". Live mp3 of today's introit here, from the monks in Sao Paulo. Notation here. Translation:

"Rejoice O Jerusalem and come together, all ye that love her;rejoice for joy, all ye that have mourned: that ye may be glad, and be satisfied with the breasts of your consolation.

I was glad when they said unto me; We will go into the house of the Lord. "

( from Isiaiah 66: 10-11, and Psalm 121(122) )

Rest of today's propers here.

More about Laetare Sunday:

Old Catholic Encyclepedia: Laetare Sunday
What is Laetare Sunday? from About.com
Reflections on today's readings from Salvationhistory.com

Omnes de Saba

Gradual chant for the Feast of the Epiphany, Omnes de Saba:



Courtesy of Chantblog.

The rest of the chants for Mass on the Feast of the Epiphany are found here.

Liturgy and fleas

An interesting post from Fr. Ray Blake at the St. Mary Magdalen blog from the U.K, about love of the liturgy and love of the poor among priests.

Why is it that those who love the liturgy don't have fleas anymore?