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The Raising of Lazarus in the Liturgy of Lent

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Until the first part of the eighth century, the Thursdays of Lent were “aliturgical” days in the Roman Rite, days on which no ferial Mass was celebrated. A similar custom prevails to this day in the Ambrosian and Byzantine Rites, the former abstaining from the Eucharistic Sacrifice on all the Fridays in Lent, the latter on all the weekdays. I have described in another article why Pope St Gregory II (715-31) changed this custom, and instituted Masses for the six Thursdays between Ash Wednesday and Holy Week. The Epistle and Gospel for the Thursday in the fourth week of Lent were clearly chosen as a prelude to those of the following day, which are a much older part of the lectionary tradition. In the Epistle of both days, one of the prophets raises not just a man, but a son, at the behest of his mother, anticipating the Resurrection of the Son of God; on Thursday, Elisha raises the Sunamite’s son (4 Kings 4, 25-38), and on Friday Elijah raises the dead son of the widow of Sarephta (3 Kings 17, 17-24). Likewise, on Thursday, Christ raises the widow of Naim’s son (Luke 7, 11-16) as he is borne out to burial, and on Friday, Lazarus, on the fourth day after his death (John 11, 1-45).

In his Treatises on the Gospel of St John, St Augustine notes à propos of this latter Gospel, and the resurrection of the dead at the end of the world, “(Christ) raised one that stank, but nevertheless in the stinking cadaver there was yet the form of its members; on the last day, with one word He will restore ashes to the flesh. But it was necessary that He should then do some (miracles), so that, when these were put forth as signs of His might, we might believe in Him, and be prepared for that resurrection which will be unto life, and not unto judgement. For He sayeth thus, ‘The hour cometh, when all that are in the graves shall hear His voice. And they that have done good things, shall come forth unto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.’ ” (Tract 49, citing John 5, 28-29)

The Raising Of Lazarus, painted by Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, 1304-06
When St Paul spoke at the Areopagus in Athens (Acts 17, 19-34), many of the pagan philosophers who had gathered to hear him scoffed at the mention of the resurrection of the dead. The Church Fathers bear witness to the repulsion which many pagans felt at the Christian belief that the body might share the immortality which they saw as proper only to the soul, and many early heresies rejected both the Incarnation and the resurrection of the flesh professed in the Creed. On the day when the Raising of Lazarus is read, therefore, the Lenten station is kept at the church of St Eusebius on the Esquiline hill, which stood very close to a large and very ancient necropolis, a “city of the dead”, one which dated back even before the founding of Rome itself. In this way, the Church, led by the bishop of Rome, proclaimed to the ancient pagan world Her belief in the resurrection of the body, made possible by the death and resurrection of the Savior.

On the ferias of Lent, the Communion antiphons are taken each one from a different Psalm in sequential order, starting on Ash Wednesday with Psalm 1. The days which were formerly aliturgical do not form part of this series, namely, the six Thursdays, and also the first and last Saturday; the ferias of Holy Week are also not included. (See the table below; click for larger view.)


The series is also interrupted on five days when particularly important passages of the Gospels are read, and the Communion is taken from them instead, the last such being the Raising of Lazarus.

Communio Videns Dominus flentes sorores Lazari ad monumentum, lacrimatus est coram Judaeis, et exclamavit: Lazare, veni foras: et prodiit ligatis manibus et pedibus, qui fuerat quatriduanus mortuus.
Seeing the sisters of Lazarus weeping at the tomb, the Lord wept before the Jews, and cried out: Lazarus, come forth: and he who had been dead four days came forth, bound by his hands and feet.
The Roman Mass of the day makes no other reference to the Gospel; in this sense, the Ambrosian Rite gives Lazarus much greater prominence. The second to sixth Sundays are each named for their Gospels, all taken from St John: the Samaritan Woman (4, 5-42), Abraham (8, 31-59), the Blind Man (9, 1-38), Lazarus (11, 1-45), and Palm Sunday (11,55 - 12,11). On the Fifth Sunday, four of the seven Mass chants cite the day’s Gospel, and the Preface speaks at length about the Raising of Lazarus. The Ingressa (Introit) of the Mass is similar to the Roman Communion cited above.
Ingressa Videns Dominus sororem Lazari ad monumentum, lacrimatus coram Judaeis, et exclamavit: Lazare, veni foras. Et prodiit ligatis manibus et pedibus, stetit ante eum, qui fuerat quatriduanus mortuus.
Seeing the sister of Lazarus at the tomb, the Lord wept before the Jews, and cried out: Lazarus, come forth: and he who had been dead four days, coming forth, stood before him, bound by his hands and feet.
The first reading of the Mass is Exodus 14, 15-31, the Crossing of the Red Sea, a passage which most rites have at the Easter Vigil. St Paul teaches in First Corinthians that this is a prefiguration of baptism: “Our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. And all in Moses were baptized, in the cloud, and in the sea: And did all eat the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; (and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.)” (chap. 10, 1-4) St Ambrose, in his Commentary on the Song of Songs, says that just as the children of “after the crossing of the Red Sea … were cleansed … by the flow of the rock that poured forth spiritual water, for the rock was Christ; and therefore they ate the manna; so that, as often as they were washed clean, they might eat the bread of angels… now also, in the mysteries of the Gospel, you recognize that being baptized … you are cleansed by spiritual food and drink.” (IV.5; PL XV, 1905A)
The Crossing of the Red Sea, depicted in a paleo-Christian sarcophagus, a reasonably common motif in early Christian funerary art. The front of the sarcophagus has been sawed off and used as the front of an altar in the Cathedral of Arles in France.
The Ambrosian Rite uses this passage not at the Easter vigil, but as an introduction to the story of Lazarus, whose death and resurrection foretell those of Christ Himself, and in Him, our own; first spiritually in the waters of baptism, and second in the body, at the end of the world. The chant which follows the first reading is called the Psalmellus; as the name suggests, it is almost always taken from one of the Psalms, like its Roman equivalent, the Gradual. Here we might expect that it be taken from the canticle of Moses in chapter 15, which follows the same passage at the Easter Vigil of the Roman and Byzantine Rites; instead, it is taken from the Gospel.
Psalmellus Occurrerunt Maria et Martha ad Jesum, dicentes: Domine, Domine, si fuisses hic, Lazarus non esset mortuus. Respondit Jesus: Martha, si credideris, videbis gloriam Dei. V. Videns Jesus turbam flentem, infremuit spiritu, lacrimatus; et veniens ad locum, clamavit voce magna: Lazare veni foras. Et revixit qui erat mortuus, et vidit gloriam Dei.
Mary and Martha came to meet Jesus, saying: Lord, Lord, if Thou had been here, Lazarus would not have died. Jesus answered: Martha, if thou shalt believe, thou shalt see the glory of God. V. Seeing the crowd weeping, Jesus groaned in spirit, weeping, and coming to the place, He cried out in a loud voice: Lazarus, come forth. And he that had died came back to life, and saw the glory of God.
The only other day on which the Psalmellus is taken from the Gospel is Holy Thursday, which in the Ambrosian Rite is much more focused on the Passion than on the Institution of the Eucharist. The first reading at the Ambrosian Mass of the Lord’s Supper is the entire book of Jonah, whose story Christ Himself explains as a prophecy of His death and resurrection; the Psalmellus which follows it is taken from the first part of the Passion of St Matthew, chapter 26, 17-75. The Ambrosian liturgy then makes explicit in the Preface this link between the death of Lazarus and that of Christ, in which our redemption is effected. (I here cite only the end of this beautiful text, which can only be spoiled in translation.)
Praefatio O quam magnum et salutare mysterium, quod per resurrectionem Lazari figuraliter designatur! Ille tabo corporis dissolutus, per superni regis imperium continuo surrexit ad vitam. Nos quidem primi hominis facinore consepultos, divina Christi gratia ex inferis liberavit, et redivivos gaudiis reddidit sempiternis.
O how great and profitable to salvation is this mystery, which is represented in a figure through the resurrection of Lazarus! He, being loosed from the corruption of the body, by the command of the Almighty King rose at once to life. Christ’s divine grace delivered us from hell, who indeed were buried by the crime of the first man, and restored us to eternal joy, when we had returned to life.
The preface of the Fifth Sunday of Lent, sung during the Capitular Mass at the Basilica of St Ambrose in Milan in 2012. The part of the preface which I have cited above begins at 1:23.

In the Byzantine Rite, the connection is made even more explicit; the Gospel of the Raising of Lazarus is read on the day before Palm Sunday, which is therefore called Lazarus Saturday. Bright vestments are used at the Divine Liturgy, instead of the dark vestments used at most services of Lent and Holy Week. The troparion sung at the Little Entrance declares the meaning of the Raising of Lazarus, and is also sung the following day, which is one of the Twelve Great feasts of the Byzantine liturgical year.
TroparionΤην κοινην Ἀνάστασιν προ τοῦ σοῦ Πάθους πιστούμενος, ἐκ νεκρῶν ἤγειρας τον Λάζαρον, Χριστε ὁ Θεός, ὅθεν και ἡμεῖς ὡς οἱ Παῖδες, τα τῆς νίκης σύμβολα φέροντες, σοι τῷ Νικητῇ τοῦ θανάτου βοῶμεν. Ὡσαννα ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις, εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου!
Confirming the general resurrection before Thy passion, Thou didst raise Lazarus from the dead, O Christ God! Whence we also, like the children, bearing the symbols of victory, cry out to Thee, the Vanquisher of death: Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!
The troparion of Lazarus Saturday sung in variety of languages; see original post on Youtube for the list, and the text of the troparion in several of them.

The Paschal character of the day expressed by the use of bright vestments also informs the kontakion which follows the troparion.
Kontakion Ἡ πάντων χαρά, Χριστός, ἡ ἀλήθεια, το φῶς, ἡ ζωή, τοῦ κόσμου ἡ ἀνάστασις, τοῖς ἐν γῇ πεφανέρωται τῇ αὐτοῦ ἀγαθότητι, καὶ γέγονε τύπος τῆς ἀναστάσεως, τοῖς πᾶσι παρέχων θείαν ἄφεσιν.
The joy of all, Christ, the Truth, and the Light, the Life, the Resurrection of the world, has appeared in His goodness to those on earth. He has become the image of our Resurrection, granting divine forgiveness to all.
While the troparia and kontakia are sung by the choir, the priest silently reads a prayer called the Prayer of the Trisagion, but sings the doxology out loud. It is followed at once by the hymn “Holy God, Holy mighty one, holy immortal one, have mercy on us.” On a very small number of days, however, the Trisagion, as it is called, is replaced by another chant, the words of Galatians 3, 27, “As many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ, alleluia.” Among these days are certain feasts of Lord such as Christmas, Epiphany (i.e. the Baptism of the Lord), Easter and Pentecost, and also Lazarus Saturday.

The traditional Old Church Slavonic version of “As many of you ...” begins at 0:52

As the Church prepares to accompany the Savior to His passion and death, and celebrate His glorious Resurrection, the Orthros (Matins) of Lazarus Saturday declares in several texts of surpassing beauty our salvation in Christ, who in His humanity wept for the death of Lazarus, the death He himself would shortly suffer, and in His divinity raised both Lazarus and Himself, as he will raise the whole of our fallen race on the last day.

Knowing beforehand all thing as their Maker, in Bethany didst Thou foretell to Thy disciples, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep today’; and knowing, Thou asked, ‘Where have ye laid him?” And to the Father Thou prayed, weeping as a man; whence also crying out, Thou raised from Hades Lazarus, whom Thou loved, on the fourth day. Therefore we cry to Thee: Accept, Christ and God, the praise of those that make bold to bring it, and deem all worthy of Thy glory.

O Christ, Thou raised Lazarus that was dead for four days from Hades, before Thy own death, confounding the power of death, and for the sake of one beloved to Thee, proclaiming beforehand the liberation of all men from corruption. Wherefore adoring Thy omnipotence, we cry out, ‘Blessed art Thou, o Savior; have mercy on us!’

Providing to Thy disciples the proofs of Thy divinity, among the crowds Thou didst humble Thyself, taking counsel to hide It; wherefore, as one that knoweth beforehand and as God, to Thy disciples Thou foretold the death of Lazarus. And in Bethany, among the peoples, perceiving not the grave of Thy friend, as a man Thou asked to learn of it. But he that through Thee rose on the fourth day made manifest Thy divine power; Almighty Lord, glory to Thee!

Laetare Sunday Photopost 2018 (Part 2)

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We finish up with your photos of Laetare Sunday liturgies just in time for Passion Sunday and the putting up of the veils; a request for the latter will be posted later today. Many thanks to everyone who sent these in; you are doing important work in encouraging Catholics throughout the world to a great love for and appreciation of our liturgical tradition. Evangelize through beauty!

Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini - Rome, Italy (FSSP)
Our Lady of Mt Carmel - New York City
Santissima Trinità - Pordenone, Italy

From the Fraternity of St Joseph the Guardian in the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, France
Nativity of the Virgin Mary - La Londe-Les-Maures

Saint-Trophyme - Bormes-les-Mimosas

St Agnes - New York City

St Mary - Pine Bluff, Wisconsin
Thanks, Fr Z!




St Louis - Tallahassee, Florida
(Courtesy of the local Una Voce chapter)



Our Lady of La Naval - Manila, Philippine Islands



Our Lady of the Sacred Heart - Cebu City, Philippine Islands

Old ST Patrick Oratory - Kansas City, Missouri (ICKSP)


St Patrick - Wilmington, Delaware


Sacred Heart - Flensburg, Minnesota


Photopost Request: Passiontide Veils 2018

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Our next photopost series will be of your churches with the Crosses, statues and paintings veiled for Passiontide; please send your pictures to photopost@newliturgicalmovement.org for inclusion. Be sure to include the name and location of the church, and always feel free to add any other information you think important. (We will follow this up with photoposts of Palm Sunday and the other major ceremonies of Holy Week.)

Last year, the response to this request was just tremendous, and we received so many pictures that we wound up making four separate posts of them, with 115 photographs from over 50 different churches from all over the world! This was a record, one which we will, of course, be very happy to see matched or broken. Whenever we make these requests, we always include a photo from the previous year’s post on the same subject, but since each of the four had at least one thing that was unique about it, we will take the opportunity to look back on all four.

From Part 1: putting up the veils at the church of St Joseph in Singapore
From Part 2: An altar piece with its wings closed for Passiontide, an extremely common custom in the Middle Ages; from the Ordinariate church of St John the Baptist in Bridgeport, Pennsylvania.
From Part 3: Mass at the FSSP’s church in Lyon, France, the Collegiate Church of St Just, celebrated in the Dominican Rite by members of the Fraternity of St Vincent Ferrer. The processional Cross is used at the singing of the Gospel, and of course, veiled for the season.
From Part 4: The cathedral of St Nicholas in Noto, Sicily has maintained the custom of covering the whole back of the church with a very large monochrome veil, painted with an image of Crucifixion.

Passion Sunday 2018

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The Vespers hymn for Passiontide Vexilla Regis, in alternating Gregorian chant, according to a different melody than the classic Roman one, and polyphony by Tomás Luis de Victoria.


Instruction Sheet for Clergy Assisting with Distribution of Communion at the EF

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In the ever-growing number of places where the traditional Roman Rite of the Mass is being offered, a situation often arises where a priest who is not already trained in the usus antiquior is nevertheless called upon to offer assistance with the distribution of Holy Communion, particularly on occasions when a large number of the faithful are expected to be present. Sometimes clergy are confused and flustered at such moments because they have not received proper instruction ahead of time. It therefore seemed a good idea to share with NLM readers a handy one-page instruction sheet that explains how clergy should assist in these situations. If the document contains any mistakes, I would be grateful for corrections from rubrically well-instructed readers.

First, the text below, and then an image of a formatted version of it.


Instructions for the distribution of Holy Communion by an assisting priest at the Vetus Ordo

1) Having vested in cassock, surplice, and stole of the day’s color, the minister enters the sanctuary when he hears the celebrant beginning to say “Domine, non sum dignus.... (bell ring)” three times.

2) He kneels at the side of the altar during the servers’ Confiteor and the celebrant’s “Ecce agnus Dei,” and stands afterwards.

3) The minister receives the ciborium from the altar and proceeds to the communicants. (If the ciborium is in the tabernacle, he goes to the tabernacle, opens it, genuflects, and closes it without locking it; he genuflects again after opening the ciborium on the altar.)

4) The minister says, while making the sign of the cross with the host, “Corpus + Domini Nostri Iesu Christi [nodding his head at the Holy Name, and placing the Host on the tongue of the communicant] custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam. Amen.
a) The priest should not go to the communicants without the server.[1]
b) The whole formula should be pronounced for each communicant.[2]
c) Communion must be received on the tongue and kneeling.[3]
d) Formal blessings to non-communicants are not permitted by the liturgical books of 1962, and sacred ministers exercising their ministry at the Usus Antiquior are bound, as per Universae Ecclesiae 28, and Sacrosanctum Consilium 22§3, not to import extraneous blessings.[4]

5) When all communicants have received Our Lord, the minister, taking care to keep his thumb and forefinger together, takes the paten from the server and ascends to the altar by the front steps, and places the paten on the corporal, leaving it there for the celebrant to purify.

6) He returns the ciborium to the tabernacle, taking care to keep thumb and forefinger together; opens the tabernacle; puts the ciborium into the tabernacle; genuflects; and closes the tabernacle.

7) After closing the tabernacle, the assistant priest washes his fingers with the water in the ablution cup (a small bowl-like container placed to the side of the tabernacle). He dips his thumb and index finger into the water and wipes his fingers on the accompanying purificator before returning to the sacristy.

NOTES

[1] “Not. 1 Ne sacerdos praecipitanter S. Communionem distribuat, est enim ministerium sanctissimum, omnique possibili attentione et devotione pertractandum.” Sacrae liturgiae praxis juxta ritum romanum v.1. 272.

[2] “Not. 8 Non obstante magno communicantium numero, ad quemque illorum integra forma pronuntianda est, et crux cum S. Hostia exacte et reverenter formanda non autem praeceps manuum gesticulatio, ut distributio acceleretur.” Sacrae liturgiae praxis juxta ritum romanum v.1. 272.

[3] “Praeterea, cum sane de lege speciali agitur, quoad materiam propriam, Litterae Apostolicae Summorum Pontificum derogant omnibus legibus liturgicis, sacrorum rituum propriis, exinde ab anno 1962 promulgatis, et cum rubricis librorum liturgicorum anni 1962 non congruentibus.” UE §28.

[4] “Quapropter nemo omnino alius, etiamsi sit sacerdos, quidquam proprio Marte in Liturgia addat, demat, aut mutet.” SC Normae Generales 22 § 3. RS 186 :“Quisque enim semper meminerit se esse sacrae Liturgiae servitorem.” Missale Romanum, Institutio Generalis, n. 24. Cf. also the ceremonies for coram Sanctissimo, which praxis demonstrates that, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, blessings are not imparted other than that of the prescribed Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament. It is the general rule that priests do not give blessings before the Eucharist when our Lord is not residing within the tabernacle – whether these be blessings of the incense, or of people, etc.

Guardini's Spirit of the Liturgy Centenary - Call for Papers of the Society for Catholic Liturgy

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Call for Papers
Centenary of the Publication of
The Spirit of the Liturgy by Romano Guardini

September 27–29, 2018
Cathedral of St. Mary
Miami, Florida

A touchstone of the twentieth-century Liturgical Movement, Romano Guardini’s Spirit of the Liturgy marks its centennial year of publication in 2018. For the occa
sion of its annual conference, The Society for Catholic Liturgy invites submissions for academic papers and pastoral presentations on topics related to Guardini’s work.

  • Expositions on the life and work of Romano Guardini
  • The legacy of Guardini and The Spirit of the Liturgy
  • The place of Guardini within the twentieth-century Liturgical Movement 
  • The Spirit of the Liturgy and the Second Vatican Council 
  • Problematics posed or introduced by The Spirit of the Liturgy 
  • The relationship between Guardini’s and Ratzinger’s The Spirit of the Liturgy 
  • Relationships between the following in The Spirit of the Liturgy
    • Nature and grace, or nature and “cultural heritage”/civilization 
    • The individual and the community, the parish and the universal Church, or more generally the particular and the universal 
    • Change and stability 
    • Emotions, the mind, truth, or the will, etc. 
    • Vertical and horizontal aspects of the liturgy 
    • Liturgy and the moral life 
    • The subjective and the objective 
    • Popular piety/devotions, the spiritual life, and the liturgy 
    • Lex orandi and lex credendi 
    • Externality and internality 
    • Freedom and restraint 
    • Individual “style” and universality of expression 
    • The material and the spiritual 
    • Purpose and meaning 
    • Beauty, truth, and goodness 
    • Logos and ethos 
    • Contemplation and activity 
  • The role of the following in the liturgy, according to Guardini’s work 
    • Christ as figure or actor 
    • Repetition 
    • “Active participation” 
    • Sacrifice 
    • Humility 
    • Sensibilities of the modern man 
    • Mystery 
    • Symbolism and typology 
    • Playfulness 
    • Minimalism or simplicity 
    • Rubrics and rules
  • The problems of aestheticism, moralism, Kantianism, or didacticism vis-à-vis the liturgy 
  • Reception and application of principles of The Spirit of the Liturgy in the post-modern context, or within Guardini’s own time 
  • The place of The Spirit of the Liturgy within Guardini’s oeuvre 
  • Guardini’s liturgical praxis and ars celebrandi 
  • Guardini’s work with youth 
  • Liturgy and technology 

Other proposals will be considered, but primary consideration will be given to proposals that are related to the conference theme.

Paper proposals of approximately 250 words should be emailed to Jennifer.Donelson@archny.org or mailed to Jennifer Donelson, 201 Seminary Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10704. Proposals must be received by Friday, May 4, 2018.

Presentations will be 45 minutes in length, followed by 15 minutes of discussion. Papers presented will be considered for publication in the SCL’s journal Antiphon: A Journal for Liturgical Renewal. Presenters must register for the full conference and will be responsible for their own expenses.

Christ Becomes the Mystagogical Catechist through the Mass

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Book review: A Devotional Journey into the Mass - How Mass Can Become A Time of Grace, Nourishment, and Devotion, by Christopher Carstens (pub. Sophia Institute Press).

In this book (available here), Christopher Carstens, who is also the editor of Adoremus Bulletin, takes us through each key element of the Mass, from entering the church through to our response to the dismissal). Grounding his discussion in the sacramental thought of Romano Guardini, he takes us on a journey into the heart of the liturgy which, in the principles he articulates, is applicable to the Ordinary Form, the Extraordinary Form, and the Anglican Ordinariate form of the Roman Rite. (Sophia Institute Press also very kindly provides a free printable summary of the major points in two pages, available here.)

“If you’re unhappy because the Mass has become for you routine – or even boring and tedious – these pages are for you. They teach you eight simple ways to make your every Mass a joyful time of piety and intense devotion.” This is how the publisher describes the appeal of this book. I would add to this that Carsten’s approach is the basis for a mystagogical catechesis that will allow us to participate, so that the Sacred Liturgy as a whole itself becomes the primary force for continual mystagogy. As such, I would see it as a natural complement to any authentic Catholic education, such as described in the book on children’s education I reviewed recently, Educating in Christ.

By emphasizing the sacramental nature of the Mass so profoundly and in such simple and clear language, and by showing its deep connection to Scripture and salvation history, it is, in my opinion, a foundational text for an approach to mystagogical catechesis that could reap rewards for a lifetime.

I appreciated particularly, for example, his emphasis also on lectio divina as a preparation for the Scripture that is proclaimed in the readings at Mass. Firstly, he de-mystifies it with simple and clear instructions on the method. Secondly, and just as importantly, he highlights how this exercise in meditation and contemplative prayer is consummated in the worship of God. It is not a higher activity, but one which, like all other activities that are not liturgical, derives its power and effectiveness from the liturgy, and so, in turn, leads us back to it for its consummation. To help us, Carstens explains beautifully how our personal pilgrimages are a participation in that which takes place in the story of salvation history, running through Old and New Testaments. This is a useful point for the evangelization of New-Agers and non-Christians who are looking to Eastern religions in a search for mystery. I would say that their desire to meditate is good, but will be even more powerful and effective if transformed to be harmony with its true place in the spiritual life.

I was gratified to read how strongly he makes the point that this is not just about the words. All art and even the architecture of the church building must reveal these universal truths in such a way that they are communicated to each person, and so act as clear perceptible signposts that direct us on our way. To the degree that we respond to what is offered, we can ourselves be formed as artists who then fashion our very lives to the template of the Paschal Mystery.

To take one example of how images can support this: some will remember my discussion on why the image of the three children in the fiery furnace in the book of Daniel is important for Christians. Through this book, Carstens enriched my own understanding and appreciation of this image even further with his detailed discussion of the Scriptural account of this episode, and its importance to the Mass. As he tells us, “its message, as well as its central text (Daniel 3, 39-40), is present at every Mass during the preparation of the altar and its gifts. This is truly right and just because the three youths exemplify the only true way for the Church to prepare for the Eucharistic sacrifice.”


I enjoyed the following passage about the priesthood. “There are a few words that the Roman Rite uses to describe its priests and one of them is pontifex. In Latin the noun pons means bridge... and -fex is the foundation of today’s word factory, the place where things are built. Put the two words together - pontifex - and you get bridge-builder, which is precisely what a priest is; his role is to bridge the divide between God and man and pass over from earthly woes to heavenly blessings. Christ is the Pontifex Maximus. Even though he does not need our assistance in his saving work, He makes us sharers in His priesthood at baptism, empowering us to build the Paschal bridge with Him during the Eucharistic prayer.”

My hope is to be formed as one of many such supernatural bridge-builders who are capable of forming an edifice that spans the divide between the liturgy and the culture of faith, and then, between the culture of faith and the wider culture; and further, that the cuture of faith can become a channel of divine beauty, bringing it from its source out into world, so that grace might be reflected in all human activity and every artefact that results from it. However, none of us can play a part in this if we don’t first come in from the dark, and “pass over”, so to speak, that bridge called the “Paschal mystery“ which connects us to the wellspring of grace and beauty, Christ present in the Eucharist.

Order the book here.


Christopher Carstens is the editor of the Adoremus Bulletin and one of the Liturgy Guys (along with Denis McNamara and Jesse Weiler) who create regular podcasts for the Liturgical Institute at Mundelein. He is also on the faculty of Pontifex University, for whom he has created an online class on the meaning of the Mass as part of the Master of Sacred Arts program.

Roman Pilgrims at the Station Churches (Part 8)

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Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent - St Eusebius
In the historical lectionary of the Roman Rite, this was the day on which the Gospel of the Raising of Lazarus (John 11, 1-45) was read; the station was therefore kept at the church of St Eusebius on the Esquiline hill, right next to a very ancient Roman cemetery.



This inscription of the year 1582 records that Pope Gregory XIII granted indulgences of ten years and ten Lents for visiting the church on the feast of the titular Saint (August 14), and those of Pope St Leo I and St Benedict (at the time, April 11 and March 21 respectively), to two of the church’s chapels are dedicated.
From Fr Alek: St Eusebius was a Roman priest who is traditionally said to have died in the mid-4th century after several months of forced confinement in his house, inflicted on him because of his stance against the Arian heresy. He is depicted in the ceiling of the church’s nave with a book in his hands on which are written in Greek the words of the Nicene Creed “consubsantial with the Father”, (not “one in being.”)
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent - St Nicholas “in the prison”
The peculiar title of this church comes from a tradition that St Nicholas of Myra was brought to Rome and imprisoned by the Emperor Constantius for his refusal to accept the heresy of Arius. The church encompasses the remains of three temples built in the later years of the Roman Republic, the basements of which were in fact used a prisons in antiquity. The station for this day was originally kept at the church of St Lawrence Outside-the-Walls, but transferred here in the Middle Ages. Therefore, the last three stations of Lent, as a season distinguished from Passiontide, are held at churches dedicated to Confessors, where the earlier stations are at churches of the Virgin, the Apostles and the Martyrs. (For further explanation, see this article: “Raising the Dead in Lent.”

From Fr Alek
A very nice shot of a reliquary bust.
Passion Sunday - St Peter’s Basilica
On this day, the chapter of St Peter’s Basilica celebrates Vespers with particular solemnity, after which the Veil of St Veronica is exposed for the veneration of the faithful from the balcony of one of the great pillars which support the church’s dome. The procession is held entirely within the church, which is of course the largest in the world; the high altar is covered with relics, as also on the Ember Saturday of Lent, when the Station is also held here.



Another fantastic shot from Fr Alek: the hand of the Prophet Elijah seems to point to God the Father at the top of the cupola. The pillars St Peter’s, including those of the enormous apse, have statues of the founders of various religious in their niches, with Elijah among them as the traditional founder of the Carmelites.

Relics are displayed on the high altar for the church’s two Lenten stations, Ember Saturday and Passion Sunday. The relics of martyrs are placed closer to the edge of the mensa, and those of other Saints further in; the four corners are decorated with reliquaries shaped like obelisks, with long bones (tibias and such) in them. Two rectangular panels are set one on each short side of the mensa, each containing relics of 35 Popes, between the two of them, all of the Sainted Popes except the most recent. On the long side facing the apse, a bust reliquary of Pope St Damasus I (366-84, feast on December 11), containing the relics of his skull, is placed in the middle. This is a particularly appropriate choice, since he was a great promoter of devotion to the Saints and the cult of the relics, particularly those of the Roman martyrs. Within many catacombs, he rearranged the spaces around the tombs of the martyrs to make it easier for pilgrims to find and visit them, and decorated the tombs themselves with elaborately carved inscriptions written by himself in classical poetic meter. For this reason, he is honored as the patron saint of archeologists.
Monday of Passion Week - St Chrysogonus


The church is in the care of the Trinitarian Fathers, one of the medieval ransomin orders whose mission was to rescue Christians captured and held as slaves in Muslim lands. The red and blue cross is traditionally said to have been divinely revealed as their distinctive symbol to their founders, Ss John of Matha and Felix of Valois.


From Fr Alek: St Chrysosgonus, a Roman martyr of the 4th century, glorified as a martyr in heaven. His traditional legend is considered historically unreliable, but he was one of the most venerated Saints of the early church, and is named in the Canon of the Mass.
A statue of the Redeemer wearing the scapular of the Trinitians.


Fostering Young Vocations (Part 7) - Who’s Afraid of the Cassock?

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From the French Catholic blog Le Salon Beige comes this item. The southern French dioceses of Perpignan, Montpellier, Nimes and Carcassonne made the following video for a joint collection appeal, in which a young priest meets some Young People™ in a church building which appears to be young, and yet so very, very old...

From the video is taken this still-shot for a poster, which, however, was used only by the diocese of Carcassonnne.
At Perpignan, Montpellier, and Nimes, it was apparently deemed necessary to make the poster more suitable for publication by photoshopping out the priest’s cassock, replacing the part at the bottom with jeans, and blurring the buttons above. This was, not surprisingly, done badly and on the cheap, as you can see by clicking the picture to enlarge it.
It is no secret that France has over the last several years seen a general decline in vocations which a more honest age than our own would recognize as catastrophic. According to this article from August of last year on Riposte Catholique, Carcassonne currently has no seminarians, Perpignan has three, and Nimes two. Montpellier has 14 according to its own website, which Riposte Catholique reports makes for an increase since 2010 (Deo gratias!)

There is nothing wrong with a priest hanging out with the Young People™ and appearing in the occasional selfie, but that is not what it means to be a priest. On the website of the diocese of Perpignan, the slogan in the video “Aidez-nous à transmettre - help us to hand down” (hmmm... is there another word for that?) is elaborated with some other verbs: “help us to share, preserve, support celebrate.” Only one of these, the last, expresses what is means to be a priest. A priest is a leitourgos first and foremost, one who celebrates and offers a service on behalf of the people which they cannot celebrate and offer by themselves. He and he alone is the Pontifex, “the maker of the bridge” that unites Heaven to earth. If, as this rather sad little episode seems to indicate, a diocese becomes not merely reluctant to show a priest as a priest, but positively embarrassed by the idea, it should at least be honest and admit that the money collected in its fundraising appeal will be used to pay the lawyers who handle its receivership. But perhaps they realize that “Aidez-nous à disparaître” somehow lacks appeal...

I bring this item to the attention of our predominantly American readers not to depress you, but as a reminder of two things. First, as we come to the holiest days of the year, remember to pray for the Church throughout the entire world, for the places where the Faith is languishing as well as those where it is flourishing, and especially for those where it is persecuted. Second, remember that despite everything, much progress has been made towards better days, and will continue to be made. Back in the madness of the 70s and 80s, (and yes, well into the 90s ... and yes, even beyond that), a cassock could well mark an American seminarian out for mistreatment or expulsion. In many places (not enough, but many) they are no longer the least bit controversial. I know of one congregation whose members 20 years were never seen in a cassock outside the most strictly formal occasions. A few years ago, the novices of that same congregation asked if they could wear the cassock for their first profession ceremony; not only was this permitted, it wasn’t even debated.

And finally, a reminder of what the sanity to which the Church will eventually return looks like. Tradition will always be for the young!

Courtesy of the Regina Pacis Chaplaincy

The Feast of St Benedict 2018

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Listen carefully, my child, to the master’s precepts, and incline the ear of your heart; willingly receive and effectively fulfill the admonition of your loving father, that by the labor of obedience you may return to Him from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience. To you, therefore, my discourse is now addressed, whoever you may be that renounce your own will to do serve under the Lord, Christ the true King, and take up the most mighty bright weapons of obedience. And first of all, as you begin to do any good work, beg of Him with most earnest prayer that it may be perfected, so that He who has now deigned to count us among His children may not at any time be grieved by our evil deeds. For we must always so serve Him with the good things He has given us, that He will never as an angry Father disinherit His children, nor ever as a dread Lord, provoked by our evil actions, deliver us to everlasting punishment as wicked servants who would not follow Him to glory. (The Prologue of the Rule of St Benedict.)

Saints Benedict and Bernard, by Diogo de Contreiras, 1542; painted for the Cistercian convent of Santa Maria de Almoster  in Portugal. (Public domainimage from Wikimedia.)
The second half of the Hour of Prime is sometimes called the Chapter Office, from the Benedictine custom of reading a part of the Rule of St Benedict at the end of it every day. The text of the Rule was divided into roughly 120 sections, and read in order over the course of four months, making for three full readings a year. At Citeaux, however, this reading began not on January 1st, as in most other houses, but on March 21st, which is both the feast day of St Benedict, and the day the abbey was founded in 1098. Beginning the reading of the Rule on this day became an annual reminder not only of the Order’s founding, but more specifically of the Cistercians’ role as the “strict constructionalists” of Benedictine monasticism, almost as if to say that the observance of the Rule itself began again with the coming of the new Order.

The first two pages of the Rule of St Benedict, with the Prologue to be read on March 21st, from a Cistercian Martyrology printed at Paris in 1689.

Passiontide Photopost 2018 (Part 1)

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As was the case last year, the response to our request for pictures of your churches with veils for Passiontide was tremendous; we will therefore have at least two more posts of them, possibly three, just out of those received in the last four days. For this we are very grateful indeed! If you have photos you would like to contribute, we will still very glad to receive them; please send them to photopost@newliturgicalmovement.org, and remember to include the name and location of the church. And once again, we should all take encouragement in seeing this beautiful Catholic tradition gaining more and more ground each year - evangelize through beauty!

Old St Mary’s - The Oratory of Cincinnati, Ohio
On the feast of St Joseph, the Cincinnati Oratory celebrated the first year since its canonical establishment; our congratulations to the community! Below we see two photos of solemn Mass on the feast, one of them being a very clever shot of the Elevation seen in the organist’s mirror.



St John the Evangelist - Goshen, Indiana
Every year, we have a few churches that have reintroduced the veiling at Passiontide, sometimes after a lapse of decades. The pastor of this church writes to say that although they kept up the tradition of veiling statues over the years, this is the first time in as long as anyone can remember that they have also veiled the crosses; a parishioner sewed new veils for the large sanctuary crucifix, altar cross, and even the processional cross.


Out Lady of Mt Carmel - New York City

St Michael’s Cathedral - Toronto, Ontario

Holy Ghost - Tiverton, Rhode Island
Adoration and Daily Mass Chapel
St Mary - Norwalk, Connecticut
This will definitely be in next year’s photopost request!

private chapel - Bay area, California 
San Simon Piccolo - Venice, Italy (FSSP)

St Joseph Chapel - San Antonio, Texas

Corpus Christi Catholic Community - Charleston, South Carolina
Part of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter, the community worships at St Mary of the Annunciation Catholic Church in downtown Charleston.




Triduum and Easter Schedule at St Agnes in St Paul, Minnesota

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Here is the schedule of services for the Triduum and Easter Sunday at the church of St Agnes in St Paul, Minnesota, where the legacy of the great Mons Richard Schuler lives on.


Follow-Up on Tuesday’s Cassock Post

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On Tuesday, I reposted an item from the French blog Le Salon Beige about a fund-raising poster produced by four French dioceses, in which the cassock of a young priest was photoshopped out, very ineptly, to make it appear that he was wearing jeans instead. (Young People™ think jeans are COOL!!) This was also picked up by the Catholic Herald. In the meantime, someone with a good eye for detail noted in our combox that the young man taking the photo is wearing a Polo jacket, the logo of which was also removed: a very Soviet gesture, if there ever was one. (A friend of mine made the joke on Facebook that the Church will soon need to put Photoshop on the Index of Forbidden Software.)

Well, it turns out that both of these photos are fake, and the photoshopping was done to hide the fact that the good Father is a Cleveland Browns’ fan!

(Thanks for Mr Tim Clark for permission to reproduce this joke, which is just a joke; Mr Clark is himself a Browns’ fan, as was my father all his life!)

Passiontide Photopost 2018 (Part 2)

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Exactly as happened last year, in the single day since we posted the first part of this year’s photopost of Passiontide veils, we have received enough new submissions that we will now plan on four parts instead of three. If, therefore, you don’t see your here, know that we will definitely get to them within the next couple of days, just in time to start another round of photoposts for Holy Week. As always, we are very grateful to everyone who sent these in; you are doing great things to preserve and encourage our Catolic liturgical tradition!

St Anthony’s - The Bronx, New York

Our Lady of the Pillar Parish - Alaminos, Laguna, The Philippines

St Stephen - Exeter, Nebraska
St Mary’s Parish - Kalamazoo, Michigan


Even in the sacristy!
St Paul’s Cathedral - Birmingham, Alabama


Mater Ecclesiae - Berlin, New Jersey



Monastery of the Holy Cross - Chicago, Illinois


Immaculate Conception - Port Perry, Ontario
The chapel of St Joseph before veiling...
... and after.
Our Lady Among the Olives - Zagreb, Croatia
Cathedral of the Holy Rosary - Vancouver, British Columbia


Santissima Trinità - Pordenone, Italy
St Catherine of Siena - Columbus, Ohio



The History of the Folded Chasuble, by Henri de Villiers (Part 1)

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We are much obliged to Henri de Villiers and the Schola Sainte Cécile for permission to publish this translation by Mr Gerhard Eger of the article “Les chasubles pliés: Histoire et liturgie”, which is also being published simultaneously on Canticum Salomonis. Readers may also find some of our previous articles on folded chasubles of interest: here, here, and here, and on the short phelonion here.
Folded chasubles are the vestments used by the deacon and subdeacon during penitential seasons instead of the dalmatic and tunicle. Their use dates back to the earliest years of the Church, when all the clergy used the chasuble.


HISTORY
The chasuble was originally a civil garment used already by the Etruscans, and became widespread in the Roman Empire beginning in the first century of our era, to the point that it became an elegant article of clothing in common use. It was a round garment with a hole in its centre to pass the head through, and covered the upper body down to the knees. It is known under different names, the principal ones being: pænula, the most common name in ancient Rome; casula, literally “little house”, because it was a sort of little tent (this term has resulted in the English “chasuble”;) planeta, the term later used by the Roman liturgical books, whereas the rest of Western Europe has always preferred to use casula; and amphibalus mainly employed by the Fathers of the Church of Gaul.

Etruscan pænula (rolled up over the arms), 4th century B. C.
The chasuble then tended, at the start of our era, to replace the old toga, which was too heavy and less practical, to the point where Roman orators began to insist on using them instead of togas when pleading cases, in order to have more freedom in for oratorical gestures [1]. Under the Emperor Trajan (98-117), the tribunes of the people wore chasubles, and Commodus (180-192) ordered that those assisting public spectacles should do so in a chasuble and no longer in a toga. The chasuble became the senatorial vestment in 382.

Christians naturally used this garment [2] and at the start of the 3rd century Tertullian chastised the faithful who took off their chasubles during liturgical prayers for reasons that he labelled superstitious [3]. As the chasuble became a vestment of honour for high officers of the Empire, Christians sought to give their own tribunes and senators—bishops, priests, and deacons—a similar mark of honour.

In Christian writings, the first mention of the chasuble as a properly liturgical vestment is relatively late: it is found in the second of the two letters written by St Germain of Paris († 576), which contains a famous description of the mass according to the ancient Gallican rite:
The chasuble, which is known as amphibalus and which the priest wears, shows the original unity of all that was instituted by Moses the Lawgiver. Now, the Lord commanded that diverse vestments be made, so that the people might not dare wear what the priest wears. Hence it has no sleeves, since the priest’s duty is to bless rather than to minister. Hence from the start it has been of one piece, and not split or opened, since many are the hidden mysteries of Holy Scripture, which the learned priest must conceal under a seal, as it were, and preserve the unity of the faith, nor to fall into heresy or schism.
Nevertheless, well before this first mention, numerous frescoes, mosaics, and miniatures from the 4th century onward show beyond doubt the chasuble was largely adopted during this era as a liturgical vestment, in the East as well as the West.

St Ambrose of Milan wearing a chasuble. Note the cut that facilitates the movements of the right arm. Mosaic dated 375 from the chapel of San Vittore in Ciel d’Oro in the basilica of St Ambrose.
At this time, the chasuble was the general vestment of all the clergy, not only that of bishops and priests, but also of deacons, subdeacons, and—according to Alcuin (c. 730-804)—in certain circumstances even of acolytes! Amalarius of Metz (775-850) tells us that the chasuble was still worn in his time by all clerics without distinction. He calls it the generale indumentum sacrorum ducum [4]. It was still employed by acolytes in certain regions into the 11th century [5].

For the celebrating bishop or priest, this vestment did not create any discomfort in carrying out the sacred ceremonies, as St Germain of Paris notes: “Hence it has no sleeves, since the duty of the priest is to bless rather than to minister”. But the ministers—deacons and subdeacons—had to adapt the chasuble for their purposes: they rolled back the front part of the vestment, so that the arms of the ministers would be free to handle the sacred vessels. And thus they were dubbed “folded chasubles”, or planetæ plicatæ ante pectus, as the Latin liturgical books say.

In order to better understand the form taken by this folding, below are some photographs taken from the journal L’Art d’Église (n. 4, 1948), which show a very successful attempt to recreate the ancient shape of the folded chasuble by the monks of the St Andrew’s Abbey in Belgium:

The subdeacon’s folded chasuble
From the singing of the Gospel until the end of the Mass, the deacon, in order to be freer in his movements, rolled up his chasuble and slung it across his shoulders over his stole.

The deacon’s chasuble: rolled and slung over the shoulder or simply folded, depending on the different moments of the Mass.
The celebrant’s chasuble did not need to be folded [6] precisely because the deacon and subdeacon would help him by lifting up its edges at certain times, during the incensations and at the elevations. This beautiful gesture was faithfully kept by the Roman liturgy, even when it ceased to be necessary after celebrants’ chasubles began to be clipped and reduced in shape.

In fact, the folded chasubles worn by deacons and subdeacons were a clear symbol of their proper function as sacred ministers, i.e. of their role as servants of the celebrant.

Deacons’ and subdeacons’ folded chasubles were later replaced, beginning in the 5th century, by two new vestments: the dalmatic and the tunicle, vestments endowed with sleeves that made it more manageable for them to carry out their liturgical and ministerial functions.

Still, Rome took a long time to adopt this novelty, and the Ordines Romani that describe the Roman liturgy at the time of St Gregory the Great and a bit thereafter (7th century) still name the chasuble as the vestment worn by the pope, the deacons, and the subdeacons. Moreover, John the Deacon (c. 825-880), the biographer of St Gregory the Great (c. 540-604), in his Vita Gregorii Magni, designates the rest of the clergy that accompanied the Pope on processions with the term planeti (“those wearing planetæ”, i.e. chasubles).

When Rome finally accepted the use of dalmatics and tunicles, she nevertheless kept the use of folded chasubles for the deacon and subdeacon during Lent and penitential seasons, following the generally observed liturgical principle that the seasons considered the most holy are also those that are spared from liturgical innovations.

Furthermore, the dalmatic and tunicle are sumptuous vestments that symbolize joy and innocence. For a long time, their colour had to be white, and ancient dalmatics were also adorned with the two bright purple vertical bands (lati claves) that adorned the senatorial garb of old. During the ordination of a deacon, the bishop imposes the dalmatic upon him with these words: “May the Lord attire thee in the garment of salvation, and the vestment of joy (indumento lætitiæ), and ever surround thee with the dalmatic of justice”. The equivalent prayer for clothing the subdeacon with the tunicle also speaks of a vestimento lætitiæ. The use of the dalmatic and tunicle was consequently entirely inappropriate for penitential seasons, during which the old folded chasuble was hence preserved.

The distribution of candles during the Feast of the Purification
RULES FOR LITURGICAL USE
Folded chasubles are therefore used in the Roman liturgy during penitential seasons. The exact extent of these seasons is described in chapter XIX, §§ 6 and 7 of the rubrics of the Roman Missal of St Pius V (De qualitate paramentorum) [7]:

“In cathedrals and major churches, chasubles are used folded before the breast on fasting days (except on the vigils of the saints), and on the Sundays and ferias of Advent and Lent, and on the Vigil of Pentecost before Mass (except on Gaudete Sunday, and when its Mass is repeated during the week, on Lætare Sunday, on the Vigil of Christmas, on Holy Saturday during the blessing of the candle and during Mass, and on the Ember Days of Pentecost) also during the blessing of candles and procession on the day of the Purification of Our Lady, and during the blessing of ashes and the blessing of palms and the procession.

In smaller churches, however, on the aforesaid fasting days (the deacon and subdeacon) minister only with the alb; the subdeacon with the maniple, and the deacon also with the stole hanging from his left shoulder under his right.”

Ordinations on Ember Saturday: the deacon and subdeacon, ministers of the bishop, wear folded chasubles.
We shall here explain certain aspects of this rubric in greater detail. Despite its apparent complexity, it follows some simple and logical principles:

1. Folded chasubles were only used on penitential seasons, and hence only in violet or black. They were not used (even if the above rubric does not make it explicit) for the Mass on Maundy Thursday, celebrated in white, but were for the Mass of the Presanctified on Good Friday, celebrated in black. Before the reforms of the 1950s, the Vigil of Pentecost was like a second Paschal Vigil, and comprised six prophecies before, the beginning of the Mass. This fore-mass was celebrated in violet and hence folded chasubles were used. The subsequent Mass was in red. Likewise, on Holy Saturday, the deacon blessed the Paschal candle in a white dalmatic, then put on the folded chasuble again for the Fore-Mass in violet (which comprised twelve prophecies and the blessing of the font). The Mass following this Fore-Mass was in white vestments.

2. Sundays of Advent and Lent are not fasting days (one never fasts on Sundays, which always celebrates Christ’s resurrection) but are still included as part of penitential seasons because they are celebrated in violet. Nonetheless, the rubric of the Roman Missal does not mention Sundays of Septuagesima, which are also celebrated in violet. With some exceptions, medieval commentators did not recommend the use of violet chasubles during the season of Fore-Lent. (To follow the rubric rigorously, one should not use them on Sundays during Septuagesima, but one could consider using them on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on the three weeks of this season, for they were once fasting days).

3. The two Sundays of Gaudete and Lætare are breaks in the midst of Advent and of Lent, days of joy when the Church gives the faithful a foretaste of the rejoicing that awaits them at the end of these two penitential seasons: the vestments are rose-coloured instead of violet, altars are adorned with flowers, and the organ and other musical instruments are played. The Mass of Gaudete Sunday can be celebrated again during the week that follows, and is endowed with the same privileges (the Mass of Lætare Sunday cannot be repeated during the following week, since each feria of Lent is provided with a proper mass).

4. The Ember Days of Pentecost are the sole Ember Days without fasting, because they are included in the Octave of Pentecost. Hence, unlike the Ember Days of September, Advent, and Lent, folded chasubles are not used during these masses.

5. By “major churches”, the rubric means cathedrals, collegiate churches, and also parish churches. This was confirmed by a decision of the Sacred Congregation of Rites dated 11 September 1847 addressed to Nicholas Wiseman, bishop of London, who was then reestablishing the Catholic hierarchy in England and whose entirely new parishes were still often bereft of vestments. The same decision counseled him to celebrate Mass in his cathedral without sacred ministers rather than have deacons and subdeacons without folded chasubles. This decision must have seemed a bit inflexible because it was suppressed in later collections of decrees of the S. C. R.: a principal church lacking folded chasubles can always have ministers serve without folded chasubles, wearing only alb, stole, and maniple.

6. Smaller churches seems to have been dispensed from using folded chasubles not so much because they lacked them but because it was more difficult to have three perfectly matching chasubles, two of which were folded.

7. Another response by the Sacred Congregation of Rites (n. 5385, 31 August 1867) specifies that folded chasubles must be used before the exposed Blessed Sacrament during the Forty Hours Prayer taking place in Advent or Lent.

8. The use of folded chasubles was linked to an idea of liturgical time, for they were not used during Requiem masses, which are not tied to any particular season; black dalmatic and tunicle are used instead.


LITURGICAL USE
For the ministers to assist the celebrant, it suffices that the front of their chasubles be folded; but when the deacon or subdeacon must carry out those tasks proper to them, they entirely remove this vestment or fold it still further.

Thus, the subdeacon takes off his folded chasuble before singing the epistle, and puts it on again immediately thereafter [8].

The proper office of the deacon begins with the singing of the Gospel and continues until the end of communion; during this time, he does not remove his folded chasuble entirely, but wears it folded and strung over his left shoulder, attached under the right arm with thin cords (or even by making a knot), over his stole. After communion, he unrolls the fabric and wears the chasuble folded as before.

Deacon wearing his chasuble rolled up for the singing of the Gospel.
To simplify this procedure, the custom arose of folding another chasuble in advance, which the deacon put over his shoulder at the appropriate time. Later on, this folded chasuble was often replaced by a simple band of the same fabric, commonly dubbed a broad stole [9].

Evolution of the transversed chasuble to the broad stole: on the left, a rolled chasuble on a mediæval stature of Wells Cathedral in England; on the right, the broad stole in its modern shape: a simple band of fabric without trims on the edges.
During Pontifical Mass, the assistant deacons put on their vestments—viz. a chasuble folded in front, over a cotta or rochet—towards the end of Terce, before the bishop sings the collect [10].

The cross-bearer subdeacon also wears a folded chasuble [11].

Folded chasuble and broad stole from the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome.
EVOLUTION OF THE SHAPE
1. From the folded chasuble to the cut chasuble.

The use of actually folding the front part of the chasuble and keeping it folded with cords or hooks has persisted to our days.

In the 17th century, Pisacara Castaldo notes that folded chasubles must not be different from that of the celebrant [12]. In the 18th century, Merato, commenting on Gavantus, further specified that the hooks that keep them folded must be removed between ceremonies lest the chasubles be damaged, and in order that priests might comfortably use them in low masses [13].

A folded chasuble is therefore exactly what its name suggests: a chasuble like any other, worn with the front part folded from within up to the level of the elbows, and often held in place by two steel clips.
Mater Ecclesiae, Berlin, New Jersey
Nevertheless, over the centuries, as chasubles for celebrants became clipped on the edges for convenience’s sake, the folds of chasubles for deacons and subdeacons became definitively stitched up, and finally the excess fabric was entirely cut off (one might therefore speak of “cut chasubles”, but common use has kept the term “folded chasubles”.)

Classical Roman shapes: deacon’s broad stole, celebrant’s chasuble, and subdeacon’s folded chasuble. Juventutem London.
Notes
[1] Cf. De Oratoribus chap. XXXIX, attributed to Tacitus (58 - c. 120)
[2] There are many chasubles that are said to have belonged to St Paul.
[3] Tertullian, De Oratione, chap. XV.
[4] Amalarius of Metz, De ecclesiasticis officiis, II, 19 (PL 105, 1095).
[5] A. King, Liturgy of the Roman Church, London-New York-Toronto, Longmans, 1957, p. 130.
[6] Even if some celebrants’ chasubles sometimes have folds or cords; this was the use in the cathedral of Rheims.
[7] De qualitate paramentorum tit. XIX, n. 6, 7. “In diebus vero ieiuniorum [præterquam in vigiliis Sanctorum) et in Dominicis et feriis Adventus et Quadragesimæ ac in vigilia Pentecostes ante Missam (exceptis Dominica Gaudete, si eius Missa infra hebdomadam repetatur, et Dominica Lætare, Vigilia Nativitatis Domini, Sabbato Sancto in benedictione Cerei et in Missa, ac quatuor temporibus Pentecostes) item in benedictione Candelarum et Processione in die Purificationis Beatæ Mariæ, et in benedictione Cinerum ac benedictione Palmarum et Processione, in Cathedralibus et præcipuis Ecclesiis utuntur Planetis plicatis ante pectus ; quam planetam Diaconus dimittit, etc. In minoribus autem Ecclesiis, prædictis diebus ieiuniorum Alba tantum induti ministrant : Subdiaconus cum manipulo, Diaconus etiam cum stola ab humero sinistro pendente sub dextrum.”
[8] “If the ministers are wearing the folded chasuble, the first acolyte rises during the last collect before the Epistle and takes the folded chasuble from the sub-deacon, then the latter takes the book, chants the Epistle, and kisses the hand of the celebrant. After returning the book, he revests again in the folded chasuble—either by the altar or at the credence—and transfers the Missal from the Gospel side with its cushion or book-stand.” Pio Martinucci, Manuale sacrarum Caerimoniarum, chap. VI, n. 14.
[9] “After the celebrant has begin reading the Gospel [in a low voice], the deacon descends from the altar by the side, as has been said. At the credence he deposits the folded chasuble and puts on the broad stole; then he takes the Gospel book, carries it to the altar, and completes the rest of his functions.” Pio Martinucci, Manuale sacrarum Caerimoniarum, chap. VI, n. 15.
[10] Caeremoniale Episcoporum, Book II, chap. XIII, n. 3.
[11] Pierre Jean Baptiste de Herdt, Pratique de la liturgie selon le rite romain, p. 213.
[12] A. Pisacara Castaldo, Praxis caeremoniarum, Neapoli, Scoriggium, 1645, p. 178.
[13] B. Gavantus—G.M. Merato, Thesaurus Sacrorum Rituum, Venetiis, Balleoniana, 1792, I, p. 48.

Passiontide Photopost 2018 (Part 3)

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For the third part of our Passiontide photopost, we begin with something we rarely see nowadays, but which was very common in the Middle Ages. The doors of this triptych are closed to hide the images inside it at the appropriate season; in the medieval period, this was often done not just for Passiontide, but the whole of Lent. Many medieval altarpieces with closeable wings have a black and white picture of the Annunication on the outside of the doors, (usually St Gabriel on the left, and the Virgin Mary on the right), since the feast usually occurs in Lent. This comes from the Dominican Shrine of the Holy Rosary in London, courtesy of Fr Lew.

St Dominic’s Church and Shrine of the Holy Rosary - London, England




St Paul - Birkirkara, Malta
St Vincent Seminary - Latrobe, Pennsylvania
White on the altar for St Joseph’s day.

St Francis de Sales - Benedict, Maryland


St Agnes - St Paul, Minnesota

Immaculate Conception - New York City


Old St Patrick Oratory - Kansas City, Missouri (ICKSP)

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception - Peoria, Illinois
Our Lady of the Sacred HeartParish - Cebu City, Philppine Islands

St Lawrence - Laurence Harbor, New Jersey

Our Lady of Ransom - Eastbourne, East Sussex, England


St Barnabas- O’Fallon, Missouri
home altar - Lake Forest, Illinois
St Joseph - Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania

Photopost Request: Palm Sunday 2018

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We are not quite finished with our photos of Passiontide veils (I will do the last of the four posts later today), and Holy Week is already upon us! Please send photos of your Palm Sunday services, whether in the OF or EF, Ordinariate or any Eastern Rite, etc., to photopost@newliturgicalmovement.org; don’t forget to include the name and location of the church, and any other information you think important.

I would also ask people as much as possible to send the pictures as zipped files, are a lot easier to process, and to size them down so that the smaller dimension is around 1500 pixels.

Since we will have a lot more photoposts to do fairly soon, make sure you send them no later than Holy Tuesday, so we can post on Spy Wednesday. Requests will be posted for the rest of Holy Week and Easter fairly soon. Evangelize through beauty!

From the second of last year’s two Palm Sunday photoposts: a sea of palms in front of the church of Our Lady of the Pillar, in   Alaminos, Laguna, in the Philippines.

Holy Week Schedule for Westminster Cathedral, 1939

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I have seen this several times on social media, but somehow, we’ve never got around to sharing it here on NLM. His Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop (Arthur Hinsley) had a very busy week. Note that in addition to the singing of all four of the Passions, the Office is given a prominent place, with Compline in addition to Tenebrae, and Pontifical Matins and Lauds of Easter, anticipated to the evening of Holy Saturday, as was then the long-standing custom. This schedule comprises only the services which are in addition to or variations of the regular ones; at the time, the canons of Westminster Cathedral maintained a very full liturgical life. The other Hours of the Divine Office would also have been celebrated according to their normal schedule, as they were every day, with Vespers and Compline sung, the rest in recto tono. (If anyone has any further information, please comment.) Multa renascentur quae jam cecidere!

Holy Week Schedule for the St Ann Choir in Palo Alto, California

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Here is the Holy Week schedule for services in Palo Alto, California, which will be sung by the St Ann Choir, featuring the music Byrd, Tallis, Palestrina, Victoria, di Lasso and others, and Gregorian chant as well. Please note that the services are divided between two locations, St Thomas Aquinas Church at 751 Waverly, and the St Ann Chapel at 541 Melville.

Passiontide Photopost 2018 (Part 4)

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We finally come to the conclusion of our four-part series of churches with veils for Passiontide; I believe we have even surpassed last year’s bumper crop, in terms of the number of individual churches. To all our readers, we wish a most blessed Holy Week!

Holy Innocents - New York City



Trinità dei Pellegrini - Rome, Italy (FSSP)


St Patrick - Wilmington, Delaware


St Mary’s - Amsterdam, New York
Sacred Heart - Albany, New York
St Joseph’s - Troy, New York
Holy Family - Columbus, Ohio
St Mark’s - Perry County, Indiana
St Paul - Tell City, Indiana
rectory chapel of same
St Mary’s - Pine Bluff, Wisconsin
Saint Andrew’s School, Parañaque City, Philippine Islands
I think this must be the smallest veiled cross we’ve ever shown in one of these posts. The Mass was celebrated on the feast of St Benedict by the Benedictine chaplain, hence the gold vestments and the tunicled servers, a Spanish custom adopted by the Filipinos.



Immaculate Heart of Mary Oratory, at the Parish of the Five Wounds - San José, California
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