Our schola this week will use a combination of the Graduale Romanum plus the Simple English Propers. And we'll also sing this marvelous motet by Josquin, Tu Solus:
![]()
![]()
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
↧
↧
Some Assumption Masses
Continuing on with some of our coverage of the Feast of the Assumption we turn to the Mater Eccelsiae community in Merchantville, New Jersey who report a very healthy turnout of over 1000 people.
![]()
![]()
* * *
Next on the agenda is a Mass offered in the usus antiquior at the Cathedral of Saints Eunan and Columba, Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland. The celebrant and homilist was Fr Joseph Briody. Approximately 300 people were in attendance.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Photos copyright John Briody
![]()
![]()
Next on the agenda is a Mass offered in the usus antiquior at the Cathedral of Saints Eunan and Columba, Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland. The celebrant and homilist was Fr Joseph Briody. Approximately 300 people were in attendance.
Photos copyright John Briody
↧
Two Masses in Spain
By way of one of our readers and also by way of Accion Liturgica, a few photos coming from the first Masses of two priests of Santa Maria Reina.
We begin with that of Fr. José Manuel María in his home parish, the church of Santa Eulalia de Meira in Moaña, Pontevedra.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
* * *
Our second set of photos are from Fr. Carlos María's first Mass in his home church of San Martín de Noya.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
We begin with that of Fr. José Manuel María in his home parish, the church of Santa Eulalia de Meira in Moaña, Pontevedra.
Our second set of photos are from Fr. Carlos María's first Mass in his home church of San Martín de Noya.
↧
Steven Schloeder: "The Myth of the Domus Ecclesiae"
The August edition of Adoremus Bulletin is now online, and I see it includes an interesting sounding article from architect Steven Schloeder, The Myth of the Domus Ecclesiae -- and how this has influenced modern Church architecture. Here is an excerpt:
Read the entire article.![]()
![]()
In the last century we have seen a steady devolution of Catholic sacred architecture from grand and formal edifices to decidedly more residential-scale and casual buildings. This was not accidental, but rather a deliberate effort to return to what mid-20th century liturgical scholars considered the true character of Christian worship as understood in the early Church.
The intention of the ressourcement (return to the sources, i.e., the early Church) movement was to recover the true meaning of the Christian liturgical assembly and the true meaning of Christian assembly space. Some interpreted this to mean that the Church should emulate the early Christian Church in their liturgical practices and its surroundings — that the architecture should be simplified to heighten the symbolic expression of the gathered community, and architectural “accretions” through the centuries should be removed as nonessential, distracting, and counterproductive to the goal of “active participation.”
Active Participation
It is historically curious that the desire to promote active participation of the faithful came to imply a radical reductionism in the majesty, beauty, iconography, and symbolism of church buildings. The notion of “active participation” as the genesis of the twentieth-century liturgical reforms was first articulated by Saint Pope Pius X (d. 1914) in his 1903 exhortation on sacred music, Tra le Sollecitudini. Pope Pius X reminds the faithful of the importance of the church building in the formation of the Christian soul through the Christian liturgy:
"Among the cares of the pastoral office … a leading one is without question that of maintaining and promoting the decorum of the House of God in which the august mysteries of religion are celebrated, and where the Christian people assemble to receive the grace of the Sacraments…. Nothing should have place, therefore, in the temple calculated to disturb or even merely to diminish the piety and devotion of the faithful, nothing that may give reasonable cause for disgust or scandal, nothing, above all, which directly offends the decorum and sanctity of the sacred functions and is thus unworthy of the House of Prayer and of the Majesty of God."
For Pius X, “the sanctity and dignity of the temple” was important so that the faithful might acquire the proper spirit for true “active participation” in the holy liturgy. Active participation properly understood is the goal of worship in the liturgy — it is the end not the means. Among other things, the means include that the liturgy is done well in a place aptly designed for worship. In the mind of Pius, the church building ought to be constructed to express the majesty and dignity of the House of God.
Given the clear intent expressed in this motu proprio of Saint Pius X as the point of departure for the 20th-century Liturgical Movement, how are we to explain the subsequent diminishment of the church building as a sacramental sign of the heavenly realities?
Mid-Century Liturgical Arguments
The typical rhetoric of the mid-century liturgical authors was that we ought to build churches for the “modern man” or “constructed to serve men of our age.” Styles and forms from previous ages were declared defunct or no longer vital. One even finds the condemnation of wanting a “church that looks like a church” as being nostalgic — an unhealthy yearning for a past Golden Age that really never was.
Read the entire article.
↧
Solemn Mass at Miami's Gesu
Festal liturgical photos tend to beget more festal liturgical photos and as often as not this is a great blessing, which is certainly the case here. One of our readers send in news and photos of a Solemn Mass offered at the Gesu Catholic Church in Miami, FL on the Solemnity of the Assumption, a church which, to my knowledge, has never been featured here before:
We are told that another solemn Mass is being scheduled at Miami's Cathedral of St. Mary for the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14th.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
The Gesu Church is a Jesuit parish and also the oldest parish in the City of Miami. This was the first time in over a decade that the high altar was used again for Mass. The Mass was served by the members of the Latin Mass community in Miami, assisted by the Rev. Dr. Edward Schaefer as deacon, Rev. Fr. Joseph Fishwick as subdeacon, and Rev. Fr. Christian A. Saenz, SJ celebrating. The Schola was formed from volunteers from around Archdiocese of Miami and the State of Florida under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Donelson, who teaches at Nova Southeastern University. The organist Matthew Steynor (Trinity Cathedral) included the follwing pieces:
Prelude: Magnificat septimi toni - Hieronymus Praetorius (1560 - 1629)
Postlude: Toccata, Fugue et Hymne sur "Ave Maris Stella" Op. 28 - Flor Peeters (1903 - 1986)
The Mass was was also simulcast with Spanish translation on the Archiodiocese radio station.
We are told that another solemn Mass is being scheduled at Miami's Cathedral of St. Mary for the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14th.
↧
↧
Feast of St. Rocco in Val Vigezzo
Speaking personally, I always enjoy seeing liturgies celebrated in different places in the world, particularly festal liturgies which involve processions as it provides a real opportunity to look for local customs and traditions -- as well as shared customs and traditions. I came across these videos on Messainlatino.it which show the celebration of the feast of St. Rocco on August 19th in the church of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria in Val Vigezzo, Italy and thought some of our readers might be interested in them. The Mass was celebrated by Don Alberto Secci who has been shown on NLM before -- though not by name (see image right).
Here is a video taken from the Mass:
Following the Mass was a procession with a statue and relic of St. Rocco. The following photo montage was put together into video form:
↧
Vestments of Gardiner Hall
↧
Feast of the Assumption with the Institut of St. Philpp Neri, Berlin (and more Other Modern)
Photo source: www.institut-philipp-neri.de
Here is an enlarged view of them -- you'll have to bear with the low quality resulting from these being enlarged.
It would be interesting to see these more closely and in detail.
↧
Our Lady of Providence
Fr. Jay Finelli, the iPadre, sent in some photos of Our Lady of Providence in Providence, built by Bishop Russell J. McVinney in 1959, serving as a high school and college seminary.
Here are a few photos of the chapel.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
This particular chapel contains one of my favourite architectural elements, the ciborium. (It must be noted that the arrangement above would benefit greatly from a more proportioned -- i.e. tall -- set of candlesticks, not to mention an antependium.)
Blessed Ildefonso Cardinal Schuster wrote the following in his famed liturgical study, The Sacramentary (Liber Sacramentorum): Historical and Liturgical Notes on the Roman Missal, on the topic of the ciborium:
And the English liturgiologist, Edmund Bishop, also commented:
Particularly in this time when freestanding altars have become normative, we would do well to utilize the ciborium magnum.![]()
![]()
Here are a few photos of the chapel.
This particular chapel contains one of my favourite architectural elements, the ciborium. (It must be noted that the arrangement above would benefit greatly from a more proportioned -- i.e. tall -- set of candlesticks, not to mention an antependium.)
Blessed Ildefonso Cardinal Schuster wrote the following in his famed liturgical study, The Sacramentary (Liber Sacramentorum): Historical and Liturgical Notes on the Roman Missal, on the topic of the ciborium:
The sum of the Christian religion was there upon the Altar, the gospel of the Word and the gifts of the Paraclete. For this reason, in the minds of the early Christians, the altar could never be without the halo of its sacred nature -- that is, the ciborium or baldacchino in marble or in silver. The altar in its entirety constituted the true tabernacle of the Most High, who assuredly could not dwell sub divo without a special roof of his own under the lofty vaulting of the naos. (p. 163)
And the English liturgiologist, Edmund Bishop, also commented:
The canopy served for honour: the existence of a covering over, and marking the seat of the ruler, magistrate, pontiff, existed in the general instinct of the peoples; it was surely fitting to render the same honour to the seat of Majesty of the King of Kings...
"On the History of the Christian Altar" in Liturgica Historica
Particularly in this time when freestanding altars have become normative, we would do well to utilize the ciborium magnum.
↧
↧
Blessing of Honey at a Russian Monastery
It has been awhile since we featured something from the Christian East, and by way of Byzantine, TX, I ran into the following images which show the blessing of honey from the Optina Monastery in Russia. The blogger there explains:
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
The blessing of new honey is a wonderful tradition. It is done traditionally on the first day of the Dormition Fast (specifically: on the Feast of the Procession of the Precious and Life-giving Cross) along with the blessing of water.
↧
Oddities: The Byzantine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom - in Latin and Greek
I saw this referenced on the Byzantine Catholic Forum and found it rather interesting as a kind of liturgical oddity. It is a text which presents the Byzantine liturgy in a parallel Latin-Greek translation. When I saw it, I was put to mind of another similar sort of liturgical oddity, the Liber Precum Publicarum of 1560 -- the Anglican Book of Common Prayer in Latin. At any rate, here is the book in question. The text of the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom begins on page 47 according to the original page numbering.
![]()
![]()
↧
St John of the Cross and the Artistic Portrayal of the Joyful Pilgrimage
In the Office of Readings, Friday, Week 18, the reading is taken from the Spiritual Canticle of St John of the Cross. In it he indicates that the saints in heaven are in union with God through love.He tells us that, 'they possess the same blessings by participation as he [God] possesses by nature; for this reason they are truly gods by participation, equals of God and his companions. Therefore St Peter said:"Grace and peace be complete and perfect in you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord, according as all things are given to us of his divine virtue for life and godliness, through knowledge of him who has called us with his own glory and virtue; whereby he has given into us many great and precious promises, that by these things we may be made companions of the divine nature." Saint Peter indicates that the soul will have participation in God, performing in him, in company with him, the work of the Most Holy Trinity, after the manner whereof we have spoken. And though this can be perfectly fulfilled only in the next life, nevertheless in this life, when the estate of perfection is reached, a clear trace and taste of it are attained.'
It is this final sentence that caught my eye. Our goal in this life, one might say, is to get to heaven in the next. Although we cannot experience heaven fully in this life, supernaturally we temporarily step into it through the liturgy and the sacramental life. This is a transforming process that by degrees takes us towards that heavenly state. And this means, in turn, that by degrees we can experience the joy of heaven in this life.
It is the gothic figurative liturgical tradition that through its form portrays this pilgrimage to heaven. (Baroque art portrays through it form evil and suffering transcended by hope; and the iconographic portrays man fully in union with God in heaven). I have talked about this before in an article: Why the Church has Different Artistic Traditions. In it I written about the theology that shapes the form of the three liturgical traditions of the Church and explain why I feel they are complementary.
This passage of St John did cause me to reflect for a few moments on my own journey and what caused me to convert to Catholicism. As one might expect there were a number of different influences, but very important was the belief that becoming a Catholic would open up for me a life of greater joy. I went through a very unhappy period in my mid/late twenties. I don't want to get too melodramatic about the whole thing, but it was bad enough that I was even prepared to consider Christianity as an option. I was lucky during this period to meet someone who was a Catholic and I saw this joy in his life. He eventually became my sponsor when I was received into the Church. Through his example as much as through his answers to my questions, I had a clear picture in my mind of a life with a beginning, a journey and an end. The beginning was where I was before coming into the Church, suffering but with hope; the journey is the life of faith and Christian joy; and the final end is heaven. Artistically, this is a transition from the baroque to the iconographic via the gothic.
As one might expect, the the journey for me has not been perfectly smooth. In some ways I experience this grand picture in microcosm on a daily basis. It is a process of continually straying from the path, renewing that hope, fixing my sights once again on that final end and resolving once more to follow my guide on the journey. Nevertheless, the underlying trend is one that moves steadily upwards. And my overall experience is that the Christian life is a joyful one (without claiming to have reached the heights of St John of the Cross). This 'gothic' message of a joyful pilgrimage which attracted me to the Church was true.
In his address on the saint, Pope Benedict told us that in his Spiritual Canticle, from which the excerpt above is taken' 'St. John presents the path of purification of the soul, that is, the progressive joyful possession of God until the soul feels that it loves God with the same love that it is loved by him.' The Pope goes on to make it plain that this path is open to each of us. St John, he says, had 'a hard life but, precisely in the months spent in prison, he wrote one of his most beautiful works. And thus we are able to understand that the way with Christ, the going with Christ, "the Way," is not a weight added to the already sufficient burden, but something completely different, it is a light, a strength that helps us carry this burden.'
One of the surprises for me when I entered the Church was to discover that not all of my fellow Catholics seemed to believe that happiness is really on offer to them in this life as well as the next. Aside from missing out themselves, I believe that one of the reasons that people aren't flocking to the Church is that they do not always see joy in the lives of Christians they meet. It seems that as part of the New Evangelisation we must rediscover the Christian joy.
Clearly, the idea of Christian joy did not begin or end with the gothic period. Historically, St John himself came after it, in the 16th century. However, I believe that the artistic tradition that developed during gothic period can play a part today in directing us to a participation in that joyful pilgrimage. This is why I would like to see it reestablished in a living form. It seems to me that one reason that Fra Angelico resonates so strongly today is that he is communicating something to us that is needed.
Remember when I speak of what the gothic communicates, I am talking of its form, it's style. The content, that is the subjects painted, is likely to be the full range that one would expect to tackle in sacred art; but its form, because it is integrated with the theology is always in the background speaking poetically to our mind's eye, as it were, encouraging us with the idea that there is joy in this life on route to the next. (Just as with icon painting: the fact that its form speaks of the eschaton - the heavenly realm - does not mean that you cannot paint scenes in salvation history.)
The art from above: Christ on the Cross, by St John of the Cross; Fra Angelico's Madonna and Child; and Chaucer as a Pilgrim from the Ellesmere Psalter
↧
Two Interesting Videos from the Getty Museum
I recently came across the following videos on the youtube channel of the Getty Museum, both of which are well worth your time. The first is titled "The Icons of Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai, Egypt", and also shows a few scenes of the monastery's liturgical life and famous library. At the time of the iconoclast persecutions in the Byzantine Empire, Egypt had already been conquered by the Arabs; since it was outside the Empire, and in such a remote location in the desert, Saint Catherine's was untouched by iconoclasts, and preserves a very large number of the oldest and most famous Christian icons. (A project to catalog them has been going for decades.)
![]()
![]()
The second is about the Limbourg brothers, the illustrators of perhaps the most famous liturgical manuscript in the world, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Parts of the video are, inexplicably, in Dutch without subtitles; however, starting at 11:45, it offers a very interesting account of how the Limbourg brothers drew from their experience in other media to create such beautiful and richly detailed paintings on such small pages.
The same channel has a number of other videos on the production of medieval manuscripts, including one on the physical production of the manuscript and its binding, and another on medieval liturgical calendars.
↧
↧
21st Sunday, English Propers
The Simple English Propers are the most widely sung vernacular versions of the Mass propers in the English-speaking world.
![]()
![]()
↧
Assumption Grotto Restores High Altar
Whenever photos are shown here of a sanctuary which has two altars -- the historical high altar and a newer altar before it -- there are often comments which lament this situation -- usually for a few reasons.
With that in mind, I thought many of you would be gratified by this bit of news shared to us by Diane at Te Deum Laudamus wherein she notes that the Detroit parish of Assumption Grotto has recently removed their own forward altar, thereby reinstating the historical high altar to its place within their sanctuary:
![]()
Here was the situation before:
![]()
Fr. Perrone, the pastor of Assumption Grotto, explains the decision in his Sunday bulletin this week. Here is an excerpt:
![]()
![]()
With that in mind, I thought many of you would be gratified by this bit of news shared to us by Diane at Te Deum Laudamus wherein she notes that the Detroit parish of Assumption Grotto has recently removed their own forward altar, thereby reinstating the historical high altar to its place within their sanctuary:
Here was the situation before:
Fr. Perrone, the pastor of Assumption Grotto, explains the decision in his Sunday bulletin this week. Here is an excerpt:
When I carefully studied the book The Spirit of the Liturgy by then-Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), I realized that we ought to be facing East once again and not towards the people since that position inadvertently created a “closed circle” that did not aim towards heaven, towards God (East), but towards man (symbolically indicating that man and not God was the focal point of the Mass). In the early years of my pastorship here, the low altar was used variously: first, facing the people; then facing East; and then, with a move of the altar farther back some feet towards the main altar, with the priest still facing East. We were getting progressively more in line with an ideal.
Over time I began to think it foolish for us to use the low altar while neglecting the church’s original. In addition, there was a problem having two altars. There ought to be only one altar prominent (main) in a church, not two. Moreover, for the celebration of the Tridentine Mass (now once again available to us), the low altar kept getting in our liturgical way.
Fine, you may say, but what is to be done should a visiting priest want to celebrate Mass facing the people? We have already provided for that in having readily available an altar that can be set in place in a matter of minutes. It too is suitably made, containing an true altar stone and thus worthy of Holy Mass.
↧
Monthly EF at Filipino Catholic University
The following was sent to NLM yesterday:
Here are some photos of the Mass:
![]()
![]()
![]()
In preparation for this, "Friar Eric OFM Cap" offered a tutorial on the ceremonies of the usus antiquior.
![]()
![]()
In coordination with Societas Ecclesia Dei Sancti Ioseph {Ecclesia Dei Scoeity of St. Joseph} - Una Voce Philippines the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite is once more offered at the Pontifical and Royal Catholic University of Santo Tomas {UST} EVERY MONTH beginning 24 August at the St. Dominic Chapel.
In attendance were the Reverend Vice Rector for Religious Affairs, Secretary General, and bona fide professors and students of the Pontifical and Royal University. I am forwarding to you pictures of the Mass.
Here are some photos of the Mass:
In preparation for this, "Friar Eric OFM Cap" offered a tutorial on the ceremonies of the usus antiquior.
↧
Back in Print: Byzantine Daily Worship
Whether you are a regular or occasional attendee of the Byzantine liturgy, or whether you simply are one who is interested in the Byzantine liturgy, you may find the following of interest. Namely, Alleluia Press has put Byzantine Daily Worship back into print.
Byzantine Daily Worship was edited under the auspices of Archbishop Joseph Raya and Baron José M. de Vinck. Essentially what we have here is an equivalent of the typical Latin rite pew missal. The reprinted edition is priced at $65.00 USD -- and I can tell you that, over the years, I have seen a great demand for copies of this little item. It may be an idea to pick it up while you can.
I have a copy of an earlier printing of this and I can attest to the fact they do a nice job with it.
![]()
![]()
![]()
Byzantine Daily Worship was edited under the auspices of Archbishop Joseph Raya and Baron José M. de Vinck. Essentially what we have here is an equivalent of the typical Latin rite pew missal. The reprinted edition is priced at $65.00 USD -- and I can tell you that, over the years, I have seen a great demand for copies of this little item. It may be an idea to pick it up while you can.
I have a copy of an earlier printing of this and I can attest to the fact they do a nice job with it.
↧
↧
Conference Notice: The Glory of Catholic Architecture
There is a rather promising looking conference being held Liturgical Institute in Mundelein this October 25-26: The Glory of Catholic Architecture - Renewing Tradition, Re-Engaging the Heavenly.
Before I go into the particular details of this conference, please allow me to first tell you about an interesting twist to it:
Until October 1st, conference participants can submit photos via email here to be considered as one of the projects to be possibly reviewed at the conference. (I know from my time here at NLM that there is a great desire out there for this sort of advice, so it really is a great opportunity.)
Aside from the design clinic, here is a list of the speakers and the addresses they will be giving at the conference:
What Makes Architecture Sacred?
Fr. Uwe Michael Lang, CO
Church Architecture as Heaven on Earth: 2002-2012
Dr. Denis McNamara, The Liturgical Institute
Process, Problems and Progress: Building a New Church
Duncan Stroik, University of Notre Dame
Ornamental Painting in Churches: Artistic & Theological Possibilities
Mr. Jeff Greene, Evergreene Architectural Arts
Those who wish to register for the conference may do so here.
![]()
![]()
![]()
Before I go into the particular details of this conference, please allow me to first tell you about an interesting twist to it:
One of the most exciting features of the conference will be a live design clinic presented before the conference guests in which photos and drawings submitted by conference participants will be chosen to serve as a starting point for design development. Mr. James McCrery will do live design review and suggestions for renovation of existing churches, while Mr. David Meleca will address as of yet unbuilt design plans or sites.
Until October 1st, conference participants can submit photos via email here to be considered as one of the projects to be possibly reviewed at the conference. (I know from my time here at NLM that there is a great desire out there for this sort of advice, so it really is a great opportunity.)
Aside from the design clinic, here is a list of the speakers and the addresses they will be giving at the conference:
Fr. Uwe Michael Lang, CO
Church Architecture as Heaven on Earth: 2002-2012
Dr. Denis McNamara, The Liturgical Institute
Process, Problems and Progress: Building a New Church
Duncan Stroik, University of Notre Dame
Ornamental Painting in Churches: Artistic & Theological Possibilities
Mr. Jeff Greene, Evergreene Architectural Arts
Those who wish to register for the conference may do so here.
↧
More from the Carmelite Rite
I was pretty well considering any further photos of the Assumption now likely "outside the pale", but I am happy to make an exception for the following few for the reason that they come within the context of the Carmelite, as celebrated by Father Romaeus Cooney O.Carm at St. Joseph's Church, Troy.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
↧
Gloria in English, Both Modern and Beautiful
Many Catholics are understandably skeptical of the idea that a setting of the Gloria could be in English, modern, and also beautiful in the liturgical sense. Decades of experience have convinced many otherwise. What if it were no more than a problem of not working hard enough, not thinking with the musical mind of the Church? Here is an example I find very compelling -- a hint of what is possible.
You can download the Mass setting here.
![]()
![]()
You can download the Mass setting here.
↧
More Pages to Explore .....
