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The Private Oratory of Our Lady of Sorrows in an Italian Village

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[This article is a guest article by a writer who wishes to remain anonymous. Other details are also being kept private for a variety of understandable and sensible reasons. As such, those of you who may happen to know where this is and whose family it is associated with are respectfully asked to maintain this family's privacy and confidentiality. Thank you. - SRT]

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The photographs included in this piece show a private chapel in a small Italian village. This chapel is quite typical of its sort in the area, where almost every village has one. The local noble families would build a chapel near or in their house but with access from the exterior, for their use and devotion, but also for the use of the local population, especially if the parish church was not near.


The building of a chapel was an act of exemplary piety and devotion, in this case to Our Lady of Sorrows, but it also had a strong social and nobiliary impact. The possession of a chapel was one of the principal elements of the vita more nobilium, as permission by the local bishop was granted only to members of the nobility.

This chapel was built in 1756 by Giulio Maurizio Frattini and Stefano B. The two families had intermarried and the two founders were cousins, and the chapel faces their houses.

It is a building of some architectural pretension, which holds about 70 faithful.




The altar and altar rails are in marble; the altar is of the kind that became fashionable in Piedmont and Lombardy by the second quarter of the XVIII c., replacing the XVII c. gilt wood or frescoed masonry altars. Its style is late baroque, with rococo elements such as the cartouche on the altar front, but with many earlier baroque elements, such as the use of black marble, which was also a foil to the different coloured marble inlays. These altars were made by marble sculptors from Viggiù, near Varese, where fine coloured marble quarries were active since the middle ages. The sculptors had model books with altars, altar rails, door cases, mantel pieces etc. which were shown to patrons for their choice. It is not unusual to find the same designs adapted or reproduced on different altars in the area.



The altar step and balustrade were carved locally in a red marble (marmo o breccia rossa di Gozzano) from a small quarry nearby. The rails were made some years after the altar.

The niche over the altar houses a statue of Our Lady of Sorrows in carved, painted and gilt wood, of particularly high quality of design and execution; the surround of the niche is a rather poor replacement, commissioned in the 1920s by the writer’s great grandfather and replaces an earlier one, while the window and glass is XVIII c. The painted decorations in the chapel were redone in 1952, on the occasion of a family wedding.


Four fine paintings decorate the walls: two scenes from the Passion, the Scourging of Christ (XVII c.) and the Coronation with thorns (a copy after van Dyck), S. Mary Magdalen (XVII c.) and the Blessed Virgin at the foot of the Cross (by a local XVIII c. master, G.B. Cantalupi); besides other six small paintings. The series of paintings show the Saints whose relics are present in the chapel and whose feasts were celebrated.

Almost all the original vestments and liturgical objects have survived since the 1750s., including an XVIII c. altar cloth, edged with lace made to fit the altar.



The vestments have a certain historical interest, as the provenance bears a relationship to the history of the two families. In the area, most member of gentry families emigrated for business reasons in other parts of Italy, such as Rome, Florence, and even Spain. The members of the local gentry would then send back gifts to the churches of their village, often quite splendid ones, such as vestments, reliquaries, silver, paintings, etc.

The earliest vestment is a white flowered chasuble, bearing the silver embroidered initials of the two founders, circa 1756; slightly later is a beautiful yellow watered silk Roman chasuble, dated 1760, with the initials of G.M. Frattini in an elegant baroque cartouche.


Also Roman and of the same date is a green chasuble, with the B. arms, and in pristine condition: green was rarely used!


Another white chasuble of exquisite silver brocaded and flowered lampas is of local cut, whereas a late XVIII c. white chasuble in striped silk lampas is Tuscan.


Also of local make is a curiosity, a chasuble “di tutti i colori” (of all colours), made with in striped material in green, red, and white stripes: this was used on every occasion in which the different liturgical colours were called for. So on red days, the chasuble was red with white and green stripes, on white days it was white with red and green stripes, etc. The actual material was linen and not silk, hot pressed so that a damask pattern was impressed and it looked like silk; the braid was not silver or gold, but just silk. This one was used most of the time (and its very worn condition shows it!) so to save the extremely expensive and valuable other silk vestments. The black chasuble which is recorded in the original inventories must have been worn out by very frequent use, and is replaced by an early XIX c. one of local cut. A violet chasuble of local cut was given in 1927 and has the B. arms on it.


Note that vestments were made with the same materials as ladies and gentlemen's dresses, in fact quite often vestments were made with the valuable materials of elegant garments. Fine fabrics were so costly that it was unthinkable to discard them. Only some damasks were woven specifically for vestments, but never had any religious symbolism in the design. The B. family also has a late XVII – early XVIII c. chasuble in rich Lyon flowered brocade of typical Spanish cut, traditionally believed to be a wedding dress of an ancestress (wedding dresses started to be white only in the XIX c.), evidently commissioned by an ancestor who had been in Barcellona.

The sacristy has a large number of altar cloths and altar linens, some rather fine. It also has surplices of the local, very ample cut, including a mid XIX c. one, very short, completely done in filet without any linen.


The presence of Roman and Tuscan vestments is due to the emigration to Rome and Tuscany of members of the Frattini and B. families. The son of Giulio Maurizio Frattini, Antonio, was an important member of the courts of Clemens XIV and Pius VI. Antonio Frattini was Maestro di Casa Segreto (Master of the Private Household) and Maestro dei Sacri Palazzi Apostolici (Master of the Apostolic Palaces) under Pius VI, a position inherited by his eldest son, which superintended to both the immediate household of the Pope, and the administration of the Papal palaces. Antonio Frattini was also the receiver of the Papal taxes and customs. A close friend of St. Paul of the Cross and instrumental for the birth of the Passionists, Pius VI created both he and his son Palatine Counts and knights of the Golden Spur. His son Mons. Candido Maria, archbishop in partibus of Philippi, was Vicegerent of Rome, and was imprisoned while following Pius VII in exile. Antonio Frattini obtained a great number of indulgences for the chapel from both Popes, in fact far more than the parish church has.


More interesting to American readers is Giuseppe B., donor of the Tuscan chasuble, a wealthy merchant and banker in Pisa, and a friend of the Tuscan aristocrat Filippo Mazzei (1730 + 1816). Mazzei, a friend of Franklin and Jefferson, was greatly involved in the American Revolution and emigrated to Virginia. He convinced Giuseppe B. to commerce with America and to send Tuscan goods, including olive and fruit trees, to America, but at the worst possible moment: the beginning of the Revolutionary War. The result was that G. B.’s ships were seized by the British and he was very nearly ruined. Other members of the B. family were in Rome in the XVIII c.

The two Roman silver reliquaries, with relics of the Holy Cross, the B.V., S. Mary Magdalen and other Saints, and the altar cards all come from Rome, and are in the Roman rococo style; the provenance of the altar cards was confirmed during restoration, when peeling away the superimposed texts the last one was found to be printed in Rome. These altar cards have been copied for the Trinità in Rome by a local wood sculptor.


The set of gilt wood candlesticks and portapalme have been carved by the same sculptor, copying the original ones of which just one or two had survived. The “palme” or bouquets of silk flowers have been redone according to XVIII – XIX c. models.


The feasts of the B.V. and specially that of the “Madonna di Settembre” was celebrated with all the possible splendour by the B. family, with a sung mass with musicians and fireworks before, after, and up to the XIX c. even during Mass, at the Gloria, Elevation, etc.. The bells pealed, the façade of the chapel and of the house were decorated with red damask hangings and torches. A reception was offered to all and sundry in the house and gardens.

This was very typical of the local nobility and the year was punctuated with the feasts and receptions in the different villages, in which every family tried to outdo the others. Nowadays only one family celebrates the feast of their chapel with a reception.


Perhaps the more frequently celebrated Masses were requiem ones. For the principal requiem Mass of the B. family, once a year, a tiny catafalque with coats of arms was erected in the chapel. At the end of the Mass, the head of the family or the eldest member present would stand at the door, and distribute to all present a small sack of salt, tied with black ribbons. This was a ceremonial survival of a very ancient medieval custom, alms giving in memory of the dead and as thanks for prayers for the deceased. Well into the XIX c. this was a very practical form of charity, as salt was expensive for poor families: it was kept in special containers and called “the salt of the dead”, and prayers would be said when used. Also distributed to the local poor were lentils, beans, and grain, sometimes at the door of the deceased’s house. The distribution of salt and lentils was typical of aristocratic funerals and requiem Masses.

Of interest to readers might be that the late Abbé Quoex has celebrated Mass in this chapel many times, when guest of the B. family and while completing his study of the Ritus Vercellensis.

Canada's Little Chartres: Marie Reine du Canada 2012

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September 1st to the 3rd saw Canada's "little Chartres" take place, the Marie Reine du Canada pilgrimage -- a 100 kilometre pilgrimage from Saint-Joseph-de-Lanoraie to Notre-Dame-du-Cap shrine at Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec.

The following photos were very graciously provided to us by Jacinthe Soulard.

(If more photos become available, we may publish more on this wonderful event.)








Photos: Copyright Jacinthe Soulard

NLM Quiz no. 14: What is this?

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It has been since late spring since we had our last quiz, so here is NLM quiz number 14: What is this?

Please give your best guess as to what the article is and any other context or information you think relevant.

As we always say, please make your answer in the combox before reading the other comments. It makes your answers more interesting.


(Photos are courtesy and copyright "Boris Marie" -- who we shall give appropriate linkage to after the quiz is completed. Please note the right hand photo is a cropped and enlarged form of the original photo and does not represent the original photo quality.)

Incense and Thuribles in the Dominican Rite

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I have occasionally commented that the Dominican and Roman practices concerning incense are often quite different.  So I thought readers might appreciate an overview of traditional Dominican usage.  The beautiful Gothic thurible to the right is virtually identical to the anniversary thurible at St. Albert the Great Priory in Oakland CA, our House of Studies.

A. Occasions when Incense is Used.

1. Although properly a Solemn Mass (with deacon and subdeacon) would normally be said every day in a priory with sufficient numbers, not all Solemn Masses use incense.  Incense is used at the Gospel, Offertory, and Elevation on all Sundays and Third Class (previously Simplex) feasts and above.  It is not used on ferials or at Requiems (except at the Absolution after Mass).

2. Incense is also used at Missae Cantatae on those days.  In fact, a recognition of this practice was requested by the Order and received from the Congregation of Rites every five years up to Vatican II to settle doubts about this practice. Today incense is universally used.

3. The altar is traditionally incensed during the Gospel Canticle of Lauds and Vespers on those days as well.

B. How the Thurifer Handles the Censer when Loading it.

Although in parishes, perhaps because of the number of available altarboys, it was and is common practice for the thurifer to be accompanied by a boat-bearer, this was not the case in the conventual Mass.  And, as the priest in our rite never handles the spoon, this required certain techniques that seem complicated but are actually very simple.The presence of a boat-bearer actually complicates the handling of incense.  This method is used (at the sedilla) in preparation for the Gospel and at the Epistle Side of the altar in preparation for the Offertory. The thurible used must be a conventional one with a cover that can be pulled up the three chains using a center chain.

When entering before the Gospel, the thurifer holds the chains near the disk (or the disk ring) with the little finger of the left hand; with his left forefinger and thumb he holds the boat (which must have a little pedestal base).  With his right hand he holds the chains just above the cover, holding the thurible at about waist height on his right side. This is how he always holds the thurible when it is not in use: it is never carried or held with the chain at full length, except during the singing of the Gospel, as will be explained below. As the Alleluia or tract begins, he approaches the priest.  He lowers the thurible and, with his right hand, pulls up the center chain ring and hooks it on the ring finger of his left hand.  This will raise the thurible cover about four or five inches: more than enough to get access to the coals.  Then, with his right hand, he grasps the four chains just above the cover and raises them up so that he can grasp them with the last three fingers of his left hand.

The open thurible is now at waist height, and the thurifer's right hand is free.  With it, he opens the boat, and takes out a spoonful of incense.  He offers this to the priest, saying, "Benedicite."  The priest blesses the incense, the thurifer responding "Amen." The thurifer then puts the incense in the censor, places the spoon back in the boat, closes the boat, and takes the chains off the three fingers of the left hand, letting the chains extend completely.  He then takes the center chain ring off the left ring finger and lowers the cover of  the thurible.  He then takes the chains just above the cover with his right hand, so as to assume the position for holding or walking with the thurible.  One should note that the sliding ring around the chains, if present, is never pushed down onto the cover of the thurible.  It remains at mid-point of the chains at all times.  If it is pushed down, these movements would be hindered or impossible. This sounds complicated, but once the movements have been executed a couple of times, nothing could seem more natural.

C. Other Rules Governing the Thurible.

1. When the thurible is carried, whether there is incense lighted in it or not, it is never held with the full chain extended.  It is held or carried as explained above.  This means that the chains are in the proper position if the thurible is to be given to a major minister to hand to the priest.  If the thurifer is to hand the thurible to the priest himself, he must reverse his hands first--so that the priest will receive the thurible correctly oriented for use.  This manner of holding the censer renders it less visible and mobile, and so less distracting.

2. The thurifer never swings the censer back and forth (supposedly to keep the coals burning) as is usually done in the Roman Rite. Again, this prevents the object from distracting attention from the liturgical activities in process.

3. There is only one occasion when the thurible is held is held with the full chain extension (and again by the left hand).  This is during the chanting of the Gospel.  And, again, there is no swinging of the thurible.  This would distract attention from the Gospel.

4. When the thurifer (or priest or deacon) incenses, this is done without any swinging of the censer during the ductus.  Thus there is no chain-clanking.  The motion is straight up and down, entirely silent.  Dominican incensing is always silent: it should not distract from the music or the liturgical actions it embellishes.

5. The incensing of the deacon and subdeacon, as well as of the two acolytes, is done by the thurifer during the Preface.  The minsters face him in their positions: he gives the deacon two lifts of the censer; the subdeacon, one lift; and each acolyte, one lift.  He then incenses each friar in choir: the provincial receives three lifts; each priest, two lifts; other friars, one lift.  Our liturgical books do not mention the incensing of the people because, as ours is a monastic rite, it is assumed they are absent.  But it is common in parishes to give each side of the congregation one lift, and the choir in the loft one life. The image to the left shows the thurifer in position for the Preface. The photo shows Fr. Joseph Fulton (RIP) celebrating Mass at St. Albert the Great Priory in the mid-1950s.  

D. Particularities in when incense is used in the Solemn Mass.

1. The thurible is NEVER carried in the entrance or exit procession. Nor is the Cross ever carried in these processions. The thurifer, boat-bearer, and crucifer do NOT participate in these processions: they sit in the sacristy or quietly and unobtrusively in the sanctuary on the Gospel side until they have functions to perform.  For the thurifer, his first function is at the Gospel.

2. There is no incensing of the altar during the Officium (i.e. Introit) chant.

3. The priest directs the preparation of the censer for the Gospel while seated at the sedilla (the bench for the three major ministers) as explained above.  The priest never touches the spoon.  The thurifer stands throughout this ceremony.

4. The deacon incenses the Gospel book with three simple, silent, lifts of the thurible.  He then hands it back to the subdeacon, who hands it back to the thurifer.



5. The incensing at the Offertory is simpler than in the Roman Mass. The deacon offers the incense to be blessed and then hands the priest he censer.  With it, he makes a single Sign of the Cross over the gifts. After this he raises and lowers the censer three times before the host and chalice (never lifting higher than his shoulder). If the tablernacle or Cross (or both) is present, he incenses it with one set of three lifts.  If there are reliquaries, he makes a moderate bow, and from the center, without moving, he incenses as a group those on the Gospel side with two lifts, then those on the Epistle side with two lifts.  If there is only one reliquary on the altar, he incenses it with two lifts.  Making a profound bow, he then incenses with three lifts above he altar as he moves to the Epistle end, once toward each candlestick.  He lowers the censer and returns to the middle.  In the same way he incenses the top of the altar while while going to the Gospel end.  Then then returns incensing the lower part of the altar three times as he returns. He stops before the Cross to make a profound bow, then completes the three lifts of the lower part of the Epistle side. On arrival there he surrenders the thurible to the deacon. In the images above we see the blessing of incense and the incensing of the altar by Fr. Fabian Parmisano (RIP) at St. Albert the Great Priory, about 1960.


6. The deacon incenses the priest (using three lifts), when he has finished incensing the altar at the Offertory.  The incensing of the other ministers is done by the thurifer during the Preface, as already explained. At the left you can see the deacon (Fr. Paul Raftery) holding up the chasuble and incensing as Fr. Anthony-M. Patalano elevates the chalice during Solemn Mass at Holy Rosary Church in Portland OR in the 1990s.

 7. Just before the Consecration, the thurifer, who is kneeling between the acolytes at the foot of the altar, loads the censer with unblessed incense.  He then passes it up to the deacon, who incenses the Sacred Species continuously during each elevation.  He then passes it back to the thurifer who rises, genuflects and leaves for the sacristy, as he has no functions during the rest of Mass.

E. The Thurifer at the Missa Cantata

1. The thurifer stays in the sacristy or sits in the sanctuary until the priest prepares the chalice after the Epistle.  As the priest begins to pass to the north side of the altar for the Gospel, the thurifer arrives and comes up the altar steps to meet the priest at the center as he passes over.  He there receives the blessing of the incense for the Gospel, descends and leads the acolytes around the corner of the steps for the Gospel.

2. At the Offertory, he brings the censor to the Epistle side for the priest's incensing of the altar.  He then receives the censer back and goes to the center of the sanctuary and waits.  He incenses the acolytes (and possibly the people) during the Preface, as he would at Solemn Mass.

3. He kneels in center of the first step as the acolytes ascend for the elevations and puts unblessed incense in the thurible.  He then incenses the elevations continuously as the deacon would at Solemn Mass.

Rito Ambrosiano Antico

Re-Internment of Two Third Century Roman Martyrs in Louisville, Kentucky

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Fr. Paul Beach, the pastor of St. Martin of Tours church in Louisville, Kentucky informs us of the following event which recently too place at his parish this weekend past:

This weekend saw a celebration of historic proportions here at the parish: the reinterment of our two saints, Magnus and Bonosa. St. Martin's has been home to the full skeletal remains of two third century Roman martyrs since 1901. Their resting places - underneath the two side altars in the front of the church - were in need of repair and therefore the relics needed to be moved to complete that work. The opportunity was taken (with appropriate ecclesiastical approbation) to remove them from their reliquary cases and to undertake a study of the relics themselves. Professor Phillip DiBlasi from the university graciously agreed to do the work. His findings were remarkable. He was able to determine such things as approximate age, stature, and ethnicity. He was even able to tell that Bonosa was right handed. His findings were entirely consistent with the story surrounding their identities and martyrdom.

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With the work completed, the task of returning the saints to their resting places in the newly repaired reliquaries remained. This was done on Sunday at the parish's noon Extraordinary Form Mass. A procession with the relics to the sanctuary was followed by a solemn high Mass and then the reinterment in the side altars. The church was filled to capacity (approximately 750 - 800 people) as both parishioners and curious visitors gathered in the church from far and wide. The parish choir provided the beautiful Mass setting of Josquin's Missa Pange Lingua, and a special schola formed by alumni of the former St. Thomas Seminary in Louisville provided the beautifully chanted propers.

You can read more about it on his blog (see link above), but here are a few photos taken by Momentum Studios.




NLM Quiz no.14: The Answer

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In our quiz we showed you the following photos, which come from a cathedral treasury (more on that treasury in the next post for today):


The Answer: Those of you who answered that this is a form of ecclesiastical/liturgical headdress that was used in the Chinese missions called a "Jijin" were correct -- and that so many came up with this answer only demonstrates the breadth of NLM's readership, including our readers from that part of the world.

Here is how that headdress was used (courtesy of Dieter Philippi; also see his second page on this here):



This was given papal approval, and was apparently adopted from the forms found in the Chinese imperial court. It is a classic example of traditional inculturation in action, having been so adopted because within Chinese culture, not having one's head covered was a sign of "humiliation and scorn."

The coveted award for the Most Creative Wildly Incorrect Answer goes to Tricia S., who suggested that it was a cover for the sanctuary candle used during the Triduum when the Blessed Sacrament was removed from the altar. (Not a terrible idea, actually!) Beronensis runs away with Best Humorous Answer for "Malagasy Baroque Pontifical tea-cozy."

The Treasury of the Cathedral of Le Puy en Velay, France

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The Cathedral of Le Puy en Velay

One of our readers has very kindly notified us of, and has given us his permission to reprint the following photos which he took of vestments found in the treasury of the cathedral of Le Puy en Velay in France.

It was this same reader from whom came the photos of our recent quiz showing the "Jijin" used in the Chinese missions. Aside from that article, there are many other fine examples of liturgical textile arts within the treasury. Here are a few of them.

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French, 17th century, depicting the crucifixion, the Virgin, St. John and St. Mary Magdalen



15th century chasuble of Italian silk with English orphreys


"Dalmatic from Monte Cassino", Spanish, 17th-18th century


French, 18th century


Spanish, 18th century


Detail from antependium, French, 17th century


Various mitres and a crozier; some of you might pick up on the interesting fact of what would appear to be a red mitre

And here again is the "Jijin" which we recently featured:



All photographs are copyright betma28

The Visitation Museum, Moulins, France

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Our post from yesterday about the liturgical treasury of the French cathedral of Le Puy en Velay resulted in the following being brought to our attention, which shows the Visitation Museum in Moulins, France where "nearly ten thousand chalices, chasubles and silk liturgical items have been produced and preserved by the Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary."

Portable Altar Cards from SPORCH

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The following brief summary/review was sent in of a set of portable altar cards which some of you will already know about, but which I am sure many clergy -- and even Masters of Ceremonies -- will certainly find useful and of interest if you haven't heard of it already.

That said, even if you had, I was particularly interested to learn that a set of similar portable altar cards for requiem Masses is in development, and further that a set for the Dominican rite has also been developed.

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The Society for the Preservation of Roman Catholic Heritage (SPORCH) has developed an extremely convenient and well-made set of portable altar cards that are perfect for a priest’s Mass kit, or for setting up on a side altar.

The package folds open; the two cards for the Gospel and Epistle sides are detached, and the center card opens like a triptych. Included is a card with vesting prayers and, on the flip side, the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar. Prayers After Mass in Latin & English are been added, vesting prayers have been developed along with a Dominican Rite set.


Accent marks for pronunciation of the Latin are available.


The vesting prayers/prayers at the foot of altar card is fairly flexible, but it is laminated. It should be durable. What you see in gold is a velcro tab that holds the package closed.

The entire product is very thin, very light and very convenient.


Look for a Requiem set and other items being developed soon.

Two Masses for the Anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, Miami and Boston

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From our friends down in sunny Florida:

All are called and welcome to worship at the celebration of a Solemn High Mass on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, to be offered by Father Christopher Marino at the Cathedral of Saint Mary. The feast day this year marks the fifth anniversary of Pope Benedict’s motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, in which His Holiness clarified the place of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman liturgy in the life of the Church. The cathedral is located at 7525 NW 2nd Avenue. Please join us in this celebration of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form (which is often called the traditional Latin, or Tridentine, Mass).

More can be found at the Archdiocese of Miami website and Miami.com. The celebrant will be the cathedral's new rector, Fr. Chris Marino, who has been featured here before. Also, there will be a sung Latin Mass win the cathedral crypt in Boston, Massachusetts, for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at 7:30 PM on this Friday. The mass is open to all. Members of Juventutem's Boston chapter will be going out for pizza afterwards; attendees between 18-35 years of age are welcome to join.

A Traditional Artistic Training Method - How We Can Apply This Today

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When I decided I wanted to be an artist, I knew that I needed to train, but I had no idea where to go. I was so clueless that I started by looking for Catholic Art School under 'C' in the telephone directory. Pretty quickly I realised that no such place existed and as I searched and talked to people it became clear that I was going to have to work out how to train myself. I began by studying the traditional methods used to train artists and set about trying to apply these methods to myself. Where I knew that help existed I would go to people who could help me with specific requirements and ask. Most of these people wanted to see the preservation and development of their tradition, and once they realised that I wanted that too were enthusiastic to work with me.

I was lucky in coming across Aidan Hart very early in my painting education (even before I was received into the Church). Aidan was self taught and when I attended a number of his week-long icon painting classes, he not only taught us what he knew but how he taught himself. So he was equipping those of us who wanted to know these things, with the insights that would enable us to continue development after the class. My own research and what I learned from Aidan and others seemed to confirm were common to all traditional training methods were written in an article: The Principles of a Traditional Art Education for Today.

This had benefits in other artistic areas as well. I recently decided that I wanted to develop my landscape painting skills. I am interested particularly in the landscape tradition of the English watercolourists such as Constable, Turner, Cotman. I was ready apply these to myself so was going to start of programme that involved copying works of the these masters and direct observation of nature while trying to understand what the artists were aiming to communicate.

By chance, I had a catalogue of an exhibition in London of the work of the Thomas Girtin, a contemporary of William Turner) at Tate Britain and in it there was a detailed description of how he was trained. Interestingly it was exactly academic theory and practice (as taught in the training of figurative art in the ateliers and academies of Europe) but applied to landscape. Reading this reinforced what I thought and also gave me insights that I could use of training for any other form, sacred art. Here is a summary.

Thomas Girtin trained in England in the late 18th century and trained for three years from the ages of 14-19. He was apprenticed to the established artist Edward Dayes and began by doing supporting work (grinding pigments etc) and by watching his master painting. Only later he was allowed to copy his master's work. He was expected at this stage to pick up the idiosyncrasies of his teacher's style as a necessary stage in the longer term goal of his emerging with a similar but independent style. From the start he was given talks about art and especially the moral purpose of art. Consistent with academic theory and following Joshua Reynolds in his Discourses given to the Royal Academy, Dayes announced that the artist only selects the best parts of the natural world in order to reflect an idealised Nature. In addition, Girtin was expected to read in order to form his taste.

For his painting training, he would be introduced to colour by being asked to colour prints (so don't hesitate to photocopy and colour-in today!). He then progressed on to his own landscapes by working in the studio and creating amalgamations of different works by Dayes and others and drawings and sketches.

In painting from nature, he would start to observe and sketch doing either line drawings or broad tonal renditions depicting scenes using sweeps in monochrome; through this he could start to control the sense of space by changing the intensity of shadow according the to distance from which it was viewed. He would also do repeated studies of individual items - bushes, trees and so on - both from works of others and direct from nature.

After his apprenticeship, he was given patronage by the amateur artist James Moore and as part of this was given the job of converting Moore's drawings into finished paintings. This would be done in the studio. In his early work Girtin seems to have worked by creating a grey monochrome underpainting and then overlaid colour washes. In his later work he put colour directly onto the paper adding individual tints for shadows.

As far as I can tell, paintings were not finished in situ, but in the studio. This is consistent with one stream of academic art (the classical baroque artists such as Caracci and Poussin) in which all finished paintings were studio works based upon drawings from life. this meant that all finished paintings were two steps from observed nature.

Why an account of teaching landscape painting in this regular column about sacred art?

First, it exemplifies some general principles that can be applies by those wishing to teach or learn (by teaching themselves) and form art, including sacred art.

Second, how demonstrates how part, at least, how an aspect of the wider culture can be a mundane expression of a culture that has the liturgy at its centre. Here is an artistic form that is derived from and pointing to the liturgical forms. It also shows how in regard to this part of it, there is no detachment between the culture of faith and the wider culture as had begun already in other areas and was to occur much more generally soon afterwards as the 19th century progressed.

Third, we should note this is protestant England. The artists themselves may not have even been aware of the fact, or wished to acknowledge it, but they are agents of cultural evangelisation. The principles they are using is a direct transposition of those developed for the the liturgical forms of the 17th century baroque as part of the Catholic counter-reformation 200 years earlier. It is a demonstration of how when those forms that are integrated with the liturgy, and the liturgy is authentic, then it has power. What drove this was the sheer radiance of the beauty of the liturgical forms. Those who saw it and decided that they wanted art just like that. Conscious that it was a Catholic form underpinned by Catholic principles, they simply created stated them in a way that didn't change the sense, but meant that they weren't overtly Catholic. It was the Dutch who did this first in the context of landscape. This is the exact opposite of what happened in the 20th century, where so many Catholic artists looked at the popular secular forms (reflecting an anti-Christian ethos) and tried to express sacred subjects using these forms, leading to the disaster we are recovering from now. Interestingly, just as with their earlier Italian counterparts, the highest form of landscape was the architectural landscape. With relatively few Roman ruins to paint, they would look to the medieval castles and gothic cathedrals and abbeys around the countryside, many of course in ruins. So whether it was conscious or not, these artists were making an ideal out of the earlier great age of architecture, which unlike those in Rome, was an authentic Catholic architecture. Who knows how this might have affected the mood of the day?

This last point is a cause for optimism today. We are undergoing a liturgical reform and we see, albeit in the early stages, a productive dialogue between Catholic artists, musicians and the Church that will in time create authentic forms that are integrated with the liturgy. When we see a flowering of this, I have confidence that the wider culture will be transformed too, just as happened in the baroque of the 17th century.


Top: Durham Cathedral; above: the White House at Chelsea; below: a tonal study done in situ


Above: a painting produced by overlaying colour washes over a grey monochrome underpainting; below: Yorkshire landscape, largely sepia (in the traditional baroque mode) with some overlay of colour. Some greens lose colour over time, so this might well have had more colour in the foreground initially.


Above: Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland; below: Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire.


Above: in the Scottish Borders; below Guisborough Priory, Yorkshire

R.I.P. Monsignor Angelo Amodeo

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We are saddened to receive the news today of the death of Monsignor Angelo Amodeo, a canon of the Duomo of Milan who dedicated much of his life to the preservation of the traditional Ambrosian liturgy, and the use of traditional Ambrosian music within the post-Concilar rite. Several writers of NLM have been honored to participate in liturgies celebrated by Mons. Amodeo, and he will be sorely missed. I plan on writing something more about him in the coming days, for now, I would ask all of our readers to offer prayers for the repose of his soul.
(The Monsignore celebrating Palm Sunday this year at San Rocco al Gentilino in Milan - the Preface, Sanctus and Consecration.)

English Propers, 24th Sunday

Dominican Rite Masses in D.C. and California

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Fr. Pius Pietrzyk, O.P., who will be the celebrant, has asked me to announce some good news for those interested in the Dominican Rite:
A Missa Cantata, according to the Dominican Rite, will be celebrated on Thursday, September 27 at 7:15pm at the main chapel of the Priory of the Immaculate Conception (The Dominican House of Studies of the Eastern Province),  487 Michigan Ave., NE
Washington, DC 20017. This Mass is open to the public and is the first public celebration of the traditional Dominican Liturgy in the Eastern House of Studies since Summorum Pontificum, so this is an important event that those in Washington area will not want to miss.

Those in the California Bay Area may be interested to know of the regular celebrations of the the Dominican Mass there: 1. In Berkeley, each month at the Western Dominican Province Studium (see website)--celebrant Fr. Anselm Ramelow, O.P.  2. Near Oakland, regularly on Tuesday and Friday (7:45 a.m.) and on occasional other days (including this Sunday) in the chapel of the new Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, off Pinehurst Road in Canyon CA--celebrant Fr. Augustine Thompson O.P.  I have previously mentioned the regular celebrations at the Dominican parishes in Portland OR, Anchorage AK, and Seattle WA.

For those attending Dominican Rite Masses, or who have interest in the Dominican Rite, I would also call attention to the various books made available by Dominican Liturgy Publications, in particular, the handy pew booklet "Dominican Rite Mass" which gives the Ordinary in both Latin and English, Music for High Mass, and devotional prayers.

Pontifical Mass in the Philippines

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Friday, aside from being the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, was also the anniversary of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. As such there are any number of events that could be reported. Here is one which a reader sends in, the photos and description being taken from the Facebook page of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate:

The President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines celebrates for the second time the Pontifical Solemn High Mass at the FFI's Mary Coredemptrix Church in Cebu, Philippines

Here are a few photographs from the event.










Episcopal Consecration at the Chiesa Nuova in Rome

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On September 8th, the former Procurator General of the Oratory of St Philip Neri was consecrated bishop by Cardinal Bertone in the church of the Roman Oratory, the Chiesa Nuova.

The following photos have been made available on the website of the procura generale.







Pontifical Mass in Córdoba, Spain

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The second series of photographs I wish to show our readers from September 14th comes from Spain, specifically Córdoba, where the bishop of the same, Demetrio Fernández González, celebrated a Pontifical Mass in the usus antiquior in the Carmelite convent of Santa Ana. (Found by way of Accion Liturgica).

The bishop was assisted by Fr. Raul Olazábal and Fr. Juan Manuel Rodriguez of the Institute of Christ the King.



Two Archival Videos from the See of Milan

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As Gregory noted this past Friday, the Catholic world attached to traditional liturgical forms lost one of its great advocates in the person of Msgr. Angelo Amodeo, a canon of the Metropolitan Chapter of the Cathedral of Milan.

I had the great honour and privilege of meeting the Monsignor and, amongst other things, through him was able to participate in the ancient Ambrosian rite -- a memory that I will certainly never forget and one which is worth more than all the photos and videos that could be possibly presented. Indeed, my thoughts of the Ambrosian patrimony will be inextricably linked to his person, which I think only fitting.

I mention all of this as I recently came across the following videos which respectively show the installation of Blessed Cardinal Schuster and Cardinal Montini as the successors of St. Ambrose in the See of Milan.

In part, I show them for interest, and in part I show them in honour of our friend Monsignor Amodeo.



The Ethiopian Christian Artistic Tradition

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Some of our readers may recall our mention of the Orthodox Arts Journal -- an Eastern Orthodox journal which found some of its inspiration by way of the NLM.

Last month Jonathan Pageau had an interesting article, The Mystery of Ethiopian Iconography:

Ethiopian Christianity presents many mysteries to us, their unique use of Old Testament typology, their concentric churches, their claim of having the Ark of the Covenent and its use in liturgy – these all create an obscure but fascinating question. I went to Ethiopia in 2009 to discover more about their liturgical arts. I would like to share some of my findings with you.

Aside from the article itself, Jonathan shares some very interesting photographs from the Ethiopian Christian artistic tradition.



Read the article.
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