Alert reader Joe Vitacco (the éminence grise behind a wonderful recording of Vierne's Messe Solenelle we reviewed here some years back) was kind enough to direct my attention recently to a fine little essay by David Sullivan on the origins of the Credo I melody posted on his parish's webpage:
A thousand years later, our current Holy Father, Benedict XVI, has just inaugurated a year of faith, and we are still able to chant the Credo that professes the Church’s constant faith. We might do well to consider anew the articles of faith of the Nicene Creed that we are privileged to pray at Holy Mass. As always, the schola appreciates the prayers of St. Mary’s parishioners, as we endeavor to follow the psalmist’s exhortation: Psallite sapienter (Sing with understanding).St. Mary's should be of interest to our readers for a number of reasons already. It dedicated a shrine to Bl. Charles of Austria recently (two photos from the dedication mass below) and is something of a nexus for devotion to that pious Habsburg emperor, and was also the venue for the Extraordinary Form nuptual mass of Charles's great-grandson Archduke Imre to pro-life advocate and Cincinnati-born local Washington girl Kathleen Walker. It also boasts a varied roster of Extraordinary Form masses, frequently sung, alongside mass in the vernacular (as well as a Cantonese mission), and has done a splendid job advertising this to the public via an informative and aesthetically-pleasing website. Indeed, I'm told that the re-vamp of their internet presence has done much to increase awareness of--and attendance at--the church's Latin liturgies, a wonderful example of ancient and new brought together in the service of God.
