Pope Francis RIP
Deus, qui inter summos sacerdótes fámulum tuum Franciscum ineffábili tua dispositióne connumerári voluisti: praesta, quáesumus; ut, qui Unigéniti Filii tui vices in terris gerébat, sanctórum tuórum...
View ArticleCatholic Education Foundation Seminar 2025: The Role of the Priest in Today’s...
July 16-18, at the Athenaeum of Ohio (the seminary of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati).Fr Peter Stravinskas of the Catholic Education Foundation is once again offering this excellent three-day seminar,...
View ArticleUpdate on the Palestrina500 Festival in Grand Rapids
On Friday, February 14th, the feast of Saint Valentine, Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Grand Rapids, MI welcomed Gesualdo Six from London to sing a choral meditation and Mass for the parish's yearlong...
View ArticleShould Communion Sometimes Be Eliminated to Avoid Sacrilege?
In a post at his Substack entitled “Nobody is talking about this in the Catholic world,” Patrick Giroux has the courage and good sense to raise the issue of the indiscriminate reception of the Lord at...
View ArticleThe Last Service of Easter
Following up on Monday’s post about the service known as the Paschal Hour in Byzantine Rite, here is the text of another special rite, which is done after Vespers on Easter day itself. It is brief...
View ArticleSummer Graduate-Level Sacred Music Study - Tuition-free
The May 1st application deadline is approaching for summer graduate courses in sacred music at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music. Graduate-level study structured for busy schedulesIn-person,...
View ArticleMedieval Vespers of Easter
In the Breviary of St Pius V, Vespers of Easter Sunday and the days within the octave present only one peculiarity, namely, that the Chapter and Hymn are replaced by the words of Psalm 117, “Haec dies...
View ArticleThe Paschal Stichera of the Byzantine Rite in English
One of the most magnificent features of the Byzantine Rite is a group of hymns known as the Paschal stichera. These are sung at Orthros and Vespers each day of Bright Week, as the Easter octave is...
View ArticleThe Easter Sequence Laudes Salvatori
The traditional sequence for Easter, Victimae Paschali laudes, is rightly regarded as one of the greatest gems of medieval liturgical poetry, such that it was even accepted by the Missal of the Roman...
View ArticleLow Sunday 2025
With his inquisitive right hand, Thomas searched out Thy life-bestowing side, O Christ God; for when Thou didst enter while the doors were shut, he cried out to Thee with the rest of the Apostles: Thou...
View ArticleLaunching “Theological Classics”: Newman on the Virgin Mary, St Vincent on...
At a time of turmoil, nothing could be better or more important than rooting ourselves more deeply in the Catholic tradition. One of my favorite quotations is by St. Prosper of Aquitaine (390-455),...
View ArticleRecommended Art History and Artistic Practice Text Books for Homeschoolers......
I want to recommend the Catholic Heritage Currricula texts books to all who are looking for materials for courses in art history, art theory and artistic practice at the middle-school or high-school...
View ArticleThe Tomb of St Peter Martyr in Milan’s Portinari Chapel
Here are some great photos from our Ambrosian correspondent Nicola de’ Grandi of the Portinari Chapel at the Basilica of St Eustorgio in Milan. They were taken during a special night-time opening made...
View ArticleLetter to a Maximalist Music Director in a Minimalist World
Auguste Danse, Study of Three Singers (detail)The following is based on a real letter.Dear Friend,I’m sorry to hear that you’re experiencing some “ups and downs” with regard to the liturgy there,...
View ArticleTwo Upcoming Events from the Durandus Institute
Our friend James Griffin of The Durandus Institute for Sacred Liturgy and Music wishes all our readers a joyous Easter season, by presenting two opportunities, at least for those in southeast...
View ArticleA Medieval Hymn for Eastertide
Many medieval breviaries, including those of the Sarum Use, the Cistercians, Carmelites and Premonstratensians, have a hymn for the Easter season which is not found in the Roman Breviary, Chorus novae...
View ArticleSpinello Aretino’s Altar of Ss Philip and James
At the very end of the 14th century, the painter Spinello di Luca Spinelli (1350 ca. - 1410 ca.), usually known as Spinello Aretino (from Arezzo) was commissioned to make a frescoed altarpiece for the...
View ArticleThe Lavabo
Lost in Translation #124 After the incensation, the priest goes to the Epistle side and washes his hands, reciting Psalm 25, 6-12: Lavábo inter innocentes manus meas: et circúmdabo altáre tuum,...
View Article“The Angel Cried Out” - The Byzantine Easter Hymn to the Virgin Mary
In the Byzantine Divine Liturgy, there are several places where the priest sings a part of the anaphora out loud, and the choir makes a response, while he continues the anaphora silently. In the...
View ArticleThe Gospel of Nicodemus in the Liturgy of Eastertide
By “the Gospel of Nicodemus”, I mean not the apocryphal gospel of that title, but the passage of St John’s Gospel in which Christ speaks to Nicodemus, chapter 3, verses 1-21. This passage has an...
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