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+---
+title: Out of the Depths
+date: November 8, 2024
+description: Reflections on the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost
+---
+
+Beginning with the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, we hear the same chants every Sunday
+until Advent begins. For those of us in the schola, this is always a favorite time of
+year. The propers are relatively easy to sing, and thanks to their repetition in the
+Church calendar, many of us actually know them by heart. As we sing these old
+familiar chants, we enjoy a brief reprieve before preparing for the ornate liturgies
+of Advent and Christmas.
+
+But Holy Mother Church does not give us these repetitive chants so the schola can
+relax! At the end of the liturgical year, She implores us to be mindful of the Four
+Last Things: Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell. We pray for the poor souls in
+Purgatory, and ponder anew that mystery announced to our first parents: "For dust
+thou art, and into dust thou shalt return."
+
+The chants for these Sundays emphasize our total dependence on God and the saving
+power of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
+
+In the Introit, we hear the words of the weeping prophet Jeremias:
+
+> The Lord saith:
+> I think thoughts of peace, and not of affliction:
+> you shall call upon Me, and I will hear you;
+> and I will bring back your captivity from all places.
+
+The Gradual, taken from Psalm 43, continues this theme:
+
+> Thou hast saved us, O Lord, from them that afflict us:
+> and hast put them to shame that hate us.
+
+In the Alleulia, we hear the _De Profundis_ from Psalm 129:
+
+> Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord:
+> Lord, hear my voice.
+
+The melody of this chant is haunting.  There are two instances where the same
+pleading motif is echoed back a second time, reminding us of the pleading cries
+of the poor souls in Purgatory.
+
+In the Offertory, we hear this supplication yet again:
+
+> Out of the depths have I cried to Thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice.
+> Out of the depths have I cried to Thee, O Lord.
+
+Notice that we have now heard the _De Profundis_ three times! In fact, when it reprises
+in the Offertory, the melody is exactly the same as before. It is quite unusual to
+see a proverbial copy-and-paste within the Mass propers. It's almost as if to say,
+"Lord, we are at rock bottom. We have nothing left. Save us!"
+
+Finally, during communion, we hear Our Lord's glorious response to our supplications:
+
+> Amen I say to you, whatsoever you ask when you pray,
+> believe that you shall receive and it shall be done to you. (Mk. 11:24)
+
+This Communion antiphon is, to me, one of the most attention-grabbing of the entire
+year. It begins with the common flatted-_Ti_ Mode I incipit:
+
+![](communion.png "Communion: Amen dico vobis"){.center}
+
+Usually, this sets the mood for more flatted _Ti_'s (like in the _Gaudeamus_ introit
+for All Saint's Day). But not this time! On _vobis_, we jump immediately to the
+highest note of the entire chant (_Do_) followed by suddenly **natural** _Ti_—the only
+one found in this chant.
+
+I cannot help but hear the thunderous voice of Our Lord responding to our repeated
+cries from the depths:
+
+> Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.
+> (Mt. 28:20)
+
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