update with some posts from social media

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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)
+
+<iframe class="ytembed" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLUTjo_MVNeFd3s3kbpdeZZny7-kp_xOeR&rel=0&loop=0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
diff --git a/src/blog/asperges-me/index.md b/src/blog/asperges-me/index.md
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+---
+title: Asperges Me
+date: September 6, 2024
+description: Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop.
+---
+
+One of the most regrettable results of the post-conciliar liturgical reforms
+(such as they are) is the near disappearance of the venerable "Asperges Me" from
+most Catholic parishes.
+
+If you are unfamiliar with the old Latin Mass, the Asperges Me is a ritual performed
+immediately before Sunday High Masses in which the priest sprinkles those present
+with holy water while words from Psalm 50 (51 for you Protestants) are sung, followed
+by a doxology:
+
+> Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed:
+> Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.
+> Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy.
+
+Having formed all four of my children in the traditional Mass, I've noticed that
+the Asperges captures their imaginations in a special way. It's always the first
+chant they memorize and start singing around the house, and it's never omitted when
+the boys "play Mass" at home.
+
+They watch intently as the priest processes through the church, waiting patiently
+for their turn to receive a sprinkle, and imitate his reverent pause to bow when
+the schola invokes the Holy Trinity. It is through this thousand year old ritual
+that children come to understand the importance of their own baptism.
+
+Most importantly, the Asperges gives us all a sense of our total unworthiness before
+Almighty God, thanksgiving for the saving waters of our baptism, and our need of
+forgiveness for our sins.
+
+These physical, tangible rituals of Catholicism can make Protestants, often
+accustomed to a more cerebral and abstract worship, somewhat uncomfortable. But
+Holy Mother Church recognizes that we are beings of both body and soul. In our
+proud modern age, performing these rituals with piety and humility can sometimes
+teach us more truth than the most eloquent sermon.
+
+<iframe class="ytembed" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WDaB4LcPGg0" title="Asperges Me I - Gregorian Chant" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
diff --git a/src/blog/our-lady-of-sorrows/alleluia.png b/src/blog/our-lady-of-sorrows/alleluia.png
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diff --git a/src/blog/our-lady-of-sorrows/index.md b/src/blog/our-lady-of-sorrows/index.md
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+---
+title: Our Lady of Sorrows
+date: September 14, 2024
+description: Stabant juxta crucem Jesu mater ejus.
+---
+
+This Sunday the Church celebrates Our Lady of Sorrows. This feast was originally
+authorized in 1692 by Pope Innocent XII to honor the sorrow that the Blessed Virgin
+Mary suffered so perfectly throughout her earthly life with Our Lord Jesus Christ.
+
+Devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary began to flourish in the 13th century, thanks
+to the seven founders of the Order of the Servants of Mary. Our Lady's Seven Sorrows
+are:
+
+1. St. Simeon's prophecy: "thy own soul a sword shall pierce"
+2. The flight into Egypt
+3. The loss of the child Jesus in the temple
+4. The meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross
+5. Our Lord's crucifixion
+6. Our Lord's descent from the cross
+7. Our Lord's burial
+
+The Mass for this feast is one of only five in the traditional Roman Missal which
+retain the honor of a sequence: the Stabat Mater. The English version of this hymn,
+"At the Cross Her Station Keeping," is traditionally sung at Stations of the Cross
+during Lent.
+
+The feast was originally celebrated on the third Sunday in September, but Pope Saint
+Pius X moved it to a fixed date of September 15th. A sad result of this decision
+(given the lack of traditional Masses in our time) is that most Catholics are
+unlikely to ever hear the sublime chants for this feast in a Sung Mass.
+
+The Alleluia for this Mass is perhaps the most heavy-hearted you'll find in the Liber
+Usualis:
+
+> Alleluia, Alleluia.
+> Stabat sancta Maria, caeli Regina, et mundi Domina,
+> juxta crucem Domini nostri Jesu Christi dolorosa.
+> Alleluia.
+
+In English:
+
+> Holy Mary, queen of heaven and mistress of the world, stood, filled with sorrow,
+> by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
+
+![](alleluia.png "Alleluia: Stabat sancta Maria"){.center}
+
+Long, descending scales are a unique motif of this particular chant, which I have
+highlighted below. This melodic pattern occurs quite rarely in the Church's liturgy.
+The descending notes call to mind the tears which fell from the eyes of our Blessed
+Mother at the foot of the cross.
+
+And yet, even as we look upon her Son, hanging upon a cross and pierced with a lance:
+Alleluia, Alleluia. How much Holy Mother Church teaches us, even through Her
+melodies!
+
+<iframe class="ytembed" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9dD7kMDtDEg" title="Alleluia: Stabat sancta Maria" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>