diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'src/blog')
| -rw-r--r-- | src/blog/23rd-sunday-after-pentecost/communion.png | bin | 0 -> 8132 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | src/blog/23rd-sunday-after-pentecost/index.md | 75 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | src/blog/asperges-me/index.md | 40 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | src/blog/our-lady-of-sorrows/alleluia.png | bin | 0 -> 46437 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | src/blog/our-lady-of-sorrows/index.md | 57 |
5 files changed, 172 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/src/blog/23rd-sunday-after-pentecost/communion.png b/src/blog/23rd-sunday-after-pentecost/communion.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f05230d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/blog/23rd-sunday-after-pentecost/communion.png diff --git a/src/blog/23rd-sunday-after-pentecost/index.md b/src/blog/23rd-sunday-after-pentecost/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..99c2ff0 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/blog/23rd-sunday-after-pentecost/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,75 @@ +--- +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: + +{.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 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1b9c3bd --- /dev/null +++ b/src/blog/asperges-me/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,40 @@ +--- +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 Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7e886c1 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/blog/our-lady-of-sorrows/alleluia.png diff --git a/src/blog/our-lady-of-sorrows/index.md b/src/blog/our-lady-of-sorrows/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b6f5920 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/blog/our-lady-of-sorrows/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,57 @@ +--- +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. + +{.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> |
