Author: Adam Bartlett

Here is one more Ave Maria to close out this solemnity of the Annunciation, by Frank La Rocca, someone who is quickly becoming one of my favorite modern composers.

Today is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. Since the prescribed date, March 25th, fell during Holy Week this year the feast was transferred to the Monday following the Second Sunday of Easter.

The following are complete English propers for this feast, with pointed psalm verses, as found in the Lumen Christi Missal:

The Installation Mass of the Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample as the eleventh archbishop of Portland, Oregon, will take place tomorrow, April 2nd, at 1:30PM. The live webcast can be viewed here.

Solemn Vespers at St. Mary’s Cathedral begins at 7:00PM and a live webcast for this liturgy can also be viewed here. Live coverage seems to have now already begun.

The program for the Installation Mass has been posted on the Archdiocese of Portland’s website here. The choice of music for this liturgy includes selections from Gregorian chant, Viadana, Lassus, Byrd, Victoria, Christopher Walker, Duruflé, Randall DeBruyn, Biebl, John Schiavone and Bob Hurd. There are also many parts of the Mass that will be sung according to the Third Edition of the Roman Missal.

On January 21, 2013, Archbishop Sample, then Bishop of Marquette, released the pastoral letter Rejoice in the Lord Always, a Pastoral Letter on Sacred Music in Divine Worship. This letter was released publicly on Ash Wednesday of this past Lent, as was reported here.

Let us wish Archbishop Sample many blessings in his new appointment, and assure him of our continued prayers.

Download them here:

Can a Mass be a form of evangelization and transform the culture? 

I am solidly convinced that an authentic and faithful renewal and reform of the sacred liturgy is not only part of the New Evangelization — it is essential to its fruitfulness. The liturgy has the power to form and transform the Catholic faithful. We must live by the axiom lex orandi, lex credendi (the law of praying is the law of believing). What we celebrate in the Mass expresses the essential content of the faith, and it also reinforces our faith when celebrated well and with fidelity. The liturgy both teaches us and expresses what we believe. If we do not get the sacred liturgy right, I fear that we will just be spinning our wheels rather than getting the New Evangelization going in the right direction. If we are transformed by the sacred liturgy, then we, as believers, can help transform the culture.  

How does one speak of beauty in a relativistic culture?  

We have to acknowledge that beauty is not some abstract concept, but reflects to us the beauty, perfection and goodness of God, the Creator of all. When we experience or create something truly beautiful, we can experience something of God himself. Especially in a relativistic culture, we would expect many to live by the idea “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” But this would be to deny that there are any objective standards for what is truly beautiful. There are things that are capable of speaking to every human person if we will open ourselves to the experience of what is in itself beautiful. When I see the sun rise over Lake Superior, no one has to tell me that it is beautiful. I feel the presence of God swelling up in my soul. The same is true when I hear a beautiful piece of sacred polyphony, such as a piece by Palestrina. God is reflected in the beauty of created things. We need beauty to help form the human person, the human soul.  

What are your plans for the liturgy in the Archdiocese of Portland?  

I have no formal plans. I first need to learn and experience what is happening in the liturgical life of the archdiocese. My ultimate goal, however, will be to see that the liturgy is celebrated with all due reverence, prayerfulness, beauty, sacredness and dignity, in faithfulness to the true spirit of the liturgy and according to the liturgical discipline given to us by Holy Mother Church.

Please read the rest there.