One of the greatest challenges in pastoral ministry is how to explain as much of the riches of the sacred liturgy as we can to the faithful. Here in my parish, we are putting together a series of guides for our school and RE families to introduce them to all of those beautiful Catholic traditions. They are for private use, but here is my guide for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany in case you might want to get some ideas!
Why these bitter words of the dying, O brethren, which they utter as they go hence? I am parted from my brethren. All my friends do I abandon and go hence. But whither I go, that understand I not, neither what shall become of me yonder; only God who hath summoned me knoweth. But make commemoration of me with the song: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
But whither now go the souls? How dwell they now together there? This mystery have I desired to learn; but none can impart aright. Do they call to mind their own people, as we do them? Or have they forgotten all those who mourn them and make the song: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
We go forth on the path eternal, and as condemned, with downcast faces, present ourselves before the only God eternal. Where then is comeliness? Where then is wealth? Where then is the glory of this world? There shall none of these things aid us, but only to say oft the psalm: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
If thou hast shown mercy unto man, O man, that same mercy shall be shown thee there; and if on an orphan thou hast shown compassion, the same shall there deliver thee from want. If in this life the naked thou hast clothed, the same shall give thee shelter there, and sing the psalm: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Youth and the beauty of the body fade at the hour of death, and the tongue then burneth fiercely, and the parched throat is inflamed. The beauty of the eyes is quenched then, the comeliness of the face all altered, the shapeliness of the neck destroyed; and the other parts have become numb, nor often say: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
With ecstasy are we inflamed if we but hear that there is light eternal yonder; that there is Paradise, wherein every soul of Righteous Ones rejoiceth. Let us all, also, enter into Christ, that we may cry aloud thus unto God: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Every year on a Friday morning in late spring, St. Dominic’s church in southwest Washington DC is packed to overflowing as Dominicans, their relatives and friends come to witness the ordination of the newest Dominican Fathers of the Eastern Province in the large acoustic space.
Over the last two years, the Schola of Dominican friars have been travelling from the province’s formation house of studies (pictured) at the opposite end of town to St. Dominic’s to make a record, In Medio Ecclesiae.
Having attended Masses and Vespers sung by the friars for over a decade, I’m a big fan of the unified sound they achieve with the apparent effortlessness of those who sing together all day, every day. Choir directors know how hard this unity is to orchestrate, but the schola, conducted by Fr. James Moore, OP, of the Western Province, sings as one, with a sense of strong forward motion. The sound is manly and joyful.
The majority of the pieces are motets; one, an original composition by one of the friars in formation, is a highlight of the entire album, Thine Are the Heavens, by Br. Vincent Ferrer Bagan, OP. Other pieces include chanted Latin antiphons to Sts. Dominic and Thomas Aquinas, and there are several hymns, sensitively arranged and sung.
I receive questions about Words With Wings, the Gregorian chant curriculum for children, daily. Have questions? Join me online this coming Wednesday! I’ll be hosting a free discussion session about the program. Details: Wednesday, November 13, at 12:00pm CST. You have to register to take part.
This morning I attended Una Voce’s beautifully sung Mass in the Chapel of the Choir. The ceremonial was done in a calm, peaceful manner, without ostentation. I thought the entire Mass was exemplary. Even the bells were rung well.
These setting, like many of my liturgical works at times “float” around traditional harmony, “bending” not so much with dissonance, but hopefully with carefully placed color. This at times is to convey an ethereal tone yet, hopefully without drawing too much attention to itself. In the end, I hope these are useful, prayerful, reverent, and with a bit of passion!
