Chant Café

The morning star is on the rise
And soon the dawn will fill the skies,
Foretelling of the coming Sun
Whose light will shine on everyone.

The Sun of justice, Christ, true Light,
And Mary, grace’s dawning bright,
And Anna, reddening the sky,
Have caused the night of Law to fly.

O mother Anna, fruitful root,
From you came your salvation’s shoot,
For you brought forth the flow’ring rod
That bore for us the Christ of God.

Christ’s mother’s mother, by the grace
Your daughter’s birth brought to our race,
And by her merits and her prayer
May we her favors come to share.

O Jesus, Virgin-born, to You
All glory is forever due.
To Father and the Spirit, praise
Be sung through everlasting days.

trans. c. 2009 Kathleen Pluth. This text may be used freely on July 25-26, 2019. All other rights reserved.

Latin original:

Nocti succedit lucifer,
Quem mox aurora sequitur,
Solis ortum praenuntians
Mundum lustrantis lumine

Christus sol est iustitiae,
Aurora Mater gratiae,
Quam, Anna, praeis rutilans
Legis propellens tenebras

Anna, radix uberrima,
Arbor tu salutifera
Virgam producens floridam
Quae Christum nobis attulit

O matris Christi genetrix
Tuque parens sanctissime
Natae favente merito
Nobis rogate veniam.

Iesu, tibi sit gloria,
Qui natus est de Virgine,
Cum patre et almo Spiritu,
In sempiterna saecula

Apparently there is one of those tired ole envelope-pushing debates going on about women and preaching.

Apparently some would like women to preach at Mass. And I can only wonder why.

It seems the height of clericalism to suggest that preaching at Mass, which is reserved to the ordained, is a role to be coveted by those who are not ordained.

What is at stake? Doesn’t a lay person have many opportunities for preaching in daily life? Evangelization is not reserved to Mass, is it?

But perhaps this is not about evangelization. Quite possibly it is political.  It is most likely about making incremental changes leading to the toppling of structures. In which case it’s an anti-clerical cleralism, ironically devaluing the real accomplishments of lay people in the name of iconoclasm.

Personally I find Mass refreshing because it’s one of the few hours of the day when I can’t preach. There is so much to do for the Church and the world that one could preach all day and never fulfill the task. I find it’s helpful and rejuvenating to take that little break of listening, so beautifully tied to the Eucharist, because faith comes through hearing.

I have gone round, and have offered up in his tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation: I will sing, and recite a psalm to the Lord.

The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?

On the third day of the CMAA Sacred Music Colloquium, Fr. James Richardson offered Mass in the Ordinary Form on the feast of St Thomas the Apostle, at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. The Latin propers were sung with Gregorian Mass IV; among the the motets sung were Quia vidisti me, Thoma by Hassler, Mitte manum by Isaac and O salutaris hostia by Anerio. Organist Michael Garrepy performed works by Mendelssohn and Bach. Photos by Charles Cole are on-line at New Liturgical Movement, and here are audio excerpts:

1. Prelude: Mendelssohn: Op. 37, Nr. 2 (partial recording)

2. Processional

3. Introit: Mihi autem

4. Kyrie, Mass IV (Cunctipotens genitor Deus)

5. Gloria IV

6. Gradual: Nimis honorati sunt

7. Alleluia: Gaudete justi

8. Credo III

9. Offertory: In omnem terram

10. Hassler: Quia vidisti me

11. Sanctus IV

12. Pater noster

13. Agnus Dei IV

14. Communio: Isaac: Mitte manum tuam

15. Anerio: O salutaris hostia

16. Bach: Kyrie (Gott Heiliger Geist), BWV 671