And so the reform of the reform continues in yet another parish...

[One of our priestly readers informed me of the wonderful activities that shall be occuring at his parish this evening for All Souls Day.]

Thrown Back

"At my parish of St. Stanislaus, we will be having Mass this evening, at 6:30 PM, for All Souls Day.

Since I became pastor here a little more than a year ago, I have been working to make our liturgical life here at St. Stanislaus more fully and authentically Catholic, and to make our liturgies more solemn and beautiful. Toward that end, I have been introducing Gregorian Chant (back) into our Masses, and encouraging the development of the musical resources of the parish.

Those efforts are beginning to bear fruit, and will do so in a special way tonight.

I was very fortunate, a few months ago, to be introduced to a musical ensemble called 'The Schola of the Chair of St. Peter'. They are a group of Catholic gentlemen from around the Grand Rapids area who have been gathering to learn and sing Chant for the past decade or so. Their knowledge and mastery of chant is deep and rich. They sing from time to time at a few parishes, but, unfortunately, as is the case in much of the US, the Catholic musical environment in this area hasn't been very chant-friendly.

I have made them the official 'Chant Schola In Residence' here at St. Stanislaus, and they will be singing here for the first time tonight. They will be singing the Gregorian Requiem Mass, complete with the Dies Irae, which will be sung during communion following the Communion antiphon. My congregation has already learned the Ordinary of Mass XVIII, so this will not be a mere spectator experience, but will, I hope, embody the ideal of participatio actuosa as envisioned by the fathers of Vatican II.

Also, for the first time here in at least 25 years, I will use the Roman Canon in Latin for the Eucharistic Prayer.