A New Our Lady of Czestachova - Slash and No Burn

Here is another new icon of a familiar image. NLM reader David Woolf from Wales sent this to me and I will let him describe the process by which it was commissioned:

'I wanted a travelling icon, so it is a diptych - it goes with me wherever I travel. I have a great devotion to Our Lady of Czestochowa. Aidan Hart, the artist, asked did I want her painted as the icon is currently at Jasna Gora, like the familiar black Madonna or one based upon the Iveron Theotokos? The icon currently displayed at Jasna Gora was originally of the Iveron form, but alas has been renovated on several occasions - the oil paint [yes oil paint, DC] applied by the restorers has not bonded to the underlying egg tempera, hence the ‘artistic mess’ of the icon today. Therefore I asked Aidan to recreate the original Iveron form, however because the attacks on Our Lady’s right cheek (the slash marks) are part of this archetype’s history I asked that these be added to the commission - an idea to which he was happy to comply. Furthermore the border he has used is as on the current icon at Jasna Gorna but if often hidden under a rizza.'

Happy Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas

Today is the traditional feastday of St. Thomas Aquinas, Common Doctor of the Catholic Church, Patron of All Catholic Schools. March 7 is the birthday of the Angelic Doctor into eternal life, at the age of 49, en route to the General Council at Lyons. In his honor, it seems fitting to share the story of his death, as told by Bernard Gui in the Vitae Sancti Thomae Aquinatis:

Some days later the holy man had recovered his strength enough to continue the journey to Rome; but, passing near the Cistercian monastery of Fossanova and receiving a warm invitation from the abbot and community to stay there a while until his health should be perfectly restored, Thomas accepted the invitation and turned aside to the abbey. And after saying a prayer before the high altar of the abbey church, as he entered the cloister the hand of the Lord came upon him, and he knew in his spirit that he had now reached the end of his life . . .
          The abbot kindly gave him a room in his own apartments, with all the comforts that could be provided, as was fitting for such a guest; and being now utterly exhausted, he was put to bed and waited on by the monks with all reverence and humility. It was winter and they kept a fire burning in his room, carrying the logs in from the wood on their shoulders. And seeing this, Thomas said, 'Who am I that the servants of God should wait on me like this?' And now with every day that passed his body grew weaker; yet still from his spirit flowed the stream of doctrine. For, being asked by some of the monks to leave them some memorial of his stay with them, he gave a brief exposition of the Canticle of Solomon [the Song of Songs]. And it was indeed appropriate that the great worker in the school of the Church should terminate his teaching on that song of eternal glory; that such a master in that school, when about to pass from the prison of the body to the heavenly wedding-feast, should discourse on the bridal union of the Church with Christ her Spouse.
          Feeling his strength ebbing away, he devoutly asked for the most holy Body of Christ: and when the abbot, accompanied by the monks, brought it to him, he did reverence to it, prostrate on the ground; weak in body, but with his mind, as it were, running strongly to meet the Lord. And being asked, as the Church's discipline requires, whether he believed that this was indeed the body of the Son of God which was born of the Virgin and hung on the cross for our sake and on the third day rose again, Thomas answered with a strong voice and alert devotion and shedding tears:
          "Even were it possible for us wayfarers through life to have some greater knowledge of this truth than sincere faith gives us—faith inexpressibly true—yet now in that faith alone I declare that I truly believe and most certainly know that this is indeed true God and Man, Son of the eternal Father, born of the Virgin Mother, the Lord Jesus Christ. This I sincerely believe and profess."
          Then with tears and devotion he received the life-giving Sacrament. But first, according to report, he said also these words:
          "O price of my redemption and food for my pilgrimage, I receive You! For Your sake I have studied and toiled and kept vigil. I have preached You and taught You. Never consciously have I said a word against You. But if I should have said or written anything amiss on this sacrament or any of the others, I leave it all to the judgment of the holy Roman Church, in obedience to whom I desire to end my life."
          On the following day he asked for and received the Last Anointing. His mind remained clear through the ceremony and he answered the prayers himself. Then, joining his hands, he peacefully gave back his spirit to its Maker.

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us: obtain for us the grace to imitate your humility, devotion, and obedience, and some share of your wisdom, that we may live and die as you lived and died, in faithful communion with Christ and His Holy Church. Amen.

The Philology Institute's Summer Greek Intensive

The Philology Institute is a newly-founded academic institute in central Kentucky that promotes the study and love of language through intensive summer courses as well as private and group tutoring. They will offer an intensive, six-week summer course in ancient Greek that incorporates sentence exercises in New Testament Greek and is well-suited for those interested in reading the New Testament and Greek Fathers.  

The course will be held in Wilmore, KY, from May 19 to June 27, 2014. They anticipate expanding to include an intensive summer Latin course in 2015. The cost of each course is $2500 (for the equivalent of 2 or more semesters of college-level coursework), and there are a limited number of $500 scholarships. Applications are available on their website.

Juventutem Lehigh Valley Lenten Speaker Series

News of a Lenten program from the recently-formed Juventutem Lehigh Valley chapter:

Juventutem DC hosts First Evening of Recollection on the Feast of St. Joseph

Juventutem DC continues its monthly apostolate of Days of Recollection in March with a new twist: An evening of recollection on St. Joseph, including Adoration, Benediction and Confession, on Wednesday, March 19 at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Washington D.C.

Fr. James Bradley, a priest of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in England & Wales, will be giving a spiritual conference on the feast of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Patron of the Universal Church, followed by Adoration, Confessions and Benediction. This is the fifth such monthly Day of Recollection hosted by Juventutem DC, but the first to be held on a weekday evening. This series continues to generate tremendous interest and turnout by area Catholics drawn to traditional Catholic spirituality. This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be available at the talk.

The Recollection begins at 7:00pm in the St. Thomas fellowship hall in the basement, followed by Adoration and Benediction in the main church. Priests will be available for Confession during Adoration. St. Thomas is located at 2655 Woodley Road NW, just off the Woodley Park Metro Station on the Red Line, the most convenient means of access to the area. See our Facebook page for more details on this and other upcoming events being planned by Juventutem DC, at www.Facebook.com/JuventutemDC.

Dominican Rite Missae Cantatae, Oakland CA, during March

Chapel of the Carmel, Bishop Barbar Celebrant (New Rite Roman)

This is to let our readers, especially those in the Bay Area, know about the four Sung Dominican Rite Masses that will be offered at the Carmel of the Holy Family* in Canyon CA this month. These Masses will take place:

Friday, March 7, 7:45 a.m., St. Thomas Aquinas

Sunday, March 15, 9:30 a.m., Second Sunday of Lent

Sunday, March 23, 10:00 a.m., Third Sunday in Lent

Friday, March 25, 7:45 a.m., Annunciation

The chant for these Masses will be sung be sung by the nuns, and the celebrants and servers will be friars of the Western Dominican Province.  Fr. Reginald Martin, O.P., prior of St. Albert the Great Priory, the Western Dominican House of Studies in Oakland CA, will be the guest preacher for the Solemnity of St. Thomas Aquinas.

 The Dominican Rite Low Mass is also celebrated at the Carmel, every Tuesday and Friday at 7:45 a.m.

See also all Dominican Rite Masses in the Bay Area, Spring 2014 and Regularly Scheduled Dominican Rite Masss worldwide.

*How to find Canyon Carmel, which has no street number: from Canyon U.S. Post Office (99 Pinehurst Road), go north about one half mile to “John McCosker Ranch Road” on right (easy to miss); take this mostly gravel private road up to the right turn onto “Old Home Ranch Road,” which is signed for “Carmel.” It ends in the parking lot of the monastery.

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts: Guest Article by Dr. Kyle Washut

We are grateful once again to Dr. Kyle Washut of Wyoming Catholic College for a new series of articles on one of the most beautiful aspects of the Byzantine Rite, the Lenten Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.

This year, the date of Easter is the same for both the Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar, so the Church is taking air into both lungs as she prepares to dive into Great Lent. Last week, those who observe the Byzantine tradition have already stopped eating meat, and we stopped eating dairy products this Monday; hence, this week is called Cheesefare. (For more on the history of the Fast, and the Sundays that prepare for it, and the varying rules of fasting for throughout the period see here my lecture from last year.)

The Wednesday of Cheesefare week is the first day that Christians of the Byzantine tradition celebrate the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, that is, a service wherein the faithful partake of Holy Communion consecrated at a prior Divine Liturgy. The Latin tradition also utilizes a Presanctified Liturgy as part of its liturgical year, but only on Good Friday. There is a manuscript tradition of the presanctified liturgies for the Syrian, Hagiopite and Georgian traditions, as well; the Coptic, Ethiopian and Armenian tradition do not seem to have ever had a full ritual for the presanctified gifts. Within the Byzantine tradition, however, such an observance takes place twice this week, on Wednesday and Friday, and then remains an integral feature of weekday Lenten worship up through the Week of the Bridegroom, Holy Week.

Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts celebrated according to the Russian Tradition.

Our consideration of the Presanctified Liturgy in this context will be divided into three parts. First, I will lay out its structure, with some notes on the developments that have taken place within the rite, and the days that it is observed. Part two of our study will consider the historical and theological justifications for an aliturgical observance of Lenten weekdays, (“liturgical” here meaning strictly a service in which there is an anaphora with an epiclesis). Part three will consider some of the key moments of the liturgical observance: Phos Christou, the chanting of Ps. 140, and the Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian, which although not strictly part of the rite is inextricably linked with the faithful’s experience of it.

For readers interested in a far more in-depth treatment of the historical development of the Presanctified Liturgy, I heartily recommend the book referenced a few years ago here at NLM, The Presanctified Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite by Greek Orthodox priest, Fr. Stefanos Alexopoulos. His admirable history of the rite’s development is an exemplary work in the school of the historical liturgist, Rev. R. Taft. Much of what I say about the history and development of the rite only serves as a summary or introduction to the much more detailed work of Fr. Alexopoulos, although at times I will note certain distinctive features of the Slavic tradition which are generally neglected in the study. At present there is no comparable study in English on the Slavic traditions of the Presanctified.

The structure of the Presanctified Liturgy is basically that of a Byzantine Vespers service, with a service for the distribution of communion attached to it. As Fr. Alexopoulos shows, the rite as it now stands is a testimony to the multi-staged development of the Byzantine liturgical tradition, having 1) key pre-Constantinian features at its root, 2) key imperial developments appropriate to the Cathedral rites of the Byzantine tradition, 3) features that characterize the monastic practice at the end of Late Antiquity (called by Taft the Dark Ages), 4) developments proper to the Studite synthesis of monastic and cathedral usages, and 5) characteristics of the neo-Sabaitic liturgical synthesis after the Latin conquest of Constantinople. As such it is a rich repository of liturgical history, and it especially tells the Byzantine story of balancing cathedral and monastic usage, a tension that hangs over the tradition to this day.

While the Liturgy is today attributed to St. Gregory the Dialogist (called “the Great” in the West), such an attribution is relatively late, gaining in popularity as Latin and Greek dialogue picks up after the fall of Constantinople. There does not seem to be any historical basis for an attribution to any particular author. The first documented evidence of the Presanctified Liturgy, which by its own description presupposes a much older tradition, is in the anonymous Chronikon Paschale of the early seventh century:

In the fourth indiction [of Emperor Heraclius, 615 or 616 A.D.], under Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople (610-638), commencing with the first week of Lent, a chant was introduced after the “Let my prayer ascend to You [Ps. 140]” at the moment when the celebrant brings the gifts to the altar from the sacristy (skeuophylakion) after the priest has said, “Through the gift of your Christ.” Immediately, the congregation begins to sing “Now the Powers of heaven are invisibly worshipping with us: for behold, the King of Glory enters in. Behold, the mystic and perfect sacrifice is being escorted. In faith and fear let us approach, so that we may become partakers in eternal life. Alleluia!” This hymn is sung not only during Lent as pre-sanctified offerings are brought in, but also on other days, whenever there are Presanctified offerings (P.G. 92,989). 

This first citation does not reference the prayers preceding the specific communion rights of the Presanctified Liturgy, but neither do many of the later manuscripts, in which the reader’s knowledge of the typical Vespers service is presumed. In the case of the Chronikon, we don’t know the structure of the whole liturgy into which this new hymn was inserted. By the end of the 8th century, however, we have a Byzantine Eucologion which includes the whole outline of the Presanctified Liturgy, including the Vespers service and the distinctive features thereof. Therefore, either the account above was already a part of the Lenten vesperal service, or it quickly became so over the next hundred some years.

The structure of the rite described above is as follows:
1. The reposition of the Presanctified gifts in the same place as the unconsecrated offerings for Divine Liturgy.
2. The chanting of Ps. 140
3. A procession, similar to the Great Entrance of the Divine Liturgy, but with the consecrated gifts, and with the singing of a new hymn.

All of these elements characterize the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts to this day. (For our Latin readers, it should be known that Alleluia is not prohibited during the Lenten season for the Byzantine tradition; indeed, it sung more often, but in a more mournful tone.)

Incensing of the Pre-Sanctified Lamb (source)

Without going into the whole history of how the Cathedral rite described above blended with the monastic usage of the time, and ultimately was almost entirely absorbed into first, the Studite monks’ attempted synthesis between the cathedral and monastic liturgical traditions, and then the neo-Sabaitic synthesis of the same, I will briefly outline the current form of the Presanctified Liturgy, with some notes on particular elements. The current form of the Presanctified Liturgy utilized by the Carpathian tradition was printed in Uzhorod at the beginning of the 20th century, and the form currently in use among American Ruthenians is an adaption of it. I will focus on the full usage, without taking note of the particular pastoral adaptations utilized by Orthodox and Catholic parishes in North America.

A. Vespers


    Ps. 103 (This psalm is from the usage of Lavra of St. Sabas, replacing the cathedral usage of Ps. 85)
    Kathisma 18 (Kathismas are “seats”, or sections of the Psalter. There are 20 kathisma are divided between the hours of the office so that monks can pray the Psalter in a week. During Lent, they pray it twice each week. Kathisma 18 is broken into three stations: 119-123, 124-128, 129-133. This arises from the Sabaitic use.)
    Prothesis (During the recitation of Kathisma 18, the Lamb [the square seal removed from the prosphora and offered at a previous liturgy] is ritually transferred from the Tabernacle to the Prothesis table to the left of the altar, which has long since replaced the skeuophylakion of the Hagia Sophia mentioned above.)
   Vespers Psalms: 140, 141, 129, 116, and assigned strophe (Typical of all Byzantine vespers; introduced by Studites and replacing the Antiochene usage which previously characterized the cathedral rite.)
   Entrance of Priest and chanting of “O Joyful Light.”

B. Readings and Accompanying Rituals

   Prokeimenon and First Reading (During Cheesefare Week there is only one reading, and that is taken from the Book of Joel, but during the remainder of Lent the first readings, following the Antiochene tradition that gave us Chrysostom’s homilies on Genesis, progresse through Genesis, with a second reading from Proverbs.)
   Second Prokeimenon
   Phos Christou (Here the priest brings forth a candle, and blesses the congregation with it while proclaiming: “The Light of Christ enlightens all!” The congregation responds by making 3 prostrations to the candle.)
   Second Reading (During Holy Week the readings change from Genesis and Proverbs to Exodus and Job. From the first prokeimenon to this point, the entire ritual seems to have derived from the Lenten catecheses/vesperal system in Antioch.)
   Chanting of Ps. 140
   Epistle and/or Gospel (This takes place on certain key feast days if they fall on a weekday of Lent: St. Charalampas (Feb. 10), the First and Second Findings of the Head of John the Baptist (Feb. 24), and the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste (March 9). There is also a Gospel for each of the first three days of Holy Week. In older times, when the Presanctified was celebrated on Wednesdays and Fridays through the year, there seems to have been a set progression of epistle and Gospel readings.)

C. Litanies: There follows a series of litanies for the faithful, the catechumens, and those in the catechumenate who will be baptized this Easter.

D. Great Entrance: The rite of the Great Entrance involved a procession from the prothesis to the altar, accompanied by incense and the chanting of the hymn described in the Chronikon.

E. Precommunion, Communion, Post-Communion Rites, and Dismissal: These rites have been deliberately modeled on the corresponding rituals of the Divine Liturgy, with only subtle variations in words or actions.

Some Notes on Frequency of the Liturgy
As noted, the Presanctified Liturgy is celebrated on the Wednesday and Friday of Cheesefare Week, every Wednesday and Friday through Lent, and the first three days of Holy Week. In principle, there is nothing preventing the Presanctified Liturgy from being offered every weekday of Lent, and even, as implied by the Chronikon quote, fast days outside of Lent. Under the influence of the neo-Sabaitac reforms, however, the more restricted use has been adopted. Reasons for this, the relation between the Presanctified Liturgy and fasting, and also the question about the theological justifications for fasting from the Divine Liturgy, will be dealt with in the next article.

Norcia News

I had occasion to mention recently the theology program taking place this summer in Norcia. (This program is highly recommended for anyone looking for an immersion in Scripture, scholastic theology, traditional liturgy, a pilgrimage or two, and some fine Italian cuisine. A hard combination to beat!)

Here is some other Norcia news that deserves to be passed along to readers of NLM.

(1) Back in October 2013, Fr. Cassian Folsom, O.S.B., Prior, gave a series of ten conferences on "Praying without Ceasing" to the monastic community at Still River in Massachusetts. The monastery is making these talks available via the internet, one per week until a little before Easter. The conferences can serve to enrich our Lenten observance, and help make our prayer more fruitful.

(2) His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke will be offering the keynote address at the monks' annual fundraising gala in Connecticut on Friday, May 9th. If anyone is interested in attending, he or she should contact Bryan Gonzalez, Director of Development, here.

(3) The Monks are also organizing a pilgrimage "In the Footsteps of St. Benedict", where participants will trace the places that St. Benedict lived: Norcia, Rome, Subiaco, and Montecassino. A few extra trips will be included (for instance, Assisi and Cascia), but for the most part, the trip will focus on visiting Benedictine shrines. Fr. Cassian will be the chaplain for the full nine days. More info here and here.

Norcia

Montecassino

Subiaco

Lectio Divina: What, Where, When

Last week we saw St. Gregory the Great speaking about the immense value of the practice of lectio divina or praying with the Scriptures, and I gave a simple sketch of how it works, recommending it as a practice to take up this Lent (and then to continue beyond Lent!) if you are not already doing it.

Naturally, questions arise. How do we decide, in practical terms, what to read each day—where to go in the Bible, how much, and for how long?

What we should bear in mind is that lectio divina is not meant to be an elaborate, burdensome obligation, but a childlike encounter with God in His Word, something that will refresh us and give us light for our journey. It will stretch us and challenge us, to be sure, but in such a way that we are still led to the peace of Christ. It’s not an academic study or a rote recitation. A personally fruitful lectio divina can be done by everybody.

I

First, as to quantity. Usually several verses, up to about half a chapter, is the right amount for people living in the world. A person could read an entire chapter, but that’s a lot to read slowly and meditatively, and it’s far more important to be able to ponder what we're reading and pray about it than to “get through” a certain book. Even one verse can furnish enough material for lectio divina, if the verse really hits one in the gut. The Gospels are ideally suited to lectio for many reasons, one of which is the way they are divided into small chunks or pericopes (e.g., a parable, miracle, or conversation) that can be taken by themselves.

It is important to read slowly, really thinking about what we are reading, and if something strikes us in a new way, or if we have a sense that this particular “word” (phrase or sentence) is what we need to take to heart, we should stop and ponder that word. There is no requirement to “finish” a section of the text; one can always resume there next time. On the whole, it will do us more good to meditate and pray than to continue reading. Indeed, our powers of concentration are limited, so even if we had all day at our disposal, we would do better with several shorter times of reading mixed with a variety of other activities.

The great Thomist Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange once stated:

One single sentence from Sacred Scripture can nourish the soul, illuminate it, strengthen it in adversity. Sacred Scripture is something far superior to a simple exposition of dogma, subdivided into special tracts: it is an ocean of revealed truth in which we can taste in advance the joys of eternal life.

II

Second, as to choice of text: there are 73 books in the Bible. They fall into groupings that are extremely different from one another, not only in genre—historical or narrative, prophetic, poetic, epistolary, legislative, apocalyptic—but also in their immediate accessibility or usefulness for personal prayer. The Fathers, Doctors, and mystics of the Church reached a level of spiritual maturity that enabled them to reap a harvest from any verse in Scripture, but since we are not their equals, we need to be more humble and more realistic. Some books clearly lend themselves to lectio divina for beginners, and indeed these books are the ones that all the saints keep going back to. They are: the Psalms (and the Wisdom literature in general); the prophets, both major and minor; and every book in the New Testament, with the Gospels holding pride of place. Simply put, if we choose one of the Gospels or a psalm, it is almost impossible not to profit from meditating on that reading.

Still, there will be dry moments when we can’t make heads or tails of a reading, and that’s also a healthy experience for us: we need to realize that we are not in charge. Any fruit we reap is God’s gift to us, and when we don’t seem to be reaping fruit, it’s because He’s preparing a larger harvest for us that demands a greater faith and trust in him before it can happen. The more experienced we become with lectio, the more freely we can launch out into the deep of other parts of Scripture and find nourishment there, as well.

III

Third, as to when and where: one need not do lectio divina in a church; what is necessary is to choose a time and place of quiet, where we can let our mind and heart go into the Word of God. For some people, this could be a conveniently situated church or chapel—it is one of the few places in our noisy world that is (usually) still recognized and respected as a haven of silence. But if there is a quiet place in one’s home early in the morning, that, too, would be well suited for lectio. Indeed, so great is the dignity of the Word of God that the Church has granted a plenary indulgence, with the usual conditions, to the devout reading of Scripture for one half-hour, anywhere.

The timing is also important: we need to find a time of day that is not so busy that we will be utterly distracted. For most people, this is early in the morning; once we get started with the work day, there’s too much going on. The morning has a special quality to it that strongly recommends it as a time for lectio.

We may conclude with the rousing words of the Benedictine monk Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel (c. 760–c. 840):

For those who practice it, the experience of sacred reading sharpens perception, enriches understanding, rouses from sloth, banishes idleness, orders life, corrects bad habits, produces salutary weeping, and draws tears from contrite hearts . . . curbs idle speech and vanity, awakens longing for Christ and the heavenly fatherland.
          It must always be accompanied by prayer and intimately joined with it, for we are cleansed by prayer and taught by reading. Therefore, whoever wishes to be with God at all times must prayer often and read often, for when we pray it is we who speak with God, but when we read it is God who speaks with us.
          Every seeker of perfection advances in reading, prayer, and meditation. Reading enables us to learn what we do not know, meditation enables us to retain what we have learned, and prayer enables us to live what we have retained. Reading Sacred Scripture confers on us two gifts: it makes the soul’s understanding keener, and after snatching us from the world’s vanities, it leads us to the love of God.

(Part II of a four-part series.  Here is Part I.)

Book Notice: Two updated editions

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any features of the Church's liturgical worship are grounded in Scripture, even as Scripture (and the determination of what constitutes Scripture) is grounded in the Church's living Tradition whose primary instrument is the Sacred Liturgy. This dynamic interrelationship is brought out in two popular titles published by Newman House Press which have proven helpful in educating the Catholic faithful (and potentially faithful) over the years, namely, The Catholic Church and the Bible (112 pp.) and The Bible and the Mass (123 pp.). Both are the work of Father Peter Stravinskas, a renowned author, educator, and apologist. The former title highlights the biblical roots of Catholic doctrine and liturgy; the latter explains the parts of the Mass (Ordinary Form), giving scriptural references and explanations for the various prayers and actions.

These books have been revised in accordance with the new English translation of the Roman Missal (in use since Advent 2011) and are now available from the publisher in their latest editions. The cost of each title is $10 US.

To order, call Newman House Press at 732-914-1222 or visit its website.

Solemn Vespers at St. James, Spanish Place, London

Thanks to reader James Turner for sending us photographs of Solemn First Vespers of the Eighth Sunday per annum, celebrated before the Blessed Sacrament exposed, and followed by Benediction, at St. James’s, Spanish Place in London. The celebration was the first in what we hope will become a semi-regular celebration of Vespers in the parish. The liturgy was sung in Latin with the assistance of the parish choir, with psalms and antiphons in Gregorian chant, together with a Guerrero Magnificat, a motet by Verdelot, the hymn Rerum Deus fons omnium to a setting by de Nardt, and an Ave Regina Caelorum by Morales. The Tantum ergo was sung congregationally to the tune Cwm Rhondda in honour of St. David, whose feast day is March 1st, the day on which this Vespers was celebrated.

New Creed Setting from Corpus Christi Watershed - should we have organ or organum?

Here is a new chant setting for the Creed composed by Jeff Ostrowski, who happens to be president of Corpus Christi Watershed. He has published a recording and scores, all available for download free on their website, here. He has also written a brief account of his approach to composition.

My belief is that we will not see chant coming to the fore again until we see more composition of new material, for English and Latin, OF and EF. This is what will connect with the uninitiated and open the way to the full tradition. Also, it is important that as much as possible is freely available, because it creates a dynamic environment where people hear things and have a go themselves, both performing and composing. From this we will start to see something powerful emerging. I have just forwarded it to our choir director to see if he wants to make use of it. The proof of its value will be in the singing - do we find that the congregations respond?

There is one other point. When sung in a church with a good acoustic, part of the beauty of chant, I feel, is the combination of the melody with the harmonics produced by the resonance in the building. It accentuates the implied harmonies of the intervals in a beautiful way. It is so subtle that I always think of it as gently leading my imagination to harmonies in heaven and I think of the angel hosts singing the heavenly liturgy with us.

So many churches today do not have a good acoustic and so the chant will sound flat in comparison. In order to support the singers, sometimes the organ is played with chant. I understand from organists that this is a real skill in itself, but even when done well, the harmonies never match those that I sense from natural resonance. It always seems a little disappointing. However, my experience is that for some reason, a drone underneath - a very simple organum, not parallel fifths or fourths - seems to add to the beauty of chant much more powerfully than an organ accompaniment and lead the imagination in the same way, even when the acoustic is not good. It seems to bring it to life. Furthermore, my experience is that congregations always enjoy it and remark on it afterwards.

So, Jeff, please give us a drone to sing underneath!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gCJiK8MoYg

Ash Wednesday Photopost Request

I hope your preparations for Lent are going well. We will be doing yet another photopost for Ash Wednesday. You are invited to send your pictures from Masses and public celebrations of the Divine Office on Ash Wednesday.

Please send your photos to photopost@newliturgicalmovement.org.

Solemn High Votive Mass of St. Joseph at Wyoming Catholic College

Wyoming Catholic College was honored with a visit last week by the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem, who participated in classes, dined with students, gave talks on their charism, offered Mass, and celebrated sung Lauds and Vespers each day. (The Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem have been mentioned at NLM on a number of occasions, such as here, here, and here.)

On Wednesday, February 26, the Canons offered a Solemn High Votive Mass of Saint Joseph with the participation of the whole College community. In addition to the congregational singing of the Missa de angelis, the College Schola and Choir sang the Mass Propers and motets by Casciolini and Palestrina. It was a glorious occasion and we are all very grateful to the Canons for their generous outpouring of time and effort towards celebrating the sacred liturgy with all fitting splendor and reverence.

Entrance Procession

Confiteor

Incensation at Kyrie

Collect

Gospel Procession

Incensation at Offertory

"My Lord and my God!"

Communion

Reforming the Irreformable? A Postscript

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s might have been expected, my posting of February 9 has caused quite a stir, both here¹ and elsewhere² in the Catholic blogosphere. Since some commentators have cited me in support of views which I do not espouse, I want to offer a few points of clarification.

First, in raising doubts about the feasibility of reforming the reform, I was not calling into question the legitimacy, orthodoxy, or efficacy of the post-conciliar liturgical rites. Indeed I have never done so. That should go without saying, but since I have been accused of “not thinking with the Church,” I’ll say it anyway. Rita Ferrone and Dave Armstrong raise the stakes of the discussion by claiming it to be a matter of doctrine, invoking the assertion of continuity found in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal³ and in Summorum Pontificum.⁴

I hope we can at least agree that thinking with the Church begins with clear thinking. Catholic teaching itself distinguishes different levels of authority for different kinds of teaching and different kinds of Church pronouncements. Even in an encyclical one finds statements of various levels of authority; the more one descends from general principles to particular analyses that usually involve prudential judgments, the less one is dealing with binding doctrine and the more one is dealing with pastoral guidance. The mind of the Church has been persuaded of many things, such as the two natures of Christ, but I am not convinced that the organic continuity between the 1962 and 1970 missals—a question germane to liturgiology, not dogmatic theology—is one of them.⁵ As Paul Inwood and Karl Liam Saur (neither of whom is friendly to my position) seem to understand, the proper context for this debate is not papal authority but liturgical history. My assertion that the liturgical reform promulgated by Paul VI constitutes a break with a very ancient and slowly developed tradition depends on comparative liturgics and is further informed by the historical evidence that has come to light in the past twenty years about the workings of the Consilium of Paul VI in general and of its secretary, Father Annibale Bugnini, in particular. Moreover, in view of what the future Pope Benedict XVI said in his tribute to Msgr Klaus Gamber,⁶ I believe that Summorum Pontificum provides nothing more than a juridical—and purely pragmatic—solution to the relation of the two ‘forms’ of the Roman rite presently in use. The 2011 Instruction Universae Ecclesiae (clarifying Summorum Pontificum) recognizes a clear distinction between the development of the Roman Missal “until the time of Blessed Pope John XXIII” and of the “new Missal” approved in 1970 by Paul VI. Sounds to me rather like a rupture.

Second, I did not pronounce the death of the ‘reform of the reform’, if by that is meant the end of any movement of liturgical practice towards ‘reform of the reform’ ideals (e.g., more chant and more propers, Eucharistic celebration ad orientem, etc.). On the contrary, I affirmed the importance of celebrating the modern rites “correctly, reverently, and in ways that make the continuity with tradition more obvious.” That, as Bishop Peter Elliott rightly asserts, can and must continue. At the same time, I acknowledged the great, if not insurmountable, challenges posed to any attempt at organically connecting the older and newer forms due to their extensive material disparity.

Third, I did not argue for the abandonment of the reformed liturgy. I deliberately left aside the question of what to do with the modern Roman rite as the Church implements the Council’s liturgical desiderata more faithfully using the basis of the Extraordinary Form and in view of the liturgical gains and losses of the past half century.

NOTES

¹ Dr Peter Kwasniewski on Feb. 21 and Feb. 27; Bishop Peter Elliott on Feb. 24.
² Notions romaines (Feb. 11); Fr Richard Cippola (Feb. 12); Louie Verrecchio (Feb. 14); Fr Hugh Somerville-Knapman (Feb. 18); Fr Mark Daniel Kirby (Feb. 20); Fr Christopher Smith (Feb. 24).
³ Specifically articles 2-15. This introduction to the GIRM argues that the Missal of Paul VI is very much in continuity with the Church’s unbroken tradition and is an appropriate response to modern conditions. It is, in effect, a defense of Paul VI’s 1969 Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum approving the new Missal.
⁴ SP art. 1: “The Roman Missal promulgated by Paul VI is the ordinary expression of the lex orandi [law of prayer] of the Catholic Church of the Latin rite. Nonetheless, the Roman Missal promulgated by St Pius V and reissued by Bl. John XXIII is to be considered as an extraordinary expression of that same lex orandi, and must be given due honor for its venerable and ancient usage. These two expressions of the Church’s lex orandi will in no way lead to a division in the Church’s lex credendi [law of belief]. They are, in fact, two uses of the one Roman rite.”
⁵ While I do not dispute Paul VI’s repeated claim that the changes in no way affected the essence of the Mass as defined by the Council of Trent, I would point out that the GIRM is not an expression of the Magisterium. It bears repeating that the discontinuity which I posited in my original posting concerns the relationship of the material content of the modern Roman rite to that of the Tridentine liturgy. The fact that many of the revised texts were drawn from ancient liturgies and scriptural sources is often adduced as evidence of the Pauline missal’s continuity with tradition, but the Council desired a modest adaptation of the developed liturgical tradition as it stood in late 1963.
⁶ “After the Council… in the place of the liturgy as the fruit of organic development came fabricated liturgy. We abandoned the organic, living process of growth and development over centuries, and replaced it—as in a manufacturing process—with a fabrication, a banal on-the-spot product.” The English translation of the original German was published on the back cover of Klaus Gamber, The Reform of the Roman Rite: Its Problems and Background (Una Voce Press; Foundation for Catholic Reform, 1993). See also: The Feast of Faith: Approaches to a Theology of Liturgy, trans. Graham Harrison (Ignatius Press, 1986), p. 86; Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977, trans. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis (Ignatius Press, 1998), pp. 147-48.