I am happy to promote the New England Sacred Music Workshop 2026, offered in conjunction with St Benedict Abbey. The workshop focuses on both chant and polyphony, offering expert tuition for singers, and talks on the connections between sacred music and the liturgy. The setting is beautiful Still River, near Harvard (not to be confused with the less important university of the same name), the site of the abbey, in rural Massachusetts, about 50 miles west of Boston. I have a fondness for this community: when I was on the faculty of Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, I regularly attended Mass and Divine Office there, and took groups of students to experience the beautiful, chanted, Latin liturgy. To learn more and register, follow this link.
Here is the information that I received from the organizers:
New England Sacred Music and St. Benedict Abbey are pleased to invite you to a two-and-a-half-day sacred music workshop in beautiful Still River, Massachusetts. This workshop is designed for advanced singers and directors who wish to delve further into neumatic interpretation, and for intermediate singers who are looking to broaden their understanding of the repertoire.
Rehearsals and classes will be taught by faculty with a breadth of experience teaching and directing sacred music in monasteries, cathedrals, and parishes of all sizes. Lauds and Vespers will be chanted each day with the monks. In addition to all of the chant propers, participants will sing several motets at the two Masses: one Friday evening and one on Saturday at noon. Both masses will be at the magnificent St. Cecilia Church in Leominster.
Faculty:
David Hughes (Denver, Colorado): Advanced Chant
Samuel Schmitt (Bridgeport, Connecticut): Refresher Chant
Christopher Berry (St. Patrick’s Seminary, Menlo Park, California): Polyphony
Speakers:
Fr. Leo Camurati, OP (New York, New York)
Fr. Peter Connelly, OSB (St. Benedict Abbey)
Cost:
EARLY BIRD PRICE ( Sep 3 - Sep 21 )
- $200 per participant (Includes all workshop materials and six meals. Does not include lodging.)
REGULAR PRICE ( Sep 21 - Oct 8 )
- $250 per participant (Includes all workshop materials and six meals. Does not include lodging.)
- We are eager to encourage students and parish choirs to attend. To that end, we will offer a generous 50% discount per person for any parish that sends more than five choristers, or any school (secondary or college) that sends more than ten students.
- We are also eager to invite religious and clergy to attend, and are providing a 50% discount for religious and a 25% discount for clergy.
Lodging:
Saint Benedict Abbey is unable to provide lodging for participants. If you are local, we suggest you commute to and from the abbey. Otherwise, the following hotels are in close proximity:
- Please register at the following link: newenglandsacredmusic.org/register
Early Bird registration is now open until September 21 (the feast of St. Matthew)! On September 21, the standard registration price will increase to $250 and will remain open until 5:00PM EST on October 8, one week prior to the workshop. We will accept registration at the door on Thursday, October 15 for $250.
For more details, please visit our Facebook page! We’ll be posting details about the daily schedule and repertoire in the coming days. Be sure to follow us, like the event, and share it with your friends!
The origin of the feast of the Virgin Mary’s Nativity is a matter of speculation, and the reason for the choice of date is unknown. It was celebrated at Constantinople by the 530s, when St Romanus the Melodist composed a hymn for it; by the seventh century, it had passed to the West, and Pope St Sergius I (687-701) decreed that it be should celebrated with a procession from the church of St Adrian (who shares his feast day with the Birth of the Virgin) to St Mary Major. It would seem, however, that it was rather slower to be accepted than the other early Marian feasts, the Purification, Annunciation and Assumption, since it is not mentioned in some important early liturgical books. Thus we find it included in the oldest manuscript of the Gelasian Sacramentary in roughly 750 A.D., but missing from the calendar in some later books. The liturgical commentators of the High Middle Ages such as Sicard of Cremona and William Durandus were aware that it was of later institution.
The Nativity of the Virgin, by Pietro Lorenzetti, 1335-42; originally painted for one of the side-altars of the Cathedral of Siena, now in the Cathedral Museum.
By the time the feast was universally accepted, the Roman Rite had mostly ceased to institute vigils for “new” celebrations; this holds true even for the medieval feast par excellence, Corpus Christi. Thus, the Nativity of the Virgin was only kept with a vigil in a limited number of places, and never at Rome itself. This vigil would have consisted of a fast on the day before the feast, accompanied by a Mass in violet after None, and without the Gloria in excelsis, Alleluia or Creed. As it generally the case with later additions, there is not a complete uniformity in the liturgical texts of these Masses from one church to another, but in most places, they were taken from the daily votive Mass of the Virgin or the vigil of the Assumption.
In the Ambrosian Rite, however, the feast is kept with such a vigil, as a feast of particular importance, the titular feast of the cathedral of Milan. On the façade over the central door is a large plaque with the two words “Mariae Nascenti - To Mary as She is born.”
On both the vigil and feast, the Ambrosian Mass reads a lesson which very cleverly links two Biblical passages traditionally associated with the Virgin Mary, the sixth chapter of the Song of Songs, and the twenty-fourth of Ecclesiasticus.
“Thus sayeth Wisdom: Song 6, 8-9 She is the only one of her mother, the chosen of her that bore her. The daughters saw her, and declared her most blessed: the queens and concubines, and they praised her. Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array? Sir. 24, 24-28 I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue. Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits. For my spirit is sweet above honey, and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb. My memory is unto everlasting generations.”
At the Mass of the vigil, the following Confractorium is sung; this is the antiphon that accompanies the Fraction rite, which is done immediately after the Canon, before the Lord’s Prayer.
Beatus ille venter qui te portavit, Christe, et beata ubera quæ te lactaverunt Dominum, et Salvatorem mundi, qui pro salute generis humani carnem assumere dignatus es. ~ Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, o Christ, and blessed are the breasts that nursed Thee, the Lord and Savior of the world, Who for the salvation of the human race deigned to take on the flesh. (In the video below, this is the third piece, beginning at 1:10.)
In the same Mass, the Transitorium (the equivalent of the Roman Communio) was borrowed from the repertoire of processional chants used on the feast of the Purification, the first Marian feast to be accepted by the Ambrosian Rite in the post-Carolingian period. In this video, we hear it sung as part of that procession in the cathedral itself, starting at 1:22.
Magnificamus te, Dei Genitrix; quia ex te natus est Christus salvans omnes, qui te glorificant. Sancta Domina, Dei Genitrix, sanctificationes tuas transmitte nobis. ~ We magnify Thee, Mother of God, because from Thee was born Christ, who saveth all that glory Thee. Holy Lady, Mother of God, impart Thy sanctity to us.
The Byzantine tradition distinguishes twelve feasts, eight of Our Lord and four of Our Lady, as “Great Feasts”, with Easter in a category of its own as the Feast of Feasts. Whether by design or coincidence, the first of these in the liturgical year, which begins on September 1st, is the Birth of the Virgin, which is also the first historically. The Twelve Feasts also each have a Fore-feast, the Roman equivalent of a vigil, and an Afterfeast; the latter are like the octaves of the Roman Rite, but vary in length, and that of the Virgin’s Nativity is only 4 days long, ending on September 12th. A Fore-feast is a full liturgical day, and so unlike Roman vigils, which run from Matins to None, it begins at Vespers of the day which precedes it, in this case, on the evening of September 6th. Here is a selection of some of the hymns sung at that Vespers, followed by the proper hymns of the Divine Liturgy of the Forefeast on September 7th.
An icon of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, painted by Adrianoupolitis Konstantinos in the middle of the 18th century, now in the Benaki Museum in Athens. (Public domainimage from Wikipedia.)
In Thy nativity, o Immaculate one, rays of joy dawned upon the minds of the whole world, foretelling to all the sun of Glory, Christ our God; for Thou were shown to be the mediatrix of true gladness and grace.
The glory of this Thy forefeast, o Immaculate one, foretells to all peoples the good deeds wrought by Thy favor; for Thou art the source of their present gladness, and the cause of the joy that shall come to us, the delight of divine happiness.
The maiden in whom God dwelt and pure Mother of God, the glory of prophets, the daughter of David, today is born of Joachim and the prudent Anne, and in Her birth, overthrows the curse of Adam that was against us.
Theotokion The multitudes of the Angels in heaven and the race of men upon the earth bless Thy all-venerable Nativity, a all-holy and pure Virgin, since Thou became the Mother of the Creator of all things, Christ our God. Ceasa Thou not, we pray, to supplicate Him for us, who after God, place our hopes in Thee, all-praised and undefiled Mother of God.
At the Divine Liturgy, the Troparion From the root of Jesse and from the loins of David, the godly child Mary is born to us today. Therefore, all creation rejoices and is renewed, together with heaven and earth rejoice. Praise Her, ye families of the nations; Joachim is gladdened, and Anna cries out in celebration: The barren woman gives birth to the Mother of God and the Sustainer of our Life.
The Kontakion Today, the Virgin and Mother of God Mary, the inviolate bridal chamber of the heavenly bridegroom, is born from a barren woman according to the divine plan to be made ready as the chariot of God’s Word; even for this was she predestined, the gateway of God, and truly the Mother of Life.
Incline Thy ear, o Lord, and hear me; save Thy servant, O my God, who hopeth in Thee; have mercy on me, o Lord, for to Thee have I cried to Thee all the day. Ps. 85 Give joy to the soul of thy servant, for to Thee, o Lord, I have lifted up my soul. Glory be... Incline Thy ear... (The Introit of the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost. This very nice recording omits the doxology, following the custom of the post-Conciliar rite, which is more Trinitarian, and therefore refers to the Trinity much less often.)
Introitus Inclína, Dómine, aurem tuam ad me, et exaudi me: salvum fac servum tuum, Deus meus, sperantem in te: miserére mihi, Dómine, quoniam ad te clamávi tota die. Ps 85 Laetífica ánimam servi tui: quia ad te, Dómine, ánimam meam levávi. Glória Patri ... Inclína, Dómine...
From the Breviarium in Psalmos, a commentary on the psalms often attributed (erroneously) to either St Jerome or St Augustine, which was very influential on the composers of the Roman chants: “ ‘Incline Thy ear, o Lord, and hear me, for I am holy.’ According to the frailty of the body which He had taken on, pours forth a prayer to the Father. But according to the godhead, He calls Himself holy, as once He had said to Moses, ‘Be ye holy, for I am holy.’ (Lev. 19 passim)
‘Save Thy servant, that hopeth in Thee. Have mercy on me, o Lord, for I have cried to Thee all the day.’ He took on the form of a servant, which he prays may be saved in every time of the present life; for He knows that even if the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. ‘Give joy to the soul of Thy servant,’ which is saddedn by the present tribulations, ‘for to Thee, o Lord, have I lifted up my soul’, to Thee, believing that it will be raised.”
The Gospel, Luke 7, 11-16: At that time, Jesus went into a city that is called Naim, and there went with him his disciples, and a great multitude. And when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a great multitude of the city was with her. And when the Lord had seen her, being moved with mercy towards her, he said to her, “Weep not.” And he came near and touched the bier, and they that carried it, stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to thee, arise.” And he that was dead sat up and began to speak, and he gave him to his mother. And there came a fear on them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet is risen up among us, and God hath visited his people.”
An ivory plaque carved between 1025 and 1060 in the area of the Meuse valley, known as the Ivory of the Three Resurrections, which depicts in the upper register the raising of the daughter of Jairus, in the middle, of the widow of Naim’s son, and at the lower register, of Lazarus. The plaque is kept at the Treasury Museum of the cathedral of St Paul in Liège. (Image from Wikimedia Commons by Okapi071, CC BY-SA 4.0.)
A friend of mine brought to my attention some interesting videos recently posted on the YouTube channel of a man named Sebastian Nelson. In September of 2011, the School of Music at Bangor University in Wales staged the reenactment of three liturgies as they would have been celebrated in England in the early decades of the 16th century, two Masses and a Vespers. The church where these were done is called St Teilo’s, located in Llandeilo Tal-y-Bont in southern Wales; after being partly demolished in 1984, remains of medieval paintings were discovered under the whitewash, and the building was then restored to its current appearance, broadly as it would have looked around 1530. There are also people dressed in costume as ordinary laymen and women attending the ceremonies, including, e.g., a female pilgrim carrying a staff with a seashell on it, as a sign that she had been to or was going to the great shrine of St James in Compostella. Of course, not every detail is accurate, particularly in the third video, in which we see women singing in the choir dressed in cassock and surplice; their singing is particularly nice. The resolution of the videos is low, but still watchable.
The Saturday Votive Mass of the Virgin Mary, the text of which is very similar to that of the Missal of St Pius V, celebrated solemnly with a deacon and subdeacon. In the Middle Ages it was normal for the Ladymass, as it was often called in English, to be said every day in major churches, and in order to alleviate the tedium of singing the same thing every day, variants were introduced. At Sarum, a different sequence was added after the Alleluja on each day of the week; the one sung here is called Hodiernae lux diei.
A votive Mass of the Most Sweet Name of Jesus, as the devotion was called in medieval England, where it became very popular in the later 15th and early 16th centuries. This is celebrated as a typical chancel Mass, a Missa cantata with the priest and servers.
In the third video, a group of nuns (presented in the reenactment as pilgrims to the shrine of St David in Pembrokeshire, the westernmost part of Wales), sing Vespers of the Virgin Mary, which was also said daily, concomitantly with the Ladymass.
To resume “Our Lost in Translation” series on the Ordinary of the Mass, we turn to the Agnus Dei. After the Commingling, the priest recites (while the choir chants) the following:
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: dona nobis pacem.
Which is typically translated:
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
The title for Christ and the clause about Him are taken from St. John the Baptist: “Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who taketh away the sin of the world” (Ecce agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccatum mundi. ~ John 1, 29). Mystically speaking, since the Fraction and Commingling represent the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, respectively, then the Agnus Dei can be seen as the voice of John the Baptist shouting from Limbo that the Messiah has risen from the dead. Even on the other side of the grave, John remains the Precursor of the Lord.
John the Baptist, to the left of Jesus Christ, proclaiming Him in Limbo
Addressing Christ as the Lamb of God is also appropriate at this point of the Mass, since the Lamb has just been sacramentally immolated on the altar, and since the congregation is about to receive this Paschal Lamb in Holy Communion.
The Agnus Dei twice petitions the Lamb for mercy and once for peace. Pleading for mercy from Jesus is common in both the New Testament and in the Mass; what makes this plea distinctive is that it moves on to a plea for peace. Peace is a salient them of this part of the Mass, beginning with the priest adapting the words of the Risen Christ, “Peace be with you,” and continuing in a moment with the Kiss of Peace.
The priest accents the petitions of the Agnus Dei by striking his breast at each petition, a ritual acknowledgement that his need for mercy and his lack of peace are tied to his sinfulness.
In Requiem Masses, the Agnus Dei is changed to the following:
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: dona eis requiem.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: dona eis requiem.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: dona eis requiem sempiternam.
Which is typically translated:
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant unto them rest.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant unto them rest.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant unto them everlasting rest.
The petition has shifted from us the living to all the souls in Purgatory, even if it is a Requiem Mass for a single deceased person. That is why the priest does not strike his breast when reciting this version of the prayer, for it is no longer about him and the rest of the Church Militant.
The request for rest (requies) rather than peace (pax) is inspired by 4 Esdras 2, 34-35, the same apocryphal text that inspired the standard Catholic prayer for the dead: “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord…”:
Wait for your shepherd; he will give you everlasting rest, because he who will come at the end of the age is close at hand. Be ready for the rewards of the kingdom, because perpetual light will shine on you forevermore.
But peace is still in the background. The final petition, which adds sempiternam to requiem, may be inspired by the Vulgate translation of 2 Thessalonians 3, 16:
Ipse autem Dominus pacis det vobis pacem sempiternam in omni loco.
Which the Douay Rheims translates as :
Now the Lord of peace himself give you everlasting peace in every place.
The Vulgate, incidentally, is rather loose with its choice of sempiternam, which is meant to translate the Greek dia pantos, or “through all.” The Greek text thus reads: “May the Lord of peace give you peace through all in every way.”
Praying for rest and praying for peace are ultimately praying for the same thing (beatific happiness), but the connotations are different. The Church Militant seeks peace in the midst of spiritual strife and war; the Church Suffering seeks rest after a lifetime of laboring in the Lord’s vineyard. For the souls in Purgatory, the war is over, the battle done, the victory won; all that remains is paying the debt owed God through pain. And since that pain is intense, the Church Militant prays and offers sacrifice that it be over soon.
When Job heard the words of the messengers, he suffered it patiently, and said: If we have received good from the hand of the Lord, why should we not receive evil? In all these things, Job did not sin with his lips, nor spake he foolishly aught against God.
Aña Cum audisset Job * nuntiórum verba, sustínuit patienter, et ait: Si bona suscépimus de manu Dómini, mala autem quare non sustineámus? In ómnibus his non peccávit Job labiis suis, neque stultum áliquid contra Deum locútus est. (The antiphon at the Magnificat on the Saturday before the first week of September.)
As a follow-up to Monday’s post about the readings of the book of Job which are done in the traditional Divine Office in the first two weeks of September, the famous recording ensemble Schola Hungarica, founded by the late Prof. László Dobsay, has a large playlist (28 items) on their Youtube channel of Gregorian pieces of all sorts, antiphons, readings and responsories, taken from this “history” of Job, as the medievals called it. Here is another example, the first Matins responsory.
R. If we have received good from the hand of God, why should we not receive evil? * The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. As it hath pleased the Lord, so hath it befallen. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. V. Naked came I from my mother’s womb, and naked shall thither I return. R. The Lord gave...
R. Si bona suscépimus de manu Dei, mala autem quare non sustineámus? * Dóminus dedit, Dóminus ábstulit: sicut Dómino plácuit, ita factum est: sit nomen Dómini benedictum. V. Nudus egressus sum de útero matris meae, et nudus revertar illuc. R. Dóminus dedit ...
From a discourse of His Holiness Pope Pius XII, on the canonization of Pope St Pius X.
Sanctity, which was the guide and inspiration of the undertakings of Pius X, shines forth even more clearly in the daily acts of his personal life. Before applying it to others, he put into practice in himself his program of returning all things to unity in Christ. As a humble parish priest, as bishop, as the Supreme Pontiff, he believed that the sanctity to which God called destined him was that of a priest. What sanctity is more pleasing to God in a priest of the New Law than that which belongs to a representative of the Eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ, Who left to His Church in the holy Mass the perennial memorial, the perpetual renovation of the Sacrifice of the Cross, until He shall come for the last judgment; and Who with this Sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist has given Himself as the food of our souls: “He that eateth this bread shall live forever.”
A priest above all in the Eucharistic ministry: this is the most faithful portrait of St. Pius X. To serve the mystery of the Blessed Eucharist as a priest, and to fulfill the command of Our Savior “Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19), was his way. From the day of his sacred ordination until his death as Pope, he knew no other possible way to reach such an heroic love of God, and to make a such generous return to that Redeemer of the world, Who by means of the Eucharist “poured out the riches of His divine Love for men” (Council of Trent, Session 13, chapter 2). One of the most significant proofs of his priestly sensibility was his ardent concern for the renewal of the dignity of worship, and his concern to overcome the prejudices of an erroneous practice, by resolutely promoting the frequent, and even daily, Communion of the faithful at the table of the Lord, without hesitation, leading children thereto, lifting them up, as it were, in his own arms, and offering them to the embrace of God hidden on the altars. From this, sprang up a new springtime of the Eucharistic life of the Bride of Christ.
In the profound vision which he had of the Church as a society, Pius X recognized in the Eucharist the power to nourish substantially its interior life, and to raise it high above all other human associations. Only the Eucharist, in which God gives Himself to man, can lay the foundations of a social life worthy of its members, cemented by love more than by authority, rich in its works and aimed at the perfection of individuals: a life, that is, “hidden with Christ in God.”
A providential example for today’s world, where earthly society is becoming more and more a mystery to itself, and anxiously searches for a way give itself a soul! Let it look, then, for its model at the Church, gathered around its altars. There in the sacrament of the Eucharist mankind truly discovers and recognizes its past, present, and future as a unity in Christ. Conscious of, and strong in his solidarity with Christ and his fellow men, each member of either Society, the earthly and the supernatural one, will be able to draw from the altar an interior life of personal dignity and personal worth, such as today is almost lost through insistence on technology and by excessive organization of the whole of existence, of work and even leisure. Only in the Church, the holy Pontiff seems to repeat, and though Her, in the Eucharist which is ‘‘life hidden with Christ in God,” is to be found the secret and source of the renewal of society’s life.
Hence follows the grave responsibility of those who, as ministers of the altar, have the duty of it is to open up to souls the saving treasure of the Eucharist. There are indeed many forms of activity which a priest can exercise for the salvation of the modern world; but only one of them is without a doubt the most worthy, the most efficacious, and the most lasting in its effects: to act as dispenser of the Holy Eucharist, after first nourishing himself thereof abundantly. His work would not be that of a priest, if, even through zeal for souls, he were to put his Eucharistic vocation in second place. Let priests conform their outlook to the inspired wisdom of Pius X, and orient every activity of their life and apostolate by the sun of the Eucharist.
The canonization ceremony of St Pius X, May 29, 1954. The urn with his relics can be seen in front of the altar of St Peter’s in the lower left; it now rests in the altar of the Presentation in the left aisle of the church.
Over the years, I’ve noticed a happy development, and it seems to me to confirm the general trend pointed out by countless observers, namely, that where Catholicism still remains, it is becoming more traditional, or at least more tradition-friendly. Thus, it used to be the case that it was nearly impossible to find a group pilgrimage to the famous religious sites, be it Lourdes or Fatima, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela, or what have you, that also featured the daily celebration of the traditional Roman Rite. But today, if you look at companies like St. Charles Catholic Pilgrimages or Syversen Touring, you will quickly find several options with chaplains who will offer only the old rite.
Without prejudice to any of the other wonderful trips taking place, I wanted to alert NLM readers to a couple of unique opportunities coming up in 2027, because of their unusual combination of traditional liturgy, theology, and sacred music.
O Beauty Ever Ancient, Ever New: French Gothic Cathedrals with Sacred Music
From September 29 to October 9, 2027, I will be co-leading a pilgrimage to sacred sites in France that offers a rare immersion in the Church’s tradition.
We will contemplate the theological vision embodied in Gothic architecture (including the cathedrals of Paris, Chartres, Beauvais, Amiens, and Rouen), and venerate relics and holy sites (Mont St. Michel, St. Denis, Sainte Chapelle, Miraculous Medal chapel, the Carmel of Lisieux and Les Buissonnets, the site of St. Joan of Arc’s martyrdom). I will be offering commentary as the trip proceeds, in addition to casual conversations with each of the participants.
Daily High Mass will be offered by our chaplain, Canon Jean-Baptiste Commins, ICKSP, with a choir singing Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony that I will direct for every Mass. The kind of music we’ll be singing:
Formed by the Church’s liturgy and the legacy of French Catholic culture, we will seek to draw closer to Christ in His mysteries. Ends with a Seine River cruise.
***N.B.: there’s a $300 per person Early Booking Discount for deposits received before 9/29/2026 and a $200 per person Check Discount for those paying the remaining balance by check after the initial deposit.
For more information, visit the pilgrimage page.
The Holy Land: An 11-Day REGINA Insider’s Pilgrimage
Those who are looking for a traditional Catholic pilgrimage to the Holy Land, look no further. On this Regina/St. Charles trip, taking place November 29 to December 9, 2027, we will have daily Latin Mass with a wonderful priest, Fr. Pablo Santa Maria—and we will sing whenever we can, whether inside or outside of churches, utilizing special Masses and chants for the Holy Land.
Our tour manager will be the incomparable John Paul Sonnen of Liturgical Arts Journal, one of the most widely-traveled and culturally knowledgeable Catholics you will ever meet in your life. Our local guide will be Amer Shehadeh, revered for his experience, lore, and connections. And I will be offering theological and liturgical commentary, as well as being available for conversations over meals or on walks.
A rare opportunity and still a few spots open. For details, see this page.
