New Mosaics at St Michael’s Abbey in California

For almost four years, the Norbertine community of St Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, California, having long outgrown its original church, has been building a much larger and more beautiful new church. A large gallery of pictures documenting the progress of this wonderful project can be seen on their website; here are some photographs of the newly unveiled mosaic work in the apse of the church, which we reproduce from their Facebook page with their kind permission.

The first celebration of Vespers with the new mosaic finally installed.

St Norbert, the founder of the Premonstratensian Order, was a great promotor of devotion to the Immaculate Conception. On the outer arch, we see the Virgin Mary crowned by Christ with a crown of twelve stars, the Archangel Michael, the church’s patron, to the left, slaying the dragon, and the Archangel Gabriel with a lily in his hand to the right. On the upper arch are written in Latin the words of Apocalypse 12, 1, “A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”, and on the lower arch verse 12, 7, “And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels.”

Five of the Twelve Apostles on the entrados arch.

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A Premonstratensian Mass of the Epiphany

We received a late submission of Epiphany photos, but one which deserves its own separate post, since it gives us a chance to enjoy something a little unusual, a Solemn Mass celebrated in the Premonstratensian Rite. These come to us courtesy of Mr Adhika Lie from the church of Ss Peter and Paul in Wilmington, California, which is staffed by the Norbertine Canons of St Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, one of the most vibrant young religious communities in the United States today. The photos show us very nicely some of the proper customs which distinguish the Premonstratensian Use from the Roman.

At the first “Dominus vobiscum”, the deacon kneels and elevates the front of the priest’s chasuable, as seen here. In The Liturgies of the Religious Orders, Archdale King writes that this was also done by the Cistercians and in some local Uses, but that the custom was in his time (1955) “very generally disregarded.”

The deacon and subdeacon bowing their heads at the Collect.

The subdeacon singing the Epistle.

The subdeacon bringing the burse and corporal to the altar, and in the photo below, setting the corporal on the altar. In medieval Uses, it was commonly the practice to prepare the altar and the chalice either during the Epistle, or between the Epistle and Gospel.

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