Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
We come to the last of the O Antiphons, for tomorrow is Christmas Eve, the Vigil of the Nativity. I mentioned yesterday that the O Antiphons were arranged backwards into the song Veni, Veni Emmanuel. This was by design, for the Antiphons themselves are a backwards acrostic. The first letters of the Messianic titles — Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, […]
» Read moreWith Christmas just days away now, we hear the penultimate O Antiphon this evening. I mentioned a couple of days ago that the antiphons might sound vaguely familiar to you. In the 12th Century, an unknown composer compiled versions of the O Antiphons into a single Advent hymn, called Veni, Veni Emmanuel. You know the English version as O Come, […]
» Read moreIt is altogether right and proper that we should celebrate Christ as the bringer of light on this, the day of the winter solstice. This was an ancient holy day in many religions, as indeed it continues to be. On this, the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, where people for eons have begged their divinity for […]
» Read moreIf you can, won’t you please join us this evening at 6:00 PM for chanted Solemn Vespers at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary parish in Tacoma? Continuing on with our annual tradition, we come closer and closer to the birth of the Messiah, “the holy one, the true, who holds the key of David, who opens and no one […]
» Read moreBy now some of you might be thinking that the O Antiphon words are sounding kind of familiar, even though you’re not really up on your Gregorian Chant. In fact, these antiphons are some of the earliest attested antiphons in the Divine Office, being mentioned in passing in the works of Saint Boethius in the early sixth century. They’re rooted […]
» Read moreToday is the second “O” antiphon, O Adonai. It has been a long time since I’ve sung these properly. Perhaps as much as eight years? Time has a way of slipping past, almost before you know it. As much as I love that we’re chanting Sunday Vespers for Advent in my parish, I very much wish that it was a […]
» Read moreO Wisdom! Advent is drawing to its close, and it’s time again for our annual look at the O Antiphons. These antiphons are part of the prayers at the liturgical hour of Vespers for the 17th through the 23rd of December – the 24th is of course the Christmas Vigil itself. They are ancient prayers, possibly dating back to the […]
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This past weekend has been what we at Pistachio House sometimes refer to as a “churchy weekend”: three Masses and chanted Vespers. The first of these was a new experience for us. At 6:30 on Saturday morning, we attended an Extraordinary Form Rorate Mass at Saint Joseph. This is a votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin celebrated in Advent. Since […]
» Read moreFor the Sundays of Advent, my parish of Holy Rosary in Tacoma has been chanting Vespers. It has been glorious! If you have not yet come to Vespers, I encourage you to do so. Here is the schedule for the rest of Advent: December 6: Solemn Vespers December 13: Simple Vespers December 20: Solemn Vespers We are celebrating according to […]
» Read moreThe Benedictine monks of the Benedictine Abbaye Saint-Maurice de Clervaux chant the Dies Iræ, the traditional sequence for Requiem Masses and the Masses of All Souls.
» Read moreLet’s talk Purgatory. We have to, to make any sense at all out of today’s feast. Today is officially “The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed”, but like most folks, I’ll stick with the simple version – All Souls’ Day. Over the years, I’ve heard numerous homilies and essays that mix this day up with yesterday, All Saints’ Day. Somebody […]
» Read moreHappy Feast of All Saints! This is the day where we celebrate all the saints, known and unknown: the Church Triumphant. This day has been a feast since the sixth or seventh century, and it was fixed on November 1 in the Roman calendar by Pope Gregory III in the mid 8th century. Yesterday, of course, was the vigil or […]
» Read moreWhat kind of life could the child possibly look forward to? He was born with a cleft palate, cerebral palsy, and spina bifida. In these progressive days, the child very well might have been aborted after the doctor showed the mother her first detailed fetal ultrasound. But the child had the great fortune to be born in 1013, a much […]
» Read moreOnly a handful of Popes ever get named “Great”. Today in the Ordinary Roman calendar is the feast of one of them, Pope Saint Gregory the Great, confessor and doctor of the Church (540 – 604). Gregory had been born into an ancient and wealthy Roman family. Before he was 30 years old, he had been a Roman Senator and […]
» Read moreThis morning’s Mass at Holy Rosary was the last solemnity celebrated together by the parishes of Holy Rosary and Saint Joseph. Father Maurer celebrated the Mass to honor Our Lady and give glory to God, and it was beautiful, uplifting, and holy. Father chanted the prayers. We chanted the Ordinary of the Mass in English. Francine read from the Revelation […]
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