Category: Chant

Continuing on, 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 shall close, who closes and no one shall open” (Rev. 3:7). If you are interested in learning more about the O Antiphons, I recommend Fr. Zuhlsdorf’s site here. The format is […]

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By now some of you might be thinking that the O Antiphon words might be 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. The […]

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Last night was the first time Francine and I had prayed Vespers in community since shortly after leaving our former parish. Sam joined us. The lack of practice really showed – we were disjointed and could not even chant the opening or the Magnificat correctly. Tonight, we’ll trot out some of our old books and see if we can’t put […]

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As Advent draws to its end, we begin the “O” antiphons at Vespers. Last year, we attempted to chant vespers every night during this period at my old parish. A series of snowstorms disrupted that plan, though I do have warm and gracious memories of Francine and I alone in the parish chapel chanting one cold, dark night. Sadly after […]

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