Holy Days – Page 34 – The World is Quiet Here

The World is Quiet Here

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25 December 2015 Fun, Holy Days

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Rejoice! Rejoice!

24 December 2015 Annual, Chant, Holy Days, Latin, Prayer, The Sacred Liturgy

As I do every year, I shall end this Advent chant sequence with the hymn assembled from the O Antiphons. I‘ve also posted one of my favourite carols, which is particularly appropriate in the deeps of Christmas Vigil. Come to Mass! For those of you in Tacoma and environs, I invite you to come to our parish of Our Lady […]

O Emmanuel

23 December 2015 Annual, Chant, Divine Office, Holy Days, Latin, Prayer, Seasons

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, […]

Rorate Photos

23 December 2015 Francine my love, Holy Days, Latin, Rev. Michael Stinson F.S.S.P., Saint Joseph Parish in Tacoma, Seasons, The Sacred Liturgy

You may recall that on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Francine and I attended a Rorate Mass at the nearby F.S.S.P. parish of Saint Joseph. You will also no doubt recall my inability to take a decent photo of the Mass, which was simply beautiful. Apparently, a much more talented photographer was ensconced up in the choir loft. […]

O Rex Gentium

22 December 2015 Annual, Chant, Divine Office, History, Holy Days, Latin, Prayer, Seasons

With 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, […]

O Clavis David

20 December 2015 Annual, Chant, Divine Office, Holy Days, Latin, Prayer, Seasons

If 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 […]

O Radix Jesse

19 December 2015 Annual, Chant, Divine Office, History, Holy Days, Latin, Prayer, Seasons

By 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 […]

O Adonai

18 December 2015 Annual, Chant, Divine Office, Holy Days, Latin, Prayer, Seasons

Today 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 […]

O Sapiéntia

17 December 2015 Annual, Chant, Divine Office, Holy Days, Latin, Prayer, Seasons, Wisdom

O 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 […]

Rejoice in the Lord Always!

14 December 2015 Chant, Divine Office, Francine my love, Holy Days, Holy Rosary Parish Tacoma, Jubilee, Latin, Rev. Jacob Maurer, Rev. Michael Stinson F.S.S.P., Rev. Nicholas Wichert, Seasons, The Sacred Liturgy

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 […]

Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving

10 December 2015 community, Holy Days, Holy Rosary Parish Tacoma, Jubilee, Moments in Time, Pope Francis I, Rev. Nicholas Wichert, The Sacred Liturgy

Pope Francis opened the Holy Doors at Saint Peter’s Basilica, officially beginning the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy on December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady. On December 13, the Third Sunday of Advent, Father Nicholas Wichert will open Tacoma’s Holy Doors. Perhaps I should explain. Normally for a Jubilee, the Holy Doors of all four […]

Open Wide the Holy Doors and Announce the Jubilee!

08 December 2015 Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, Holy Days, Holy Rosary Parish Tacoma, Jubilee, Moments in Time, Pope Francis I

Today, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, Pope Francis unsealed the Holy Doors at Saint Peter’s Basilica, officially beginning the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. On this coming Third Sunday of Advent, all across the world, cathedrals, basilicas, and shrines in every diocese will bless and open their own Holy Doors. Archbishop Sartain has designated a […]

A Feast on the Feast

23 November 2015 community, Family, Francine my love, Fun, Holy Days, Moments in Time, Pistachio House, Prayer

Yesterday, on the great feast of Christ the King, we held our annual feast of thanksgiving at Pistachio House. We had a houseful of guests for dinner, including family and friends. We ate good food, drank good vino tinto (or beer, tonic, cider, water, coffee, or tea as the occasion demanded), played board games, wore silly hats, talked, and laughed. […]

All Saints… Again?

13 November 2015 Divine Office, Holy Days, Prayer, Saints

Once again we come to a feast of All Saints. “But wait!” I hear you cry, “wasn’t that back on the first of November?” Right you are! But today on the Benedictine calendar is the feast of All Saints of the Benedictine Order. And on a Friday the thirteenth, no less. Many Orders (and some countries) have their own All […]

From Living and Chosen Stones

09 November 2015 Holy Days, Prayer

You would be forgiven for thinking that the Pope’s main church is St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. It’s certainly the largest. But no. The Pope’s own church – his episcopal seat as Bishop of Rome – is in the church of Saint John Lateran. Which Saint John? Good question. Two of them, actually, for the full name of this […]

Sequence for All Souls

02 November 2015 Chant, Holy Days, Meditations, Prayer, The Sacred Liturgy

The 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.

Day of the Dead

02 November 2015 Annual, Chant, Holy Days, Prayer

Let’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 […]

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