{"id":106721,"date":"2021-12-31T10:07:45","date_gmt":"2021-12-31T18:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=106721"},"modified":"2021-12-31T10:09:32","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T18:09:32","slug":"the-10-most-popular-posts-of-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/the-10-most-popular-posts-of-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"The 10 Most Popular Posts of 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

O<\/span>nce again, it’s time for our annual look back at the year that was. And what a year! The plague and lockdowns continued, but instead of looking at the crazy out there, we’re concentrating on the crazy in here – in the form of a top ten. This is now the fifth annual<\/a>, so I guess it now falls under the rubric of venerable custom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who doesn’t like top ten lists? These are the top ten post hits on the blog for this past year. Not all of the posts receiving the hits were necessarily written this year. Apparently, their appeal is enduring. I’m finding that the posts on liturgical resources and reviews are bubbling to the top of the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the new entries on the list are news-type articles, though a three-year old piece on the Saints of the Benedictine Order does make a surprise debut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, there are links in each title to the full article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TEN: Antiphony Reborn: Singing the Mass Propers<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Posted on\u00a0

Does Sunday Mass in your parish start with a hymn? Why? Did you know that the Church actually provides scripture<\/em> to be read or sung during the entrance of the Priest and servers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, my friends, is the Entrance Antiphon<\/em> or, to give it its traditional name, the Introit<\/em>. In a talk he gave at the recent Sacred Liturgy Conference<\/a>, Monsignor Andrew Wadsworth, Director of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy<\/a>, called the antiphons a \u201cmusical lectio<\/a><\/em> on the day\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Would you replace the First Reading at Mass with a chapter from Jonathan Livingston Seagull<\/em>? How about replacing the Responsorial Psalm with \u201cOn Eagle\u2019s Wings\u201d? No?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then why replace the Entrance Antiphon with \u201cHere I am, Lord\u201d? …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NINE: All Saints of the Benedictine Order<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Posted on\u00a0

Once again we come to a feast of All Saints. \u201cBut wait!\u201d I hear you cry, \u201cwasn\u2019t that back on the\u00a0first of November<\/a>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right you are! But today on the\u00a0Benedictine calendar<\/a>\u00a0is the feast of All Saints of the Benedictine Order. …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"All<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

EIGHT: Orphans No Longer<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Posted on\u00a001 July 2021<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, July 1 2021, is the effective date of my parish of Holy Rosary merging into the parish of Saint Ann. It is a bittersweet moment. On the one hand, I am told that a decree officially suppressing Holy Rosary parish and merging it into Saint Ann will be published today, and it truly does seem like the final end to this sad chapter in the life of my parish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, many good things are coming out of this merger.\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEVEN: Parish X<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Posted on 

As this Lentiest of Lents finally drew to a close, I was reminded that for our (former) parish of Holy Rosary<\/a> this time of suffering has lasted not 40 days, not 400 days<\/a>, but for years. I reflected a bit on this in an essay called All is Loss<\/a> back in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our\u00a0final Mass<\/a>\u00a0after almost 130 years was celebrated not in our beautiful church, not even in the gymnasium to which we had been exiled for two years, but outside in the parking lot under a smoky apocalyptic sky reddened by nearby wildfires. Step by step our parish had lost everything. …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

SIX: New Chapters Being Written<\/a> <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Posted on 15 October 2021<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today has been a busy, exciting, and exhausting day. This morning, after a series of interviews this week, I accepted an offer from GitHub, where I have been contracting much of the year. I also contracted with them for a year or so before the Plague.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are still some formalities \u2013 a contract to sign on Monday, a background check, etc. \u2013 but I was dancing in my office today, super excited. I like the people I\u2019m working with, I love the company culture, and the job I\u2019m doing is both challenging and interesting. And although the words \u201csenior manager\u201d appear in my title, I won\u2019t actually have any direct reports. The best of all worlds. Huzzah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then this afternoon Francine and I returned to the Holy Rosary campus …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

FIVE: The Road to Hell is Paved with the Skulls of Bishops<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Posted on 

So saith today\u2019s saint, the incomparable Saint John Chrysostom<\/a> (c. 347\u2013407). He was, of course, himself a bishop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems that this pithy quote is a popularization of the full (attributed) quote, where the saint is talking about the relatively few in number who will be saved and the bad shepherds who are responsible: …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FOUR: Sancte Joseph, Terror D\u00e6monum, Ora Pro Nobis<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Posted on 

Today on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, we would do well to meditate on the life of the man who helped raise the Son of God. It can\u2019t have been easy. Tradition holds that Joseph was already an old man and a widower when he married the Blessed Virgin, who was very young, perhaps 16 or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had several children already (Saint James the Less comes to mind), and the children needed a mother. Mary\u2019s parents, Saints Joachim and Anne, were also very old, and the young girl would need a protector. It was, perhaps, a marriage of convenience for all concerned. …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

THREE: Vesting Prayers<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Posted on 29 March 2017 (<\/i>2018: 6th<\/em>; 2019: 7th, 2020: 3rd)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of my volunteer positions at my parish<\/a> is that of MC and Altar Server coordinator. Since I started in that position, we’ve made any number of changes. One of the simplest and most profound, though, was the reintroduction of Vesting Prayers<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what are they? In the immemorial tradition of the Roman Rite, certain prayers were recited while vesting for Mass. Indeed, each vestment had its own specific prayer, that alluded to the symbolic meaning behind that particular vestment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such things weirdly fell out of favour following the liturgical reform. …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TWO: Review: Monastic Diurnal at One Year<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Posted on 24 July 2015 (2016: 1st; 2017: 1st; 2018: 2nd; 2019: 3rd, 2020: 1st)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although I’ve prayed some form of the Divine Office since before my baptism, just over a year ago I began using the Farnborough Monastic Diurnal<\/a>. It is only at this point that I feel confident enough to review it. …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

ONE: Rorate Mass Resources \u2013 in the Ordinary Form<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Posted on 12 December 2018 (2019: 8th, 2020: 4th)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

… our parish of Holy Rosary<\/a> celebrated a Rorate Mass<\/a><\/em> in the Ordinary Form. And what, pray tell, is a Rorate Mass?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name comes from the opening words of the Entrance Antiphon, Rorate c\u00e6li desuper<\/em>, Latin for \u201cDrop down dew, ye heavens\u201d. The Rorate Mass is a Solemn Votive Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrated in Advent. It is traditionally celebrated by candlelight on the high altar, and sung in Gregorian Chant. The sky is dawning just as it finishes. This is to symbolize the coming of Christ, the Light of the World. …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Many new posts on the list, mixed in with just a couple of old stalwarts, which continue to climb up the list. I’m particularly pleased at how strongly the Rorate and Vesting Prayers posts continue to perform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was your favorite this year? Any favorites that didn\u2019t make the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you to each and every one of my readers. You guys are the best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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