Pentecost Sunday

For May 23, 2010 which is Pentecost Sunday, we are going to sing:

1. Procession: Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blest
2. Vidi aquam
3. Introit: Spiritus Domini
   
4. Kyrie II
5. Gloria II
6. Alleluia: Emitte Spiritum tuum
7. Alleluia: Veni, Sancte Spiritus
8. Sequence: Veni, Sancte Spiritus
   
9. Credo IV
10. Offertory: Confirma hoc, Deus
11. Offertory hymn: Veni Creator
    
12. Sanctus II
13. Agnus Dei II
    
14. Communion hymn: Ave Verum (C.C. Saint-Saëns)
15. Communion: Factus est repente
    
16. Recession: Rejoice, O Mary, Heavenly Queen

Click on the links to hear samples where available.

Third SSPX Rosary Crusade Official Tally

The General House of the Society of Saint Pius X [SSPX], in Menzingen, has received from all over the world the results of the Rosary Crusade launched by its General Superior, Bishop Bernard Fellay. This crusade lasted from May 1, 2009, to March 25, 2010; its goal was to ask for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the Supreme Pontiff and all the bishops of the Catholic world, in accordance with the message of Fatima in which Our Lady herself announced the final triumph of her Immaculate Heart.

DICI is delighted to announce to its readers, that the goal of 12 million rosaries, which were to form a crown of 12 stars for Mary, Queen of Heaven, has been surpassed by far, since more than 19 million rosaries have been reported. We can note the generosity of the United States (5,356,189), France (3,037,941), Africa (2,819,395) and Asia (2,919,257). Next come Canada (719,777), Germany (689,417), South America (601,678), Switzerland (417,574), Australia (439,555), Mexico (335,794), Great Britain (218,116), Italy (172,960), Ireland (147,575)….

This crown of rosaries recited around the world, over the course of nearly a year, will be soon presented to the Holy Father by Bishop Fellay. Profound thanks to all the Rosary crusaders for their admirable Marian fervor !

Source: DICI

The Splendour of Worship

People, no doubt, wonder why such fuss is made over extravagant vestments and claim that it's all pomp and circumstance feeding the ego of the ministers. Then there's the usual rant about the poor, how the excessive show of triumphalism is contrary to the heart of Jesus who loved the poor and dispossessed.

This is all true, that Jesus has particular care of the poor and the dispossesed. But really, it is all of us who are poor and dispossessed. We are poor because without God, we are nothing, we have nothing. We do not bring ourselves into existence and neither can we exist without God, however much atheists protest and try to prove this point. We become less human when God is pushed out of the picture. So, yes, all of us are poor. Jesus' Incarnation, His emptying Himself of glory to take on our human nature teaches us this very point. For our sakes, He became poor. We are the poor.

And we are dispossessed. Our sin deprived us of our heritage, that of beholding God face to face. And it is only through Christ that we are able, by adoption through Him in his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, that we are restored to that heritage, that we are sons and daughters of the Most High.

What does this have to do with worship, and vestments, and "pomp".

The Pontifical Solemn High Mass last Saturday reminded me once more that God is utterly Other. However much I want to bring Him down to my level, yet He is God, truly adorable and worthy of all the best that I can offer Him through worship. The vestments, the rituals, the gestures bear within them the symbol that God is beyond me. And yet, through the Sacrifice of the Mass, I am drawn into the heart of the Divine.

What was so stunning about the cappa magna that Bishop Slattery was dressed in as he entered the temple, evoked Isaiah: "In the year that King Ozias died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and elevated; and His train filled the temple."

Isaiah was given this vision of the splendour and the glory of God.And now, through Christ's Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension, we--foolish and weak that we are, unfaithful and forever wandering away--can know, can glimpse, can be pierced, too, by the glory of God. It is splendid. It is glorious. It is not like us. And we fall down to our faces and say, "Woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips and I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord of Hosts."

And just like the priest prays before the declaration of the Gospel, "Munda cor meum ac labia mea,omnipotens Dei..." Cleanse my heart and lips. We are once more drawn into that temple where we come to face Truth, Holy, Transcendent, Merciful and Glorious.

Unlike the modern manifestations of the liturgy which pull our attention away from God to fall upon ourselves and our actions and our relevance, this most solemn of rites makes us lift our eyes heavenward, the destiny of our journey. Not by anything that we do, but only through the Offering of Christ in Himself. For our part, it is the offering we give of our heart, our prayer, our whole attention that are required of us. It isn't whether we verbally say things out loud: words are meaningless if we do not have recollection, remembering who we are and who God is, that is, pardon the pun, at the heart of worship.

The infernal and maddening battles over liturgy and whether modern man can rightly understand the words of worship detract from what it is that is being done, who it is that is acting at Mass. We are spectators, you and I, in this grand drama of salvation. It is Mystery that our minds can hardly penetrate. This leaves little room for silly dancing, hand-holding, comedic actions that have nothing to do with the sacred actions happening at Mass. It is Mystery and we are left in awe.

I can understand why liturgical wars are so intense. It is a matter of who is at the heart of the Mass. We feel useless when we aren't "doing anything". Why is it only the priest that gets to do things? Aren't we, all of us, priests in that royal priesthood of believers?

But it is Christ who is the Priest, the only one who can offer a worthy offering to God the Father. And so when the cappa magna passes by, when that sacred minister, with his face set in a solemn way, passes by and his shimmering long train follows, our hearts are lifted because, here, in this person, in this temple, in this hour, Christ enters. This is our Catholic Faith. Through sensible signs, the Divine enters. How blessed are we to witness it and at the end, when we are dismissed, it is our turn to walk in this world bearing this light, this Divine Truth, God is in His temple, let the earth worship.

Source: Argent by the Tiber

Fifth Sunday after Easter

For May 9, 2010 which is the Fifth Sunday after Easter, we are going to sing:

1. Procession: At The Lamb's High Feast (AH#411)
2. Vidi aquam
3. Introit: Vocem iucunditatis
   
4. Kyrie I
5. Gloria I
   
6. Alleluia: Surrexit Christus et illuxit
   
7. Alleluia: Exivi a Patre
   
8. Credo III
9. Offertory: Benedicite, gentes
10. Offertory hymn: Ave Maria (J. Arcadelt)
    
11. Sanctus I
12. Agnus Dei I
    
13. Communion hymn: O bone Jesu (M.A. Ingegneri)
14. Communion: Cantate Domino
    
15. Recession: Jesu, Grant Me This

Click on the links to hear samples where available.

Third Sunday after Easter

For April 25, 2010 which is the Third Sunday after Easter, we are going to sing:

1. Procession: Hail, True Victim, Life And Light
   
2. Vidi aquam
3. Introit: Iubilate Deo
   
4. Kyrie I
5. Gloria I
   
6. Alleluia: Redemptionem
   
7. Alleluia: Oportebat
   
8. Credo III
   
9. Offertory: Lauda, anima mea
   
10. Offertory hymn: Regina Caeli (A. Lotti)
    
11. Sanctus I
12. Agnus Dei I
    
13. Communion hymn: Ave Verum Corpus
    
14. Communion: Modicum
    
15. Recession: Holy God, We Praise Thy Name
    

Click on the links to hear samples and scores where available.

12 million Rosaries Crusade Update from SSPX US District

12-MILLION ROSARIES CRUSADE UPDATE

At Econe, during the Pontifical Mass on Easter Sunday, Bishop Fellay announced that the 12 million rosaries have been "greatly exceeded." He also invited all the faithful to pray for the Holy Father who suffers from the media's attacks. Laudetur Iesus Christus et Maria mater ejus!

Low Sunday (Dominica in albis)

For April 11, 2010 which is Low Sunday, we are going to sing:

1. Procession: O Sons And Daughters
   
2. Vidi aquam
3. Introit: Quasimodo
   
4. Kyrie I (Lux et Origo)
   
5. Gloria I
   
6. Alleluia: In die resurrectionis
   
7. Alleluia: Post dies octo
   
8. Credo III
   
9. Offertory: Angelus Domini
   
10. Offertory hymn: Regina Caeli Jubila
    
11. Sanctus I
12. Agnus Dei I
13. Communion: Mitte manum tuam with Ps 117: 1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
    21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29
    
14. Recession: Rejoice, O Mary, Heavenly Queen
    

Click on the links to hear samples where available.

The Passion according to St John in Gregorian Chant part 3 of 3

The Passion according to St John in Gregorian Chant part 2 of 3

The Passion according to St John in Gregorian Chant part 1 of 3