Sunday, February 28, 2010

And now,

A musical interlude.

I may have posted this one already, but I couldn't find it.
And this is my favorite song from this album for obvious reasons.

The NAB is heretical.

The New American Bible. "My chosen son". "My chosen son"? Did they realise that that's adoptionism? Did they realise that that's not even in any extant greek texts we have? Do they realise that it's a heretical notion to say that the Father chose someone to be his son?
*Sigh*, idiots.
I wish we could all have a better translation of the bible for mass.Give me the RSV or even the old Confraternity Translation any day.

Oh Snapz! This is post 1,000 again! Arrgh! I've got to delete another post! Post 1,000 isn't ready yet!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

And also,

THIS.

Which would have been useful to me when I was trying to learn how to play This. It's deceptive, because it sounds simple,but then you see the music and the fingering and the great big stretches you need to be able to do to get the chords down.And I can stretch over an octave and I still couldn't play it well.

Hey guys,do me a favor.

It seems that my dad's bout with lymphoma isn't yet over. He'll be leaving work to start five weeks of chemo this Wednesday.Could you keep him and our family in your prayers, please?
Also, despite the fact that the lady who was giving us a free house in Overbrook changed her mind, it seems that Joe may still be eventually moving.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

A bit of Nostalgia.

Communion.

Bishop Patterson preached a few times at Holy Temple COGIC when I was still there. I have'nt been past in a while, but my family says that everything is the same. Sometimes I think it's odd that I grew up in a church where the ministers wore cassock, surplice and scarf, with the stole added for communion, and where the bishops wore cassock, rochet and chimere, and would eventually cross the Thames. We had robed choirs and many churches had fine music programs.*

And here's another.

Stupid School! *EDITED*

Why don't they update their website! D<

OH NOES!OH NOES! OH NOES!

I wasted my 999th post! Okay, I'm going back to delete a few posts.My 999th post was supposed to be a lead up to my 1,000th post.D:

Oops. I did too many.Now I'm down to 994. posts again. D:

And also,

My friend from school (Well, now she's at the school I would be in right now,had not financial difficulties ruined college for me.)Sent me This video. And I've been playing it.over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and dancing to it too.
I think I need help.

(Woot! this is post #998!Almost there.)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Hmm..

There's an argument I want to make about a certain reguarly hated and despised (By any normal human being.)part of the divine office,and it's been brewing in my head over the past three months, but I'm not making it till I know it's valid, and I won't know it's valid till I see the Latin version of the Instructione Generalis Liturgia horarum.(General instruction of the liturgy of the hours.)

So yeah, go forth,my loyal minions and find my document!

Mental Note:

I keep forgetting, Real Black™ people are Democrats.
Here in Philly, being anything other than a Democrat is akin to being a gun-toting white supremacist turncoat.We vote for the same Democratic officeholders year after year after year,and the city inevitably gos further down the toilet,and year, after year, after year, all we can do is blame conservatives and Republicans*.It's quite an idiotic perpetual cycle that we put ourselves into, continually ridiculing the foibles of conservative parties while somehow ignoring the corruption and laziness of our own people. As is being black and being a Democrat somehow makes you a good polician.(Philly obviously proves this wrong.)

This is proof of my Nerdiness.

I saw the title for this thread, and this was the first thing to come to my mind.

GO HERE.

HERE.

Daily Psam.

Psalm 90,Edward Bairstow.

This being the introit for yesterday's mass.

On the Subdiaconate.

Yes.Joe is going to rant about the kind-of-but-maybe-not-really-suppression of minor orders! (The first one)

First of all,why does Ministeria Quaedam say:
"Among the particular offices to be preserved and adapted to contemporary needs are those that are in a special way more closely connected with the ministries of the word and of the altar and that in the Latin Church are called the offices of reader and acolyte and the subdiaconate"


So Ministeria Quaedam says that the office of the subdiaconate is to be preserved, and then goes on to conflict the role with that of the office of acolyte? What does this mean? It's terribly confusing. I think that the official translation of article 4 of Ministeria Quaedam is inaccurate. The translation says:

"consequently, the major order of subdiaconate no longer exists in the Latin Church."


Now,I think this is inaccurate for two reasons.Firstly, as a major order,the subdiaconate was not on the same level as the minor orders.The Roman Catechism says of it that it contains a sacred character that the other orders do not have.

"From the minor orders, which are not sacred, and of which we have been speaking until now, one lawfully enters and ascends to major and Sacred Orders."

The council fathers knew* that a sacramental major order could not be suppressed in the usual sense, without destroying the integrity of the sacrament of holy orders.A major order cannot be simply abolished. Secondly,the Latin does not really say the order is abolished or simply no longer exists. Rather, the Latin denotes that the subdiaconate will not remain in the form that it was at the time.The subdiaconate will not stay as it is now in the Latin church.It will not stay (or remain) fully in the sense that it is now.
That's a bit different from saying that the order is suppressed, no longer exists,is abolished,etc. Admittedly, MQ does say that the role of the subdeacon is now to be taken by the acolyte, and that the conference of bishops may call the acolyte the subdeacon. This is the hole in my argument.Unfortunately, this is something that neither I nor almost any person can resolve, because nothing in the Vatican II or Post-Vatican II documents deal with the ontology of the subdiaconate, or whether a major order could be suppressed.Only the documents of Trent and pre-Vatican II documents deal with this, and their answer is an emphatic No.As with liturgy and other things, there are vague ambiguities and holes with some of what we have received from the council.In absence of an answer from the conciium, I always appeal to that which came before it.
*Though they seem to have glossed over it.

*headdesk*

Oh.Em.Geeeeeee.

You won't believe what just happened.

I was coming back from mass at S.Donato's, and when I got in the door,my older brother was like "ZOMG U LYKE,WONT BELEEVE WUT HAPPENED.!111!1!!One!!Eleventy-one!!!1!"So I'm like, "Gawdman, what stupid thing do you got to show me now?" And I go from the vestibule to the living room and there's this huge white cat,about the same size as Ginger. White with grey-striped spots, and beautiful green eyes. And so he says to me,he says "It was in the basement,just like how the kitten got there!"
And I facepalmed,obviously, because Ginger really doesn't like living in a house with other cats.(She'll only stand it if they're kept separated.)
So yeah, new cat AGAIN, and this one I has a name for.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Hmm..now I'm interested.


I read in one of the history books at the house's library while I was away that that Mercedarians had their own rite (A breviary and missal)until Trent, when they gave them up for the Roman Rite.(Because the differences were supposedly minor.)Now I'm on a desperate(Probably lifelong)quest to find out what I can about it.
Being of Spanish origin,and being from the same place,I expect that there were Mozarabic influences. S.Peter Paschasius was from heavily Mozarabic-influenced Valencia, and with S.Peter Nolasco and S.Raymund Nonnatus, we definitely have Gallican influence,even if S.Peter wasn't a priest.(Because we do have records of priests and minor clerics in the order even before the clerical reform that later happened.)
So even if it was similar to the Roman rite, this would probably be only because of the heavy Gallican influences on the Roman rite and the similarly heavy Roman influences on the Mozarabic rite. I just hope that there are extant missals and breviaries from the time.

And also,when Patrick and I were making copies of the missal and breviary on Saturday,I was happy to see that the Mercedarians retained the sequences for the feasts of S.Peter Nolasco and Our Lady of Mercy.
Epic Win. <3

I should probabably get this checked out.

I should.I don't want to, but I definitely should.
I'm talking about my little addiction that I sometimes go into mini-withdrawal stages,like right now.I don't know if it's sugar or caffeine (Or both) but I don't dare to go too long without either, because I get migraines or lightheadedness from it.My mother hates me for it,because she tried so desperately to keep me and my siblings from both growing up.(We never had soda in the house,only 100% fruit juice and water.My brothers and I used to drink sodas in our room with the door shut to hide the contraband.) So I went without both for a few days, and I got the headache today.
The weird thing is that it doesn't take much to stop it.A single poptart or a cookie usually does the job, or a small can of soda.
Mom has decided that I might be hypoglycemic,so she's scheduled an appointment for me.

Monday, February 22, 2010

She's Back!

Thank you Blessed Julian and Ss.Francis and Anthany for favours received. <3

Our still nameless kitten made her way through a crack in the wall under the porch into the basement, in the midst of an ice storm, where I heard her meowing while I was making gravy (or sauce,for you non-Philadelphia.) I guess after a little more than a day,kitty realised she was better off living here where she'd be spoiled rotten.

And with this post,I'm only 14 away from post #1,000

Spritual Reading.

I'm reading THIS.h
*Edit*
And THIS for holy week.Also, on and off,some chapters of THIS.

GO HERE.

Here, and Here, and Here, For pictures of our Patronal festival. Because of the snow, the reception had to be canceled though.But considering there was FOUR FEET of snow on the ground,I'm glad we got some people.

Weekend.

Things went well. On Friday, Fr.Joseph and I went out to visit the sick and bring them communion, til about 2:00. I learned how to play two new hymn tunes (Narenza and All Saints)Saturday, after the Salve and breakfast, I spent the day copying the chants for lauds and vespers from the Ordo Cantus Officii.(For my personal use.)After we prayed Sext, Patrick(the postulant) and I went out to buy materials to make copies of the Mercedarian missal for the other houses in the U.S.After compline on Saturday, I went home.
And yes, we watched the Olympics almost every night.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

My Song is Love Unknown.

I've had a rather hard day today,an some unfortunate things happnned. Luckily,we got this hymn after the proper offertory chant at mass this morning. here it is sung by Wells Cathedral Choir. It makes me feel better. <3

Thursday, February 18, 2010

And also,


I think I'll start reading this again.Beck, the quintessential band manga.

I'm off,again.

Off to my weekend at the monastery,in about a half-hour.I may or may not bring something I'm supposed to be working on,it depends on if I get it done on time or not.

3 is a magic number.

Or in my case, 30. This morning, I sent out my 28th,29th, and 30th job applications.

Yes. For serious.


Since June, I applied to 27 different companies/jobs, and of them, five actually bothered to contact me.Of those, four said they weren't interested in hiring me, one brought me in for an interview and didn't call me to tell me I didn't get the job.(I found out from someone else after the start date.) Everyone else is either not hiring, or they only want people who've have a couple months to a year of experience doing said job. And yes, my dad said that they don't really mean it, and I contacted them anyway, but what do you know, they really don't want to hire new people that they'd have to train. And in case you don't realise how desperate I am, I'm about to apply to Greenpeace.At $13 an hour, and I can't afford to pass it up. Somehow, I've got to keep..um..well everything here a secret. Luckily,one of the places I've applied to is the Please Touch Museum, and It's probably the only job I'm actually already qualified to do. On-call host for children's parties. Who would've known that being forced to watch my sister's and cousins' dirty, snot-covered,annoying little anklebiters-I mean, lovely well-behaved children, would pay off as job experience? And I did it for what, daily for five years?

Let's hope I don't get ignored this time around. <3

It would be funny, but it could eventually be true.

THIS.

...I think it kinda speaks for itself.

Wowshock!

What a surprise!A tax-payer funded government program is bogged down by red tape and government bureacracy.I mean, this is unheard of! Who could've predicted that a $5 billion dollar earmark would do basically nothing, and do what it do badly? I mean sure, there weren't supposed to be any wasteful programs in the first place, but that's not the point! Most things the state runs are very good and have high quality! I mean, look at our publicschools! I mean, well, look at the other stimulus programs! I mean, well, look at our health care!I mean, the DMV! Okay, so well....yeah whatever!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Ash Wednesday.


"Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world. Let us turn to every age that has passed, and learn that, from generation to generation, the Lord has granted a place of repentance to all such as would be converted unto Him. Noah preached repentance, and as many as listened to him were saved. Jonah proclaimed destruction to the Ninevites; Jonah iii but they, repenting of their sins, propitiated God by prayer, and obtained salvation, although they were aliens to the covenant of God.

The ministers of the grace of God have, by the Holy Spirit, spoken of repentance; and the Lord of all things has himself declared with an oath regarding it, "As I live, says the Lord, I desire not the death of the sinner, but rather his repentance;" Ezekiel 33:11 adding, moreover, this gracious declaration, "Repent, O house of Israel, of your iniquity." Say to the children of my people, Though your sins reach from earth to heaven, and though they be redder than scarlet, and blacker than sack-cloth, yet if you turn to me with your whole heart, and say, Father! I will listen to you, as to a holy people.

And in another place He speaks thus: "Wash you and become clean; put away the wickedness of your souls from before my eyes; cease from your evil ways, and learn to do well; seek out judgment, deliver the oppressed, judge the fatherless, and see that justice is done to the widow; and come, and let us reason together. He declares, Though your sins be like crimson, I will make them white as snow; though they be like scarlet, I will whiten them like wool. And if you be willing and obey me, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse, and will not hearken unto me, the sword shall devour you, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things." Desiring, therefore, that all His beloved should be partakers of repentance, He has, by His almighty will, established these declarations.

Let us therefore, brethren, be of humble mind, laying aside all haughtiness, and pride, and foolishness, and angry feelings; and let us act according to that which is written (for the Holy Spirit says, "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, neither let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glories glory in the Lord, in diligently seeking Him, and doing judgment and righteousness" ), being especially mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus which He spoke teaching us meekness and long-suffering. For thus He spoke: "Be merciful, that you may obtain mercy; forgive, that it may be forgiven to you; as you do, so shall it be done unto you; as you judge, so shall you be judged; as you are kind, so shall kindness be shown to you; with what measure ye mete, with the same it shall be measured to you. " By this precept and by these rules let us establish ourselves, that we walk with all humility in obedience to His holy words. For the holy word says, "On whom shall I look, but on him that is meek and peaceable, and that trembles at my words?""


-S.Clement of Rome, Epistle to the Corinthians.

"With the armour of God, let us give ourselves to much patience and fasting."


-Antiphon,sext.

Collect of the day:
"Grant us,O Lord, to begin the campaign of our Christian warfare with holy fasting;so that, as we go forth to battle against the spirits of evil,we may be defended by the strength of self-control.Through Our Lord."

New Art.




From now on, I think I'll post the reference image too.



This is a screencap of the person's avatar.I got my pose from dA (Gotta remember to credit that)Though it looks like a simple avi, there was actually a long list of items.So much so that I had to PM the person and ask for a list of the items they were using, so I could Tektek it as a dream avi and see how it layered. Hence the striped shirt, which isn't really visible in the screencap.(Obviously, I scaled down the tie to something more realistic.)

But yeah, there you go. <3

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Yay!

My neighbor made fresh fasnachts and brought me a few! I was going to buy them ready made, but now I don't have to.

*Sigh*



I'd heard that some of the antiphons in the Latin edition,and therefore also in the English edition of the breviary are edited or shortened versions of their originals,but now seeing the originals in the full form (As specified by the Ordo Cantus Officiii) I'm a little saddened at what things got left out. For example, this is the third antiphon of lauds of the common of the blessed virgin:

"María Virgo, semper lætáre, quæ meruísti Christum portáre salvatórem."


And this is what the OCO specifies to be sung,the full version.

"María Virgo, semper lætáre, quæ meruísti Christum portáre, caeli et terram conditorem:quia de tuo utero protulisti mundo Salvatorem."


*Sigh* Why do that? It was a lovely rhyming antiphon,and from what I found, It comes from a medieval French breviary.

Monday, February 15, 2010

A service of Alleluia.

This is a version of vespers for the burial of the alleluia that I found somewhere on Google Books sometime last year.(I don't remember where.) For the purpouses of the modern Roman Rite vespers, I've put the hymn at the beginning and used the versice after the hymn as the short responsory. It simply says "Psalms of Sunday", but for our purpouses,since there is a four-week psalter, I would recommend Sunday week II.

Deus in adiutorium meum intende,alleluia.
Domine, ad aduivandum me festina, alleluia
Gloria Patri,alleluia.
Sicut erat,alleluia.

hymn:

Alleluia dulce carmen,
Vox perennis gaudii,
Alleluia laus suavis
Est choris coelestibus,
Quam canunt Dei manentes
In domo per saecula.

Alleluia laeta mater
Concivis Jerusalem:
Alleluia vox tuorum
Civium gaudentium:
Exsules nos flere cogunt
Babylonis flumina.

Alleluia non meremur
In perenne psallere;
Alleluia vo reatus
Cogit intermittere;
Tempus instat quo peracta
Lugeamus crimina.

Unde laudando precamur
Te beata Trinitas,
Ut tuum nobis videre
Pascha des in aethere,
Quo tibi laeti canamus
Alleluia perpetim.

Psalms of Sunday, saying before each:
"Alleluia,alleluia, alleluia"

Short reading:
Apoc.19:1-3
Audivi quasi vocem magnam turbae multae in caelo dicentium: " Alleluia! Salus et gloria et virtus Deo nostro,quia vera et iusta iudicia eius; quia iudicavit de meretrice magna, quae corrupit terram in prostitutione sua, et vindicavit sanguinem servorum suorum de manibus eius! ".
Et iterum dixerunt: " Alleluia! Et fumus eius ascendit in saecula saeculorum!"

V.Regnavit Dominus, Deus noster omnipotens*Alleluia,alleluia
Regnavit.
R.Gaudeamus et exsultemus et demus gloriam ei*Alluluia, alleluia.
Gloria Patri. Regnavit.

Ad Mag.Ant. Dixit dominus Adam:De lgno quod est in medio paradisi,no comedas:in qua hora comederis,morte morieris.

WANT.




Sennheiser HD420s.

And now,

A musical interlude.

Those high notes are full of Win.

It's funny, 'cause it's not true.

This.

I'm confused, usually if you're tanking in the polls and the majority of people don't like you all, does'nt that mean that you're not going to win overwhelmingly?

It's not funny, 'cause it's true.

This.

I want to know what's wrong with this woman? Any idiot knows that it's true that the majority of black babies conceived get aborted. The only thing that's contraversial about it is the fact that
a) It's true
b) Planned Parenthood knows that it's true
c) Planned Parenthood knows that their foundress is tickled pink about it.

And this woman, what she said is disgusting. She'll call pointing out an easily verifiable fact racist, but doesn't call the fact itself racist? It's okay to actively try to reduce the population of blacks by aborting their babies, but it's racist to point out that people are doing just that? You can do it, but don't talk about it?

And her comment that most black people "don't know who Margaret Sanger is and could care less.*" is not only condescending, but also reveals her bias. We have a white supremacist woman who hated minorities, was a eugenicist, and founded an organisation for the extermination of minorities, blacks especially, and we're supposed to flippantly talk about her obscurity the way we talk about presidential pets? This is a woman whose work is still negatively affecting the black community and helping to perpetuate the cycles that lead to such a low quality of life for us, and she thinks it's okay that most of us don't know who she is or couldn't care less?
*Sigh* This is what a college education gives you nowadays? No grasp of the basic principles of formulating a logical argument?

*I have a rant about this term coming up soon.

You'll NEVER guess what's for breakfast!

PANCAKES!

No seriously, pancakes today and tomorrow since shrove Tuesday is coming.And also, finish the things that won't be used during lent.(So as not to waste money.)

Sunday, February 14, 2010

*Goes to the market*

*Sigh* Lent is coming.I've already cut out some of the things I can't eat during lent, so now that lent is coming full on,I've got to stock up on meatless things.(Which basically means dinners of grilled cheese, fish sticks and scrambled eggs in rotation until Easter day.)I'm not very fond of lentils (Which is odd because almost everyone else in my family loves them.) but I can deal with lentil soup.Only the recipe we've always used contains chicken stock, so I'll have to find another.

Well,today,

After the rather unfortunate Altar Server's mass, I went to borders, and you won't believe what I found: Besides an issue of Thor that I've been looking for, no less than FOUR different issues of Hawkeye.Sadly, I'd brought no money with me, so I had to leave them. But yeah, tomorrow after I run a few errands, I'm going to Fat Jack's, where my friend at school gets his comics.(Even though I think Atomic City has a better selection of back issues.)

Ritual Notes.

The External Solemnity of Our Lady of Lourdes*. 10:30 mass.

Three servers (Thurifer and two acolytes) and master of ceremonies. The chasuble from the high mass set from Thursday was worn by Fr., with the maniple.The entrance hymn was "hail, all hail great queen of heaven" The mass setting was 'De Angelis' from the Kyriale, with credo III. After the hymn, at the incensation of the altar, the introit Vidi civitatem was sung. At the responsorial psalm, the response was set to the tone of the chant 'Ave Maria'. At the offertory, after the proper chant Ave Maria','Mary, how lovely the light of thy glory' was sung. The preface was the preface of the immaculate conception, with a semi-silent canon again. At communion, the antiphon 'Visitasti terram' was sung with the verses of psalm 66, Deus misereatur nostri. The communion hymn was O Sanctissima. After the postcommunion and blessing,Immaculate Mary was sung as the recessional. I think the postlude was BWV 531. I'm not totally sure.

*Or Sunday in the octave for those of us who kinda-sorta use the pre-55 set of octaves.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

SCORE!


(Click for full size)
This is my desktop's new wallpaper. It's Hawkeye. (This is from the cover of issue #5 of the Dark Reign story arc.) I really would love to read more that has him in it, but with Border's Express closed, I can't get comics unless I go to one of Philly's comic stores and risk looking like a noob.*

*Again. *Sigh*

Friday, February 12, 2010

Ritual Notes.

The Feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes.

This was a solemn high mass using the '62 Roman Missal, with all the stops. (Polyphonic mass setting, all the servers in attendance, six torch bearers, etc.

The church was dark, except for the sanctuary. The people had lighted candles.At the entrance to the sanctuary, we went the short way to the sanctuary. After the 'Procedamus in pace' and response, we went around the church, the same way as last year, but with a station,versicle and collect at the shrine of Our Lady. (The hymn being 'Immaculate Mary'.) bMy boat bearer kept going with the acolytes when I stopped at the altar, and I tried to catch up with him, but he was too far away. After the incensation of the image, and the presentation of a very nice bouquet of roses, the procession continued. The mass setting was the choir's favorite setting* with credo III. Jacque Arcadelt's Ave Maria at the offertory, after the proper chant, and some organ improvisations. I messed up the incensation of the M.C. at the offertory.At communion, the proper chant 'Visitasti terram' was sung with the verses of psalm 66, then some organ improvisations, followed by the hymn 'O Sanctissima'. More improvisations during the last gospel, and the recessional hymn was a rousing rendition of "Hail, all hail great Queen of Heaven!" with full organ on the last verse. I forget what the postlude was. No reception after mass because of the snow.
*I kind of wish that they would use the Palestrina Missa Brevis from time to time like they used to, but now they only use parts of it maybe once a year.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Festal Music.

Fugue on the Magnificat, BWV 733.

Magnificat in B flat, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford.

*Sigh*


Why Marvel, why?

Why couldn't you just be a normal, non-partisan comic book? Why do you have to insult people? Why get political? A good question is, why this? Any idiot knows that Captain America was made explicitly for the reason to fight against socialism. Why suddenly make him pro-socialist? Do they think that we're so dumb as to totally forget his past and just see the new, improved, re-born Captain America? And I was always the staunchest Marvel fan. Now you've gone and done this to me. Why Marvel, why?

Maybe since Stan Lee started doing Japanese manga, this is their way of lashing out? (Stan Lee has a new manga that he's writing with Hiroyuki Takei, the writer/artist of Shaman King.It's called Karakuridoji Ultimo.Look it up, it's okay.The coloring is amazing though.)

And now,

A musical interlude.

Happy Feast day!

(Click for full size.)
"Rejoice, O Father Adam. And do thou, O Mother Eve, exult the more! For although ye both were the parents of all, and the ruin of all, (and what is sadder still, did cause your children's ruin before ye gave them birth,) yet ye may take comfort in your Daughter! Yea, who had ever such a daughter! And most of all mayest thou, O Eve, (from whom the evil came, whose shame hath been handed down to all women,) take comfort in her. But the time is now at hand when that reproach shall be taken away, nor will man have that pretext against woman any more. For man in his haste tried to excuse himself, and hesitated not to accuse woman cruelly, saying : The woman, whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave of the tree, and I did eat. Wherefore, O Eve, run to Mary! O mother, hasten to thy Daughter! Let the Daughter answer for the mother. And let her take away the reproach from her mother. And let her make amends to the father for the mother. For as man fell through a woman, so it is through a Woman that he is raised up again.

What didst thou say, O Adam? The woman, whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. These are spiteful words, more likely to increase than to obliterate thy fault. But Wisdom conquered malice. For she found in the treasury of her unfailing tenderness an opportunity of pardon which God, by his question, had sought to obtain from thee and could not. A Woman is given for a woman, a wise woman for a foolish, an humble for a proud. She holdeth out to thee, not the fruit of death, but the food of life. And instead of bitter poison she giveth thee the sweetness of an eternal fruit. Change then the words of thy wicked excuse into thanksgiving, and say : The Woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the Tree of Life, and I did eat ; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness ; and by the same thou dost quicken me. And to this end it was that the Angel was sent to the Virgin. O wonderful Virgin, most worthy of all honour! O Woman supremely venerable, and admirable above all women! thou hast repaired the sin of thy forefathers, and given life to their posterity!

What else was it that God foretold when he said to the serpent : I will put enmity between thee and the Woman? And if thou still doubtest that he spake of Mary, hear what followeth : She shall bruise thy head. To whom is this victory reserved, if not to Mary? For undoubtedly she crushed that venomous head when she brought to nothing all the suggestions of the evil one, both as regards the lure of the flesh and the pride of the mind. What other woman had Solomon in mind when he said : Who can find a virtuous woman? For the wise man knew that this sex was weak, of body frail, of mind inconstant. But as he had read of God's promise, and saw how fit it was that this evil one, who had conquered by means of a woman, should in his turn, be overcome by a Woman, he said with great wonder : Who shall find a valiant woman? Which is to say : Since the salvation of us all, and the restoration of innocence and victory over the enemy, depend on a woman, valiant indeed must she be to perform so great a work."


-Homily of St.Bernard.

"Thou, O Virgin Mary, art the beuteous dawn of salvation, whence came the Sun of Righteousness, who hath visited us with healing in his wings, even the day-spring from on high."

-Antiphon for the Benedictus, Praeclara salutis aurora.

I've scanned the pages of the office of the day I wrote down.Hopefully I can upload them later. There's still a lot of snow, and the total (minus the snow we already got) is 19 inches. I got an e-mail, and the mass is still on.God willing, all the servers will show.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The Prayer of Our Lord in the Garden.

Of Gethsemani.
It used to be a feast, befor the PiusX reforms, along with the feasts of the Passion of Our Lord, his Crown of Thorns, the Spear and Nails, the Holy Shroud, and his Five Holy Wounds. Until now, I have NEVER seen the offices for these feasts, but I was lucky enough to come across a breviary that has them all.I'll type parts of them out for those who cant find the offices of these feasts.

At I Vespers:

Psalms of Sunday, antiphons as at lauds.
Hymn:
ASPICE ut Verbum Patris a supernis
Sedibus, clemens et amore flagrans
Peditis culpa genitis mederi
Pergit Adami

Flebilem mundi miserans ruinam
et volens nostros reperare casus
Orat, ut prona veniam precatur
Fronte magister

Fluctuat secum tot acerba volvens
Hunc, ait supplex, Calicem doloris
Mi, Pater, transfer: tua sed voluntas
Non mea fiat.

Cum premat tristis pavor ima cordis
deficit languens Dominus:per artus
sanguinis sudor, fluit atque guttis
terra madescit.

At celer sumo veniens olympo
Angelus Iesum recreat iacentem:
Corpori vires redeunt novoque
Robore surgit.

Laus, honor Patri, genitaeque Proli
Cui datum Nomen, super omne nomen
et Paracleto decus atque virtus
Omne per aevum.Amen.

V.Tristis est anima mea
R.usque ad mortem

Ad Mag.ant. Positis genibus orabat dicens Pater si vis transfer calicem istum a me verumtamen non mea voluntas sed tua fiat

Ad laudes:

1Ant. Tunc venit Iesus cum illis in villam quae dicitur Gethsemani et dixit discipulis suis sedete hic donec vadam illuc et orem .
Psalms of Sunday.
2Ant.Et adsumpto Petro et duobus filiis Zebedaei coepit contristari et maestus esse.
3Ant. Tunc ait illis tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem sustinete hic et vigilate mecum.
4Ant.Et progressus pusillum procidit in faciem suam orans et dicens mi Pater si possibile est transeat a me calix iste verumtamen non sicut ego volo sed sicut tu.
5Ant.Pater mi si non potest hic calix transire nisi bibam illum fiat voluntas tu.

Cap.Matt.26.40
Venit ad discipulos et invenit eos dormientes et dicit Petro sic non potuistis una hora vigilare mecum vigilate et orate ut non intretis in temptationem.

Hymn:
VENIT e caelo mediator alto
quem sacri dudum cecinere vates:
parce moerori lacrimisque amoris
filia Sion.

Attulit mortem vetus hortus,unde
culpa prodivit: novus iste vitam
hortus en affert , ubi nocte Iesus
permanet orans

Vindicem placat Genitoris iram:
reprimit forti iacienda dextra
Flumina:occurit, sceleri expiando
sponte redemptor.

Sic terret duros laqueos averni,
et diu clausam reserabit aulam
nos ad aeterni revocans beata
gaudia regni.

Laus, honor Patri, genitaeque Proli
Cui datum Nomen, super omne nomen
et Paracleto decus atque virtus
Omne per aevum.Amen.
V. Doce nos orare
R. Sic ergo orabitis.

Ad Ben. ant.
Factus in agonia prolixius orabat.Et factus est sudor eius sicut guttae sanguinis decurrentis in terram.
Oratio.
Domine Iesu Christe,
qui in horto verbo et exemplo nos orare docuisti
ad tentationem pericula superanda:
Concede, propitius, ut nos orationi semper intenti,
eius copiosum fructum consequi mereamur.
Qui vivis.

At terce.
R.Breve
V. Tristis est* anima mea .Tristis.
R.usque ad mortem*anima mea
Gloria patri.
Tristis.
V. Pater mi si possibile est
R. Transeat me calix iste.

Ad sextam.
Cap.Luc 21:36
Vigilate itaque omni tempore orantes
ut digni habeamini fugere ista omnia
quae futura sunt et stare ante Filium hominis
Resp.Breve.
Pater mi *si possibile est.Pater
R. Transeat me calix iste. si possibile est
Gloria patri
Pater.
V. vigilate et orate
R. ut non intretis in temptationem
Ad nonam.
Cap.Matt.5:44
Orate pro persequentibus et calumniantibus vos
ut sitis filii Patris vestri qui in caelis est.
V.Vigilate,*et orate.Vigilate
R. Ut non intretis in tentationem.*Et orate.
Gloria Patri.
V. Vigilate.
V. Factus est sudor eius.
R. Sicut guttae sanguinis.

At II Vespers:
all as in first vespers, except:

Last psalm:Credidi
V.Factus es Sudor eius
R. Sicut guttae sanguinis

Ad Mag. Ant
Ecce appropinquavit hora, et Filius hominis tradetur in manus peccatorum.


*Sigh*

Eventually, I'm going to have to leave the house. I was hoping I could stay in till tomorrow, but it looks like I'll have to leave. Yesterday, I bought the few things I'll need for the feast day (Mostly candles, but I bought some blue carnations for the altar while I was at 69th street.) I've already decorated it.If I can find my camera's charger than maybe I can take some photos.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The divine office and the Reform.

Many of those talking about a 'Reform of the reform' these days focus almost solely on the mass, and offer suggestions on reforming it and celebrating it in continuity with the older form of mass. But not enough is spoken of the office.

I have just finished reading "History of the Roman Breviary", by Mgr. Pierre Batiffol, and it's a great book. It was a joy to read the rich history of the breviary, but it was sad to hear of the many things which from the earliest days of what can be considered the form of the divine office of Rome were lost or suppressed. The intercessions at vespers, the singing of the Pater noster, the responsories at lauds and vespers, the fixed psalmody of compline, the use of the Gradual Psalms for the day hours, these were all suppressed or had fallen out of use by the middle ages. Some vestiges of these practices remained in the breviaries of religious orders (The benedictine breviary is a good example.) But Rome did not attempt to restore these venerable practices until the Second Vatican Council.

But now, we have seen ever worse suppressions: The complete r-writing of the hymnal under Urban VII, The use of Pius X's scheme of psalms in place of the old Roman psalter, which goes back to St.Jerome, the use of the Gallican Psalter in place of St.Jerome's translation of the psalms, later to be suppressed with Pius XII's new psalter in the 50's. We saw the suppression of most octaves and votive offices, the severe shortening of lessons at matins. Only the last of these was rectified in the Post-vatican II breviary.The psalter was re-done, another octave suppressed, and yet anothr new translation of the psalms .Further, the closing versicles were re-done and office of matins botched up.

I beleive that the breviary needs a severe reform, based not on the 62' breviary, but on the old office of Rome from the tenth century, which is the latest and purest development of the office before gallican accretions and modern reforms tinkered with it.
A more historical rendering of the office, but one suitable for modern times would have:
1) A three-week psalter based on the old Roman scheme
2) The number of psalms at each office as follows: At matins, nine on feasts and solemnities, three on all other days. Four at lauds and vespers, three at all the other hours
3) The restoration of the Pater noster and preces at lauds and vespers
4) A section of votive offices
5)All texts taken from the earliest sources that can be found. Older texts should not be replaced by newer texts, and where there are not enough texts for an office(e.g., antiphons, readings, respnsories,etc.) These ought to be taken from older sources, not newly composed.
6) A two week cycle of daily short readings at all the hours from lauds to vespers
7) A fixed compline.
8)The restoration of the pre-55 octaves.

At this time, thanks to the many options of the new breviary, some of these reforms are feasible even now, without official approbation. Votive offices are now permissible on any feria, and even on other days, so the old octaves may in some sense, be kept. The breviary already gives permission for the use of older antiphons in place of the new ones, but as of yet, this is only allowed in sung offices. Prayers which once formed part of the office but were suppressed can still be legally said outside of the office. With these in mind, this is my order for lauds and vespers. [The bracketed portions are said only at lauds.]

Aperi Domine, Pater and Ave.
[V.Domine labia mea.]
V.Deus in adiutorium
Gloria patri.
[Ps.66, Deus misereatur nostri]
Hymn.
Aniphons and psalms
Reading
Responsory
Antiphon and canticle.
Preces (Said kneeling on the ferias of Advent and Lent, the triduum, and the office of the dead.)
Pater noster.
Collect.
V.Domine nos benedicat.
R.Amen
V.Fidelium animae.
R.Amen.
Final Pater.

This is at least in keeping with the office as it stood before the reforms of Pius XII and the office as it was before gallicanisation of the Roman rite took place.

Wow, I have'nt looked at this in a long while.

The comic I drew for a senior scripture study project. It's never been inked,only done in pencil, it was'nt cleaned, I did'nt draw a cover, and there's no screentone. But it's okay.

Page 1


Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

I'd like to finish it, but the teacher loved it so much that he asked to keep it as an example of wht kind of recreation it's possible to do. I was touched, but reluctant to let it go. I never give people the originals of my work, I let them have a printed copy, but he wouldn't settle for anything less than the original.So I scanned those up quick at school and said goobye to my beloved manuscript.

Maybe that's why they do it in committees?

Translate the mass, that is. I've been trying since Sunday to make a translation of the mass of Our Lady of Lourdes, according to the 2002 revised Roman Missal, but I'm stuck on some parts.The preface has me stumped, and the prayer over the offerings I don't have the last line translated yet. Maybe it'll be done by Sunday. I'm using Common II of the Blessed Virgin, which is the mass that the collect for the day is based on.

*Sigh*

We would, after already getting 28 inches of snow on Saturday, get two more feet The Day Before our patronal festival. Hopefully things will go well.

This...is...so wrong....

THIS.

What does he think he's doing!? It's supposed to be a slow stately MARCH, not a breakneck-speed run. THIS is how it's done*.Slow, stately, follows the musical phrasing indicated on the manuscript. And don't think that it's just me comparing Englishmen and Frenchmen again, because Wills does it the right way too.


*Aside, I love Ben Van Oosten. Almost every recording of Widor/Vierne/Dupre et al that I have is made by him.He's a genius and he knows how to interpret the music properly.His registrations are epic, even when he deviates from the registration specified.

Uh..yeah, that's kind of confusing.

I'm lost here, now I really don't understand how school officials see things. Seeing as how here, they're so stiff that bringing 2-inch plastic guns for lego figures and eating lemon drops gets you arrested, but you can make verbal threats to entire races and nations, even personal threats against the teacher, and get away with it because "Oh, they're only nine."

Serious?! THIS is the stuff that schools are supposed to look for, and yet it's exactly what they pass over. Maybe some day there will be some sort of coherent system for dealing with students, but I doubt it. Bureaucracy does'nt promote solutions for problems, it creates more problems for solutions to be found for.

I wonder if this makes Joe a bad Philadelphian?

That I was brought up from the womb with a seething hatred for both Pat's and Geno's, and I knew that the Best Cheesesteaks could only be found at a pizza store near the University of Penn where my dad worked. And then, forced by friends, I ate from both Pat's and Geno's, and didn't like them.And have done it other times, and still have not liked them. And now I know that the Best Real Cheesesteaks can only be found at Jim's original location, conveniently located around the corner from my house in the Italian neighborhood of West Philly. And that I know that the steaks at the South street location are dry, have too little cheese and overcooked onions, and as such are not properly reprasentative of a True Jim's Steak.

Yeah, I'm probably a bad Philadelphian. [emo][/emo]

And now,

A musical interlude.

Monday, February 8, 2010

(Jealous, Jealous, Jealous.)

Jealous.

And it's only about $55! That's only $15 more than I paid for my breviary. Of course, in my current financial situation, even $55 is a lot of money to spend on something that's not absolutely necessary, so I'll probably have to scrimp and save any money that does'nt go to house bills or my school debt, and hopefully I'll have the money by Lent II. It seems to be a handsome volume, it has half the pages of my breviary*, and the ability to sing the office without spending countless hours writing out/adapting antiphons is a big plus.

So now I'm 'questing' it, as we say on Gaiaonline. That means, you see an item you want, and you don't spend any money until you get it. You let everyone know that you want i, in hope for donations.

On Sacred music:

" Both in tone of voice and in melody should the singing be such as becomes holy devotion, not aiming at the utterance of brilliant dramatic passages, but as setting forth to use true Christian doctrine: not as such as in any way recalls theater, but such as may produce compunction for sin."


-De bono psalmodiae, Nicetas of Remes, ca. 399-400

So yes, the things I was talking about Here apparently go back quite a while. If it was good enough for the fourth-fifth century, it's good enough for me.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Daily Psalm.

Psalm 148, Bristol Cathedral choir.

Pre-Lent:It's what it says.

I wish that the modern calendar still had the mini-season of pre-lent.
We so often hear of priests and laity saying the equivalent of "Oh wow, Lent already?" That's because it comes to quickly. We're basking in the afterglow of the post-Epiphany Sundays, when suddenly, everything is gone.The alleluia is gone, the gloria is gone, as we suddenly find ourselves in a period of harsh penance and discipline. Some say that this is good, that it's almost better to have it all gone in a moment to shock us into the reality of sin and losing the nearness of God. I could agree with that. But taking things practically, it does'nt work. From experience, I don't really get into keeping my lenten disciplines until far into the third week of lent. Before that, it's a smattering of missed fast days, unread spiritual books , and charitable works completely forgotten. Even with all the purple and the daily office, I sometimes forget that I'm in lent.

This year, however, I'm observing the 'gesimas in my own way. I'm carefully adding some of things I'll do in lent. I've made Wednesday a fast day, but not abstinence from meat. Friday is a day of total abstinence, but not a fast day yet. I've started reading just one chapter daily of St.Alphonsus Liguori's "The Way of Salvation and Perfection", and I'm attempting lectio divina for now, with the scriptural readings from Genesis. This way, when lent comes, I can keep it properly. I won't forget to abstain, or to read my spiritual reading, or to say the Penitential Psalms, because I've been halfway doing some of that stuff already. I can leap into lent, not limp into it. Let's just see how it goes and pray that Rome will see the wisdome ofthe Pre-Lent Sundays.

New art.

I'll be re-doing the sky background later.I didn't have time to blend the colors adequately.

Hey guys, can you help me out?

Since it seems that we'll be keeping this cat at least until we find where her owners are, we're going to need a name. I want to name her Colette, but my brother wants to name her Kimahri.* We did want to pick a Final Fantasy (FFVII Of FFX) related name, but all the cool names (Sid, Wakka, Kimahri, Leon) are all male characters' names. The only good female ones are Yuffie, Riku, and Selphie. (Well, the only ones that I know of at least.You're free to suggest your own.)
Of course, there's always the non-gendered names of cities and planets. ButI'm saving Zanarkand for the bulldog we're getting in the future, and Auroch is Ginger's middle name. I guess there's Besaid then. Or I could take a normal name and translate it into the Al-Bhed language.

There's always Kingdom Hearts related names, but she's nothing like Kairi or Riku. Hayner from KH-II is a boy, and so is Roxas. The only name I would pick would be Namine. But then there's always the girls from Organization XIII. Larxene sounds nice.

Sunday.

Uggh..more shoveling to be done. The snowblower broke yesterday, after half-way working and the wind blowing the snow in my face as it went.
Only half of the walk is done. Once again, we were the first people to have a clear walk in front of their house.

I wasn't planning on going to mass today, because there's too much snow, and the SEPTA buses aren't running. Then I decided to go to Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament for the 8:30 mass. No cigar, mass is canceled. So I went to St. Donato's a block or two away. I forgot that the Mercedarians help out there on weekends, so I was'nt expecting to see Fr.Matthew celebrating the mass.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Daily Psalm.

Psalm 8.

...Whaa....?

I was on the porch handing some blinds, when I heard a meowing sound. I thought it might be the neighbor's cat, Holliday, who's indoor/outdoor. But when I opened the door to let him in, there was no cat out there. So I thought there might be a cat in the porch.But there was no cat in the porch. So I put my head down to the floor, and there's a cat in the crawlspace underneath the porch. I went down and got her out. She's a small kitten, probably no older than five months. She's jet black with golden eyes, and very friendly. I don't know what we're going to do with her.

Ginger is territorial, so we've never been able to have another cat with her, except Oreo.(Who does
nt like to stay in the house, and spends 95% of his time on the porch and in the neighborhood.)

..Okay then, since we're basically....

....Snowed in at the moment, I'm going to spend the day doing random house projects that I need to do but just haven't done. I have a door to re-hang, the porch* needs to be cleaned, I have to paint the trim in my room, and the kitchen windows haven't yet been winter-proofed.

Then I have to do some work writing down some chants for my vesperal, and obviously we're not going to the market today.

Friday, February 5, 2010

No....That's not what you mean....

..Not "is".
You mean "Are" not "Is".
500 pieces of snow removing equipment Are being deployed by the city, not is being deployed by the city. I usually love channel 29.Maybe I should stop watching the news.[/GrammarNazi]

This week in the Nanny State:

We're doing a special Children's episode! All dedicated to helping the kiddies be good, law abiding citizens, by making sure that they don't do illegal things like play with toys or doodle. Thanks to the government's Zero Tolerance policies, we can make sure that children are trained to avoid things which are illegal. Chiefly, by making examples of those who break the law. Now, as above, the transgression need'nt actually be serious.In fact, it's better if it is'nt. If we come down hard on lesser crimes, surely the children will refrain from comitting greater crimes. And we have made great progress in this in the past decade. I mean, sure there's little evidence that any of this actually works, and suspensions have increased (which is the complete opposite of our goal) and there's plenty of evidence that it does'nt work, but the principles are golden!

Thanks,North-Eastern Pennsylvania Climate.

Because of the heavy snowfall to come this Friday-Saturday, the First Friday mass is canceled. So basically, I wasted all that time learning all that music for nothing.
*Sigh* And I could have gotten to the Sanctus of my mass setting.

And now,

A musical interlude.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

It's not a rumour! It's true!

Yeah, remember that 2-d side-scrolling Sonic the Hedgehog Game?It's real! It's real! There's even a trailer for it! Please Sega, don't screw this up like you did every single other Sonic game since Sonic spinball.

I wonder what they'll say to me though?


At my last weekend with the brothers, we were getting dinner at a mall after the Walk for Life, and some of the kids* asked them the question they (rather obviously) always get: "Hey, are you guys the Ku Klux Klan?" I guess it comes with the habit: an outward sign of your religious vocation, and being constantly mistaken for the KKK. And I was there when they said it. Me, an obviously not white person. Me, an obviously Black person. And they still asked. I was joking with the brothers that we should have said "This is the new, more inclusive organisation. We're more liberal and fair."

So when, God willing, I make my vows and receive a habit, what are they going to say to me? I'm obviously not in the KKK. I assume they'll think that I'm muslim, since there are no less than three mosques in the neighborhood, and many of the muslims guys where white as well as black. I'll have facial hair by then, so It'll just complete the look.

And won't that be awkward. Mistaking someone who belongs to this order to be a Muslim. Irony of Ironies!
*Those were some, uh, Interesting kids. Yeah, interesting is the word I'll use. I'm generally not afraid of people wearing goth/punk clothes, 'cause they're for the most part suburban posers who've not been immerssed in the actual culture. But these people, they were scary.

Daily Psalm.

Psalm 116,Choir of Christ Church, Nassau, Bahamas.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

More rants on Copyrighting.

This time, I'll let someone else explain.
Well, technically that's trademarking, but it's all based on the same principle.

New art.

A couple, made for Peaceful Revolution, a friend on Gaiaonline.



Siriah, a Gaia mod.

I have seven requests in the shop right now, more than I've had since I opened in September. D:

This cover, right here


..Is the cover of my second oldest issue Of Shonen Jump. Well, this isn't the actual cover, but it's the same issue. My oldest, from February 06' is missing at the moment.

And now,

A musical interlude.

-Hat tip to Michael.

I wonder how many deacons/priests know this?

"In accordance with the centuries-old tradition of the Latin rite, the Latin language is to be retained by clerics in the divine office. But in individual cases the ordinary has the power of granting the use of a vernacular translation to those clerics for whom the use of Latin constitutes a grave obstacle to their praying the office properly. The vernacular version, however, must be one that is drawn up according to the provision of Art. 36."

-Sacrosanctum Concilium,no. 101.

I had heard that Vatican II required priests and deacons to say the office in Latin unless given permission by the Bishop, but thought it was unsubstantiated and probably untrue.

I retract that claim now.

And also:
"96. Clerics not bound to office in choir, if they are in major orders, are bound to pray the entire office every day, either in common or individually, as laid down in Art. 89."

-Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 96

I had been told that clerics only had to recite lauds and vespers, and that all other hours were optional. Now I see that that's not true either.

It's what I've been saying all along.*Edited*

That music really can be sacred.

And I mean music. The actual music. The little dots written on the little lines can be sacred. Not the words, not the text, but the actual music being sung in itself can have a sacred quality. And there's a test for it too. Take something, play it with the instruments appropriate for it, sing the tune without the words. Does it seem like anything other than church music? Does it sound like a commercial jingle? Does it sound like a rock ballad? Does it sound like a pop song?* Does it sound like something from a Broadway musical? Then it's probably not sacred music.Compare it with something like this. Even if the music was just being sung on a single vowel, it does'nt sound like something you'd hear at a club, or something you'd rock out to on the radio. That's the basic distinction made by Pius X in Tra Le Sollecitudini when he said:
"It must be holy, and must, therefore, exclude all profanity not only in itself, but in the manner in which it is presented by those who execute it."

And:
"Still, since modern music has risen mainly to serve profane uses, greater care must be taken with regard to it, in order that the musical compositions of modern style which are admitted in the Church may contain nothing profane, be free from reminiscences of motifs adopted in the theaters, and be not fashioned even in their external forms after the manner of profane pieces."


There is of course, music already written with these principles. It's the music that any and all modern compositions should be based on. Gregorian chant. The popes of liturgical reform, from Pius X even to Benedict XVI, gloriously reigning, have taught and reiterated that Gregorian chant is the music of the Roman rite. It's the music of the Roman rite in the same sense that rails are the means of going for a train. They were made for each other, and so inextricably bound up that to remove it and replace it with something else derails the whole operation. And just as rails guide a train, Gregorian chant is supposed to guide composers in sacred music.

I'll give you some examples here. Ave Maris stella, Marcel Dupre, Veni Creator, Durufle.
You can see, just from these organ works the principle at work. You can hear the tune for the gregorian hymn 'Ave Maris Stella' in Dupre's work. You can hear the music for the Gregorian hymn 'Veni Creator Spiritus' in Durufle's work. And what you see here in this organ music is also, as it should be, in choral music. Hans Leo Hassler's Ave Maris stella.Woven into the polyphony is the gregorian chant, just as Vatican II and Pius X said it should be. The same goes for mass settings. Palestrina set his missa "Nigra Sum" to the chant of the same name, which comes from the divine office. Even till fairly recently, composers like Durufle and Messien were writing their masses on the sacred chants of the church.

But then something happenned. People decided that 'Sacred' did'nt really mean anything in particular. Anything could be sacred. Any music, any song, if you say it's sacred, that it is.Hence it is that much of the 'sacred' music being used in parishes is admittedly, not set apart, not holy, not kept from anything profane. Instead, they try to be what is profane, in the sense that, whatever is commonly used outside of the church in music must become the church's music.
They often appeal to the example of the great masters, who wrote masses and motets based on secular art songs. But their work was different from that of modern composers. They wrote sacred music based on secular tunes.They did not take sacred texts and set them to secular tunes, or purpousely write masses to sound like secular music rather than sacred music.Theire writing was like a tapestry.From the secular tune, they wove a complex musical composition different from the tune, yet containing the tune interwoven in the harmonies. Similar to Hassler's setting of the Ave Maris Stella. The tune is in the music, but it does not encompass the music. The music of the modern writers is more like a screenprinting. They take the secular genres, and paste the texts of the sacred music onto them. This is divorced both from the musical tradition of the church and the liturgical tradition.

The Second Vatican Council called and pleaded for a return to the use of Gregorian Chant, sacred polyphony (The music written based on Gregorian chant) and the composition of new works with Gregorian chant as it;s reference and base.Somehow, we have (as in so many things) see the complete opposite happen.

*I'm a terrible person.With few exceptions, I share my brother's dislike of pop music.Actually, he hates it, and sounding like pop music is the worse insult you can say to him.

Thank you, Google.


Norman Rockwell happens to be my favorite American Artist.

(Joe, who totally wasted his last Border's Rewards coupon to buy a $50 book of all of Norman Rockwell's collecting drawings and illustrations. It was half price, mind you, so it was really only $25)

Candor est lucis aeterne...

..Et speculum sine macula.

I'm very happy that the Liturgia Horarum gives you the option to chose appropriate antiphons and hymns that may be different from those given, when there is no written melody or setting given for them in Gregorian chant. For the most part, I haven't taken this option. I think I've only done it on the feast of Our Lady of Mercy.
But I'm going to do it again very soon.
I'm using the antiphons from the old office 'Candor est lucis aeterne', the office for the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes before the Council. I am using the benedictus antiphon for Lauds, "praeclara salutis", but at I vespers I'm using the antiphon 'Ista est columba mea', and at II vespers, the antiphon 'Hodie gloriosa caeli regina' for the magnificat. Hymns, readings, and responsories from the common. Of course, the only problem is that I'll need nine antiphons for the office, but I'll only have five. For the other four, I can either repeat antiphons, or take some from the office of the immaculate conception.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Festal Music.

Nunc Dimittis, G.P. Da Palestrina. Sung by the Tallis scholars.

The obligatory annual Sarum Post.

High Mass, use of Salisbury.

Candlemas.

Collect of the day:*

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, we humbly beseech thy majesty, that as Thine only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in the substance of our flesh,so too Thou wouldst grant us to be presented unto thee with purified souls.Through our Lord.


At the blessing of candles:

1st prayer:
O GOD, fount and origin of all light. who as on this day didst shew to Just Simeon thy light for the revelation to the gentiles: We humbly pray thee, that thou wouldst deign to santify + and bless these candles, which thy people devotedly receive. That they who assemble to carry them to the laud of thy name may through the paths of virtues, merit to arrive at the light which never faileth. Through our Lord.

2nd prayer:
O GOD, the true light and propagator of the eternal light, pour forth into the hearts of thy faithful the brightness of thy perpetual light. That whosoever commemorateth thy presentation in the holy temple, in the splendour of thy brightness, may joyfully arrive at the glory of thy light. Who liveth.

*All prayers are from the modern Roman missal.

Daily Psalm.


Psalm 24, Choir of St.John's, Detroit.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Practice went well.


I'm glad.Though the boat bearer didn't show, and I'll probably want to explain some things to him later.Boat bearer is of course, a rather difficult and complicated job.You know, you have to follow the thurifer around just holding something and standing there for a while.It's easy to get confused!

And the torchbearers from midnight mass won't be torchbearers for the feast day.They'll be 'in choro'.

Hmmmm....

...So I have three bottles: One of which I know is holy water, because I've used it since I got it.Then I have two more bottles of water: One if which is holy water, and the other is just a bottle of spring water that I brought up for Ginger to drink. Only I don't know which is the holy water and which is just spring water. So I don't know what to do. Dispose of both in the yard? Use both anyway? Go to South Street near 4th where the goths hang out, throw a bottle at one, and whichever makes them burn is the right one?