Mary, Queen of Apostles.

"The perfect model of this spiritual and apostolic life is the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, the Queen of Apostles, who, while she lived on earth the life common to all, filled with labours and care of her family, was always most closely joined with her Son, and cooperated in the work of the Saviour in an entirely singular way. Moreover now, assumed into heaven 'by her motherly love she takes care of the brothers of her Son who are still on the way [to their eternal home] and who are involved in dangers and difficulties, until they are led to the blessed Fatherland.' Let all most devoutly honour her, and commend their life and apostolate to her motherly care."

Apostolicam Actuositatem,Chapter 1.

In the Kalendar, before local feasts were suppressed, there was a feast of Our Lady, Queen of Apostles, that was celebrated on this date.( The Saturday within the octave of the Ascension.)

Though the office for that feast had been supressed, in a way, it has been brought back in the new breviary. It's collect was revived in 1968 as an optional collect in the Common of the Blessed Virgin during eastertide:

"Deus, qui Apóstolis tuis, cum María matre Iesu orántibus, Sanctum dedísti Spíritum, da nobis, ut, ipsa intercedénte, maiestáti tuæ fidéliter servíre et nóminis tui glóriam verbo et exémplo diffúndere valeámus. Per Dóminum."

In the 80's, the mass was also restored in the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (Which same, alsp has the mas of Our Lady of Mercy, patroness of our Order.)

Alleluia!

Surrexit a mortuis Christus Dei Filius, Pastor nobis de sepulchro, Alleluia!

Surrexit a mortuis, C.M. Widor.

Don't say anything about the music choice, It's GLORIOUS! It's proper. Happy easter, blessed paschaltide to everyone!

And here's some more organ music for you.

And here's some more choral music for you.

I'm kind of happy that the triddum is almost over ('Almost' because it does'nt technically end till vespers tonight.) I love it though. Passiontide and Holy week are my absolute favourite part of the entire liturgical. I'll miss it, since this was my last passiontide at home at my own parish. We did it up right though: Glorious choral music, well performed ceremonies, nice vestments, excellent preaching. All the right things. Thanks be to God, the bishop loved the music on Good Friday, and everyone loved the passion. I'll admit, that was my first time singing in front of people since I was 11, and I was scared witless. My knees were knocking, my hands were shaking, my heart was doing donuts in the driveway and I'm not entirely sure I was breathing at all for the first 5 minutes. If I sounded any good, all the credit goes to Colin Mawby and Stephen Cleobury. It was their choirs that I used to imitate to get a high, clear voice. I don't know if I succeeded, but I hope I did.

Lady Day.

(From the Nuremburg Chronicles)
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O God, whose word deigned to receive true human flesh in the womb of the Virgin,grant, we beseech thee, that as we confess him to be our Redeemer, God and man, we may therefore merit ot be sharers in his divine nature. Who livest and reignest with thee.

The Immaculate Conception.

O Dawn, sweet herald of that Sun
Whose day salvation's course doth run;
Plead Thou, we pray, O Maid of light,
That we may brave the soul's dark night.

As once the Ark of God, in peace
Made Jordan's angry waves to cease,
Which else had whelmed the passers-through;
So bring to man God's peace anew.

As wet the fleece and dry the ground,
Or dry the fleece with dew all 'round,
Like Thee, kept free of earth's control;
Pray God for every earh-bound soul.

As, when the dragon reared his head
To belch abroad his poison dread,
Him Thou didst crush beneath Thy feet;
Sure victory for us entreat.

O Mother kind, look on our tears;
Regard our struggles, prayers, and fears;
Thou who by grace didst conquer hell,
Aid us its power to repel.


All honour, laud, and glory be,
O Jesu, Virgin-born, to Thee;
Whom with the Father we adore,
And Holy Ghost, for evermore. Amen.

Hymn,Lauds.

V.I will magnify thee,O Lord, for thou hast set me up.
R. And not made my enemies to triumph over me.

Collect of the day:

O God, Who in the foreknowledge of Thy Son's most precious death didst consecrate for Him a dwelling place by the spotless Conception of the Blessed Virgin : mercifully grant that She Who was preserved from all defilement may evermore pray for us until we attain unto Thee in purity of heart. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

And now, Tota Pulchra Es Maria.- Maurice Durufle.

And alsoe,

My two favourite sections form my second favourite setting of the requiem mass-Faure's.

All Saints Day.

"Master William of Auxerre putteth six reasons, in the sum of the office, wherefore it was established that we should here in this world make solemnity of the saints. The first is, for the honour of the divine majesty, for when we do honour the saint or saints, we honour God in his saints, and say that he is marvellous in them. For who that doth honour to saints, he honoureth him specially which hath sanctified them. The second is to have aid in our infirmity, for by ourselves we may have none health, therefore have we need of the prayers of saints, and therefore we ought to honour them, that we may deserve that they aid and help us. It is read in the Third Book of Kings, of the first chapter, that Beersheba is as much to say as the pit of filling, which is to say the church triumphant saying to her son, that is to say that to the church triumphant he had obtained the reign by his prayers. The third cause is for the augmentation of our surety, that is to say for the glory that is purposed in us; in their solemnity our hope and surety be augmented and increased. And if mortal men and dead might thus be enhanced by their merits, it is truth that the might and puissance shall nothing thereby be minished ne lessed. The fourth for the example of us following. For when the feast is remembered, we be called to ensue and follow them. So that by the example of them we despise all earthly things, and desire celestial things. The fifth is for the debt of interchanging neighbourhood, for the saints make of us feast in heaven. For the angels of God and the holy souls have joy and make feast in heaven of a sinner that doth penance, and therefore it is right when they make of us feast in heaven, that we make feast of them in earth. The sixth is for the procuration of our honour, for when we honour the saints we procure our honour, for their solemnity is our dignity, for when we worship our brethren we worship ourselves, for charity maketh all to be common, and our things be celestial, earthly and perdurable."

From the Golden Legend.

Ascendit Christus super cælos..

"Christ ascended above the heavens, and prepared a place of immortality for his most chaste Mother: and this is that goodly festival, incomparable to the feasts of all the Saints, on which the Glorious and Happy, all the orders of the heavenly court a-wondering, came to the ethereal nuptial chamber: so that no one should be unmindful of the pious memory of it."

-Magnificat antiphon, first vespers.

The office today is so lovely. And so was today's mass, even if I was so drugged up on Alavert that I barely remember it. Notes to come later.

Lady Day.

Receive the Word, O Virgin Mary, which is sent thee by the Angel from the Lord ; thou shalt conceive, and bring forth him who is God and Man,*And thou shalt be called blessed among all women.
Thou a Maiden undefiled shalt bear for us the Holy Child ; this grace is given alone to thee, a Virgin and Mother both to be.
*And thou shalt be called blessed among all women.

Novena to St.Joseph.

Starts today.

O Blessed St. Joseph, tenderhearted father, faithful guardian of Jesus, chaste spouse of the Mother of God, I pray you join with me in praising God the Father through His Divine Son Who died on the cross and rose again to give us sinners new life. Through the holy Name of Jesus, pray with me that we may obtain from the eternal Father the favor we ask for (state your intention).

We have been unfaithful to the unfailing love of God the Father; beg of Jesus mercy for us His brothers and sisters. Amid the splendors of God's loving Presence, do not forget the sorrows of those who weep. By your prayers and those of your most holy spouse, our blessed Lady, may the love of Jesus answer our call of confident hope. Amen.

Bless me, O dearly beloved Father, St. Joseph; bless my body and my soul; bless my resolutions, my words and deeds, all my actions and omissions, my every step; bless all that I possess, all my interior and exterior goods, that all may redound to the greater honor of God. Bless me for time and eternity, and preserve me from every sin. Obtain for me the grace to make atonement for all my sins by love and contrition here on earth, so that after my last breath I may, without delay, prostrate at thy feet return thee thanks in Heaven for all the love and goodness thou, O dearest Father, hast shown me here below. Amen.

Pray 3 Our Father's, 3 Hail Mary's, and 3 Glory Be's in thanksgiving to God for the graces and prerogatives bestowed on St. Joseph.

O blessed Joseph, foster father of my Savior and chaste spouse of the mother of God, this day I irrevocably adopt thee for my intercessor with the Almighty as well as my model, my protector and my father in this valley of exile. O St. Joseph, whom the Lord constituted guardian of His Family, I beseech thee to extender thy tender solicitude over all my interests. Kindle in my heart a vehement love for Jesus and enable me to serve Him with all thy devotedness and fidelity. Aid my inability to venerate Mary as my advocate, to honor her as my Queen and to love her as my Mother. Be my never-failing guide in the way of virtue and piety, and grant that, after having faithfully followed thee in the path of justice, I may receive thy powerful protection at the hour of my death. Amen.

C'mon St.Joseph! Get me a job! Minimum wage a plus, but not necessary!

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.

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.

Heads up!

February 11, the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, there's a procession and Solemn High mass at 7:30. I was talking to Br.David about it this morning, and he told me about they twice asked Canon Reid if they could borrow some vestments from St.Clem's (Once for midnight mass, and the second time for this patronal feast day) Both times, the vestry said no. Now they're trying Good Shepherd,Rosemont. Since I know he'll be reading this eventually, I would suggest St.Mark's as well. They have quite a few high quality gothic sets. Now, If they're very polite and nice, I hope they can borrow the Comper high mass set. I love Comper's work, and I especially love that set. There's regretably very little of it in the U.S. But yeah, I hope they can get it.

Holy Name of Jesus

"For let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:6 Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. 8 He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. 9 For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names: 10 That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth:11 And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father."
Phillipians 2:5-11
Remember, even in the modern Roman rite, priests and other liturgical ministers are still required to bow the head at the name of Jesus whenever it occurs in the liturgy. Sad fact that many priests decide to dispense themselves of this rule on their own authority because they think it's it 'medieval' or 'fussy'.
Pray the Litany of the Holy Name, the hymn 'Iesu Dulcis Memoria', or the Psalter of Jesus in reparation for blaspemies against the Holy Name today!

The Holy Mother of God.

"As the bush which Moses saw unconsumed, even so preserved is thy laudable virginity. O Mother of God, intercede for us!"
- Last antiphon, vespers of the feast.

A sermon by St. Leo the Pope:

Dearly beloved brethren, whosoever will keep this day's festival with true reverence and due honour, must neither think falsely of the Lord's Incarnation, nor meanly of the Godhead. For as there is danger of not realizing the truth of Christ's humanity, so is there no less danger of failing to recognize his equality in glory with his Father. Wherefore, when we try to contemplate the mystery of Christ's birth, wherein he was born of a Virgin Mother, we must soar above the clouds of earthly imagination, and with the eye of enlightened faith pierce through the fog of earthly wisdom.

The authority on which we believe is the authority of God himself ; and the teaching which we follow is the very teaching of God himself. Therefore it is true, whether we lend an ear to the testimony of the Law, or to the sayings of the Prophets, or to the trumpet of the Gospel. This latter did John the Son of Thunder sound, when, filled with the Holy Ghost, he proclaimed : In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ; the Same was in the beginning with God ; all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made. True also is the witness of John when he saith : The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father.

The Person of the Son of God therefore remaineth unchanged and one, though he hath two natures, keeping his own, and taking ours. He cometh on earth as man to be the restorer of man, but abideth all the while in his unchangeable Godhead. That Godhead which he shareth with the Father was not a whit the less almighty, nor did the form of a servant touch the form of God to derogate from it. The Most High and Everlasting Being, bending down for man's salvation, took the Manhood into his glory. Yet he ceased not to be that which he is from everlasting. Hence we see the only-begotten Son of God in one place confessing that the Father is greater than he, and in another declaring that he and the Father are One. This is an evident proof of the distinction of his two natures, and the unity of his Person. For he is inferior to the Father as touching his Manhood, and yet equal to the Father as touching his Godhead. Albeit, though he be God and Man, he is not two, but One Christ.

"When thou wast born all ineffably of a Virgin, then were the Scriptures fulfilled; thou camest down like the dew upon the fleece of wool, to bring salvation unto all mankind ; we praise thee, O our God."
- Second antiphon, Vespers.

"O God, who by the child-bearing of a pure Virgin hast bestowed upon all mankind the rewards of everlasting life : grant, we beseech thee ; that we may know the succour of her intercession, through whom we have been found worthy to receive the Author of life, even Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord : Who liveth and reigneth with thee."
-Collect of the day.