SUNDAY XVIII at EIGHT O'CLOCK

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Entrance hymn: #576 O God, our help in ages past ("St. Anne") (Listen)

- The third verse echoes the first versicle of today's Responsorial Psalm: "A thousand ages in thy sight are like an evening gone, short as the watch that ends the night before the rising sun."

Gloria: Holy Angels Mass (BMP) (Listen) or recited

Psalm 90: R./ If today you hear his voice... (Owen Alstott)

Alleluia: Mode VI

Offertory hymn: #628 Abide with me ("Eventide") (Listen)

Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation, Amen and Agnus Dei: #'s 874, 875, 878 and 879 respectively Heritage Mass (Owen Alstott)
Hymn during Communion: Panis Angelicus (Hungarian tune) (Listen)

- Recognize the voice in the listen link? ;)

Meditation hymn: #221 Soul of my Savior ("Anima Christi") (Listen)

Recessional hymn: #553 Immortal, invisible, God only wise ("St. Denio") (Listen)

- A new hymn tune that will be repeated the following Sunday as well.

Quod scripsi, scripsi!
BMP

SUNDAY XVII at EIGHT O'CLOCK

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Entrance hymn: #473 Faith of our fathers ("St. Catherine") (Listen)
Gloria: Holy Angels Mass (BMP) (Listen) or recited
Psalm 138: R./ Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me (PDF)
Alleluia: setting by Dom Anthony Gregory Murray, OSB (Listen)
Offertory hymn: #701 O God, almighty Father ("Gott Vater, Sei Gepriesen") (Listen)
Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation, Amen and Agnus Dei: #'s 874, 875, 878 and 879 respectively Heritage Mass (Owen Alstott)
Hymn during Communion: To you I lift my soul ("Love Unknown")
Meditation hymn: #510 Make me a channel of your peace ("Prayer of St. Francis") (Listen)
- The listen link given here is a nifty arrangement as sung at Westminster Abbey.  My accompaniment is based on the listen link version, but a little slower, but not as slow as often heard at most parishes on this side of the lake.
Recessional hymn: #59 Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates ("Truro") (Listen)

Quod scripsi, scripsi!
BMP

SUNDAY XVI at EIGHT O'CLOCK

"Mary has chosen the better part and it shall not be taken from her."

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Entrance hymn: #576 O God, our help in ages past ("St. Anne") (Listen)
Gloria: Holy Angels Mass (BMP) (Listen) or recited
Psalm 15: R./ He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord (BMP) (PDF)
Alleluia: setting by Dom Anthony Gregory Murray, OSB (Listen)
Offertory hymn: #667 Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All ("Sweet Sacrament") (Listen)
Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation, Amen and Agnus Dei: #'s 874, 875, 878 and 879 respectively Heritage Mass (Owen Alstott)
Hymn during Communion: Sing, all creation ("Coelites Plaudant")
Meditation hymn: #666 O saving Victim ("Werner") (Listen)
- While the listen link is to the Latin "O Salutaris Hostia", we will sing the verses in English to this tune.
Recessional hymn: #526 Let all things now living ("Ash Grove") (Listen)
- Another revived classic!

Quod scripsi, scripsi!
BMP

SUNDAY XV at EIGHT O'CLOCK

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Entrance hymn: #434 Love divine, all loves excelling ("Hyfrydol") (Listen)
- Same tune as "Alleluia! sing to Jesus"
Gloria: Holy Angels Mass (BMP) (Listen) or recited
Psalm 19: R./ Your words, Lord, are spirit and life (BMP) (PDF)
- This is the second of two options given for this Sunday's Psalm.
Alleluia: setting by Dom Anthony Gregory Murray, OSB (Listen)
Offertory hymn: #450 The King of love my shepherd is ("St. Columba") (Listen)
Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation, Amen and Agnus Dei: #'s 874, 875, 878 and 879 respectively Heritage Mass (Owen Alstott)
Responsory during Communion: Ubi caritas (Mode VI/in Mass Guide)
- The meditation hymn after Communion is a translation of the above Latin responsory.
Meditation hymn: #429 Where charity and love prevail ("Christian Love") (Listen)
- Today's Gospel talks about loving God, and each other.  This hymn, as well as the Latin counterpart during Communion, echoes those sentiments.
Recessional hymn: #724 Rejoice! the Lord is King ("Darwall's 148th") (Listen)

Quod scripsi, scripsi!
BMP

SUNDAY XIV at 8:00, and "RETURN TO NORMALCY"

While we've been in the season known to many as "Ordinary Time" (or to some, perhaps, "Boring Time"), we're finally back to the numbered Sundays of the Year (or more literally, "through the Year", from the Latin "per Annum") after a string of Solemnities throughout June.  One might be quick to call it a "return to normalcy" (after the great seasons of Lent, Passiontide and Easter, plus several June solemnities).  "Return to normalcy" is the phrase attributed to President Warren Harding in 1920, after our nation going through World War I.

Given the Psalm response, Let all the earth cry out to God with joy, our entrance hymn begins, All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice..., using the classic hymn tune "Old Hundredth".  Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote an arrangement of the hymn for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953.  The first and final verses begin with fanfares that call for "all available trumpets".  In writing this, Vaughan Williams was asked to write a short motet for the Coronation.  Instead, "If you can persuade the Archbishop to have a hymn in the Coronation serivce," he quipped to the organist of Westminster Abbey, "I'll make a mess-up of 'Old Hundredth.'" (Source)

Speaking of Ralph (or "Raph", rhymes with "safe", depending on who you're talking to) Vaughan Williams, he wrote several other hymn tunes.  One of them, "Sine Nomine" (Latin for "Without Name"), is the tune to which we sang last week's entrance hymn, For all the saints.

One one of the several Facebook pages I frequent that are on the topic of church music, some have asked whether or not anyone is doing any "patriotic" music either the weekend before or after Independence Day (July 4, the day I just happen to be writing this post).  I opted for this weekend for two reasons: 1) the Fourth falls on a Friday this year, making this weekend a "three-day weekend", and 2) last weekend was the Solemnity of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul, which took a much higher priority.  So, this Sunday we will close with America, the Beautiful.

So, without further ado...

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Entrance hymn: #313 All people that on earth do dwell ("Old Hundredth") (Listen)

- The listen link is to the aforementioned "The Old Hundredth Psalm Tune", Ralph Vaughan Williams' "mess-up of Old Hundredth", complete with brass.  As the hymn was written for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, it was only fitting that his "mess-up" was encored for her 50th Anniversary of her Coronation.

Gloria: Holy Angels Mass (BMP) (Listen) or recited
Psalm 66: R./ Let all the earth cry out to God with joy (Fr. Samuel F. Weber, OSB)

Alleluia: setting by Dom Anthony Gregory Murray, OSB (Listen)
Offertory hymn: #551 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven ("Lauda Anima") (Listen)

- The listen link here is one that pairs a majestic pipe organ with a digital organ.  The venue: the famed Methuen Music Hall in Methuen, Massachusetts.  The organs: the equally famed Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ and a smaller digital organ.  I don't quite remember if the digital organ was either a Rodgers or a Marshall & Ogeltree.  The two organists in this link were, sure enough, Douglas Marshall and David Ogeltree.  In addition to building their own digital product as "Marshall & Ogeltree", they were at one time the longtime New England distributor for Rodgers organs (our organ, incidentally, is a Rodgers).
Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation, Amen and Agnus Dei: #'s 874, 875, 878 and 879 respectively Heritage Mass (Owen Alstott)

Hymn during Communion: In the Cross of Christ I glory ("Charlestown")
- Cute little Early American tune.
Meditation hymn: #667 Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All ("Sweet Sacrament") (Listen)
- Repeated from last week to gain more familiarity as we revisit this beloved Catholic classic.  This hymn will come up again in a couple of weeks.
Recessional hymn: #732 America, the Beautiful ("Materna")
- I really don't think we need a listen link for this one, do we?  Nah! ;)

Happy Independence Day weekend!

Quod scripsi, scripsi!
BMP

SUNDAY XIII, er, I mean, SS. PETER AND PAUL (Eight O'Clock Version)

This Sunday we celebrate the sixth and final in a string of June solemnities that started with Pentecost, followed by Trinity, Corpus Christi, St. John the Baptist, Most Sacred Heart, and now SS. Peter and Paul, which this year for the first time since 2008 falls on a Sunday, and as a subsequence trumps what normally would be the 13th Sunday of the Year.

Like the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (which was last Tuesday), there are two different Masses for SS. Peter and Paul - a Vigil Mass (Saturday) and a Mass of the Day (Sunday), thus the readings (including the Psalm) differ between the two Masses.

That said...

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Entrance hymn: #708 For all the saints ("Sine Nomine") (Listen)
Gloria: Holy Angels Mass (BMP) (Listen) or recited
Psalm 34: R./ The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him (Fr. Samuel Weber, OSB)
Alleluia: setting by Dom Anthony Gregory Murray, OSB (Listen)
Offertory hymn: #215 By all your saints still striving ("St. Theodulph"/verses 1, 2 and 13) (Listen)
- Verse 13 is specifically written for the feast of SS. Peter and Paul.  The tune is that of the Palm Sunday staple, "All glory, laud and honor".
Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation, Amen and Agnus Dei: #'s 874, 875, 878 and 879 respectively Heritage Mass (Owen Alstott)
Communion responsory: Psalm 19, R./ O Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you, alleluia. (BMP/adapted from "Surgit in Haec Dies")
Meditation hymn: #667 Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All ("Sweet Sacrament") (Listen)
- An old Catholic classic, text written by Fr. Frederick Faber, who is most famous for authoring "Faith of our fathers".  At long last, OCP finally included this treasure in the Breaking Bread hymnal.
Recessional hymn: Ye watchers and ye holy ones ("Lasst uns Erfreuen") (Listen)

Happy feast!

Quod scripsi, scripsi!
BMP

THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST (at 8:00)

I think I might have mentioned this bit of trivia that might be useless to some while others might remember, and had I not been experienced with the Extraordinary Form of the Mass (1962 Missal Traditional Latin Mass) at Holy Name in Providence, I might have never known either, but until the promulgation of the 1969 Missal (Ordinary Form of the Mass), Corpus Christi (the Body of Christ) and the Most Precious Blood were two seperate feasts.  In fact, Corpus Christi wasn't even on a Sunday back then, although some churches who do celebrate the Extraordinary Form will celebrate Corpus Christi on a Sunday as an "external solemnity".

Until 1969, Corpus Christi was celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, thus the following Sunday was simply the Second Sunday after Pentecost.  Thus, Corpus Christi was (and still is) a moveable feast that depends on the date of Easter.  The Most Precious Blood, however, was celebrated on the fixed date of July 1.

Since 1969, Corpus Christi has been celebrated on the Sunday after Trinity Sunday (or the Second Sunday after Pentecost), and the Most Precious Blood removed from the liturgical calendar, thus the new name for this Sunday given in recent years, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  Interestingly enough, the 1974 Roman Gradual lists the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ as the Thursday after Trinity.  Turns out that, yes, it's on a Sunday in this country, but in many other countries, it's still on the Thursday.

That said, we will be singing Eucharistic-themed hymns today.  Even Alleluia! sing to Jesus! has a Eucharistic theme going in verses 3 and 4 with lines like "Alleluia! Bread of Angels, thou on earth our food, our stay" (verse 3), and "Thou on earth both Priest and Victim in the Eucharistic Feast" (verse 4).  Oh, and let's not forget verse 1, which ends "Jesus, out of every nation hath redeemed us by his Blood."

The recessional hymn is Holy God, we praise thy Name.  While the verses given don't mention the Eucharist particularly, this is the hymn that is customarily sung at many a Eucharistic Benediction as the Blessed Sacrament returns to the Tabernacle.  You'll find this in the inside back cover of the Breaking Bread hymnal.  However, the third verse (not found in the back cover, but in the hymn section) ends with "And adoring bend the knee while we own the Mystery!"

And now, without further ado...

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Entrance hymn: #714 Alleluia! sing to Jesus ("Hyfrydol") (Listen)
Gloria: Holy Angels Mass (BMP) (Listen) or recited
Psalm 110: You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek (BMP) (PDF)
Sequence: Lo! the angel's food is given (Mode V)
- NOTE: This is the short form, the last four verses of a much longer sequence, "Laud, O Sion, thy salvation" (which is 24 verses).  Thankfully (for many, I'm sure) the short form is an option.  In 1962 it was not!  In fact, since 1969, the sequence for this day is optional.  Before that, it was required!
Alleluia: setting by Dom Anthony Gregory Murray, OSB (Listen)

Offertory hymn: #372 Lord, who at thy first Eucharist didst pray ("Unde et Memores") (Listen)
Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation, Amen and Agnus Dei: #'s 874, 875, 878 and 879 respectively Heritage Mass (Owen Alstott)
Communion anthem: Panis Angeicus (Cesar Franck)
Meditation hymn: #26 Down in adoration falling ("St. Thomas") (You will find this not in the hymn section, but at the bottom of page 116 - we will sing verses 5 and 6 in English.)
Recessional hymn: #206 Holy God, we praise thy Name ("Grosser Gott") (Listen)

Quod scripsi, scripsi!
BMP