St. Edmund Campion Missal and Hymnal

For those of you familiar with Corpus Christi Watershed, you already know of its great value. The people behind this, specifically Jeff Ostrowski, have done tremendous work for the liturgy. A theorist, organist and conductor, Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas where he has also done post graduate work in Musicology. He resides with his young family, appropriately, in Corpus Christi, Texas.

I first came across the website's Chabanel Psalms a few years ago and found them refreshing; but that is only the beginning. The resources on this page are second to none for the liturgy in either the Ordinary or Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite. The Vatican II Hymnal is a great contribution to the "reform of the reform" and the right execution of the Ordinary Form.

However, this is something which I have personally been waiting for since it was first announced. 

Exquisite original artwork

Without exaggeration, this new St. Edmund Campion Missal and Hymnal has the potential to be the greatest aid to the traditional liturgy since the Holy Father's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum and its follow-up Instruction, Universae Ecclesiae!

As most people coming to the traditional Mass still don't have their own Missal, the little red missalette is prevalent and Sunday Propers are on hand-outs. This hymnal and its incredible pricing means no more handouts. All Gregorian Masses plus "ad libitums," Creeds, the Marian Antiphons, Asperges and other simple chants has the potential of finally ushering in Tra le Sollecitudini -- yes, this hymnal is that important. The people have become the "choir" but never before has it all been collected into one place, the Ordinary and Propers of the Missal (for Sundays and First Class Feasts, etc),  the Sung Masses and a superb collection of hymnody that is not the schmaltz and syrupy sentimentality sung in most places which is no better than that sung in many Ordinary Masses. The custom letter art is outstandingly beautiful and a superb addition and the restored line-art is something wonderful to behold.

Sample page of the Confiteor

As a Cantor, as a Schola-Master and Choir Director as President of a Society for the traditional liturgy and organizer of many Masses according to the Ancient Use of the Roman Rite and as someone who believes in the goals of St. Pius X and the true liturgical movement;  I thank and congratulate Corpus Christi Watershed and Jeff Ostrowski for this great benefit to our work. This is going to be of tremendous benefit to all of us without a doubt. There is no hymn book  more important to the proper development of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite in parishes than the St. Edmund Campion Missal and Hymnal.

David Anthony Domet
Vox Cantoris

Additional information on the Missal

1. A special Organ Accompaniment Book is being prepared with harmonizations for all the hymns, accompaniments for the simple chants, and High and Low key accompaniments to the entire Kyriale. This book will be available in early 2013.

2. A special DVD with more than 400 pieces of traditional Catholic artwork from the Missal is in production. More information will be forthcoming.

3. It was difficult to select the devotional prayers due to the great number available, and we hope the prayers we included by St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, St. Ignatius Loyola, and Servant of God Fulton Sheen will suffice.

4. At a later date, we plan on releasing special “St. Edmund Campion” booklets to supplement the Missal. One will be for Stations of the Cross, another for Traditional Baptisms. Information will be forthcoming.

5. We plan to make our book available on Amazon.com at a future date.

6. Photographs made possible by priests and seminarians of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. All vestments used were 200+ years old.

7. We use the elegant, literal translations of Fr. Lasance — completely re-typeset, not scanned!

8. The back cover biography of St. Edmund Campion was composed by Dr. Gerard Kilroy, the world’s leading expert on the life and works of St. Edmund Campion.

9. One of the clerics who appears in the Mass pictures is a relative of St. Antoine Daniel [url], a special patron of CCW’s work with the Gregorian Kyriale.

Toronto's Newman Centre criticized for being Catholic

The Globe and Mail (there's a reason why it's become so thin), which bills itself as Canada's National Newspaper, has taken it upon itself to note a little dust-up at the Newman Centre at the University of Toronto. The reporter reveals his own bias in the first sentence with his comment about a "controversial program dubbed Courage." It seems that the new Chaplain  has had the temerity to teach the Catholic faith and actually implement a church-recognised program started by the late Father John Hardon called Courage. Courage aids people living with same-sex attraction to live lives in conformity with Church teaching. Where's the controversy? If the reporter actually took the time to study the goals he might have been more objective in his reporting and the typical anti-Catholic hatred in the com-box would, at least, have been properly educated. 

The Newman Centre has come a long way since one of its former Chaplains invited Mr. Gregory Baum to speak and then tried to have Catholic protesters arrested after reporting it to the National Catholic Fishwrap that they were "attacked", but I digress.

THE FIVE GOALS OF COURAGE

The following five goals of Courage were created by the members themselves when Courage was founded.

1. Live chaste lives in accordance with the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality. (Chastity)

2. Dedicate ones life to Christ through service to others, spiritual reading, prayer, meditation, individual spiritual direction, frequent attendance at Mass, and the frequent reception of the sacraments of  reconciliation and Holy Eucharist. (Prayer and Dedication)

3. Foster a spirit of fellowship in which all may share thoughts and experiences, and so ensure that no one will have to face the problems of homosexuality alone. (Fellowship)

4. Be mindful of the truth that chaste friendships are not only possible but necessary in a chaste Christian life and in doing so provide encouragement to one another in forming and sustaining them. (Support)

5. Live lives that may serve as good examples to others. (Good Example)

Some attendees at the Newman Centre were offended and have taken their complaint to the University of Toronto because those five goals are really offensive and hateful.

Note to the Globe and Mail and the University of Toronto: The Newman Centre is a Catholic parish within the University community and we have in this country something called a Constitution, so back-off. To you Catholics who have complained, well; read your catechism, seek spiritual direction and pray and if you still think the same, then deal with it.

For more on Courage and the late Father John Harvey and other matters of same-sex attraction, without the hyperbole of the main-stream media please visit the Sheepcat -- Catholic commentary by a former gay activist and his wife.

Hat tip to Witness.

Epiphany Eventide - Toronto Anglican Ordinariate

Something beautiful is happening in Toronto in the liturgy and the worship of Our Lord - the Anglican Ordinariate. Each Sunday, there is a Mass according to the Anglican Use that any Roman Catholic can attend and receive the Holy Eucharist fulfilling one's Sunday Obligation. We have in Oshawa the Sodality of the Good Shepherd and in Toronto, the Toronto Anglican Use Sodality which will soon have its own named Patron Saint. Their blogs, in addition to Peregrinations - A Canadian view of Anglican Catholic Issues have now been listed prominently on the left side to easily access their news and their apostolates.

Good Shepherd Church, Oshawa

The Toronto Anglican Use Sodality now has a Sung Mass weekly in traditional sacral language on Sundays at 1:45 pm at Sacré-Coeur Church (Sherbourne at Carlton). Why not consider sharing in the beauty of patrimonial texts and music to worship God in the unity of the Catholic faith but in this beautiful English tradition with its roots in the Sarum Rite. All Catholics may fulfill their Sunday obligation at this afternoon Mass and visitors are most welcome to receive a blessing and join for fellowship afterwards. A childrens' programme is provided during the Liturgy of the Word. The choir is simply glorious and sings in both English and Latin.

Eglise Sacre-Coeur, Toronto

How wonderful that this year, all of us are on the same page when it comes to the celebration of the Epiphany. The calenders of the OF, EF and AU all coincide. Of course, the problem really lies with the Canadian bishops keeping Epiphany as a Holy Day of Obligation but only celebrated on Sunday thus we have the absurdity of its celebration as early as January 2 or as late as January 8! The EF and AU calenders always observe the proper Feast on January 6. What better way is there to continue the celebration of this Christmas season by by coming together this Sunday evening?

Sunday January 6, 2013
Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord

7:00 P.M. 
Evensong, Benediction and Carols

Eglise Sacré-Coeur 

381 Sherbourne Street at Dundas, Toronto   

The Ordinariate in Canada is not yet established independently, but Canada is now the Deanery of St. John the Baptist under the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter in the United State of America. If you are an Anglican or Protestant who is considering entry into the Catholic Church, why not consider the wonderful opportunity provided by our Holy Father, Benedict XVI gloriously reigning under the provisions of Anglicanorum Coetibus?

Now for your enjoyment, turn the player off at the above left and enjoy a motet from Gaudete Sunday.

La Cage aux CCCB

In 2005, whilst he was still Cardinal, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI was given the honour by Blessed John Paul II of writing the Way of the Cross meditations and prayers at the Coliseum for Good Friday. Let us reflect for a moment on the IX station of the Way of the Cross:

"Should we not also think of how much Christ suffers in his own Church? How often is the holy sacrament of His Presence abused, how often must he enter empty and evil hearts! How often do we celebrate only ourselves, without even realizing that he is there! How often is his Word twisted and misused! What little faith is present behind so many theories, so many empty words! 

How much filth there is in the Church, and even among those who, in the Priesthood, ought to belong entirely to him! How much pride, how much self-complacency!" 

"Lord, your Church often seems like a boat about to sink, a boat taking in water on every side. In your field we see more weeds than wheat. The soiled garments and face of your Church throw us into confusion. Yet it is we ourselves who have soiled them! It is we who betray you time and time again, after all our lofty words and grand gestures. Have mercy on your Church...You stood up, you arose and you can also raise us up. Save and sanctify your Church. Save and sanctify us all."

In this joyous Christmastide we have been reminded yet again of the evil which man is capable of and the “filth” that exists within the Catholic Church in Canada. Each of us is a sinner, all of us are capable of committing evil; but when the sin is against children and is committed by priests or deacons or even bishops, it is especially heinous and repugnant.

In a place where children are to feel safe and secure and loved, they are instead preyed upon by men who have no faith, no moral compass and who are full of “pride” and avarice and greed. As our fellow blogger SoCon repeats, the roots of this problem are in the Winnipeg Statement and the general dissent from Catholic teaching since then. To be sure, this is not just a Canadian problem, but; when sex becomes detached from its purpose in marriage and procreation and becomes recreational, anything goes. When that is accompanied by a lack of faith or by a diabolical infiltration of the priesthood, then hell will break loose. The Catholic Church is the spotless Bride of Christ but the men within her are capable of great evil. That they would use their position and their power in this regard will render unto them a severe judgement.

WYD2002 clown vestments

We have seen the former disgraced Bishop of Antigonish, Mr. Raymond Lahey convicted of possessing child pornography on his computer. Instead of retiring to a life of prayer and penance he instead opines about renewing his 10-year long relationship with his male lover. Ten years! So, whilst this man was bishop, while he was celebrating the Holy Sacrifice and the Sacraments, whilst he was foisting on Canadians the wretched CBWIII he was engaging in his own little game of cat and mouse and exploring his masturbatory fantasies on his laptop. Despite this, he is still referred to as a “a kind and gentle pastor, particularly sensitive to the needs of those who have suffered the scourge of sexual abuse” by Father  Thomas Rosica on the Pepper and Darkness blog. Really Father, isn’t it time to purge this sycophantic pandering from the web page? 

On the other hand, leaving it there proves how irrelevant and out of touch the network and its leadership has become.



Child Pornographer William Kokesch

Now we read of a Permanent Deacon in Montreal, William Kokesch, a married man with five grown children, has been charged with the production and distribution of child pornography. Kokesch was a Deacon at St. Edmund of Canterbury in Beaconsfield, Quebec. His name is well-known as the former Director of Communication at the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.  Prior to his life as a Deacon, to be a Servant of the Church and people, he was a journalist in Montreal. Let us acknowledge this; our justice system requires that the Crown must prove that one is guilty; we are presumed by the courts to be innocent until proven guilty; but as with Mr. Lahey, unless someone planted this bile on Kokesch's computer (I won't dignify him with Reverend Mister),  the very fact that over 2000 images were found on his computer is a crime to say nothing of the evil sin.

Birds of a feather, these two pathetic vile creatures. 

How did this happen and how did the likes of Lahey and Kokesch become ordained?

Who knew of the disgusting actions of both of these men and who covered it up for so long?

As Catholics, this pains us greatly. This sin and evil acted against children is intolerable and yet, we tolerate it. We have no defense to the secularist anti-Catholic haters now having a field day, yet once again, in the com-boxes of the national press. It is not good enough for us to compare the levels of sexual abuse and pornography by school teachers or sports officials or any other sector. Yes, perverts, pederasts, ebophiles and paedophiles are attracted to those professions, vocations and volunteer positions to put them in contact with their victims. Yes, celibacy has nothing to do with it—and that is proven in this case since Koesch was a married man with children. It is not acceptable to us. It can never be acceptable and we as Catholics must never say, "well, over there." No! One victim is too many. One priest or deacon or bishop doing this is one too many. 

This must be rooted it. This filth must be exposed with light. If we are too unprepared to do it and the secular press does it for us, so be it. 

This is a cleansing which must happen.

I ask Archbishop Smith, President and Msgr. Patrick Powers, General Secretary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops—what are you doing about finding these hidden perverts? How many more homosexual pederasts are hiding; how many more abusers of little girls, how many more purveyors of pornography? What is your responsibility in all of this? What are you doing to cleanse the Church of this evil? What are you doing to purche your webpage of their work?

Now, let me address the bishop, priest, deacon or any other church official out there engaging in this.

Get out now!

Get out of the Church in your official capacity. Turn yourself over to the justice system. Get spiritual help and psychiatric help. Repent of your sins. Seek the mercy of God. Ensure that there is justice for your victims.

Get out you filthy bastards.

Get out now.

CCCB Press Release featuring both porn purveyors

Father Stephen Auad, the Pastor of the Maronites

Church of Christ the King

In the southwest corner of Toronto are the old Village of Long Branch and the Parish of Christ the King. Toronto, originally known as York, is essentially a city of towns and villages amalgamated over the years into one city. Long Branch was a Village in its own right until it was amalgamated into Etobicoke, which means in the language of the Mississauga, the native people at the time, "Where the Alders grow" and it was to this little village that was to come the Pastor of the Maronites, Father Stephen Auad.

My father was born in Toronto in 1919 and my mother came here from New Brunswick; their parents were all immigrants from Mount Lebanon which at the time was part of "Greater Syria,” from whence Father Auad also came. A year after my father was born in 1919 and only a few short blocks from the tenement on York Street where the Toronto Stock Exchange now stands, a Maronite Qurbono, literally Sacrifice, or Mass was celebrated at St. Michael's Cathedral by the Rt. Rev. Shakralla Khoury, Maronite Eparch of Tyre and delegate from Mount Lebanon to the Paris Peace Conference after The Great War. The Qurbono was in Thanksgiving to God for the "virtual independence of Lebanon” not totally realised for nearly another thirty years and after another great war because of the mischief of King Faisal. Remarkably, this was reported on September 6, 1920 in the old Toronto World; and that the "Pastor of the Maronites in Toronto" assisted at the Mass. It is possible that this first Maronite Mass in the Cathedral in Toronto had a little child present there with his parents. That little baby, one-year old Norman, my father, in the arms of his mother Farida and his father Wadea, are the grandparents of your writer who remains, canonically at least, a Maronite.

Yet, despite Father Auad being termed in the secular press, the "Pastor of the Maronites" there was no Maronite Church in Toronto until 1980. While every other "ethnic parish" was created, there was to be not one for the Lebanese -- and it was a different Rite! Italians, Germans, Poles -- all were given their own churches. The Lebanese, bearing blood of Phoenicians, Greeks, Canannites, even Hebrews were a different lot than most immigrant communities. They have gone all over the world as did their merchant Phoenician ancestors; to South America, Australia, even the Caribbean islands and they assimilated wherever they went unlike the Italians with whom Father Auad would soon come to have some conflict.

While studying in Rome, Father Auad was able to celebrate in both the Latin and Maronite Rites and he would have known some Italian. Catholic Toronto was Irish and these first Catholics in Toronto sufferred many indignities in the Ulster of North America and the church here was hardly prepared for the waves of immigrants, particularly the Italians. The old parish of St. Patrick's, built in 1867 the year of Canada's Confederation, had a new church built behind it on McCaul Street and the former became Our Lady of Mount Carmel and was assigned to the Italians with Father Auad as their pastor. It still stands today serving Chinese Roman Catholics.

Professor John Zucchi of McGill University who specialises in immigration history wrote in 1983 that "in the late 1920's the Parish Committee of Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish filed a complaint in Italian with the archbishop regarding their pastor, Father Stephen Auad." You see, the Italians were villagers and more accustomed to active involvement of the laity in the parish, even then. The Irish were different; they had to escape persecution to forests and cliffs to find a rock to hear Mass. Their history was different of course being persecuted on their own soil so it was a different situation and they never questioned the priest or made demands. The Italians were bolder and had their own customs and devotions. Father Auad had clearly adopted the Irish culture and this conflicted with the Italians under his care. Professor Zucchi continued that the "committee was highly critical of Auad; he was too busy to hear confession; it was difficult to find him in the rectory or in the church; he rarely visited school children; his masses were too short, etc." It is interesting that even then, parish committees and special interests rallied to speak against their duly appointed pastor, but better days would come for Father Auad.

It wasn't only the local Italians that criticised the poor beleaguered priest; even American Evangelical Pentecostals noticed. It was August 5, 1933 at Springfield in the State of Missouri and the Pentecostal Evangel displayed its bigotry and ignorance in its story, "Paganized Christianity.” Our Pentecostal brethren wrote, “The  following item  taken  from  the Toronto  press  will  show  how  it  is  possible for Christianity to catch the diseases of  the  old pagan religions:  "What  has become  an annual  public religious  function in Toronto will take  place tomorrow, when Rev.  Father  Stephen Auad, pastor of  Mount  Carmel Church,  St. Patrick Street,  will bless  motor  cars and  other conveyances  after  the  11  o'clock  Mass. The vehicles will thus be placed under the patronage of St. Christopher,' patron saint of travelers." They went on to add, "The time is coming when Christianity will be purged of all alien additions. Matt.13:41.” What they don't know is legendary.

Our Lady of Mount Lebanon

It was now 1938 and Father Stephen Auad approached Archbishop James Charles McGuigan, later to be English-speaking Canada's first Cardinal, about building a shrine to St. Anthony of Padua in the old summer resort village of Long Branch now becoming an industrial centre. Finances being what they were at the time, just after the Great Depression and with Canada entering the Second World War, the Archbishop declined the request. Disappointed in the Archbishop's decision Father Auad went home and there he brooded about the situation obviously not happy and still fighting with the Italians until his housekeeper, one Mrs. Maggie Jobin, encouraged him to go back and ask again, but this time, more firmly. So, he did and did so to the point of pounding on the desk of the future Cardinal. Astonished at the boldness, the good Archbishop  is reported to have laughed until tears flowed down his cheeks and then said, "If you feel so strongly about the church, go ahead, but keep it your responsibility" and on August 4, 1938, Father Auad was appointed the parish priest of the Village of Long Branch, and directed to build a church.

There were two other villages between Long Branch and Toronto, all now amalgamated. The Town of New Toronto and the parish of St. Teresa established in 1924 where Vox was baptised in the presence of his Freemason godfather; of course, none of us knew it until he died and he left me his Shriner Fezz, which I've since gotten rid of. The other was the Town of Mimico, which means, “the place of pigeons” and St. Leo the Great Parish, established a few years earlier. Many children of those first Lebanese settled in Mimico and a few in New Toronto after the war and they became active in these two parishes, but particularly at St. Leo's. When that little baby Norman, most likely present for that Qurbono 25 years earlier grew up, he married his only love, Martha, a nurse from St. Michael’s Hospital at the new St. Patrick's on McCaul, next to Father Auad's original parish.  A year later in 1945 and with a young baby of their own, they bought a house with a rear yard boundary being that of the Parish of Christ the King in Long Branch. 



St. John Maron

A few years ago, I was attending Mass one summer evening in that little stone church built by Father Auad. I was impressed with the new painting and noticed how brilliant the small stained-glass windows looked against the newly painted walls designed to highlight them, not hide them in a sea of whitewash. I was looking at what seemed to be St. Anthony of the Desert and found it odd to be there. It was the first time I had seen a window to this Desert Father and to find it in Long Branch was something extraordinary. It was then that I recalled the plaque to that parish's founder in the portal of the church - yes, Father Stephen Auad and with that name he must have been Lebanese! Coming back from Holy Communion and walking past another window, I was astounded at what I had seen or perhaps more because I had never noticed them before. In addition to St. Anthony of the Desert there was St. Maroun, the great mystic, monk and missionary to the people of Mount Lebanon and Syria who died in 410 A.D.  The next window was Mar Youhana Maroun or as we would say in English, St. John Maron who died in 707 A.D., the first Patriarch of the Maronite Church. Then a little further along, there she was, Our Lady of Mt. Lebanon whom the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East declared in 1908 to be "Queen of Lebanon." Knowing that the people of Long Branch would not know these Saints, each one has a little banner with their name under their image and quotes from scripture about "Libanus." As mentioned, there were many Lebanese that settled in these parts but not one of them spoke of Father Auad that I can ever recall from my childhood and none of them attended Christ the King Parish. They were a different generation. They had just married and in their twenties were having babies; they worked, had businesses, bought houses and worshiped at the place they knew, their local parish. They didn't know that only a few short blocks away from their homes was a little bit of their cultural and family history. Here was a little parish, built by a priest who came from the same lands as their parents, who may have known them or blessed them as little children and here were the windows to the greatest of Lebanon’s Holy One’s and the Mother of our Redeemer whose birth we celebrate.



Saint Maroun

Father Auad had a great personal devotion to St. Anthony of Padua and wanted this new parish at Long Branch to be named the Shrine of St. Anthony. Given that there was already a large church on Bloor Street dedicated to this much-loved Saint, the Archbishop did not agree. It was named Christ the King and a small grotto was built to house an Altar, yet, “Shrine of St. Anthony” remains today engraved in the terrazzo flooring just below the plaque in memory of Father Auad. The first Mass offered there was celebrated by Father Auad on September 17, 1939 and on Sunday, May 26, 1940, the church was blessed by Archbishop McGuigan.

Surely now the young Lebanese of this community would seek out their old friend, Father Auad from the streets of McCaul, Queen, Bond, York, Simcoe, D'Arcy, and so on but alas, it was not to be; for at Midnight Mass on December 25, 1944, Father Stephan Auad suffered a stroke while preaching the homily. The next day, December 26, 1944, sixty-eighty years ago today and on that very same Feast of St. Stephen, his name-saint, Father Stephen Auad went on to his eternal reward and a little bit of Lebanese history in Long Branch lay hidden.

On this anniversary of his death, may this little Christmas story serve as a tribute to this early and long forgotten priest of the first hundred years of the Church in Toronto. May Father Stephen Auad be rejoicing on this day with St. Stephen in the presence of the LORD whom he loved and served. Thank you Father Auad for what you did so long-ago for those early Catholic villagers in Long Branch and for the windows serving as a memorial to our Maronite heritage.

Father Stephen Auad, 1884 -1944

 Requiescat in pace

A blessed Christmas to you

I want to take a moment and wish all my visitors and readers here a very blessed and happy Christmas filled with the life, light and love of our Redeemer, Jesus, the Christ. There will be no posts tomorrow with so much singing to do tonight and preparation of a dinner for a dozen or so but let me leave you with this little poem by Venerable Robert Southwell, S.J., hanged at Tyburn Tree.

FROM St. Peter's Complaint, 1595

THE BURNING BABE
By Ven. Robert Southwell, S.J.

As I in hoary winter's night stood shivering in the snow,
Surprised I was with sudden heat which made my heart to glow ;
And lifting up a fearful eye to view what fire was near,
A pretty babe all burning bright did in the air appear ;
Who, scorchëd with excessive heat, such floods of tears did shed
As though his floods should quench his flames which with his tears were fed.
Alas, quoth he, but newly born in fiery heats I fry,
Yet none approach to warm their hearts or feel my fire but I !
My faultless breast the furnace is, the fuel wounding thorns,
Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke, the ashes shame and scorns ;
The fuel justice layeth on, and mercy blows the coals,
The metal in this furnace wrought are men's defilëd souls,
For which, as now on fire I am to work them to their good,
So will I melt into a bath to wash them in my blood.
With this he vanished out of sight and swiftly shrunk away,
And straight I callëd unto mind that it was Christmas day. 

Music player...

Given that it is now after 5:00PM on Christmas Island and First Vespers of Christmas has begun Vox will take a few minutes from what is going to be a very busy day to change the music player and the "liturgically correct" colours of the blog.

May you have a blessed day filled with the love, light and life of our Divine Redeemer.

God bless you and Merry Christmas.

CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE UPDATE--MASS IN THE EF

CARMEL OF THE INFANT JESUS
ZEPHYR
DECEMBER 24
7:30PM

ASSUMPTION CHURCH
WINDSOR
DECEMBER 25
2:00PM

Una Voce Toronto's work recognised by leading blog!

One of the world's leading blogs on Catholic faith, catechetics, liturgy and culture, Rorate Caeli, the actual Introit of both Forms of the Roman Rite for this Fourth Sunday of Advent, has recognised the work of the Toronto Traditional Mass Society-UNA VOCE TORONTO!

Another Rorate

On the last Sunday of Advent, the first word of the Introit or Entrance Antiphon in both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms is "Rorate." Many of you are already familiar with the Advent Prose, Rorate Caeli from Mass (if it even sung) or from the new music player in the background. The prose is four verses and is not the same as the Introit, though they both take up the text in Latin, "Drop down ye heavens from above and let the sky rain down the Just One" 

The Introit, all the Propers for that matter, can be sung in their intended Gregorian melismatic chant or for those without the resources or ability, they can be sung in psalm-tone or even recto-tono. These propers can also be sung in polyphony. In fact, William Byrd wrote the entire Missa Puer Natus, the Third Mass of Christmas to polyphony; could you imagine that with his Mass for Five Voices sung on Christmas morning?

As mentioned in my "This is the Record of John" post below, I had the distinct opportunity of singing under a talented director, organist and teacher, Mr. Peter Bishop of the Toronto Oratory. When I say teacher, it is because I would not be doing the liturgical work which I am doing today without his boldness to "take a chance" on a neophyte those many year ago (25), his patience with me and the confidence he showed in me by eventually asking me to chant the incipits and psalms of the propers, of course, it might have been because I outlasted all the other men at the time too. Eventually, he taught me enough so that I could even sing a motet with one on a part; not too bad for someone who did not have the opportunity to study music at university, but because of what I learnt from Mr.  Bishop, I was even able to sing with the Victoria Scholars, Toronto's male choral ensemble and one of the best in Canada. I am grateful to Peter for showing me how to use the talents given to me by God and the skills learnt under him to serve the sacred liturgy. 

Thanks to YouTube, you can hear the work of Peter and the choir with 25 uploads. In keeping with our Advent observance, here then, (you'll want to turn the music player off above) is Rorate Caeli by Francisco Guerrero sung by the Toronto Oratory Choir under the direction of Mr. Peter Bishop.

Christmas in Kinkora

For those of you who were not able to make it at 5:30 A.M. on December 15 for the Rorate Mass, then why not consider all that Rorate leads to and join us for Holy Mass on Christmas in Kinkora. If you are in the Diocese of London or the Diocese of Hamilton or the west and northwest part of the Archdiocese of Toronto and looking for a Midnight Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite then why not consider the short drive to Kinkora which is 20 kilometres northwest of Stratford?

There will be a Vigil Service of Lessons and Carols at 11:00 during which the Sacrament of Reconciliation will be available followed by a Sung Mass "Dominus Dixit ad me" at 12:00 Midnight. On Christmas Day at 12:00 noon is the Third Mass of Christmas, Missa Puer Natus est Nobis, and on the Feast of St. Stephen at 9:00 A.M. there will also be a Sung Mass.

St. Patrick’s Kinkora

VIGIL SERVICE OF READINGS AND CAROLS 

Organ:
THE HURON CAROL  
THE TRUTH SENT FROM ABOVE 
LO, HOW A ROSE E’RE BLOOMING 
OF THE FATHER’S LOVE BEGOTTEN      
                                                    
A reading from the Book of Isaiah

1 "Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" says your God. 2 "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned;  For she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins."  3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  "Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  4 Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; 5 The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." 

SILENT NIGHT 

A Reading from the Book of Luke

26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!" 29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 

WHAT CHILD IS THIS 

A Reading from the Book of Micah

2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting."

ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY 

A Reading from the Book of St. Matthew

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.  20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is, "God with us."

GOOD CHRISTIANS ALL REJOICE 

A Reading from the Book of John

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

THE FIRST NOWELL

Organ
LAETABUNDUS -- THE CHRISTMAS SEQUENCE 
IN NIGHT'S DEEP SILENCE
KALENDA – THE CHRISTMAS PROCLAMATION         

MUSIC FOR THE FIRST MASS OF CHRISTMAS (MIDNIGHT)

ADESTE FIDELIS – (O Come All Ye Faithful)
Introit – Dominus dixit  
KYRIE, ELEISON – MISSA DE ANGELIS
GLORIA IN EXCELSIS – MISSA DE ANGELIS 
Gradual – Tecum Principium
Alleluia – Dominus Dixit
CREDO IN UNUM DEUM – CREDO III
Offertory – Letentur caeli
Gaudete! Organ/Choir
SANCTUS – MISSA DE ANGELIS
AGNUS DEI – MISSA DE ANGELIS
Communion – In splendoribus
Quem Pastores – Organ/Choir        
Hodie, Christus natus est
Alma Redemptoris Mater – Solemn Tone
ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH
Organ

MUSIC FOR THE THIRD MASS OF CHRISTMAS 

Puer natus in Bethlehem – Gregorian prelude
JOY TO THE WORLD – Hymn prelude
Salve Virgo Singularis – Marian Anthem
Laetabundus -- The Christmas Sequence     
O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL
Introit – Puer natus est nobis
KYRIE, ELEISON – MISSA DE ANGELIS
GLORIA IN EXCELSIS – MISSA DE ANGELIS
Gradual – Viderunt omnes
Alleluia – Dies sanctificatus
CREDO IN UNUM DEUM – CREDO III
Offertory – Tui sunt caeli
Gaudete! – Organ/Choir
SANCTUS – MISSA DE ANGELIS
AGNUS DEI – MISSA DE ANGELIS
Communion – Viderunt omnes
Quem Pastores - Organ/Choir  
Hodie, Christus natus est
Alma Redemptoris Mater – Solemn Tone
HERALD ANGELS SING
Organ   

MUSIC FOR THE FEAST OF ST. STEPHEN, DEACON & PROTOMARTYR


Puer natus in Bethlehem – Gregorian prelude
JOY TO THE WORLD                                                                                 
Introit  – Sederunt principes
KYRIE, ELEISON – MISSA DE ANGELIS
GLORIA IN EXCELSIS – MISSA DE ANGELIS
Gradual –  Sederunt principes 
Alleluia –  Video coelos apertos
CREDO IN UNUM DEUM – CREDO III
Offertory –  Elegerunt Apostoli Stephanum Levitam 
Corde Natus ex Parentis
Organ:
SANCTUS – MISSA DE ANGELIS
AGNUS DEI – MISSA DE ANGELIS
Communion – Viderunt omnes
Ecce Nomen Domini
GOOD KING WENCESLAS
Organ:

The Rorate Mass at St. Patrick's Kinkora

From the blog of the Toronto Tradtional Mass Society - UNA VOCE TORONTO; more information is available at their Facebook page.

The word "Rorate" has its place in the Advent liturgy of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in both Forms of the Roman Rite. It is the Advent Prose - as highlighted in this video; it is also the first word of the Introit or Entrance Antiphon for the Mass on the Fourth Sunday of Advent (in the Ordinary Form - Novus Ordo as well) and it is the first word from the same Introit used in the Votive Mass for Our Lady in Advent and it appears frequently in the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours.

When there is no feast on the day, the Votive Mass can be celebrated. In the new rite, the Ordinary Form, the lectionary specifies the Readings consistent with the Temporal Cycle, but in the old rite or Extraordinary Form, the Sanctoral Cycle specifies the readings for that feast or Votive Mass. As the Mass often can reasonably take its name from the first word or words of the Introit -- Missa Quasimodo, Missa Suscepimus, Missa Puer Natus Est -- this Mass is known as the "Rorate Mass."

While it is not a rubrical requirement, there is a tradition from Bohemia and Poland and Bavaria that the Mass be celebrated in the pre-dawn hours by candlight ending just as the light from the East shines softy from below the horizon and the windows are softy revealed. From darkness into light - the darkness without Christ to being in His light.

The Blessed Mother is the bearer of that light. It grew in her womb for nine months. It was God, the very God come to earth as a baby, taking the flesh and blood of this pure and immaculate young girl of probably 15 in the little town of Nazareth. This woman was the one who would crush the serpent. She is the new "ark of the covenant" that carries within it the law of God as in the Ten Commandments, the power of God as in the Rod of Aaron and the Bread of Life which came down from Heaven, just as the manna in the desert. When this baby was  born he was laid in a manger. Why?; because from the manger the creatures were fed. We are fed the Bread of Life and that He was laid by this new mother in a manger is of no coincidence. This mother is Our Mother, this woman is the Woman. She is the truly the Mother of God, the God who came to earth as a baby to save us. As Father Nicholson said in his homily, "the virginal work of the bee, manufacturing wax and producing honey is a prophet of nature, pointing to the Work of the Immaculata. She gave us more honey, She gave us the BREAD of Life and "it sweet to taste". She gave us more then wax, she gave us LIGHT"

This is the truth of the faith and this is why we offer Sacrifice to God in the Holy Mass and why we honour His most perfect creature, the one who bore Himself.

In the little hamlet of Kinkora in the Diocese of London in Ontario and 160km from Toronto a Rorate Mass was celebrated. In the cold and dark of a December morning they came. From Toronto, Kitchener, Cambridge, London, Walkerton, Waterloo and from places in between. At 5:30 A.M, they gathered to pray and to honour the truth of God and His Mother. Some rose three hours earlier, children in tow to a drive to a beautiful church in the middle of farming country including half of the Board of Directors of the Toronto Traditional Mass Society-UNA VOCE TORONTO who are honoured to have assisted this priest of this parish, Father Paul Nicholson, with the organisation and promotion of this Mass. Three years ago, seven people attended and we gathered for breakfast around the generous table of the Kinkorites Sharon and Patrick. This year there were more than ten times that number and all gathered in the local school gymnasium for a community breakfast. The TTMS-UNA VOCE TORONTO has in its mandate, the assistance to the suffragan dicoceses of the Toronto Metropolitian See with the development and support of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Drop down ye heavens from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One.

The suffering of little children



 

 
A reading from the Book of Wisdom 3:1-10 

[1] But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them. [2] In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure was taken for misery: [3] And their going away from us, for utter destruction: but they are in peace. [4] And though in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality. [5] Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded: because God hath tried them, and found them worthy of himself.

[6] As gold in the furnace he hath proved them, and as a victim of a holocaust he hath received them, and in time there shall be respect had to them. [7] The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds. [8] They shall judge nations, and rule over people, and their Lord shall reign for ever. [9] They that trust in him, shall understand the truth: and they that are faithful in love shall rest in him: for grace and peace is to his elect. [10] But the wicked shall be punished according to their own devices: who have neglected the just, and have revolted from the Lord.

May our gracious and loving God, who wills that all live in peace grant eternal rest to the little children and those at their school and may He comfort their families and bring them peace.

 

Eternal rest grant unto them O LORD and let light perpetual shine upon them.

May they rest in peace.
 

Amen

The Record of John

One of my favourite "verse-anthems" from my days singing at the Toronto Oratory is The Record of John by Orlando Gibbons. Gibbons was born in Oxford in 1583 and was one of the last great polyphonic English composers amongst the likes of Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Robert Parsons, John Tavernal, Robert Sheppard and others. The verse-anthem was an English creation of short scriptural passages for the emerging protestant services after the "revolution" and rebellion of Henry VIII and his successors. It uses a soloist and choir in a verse (soloist) anthem (choir) format and there is usually an accompaniment of viols or organ. Of course, that does not take away from the beauty of the music and its appropriate use today. Gibbons would have written for the Holy Mass had it not been illegal by his time at the pain of death.

The original score is for a counter-tenor soloist, five-voice choir and two viols, a little beyond the scope of most church choirs in the Catholic Church of today. In the Usus Antiquior, this anthem could be used as a processional perhaps, but of course, not in a Sung or Solemn Mass and given that it is not connected with the liturgical action of the Offertory or Communion, it cannot be used in a Read Mass with Music. However, the reformed liturgy, the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite does give this flexibility. It could be used on the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist or in the Ordinary Form on the Second or Third Sundays of Advent. The challenge of the counter-tenor or alto soloist, the viols, the five voices caused me to spend some time arranging Gibbons' great work in a simpler and more accessible format. Being a Bass myself, I moved the solo line to the Bass. Now, I'm not sure what Gibbons would think of this, but it always made more sense to me anyway. I created an organ underlay using all of Gibbons original notes and a violin solo and formulated the choral anthem into two and sometimes three voices, this was done for a small choir I had formed at my local parish at the time. In a casual email conversation with the Editor at CanticaNova Publications the subject had come up and he asked me to send it to him. Imagine then my surprise, when he wrote me to advise that they wished to publish it.

I won't give up my day job, but every June it's fun to get that envelope in the mail.

Now for your enjoyment, here is Gibbons original, though you will need to stop or lower the player above.

A blessed Advent to you.

What a spin and a network gone wrong

What "mistakes" is he referring to?

Could it be EWTN?

Didn't he go on bended knee to ask for the blessing of its saintly founder? Is it really a competition? Because if it is then someone needs to bulk up a little.  

"The “secret” according to Fr. Rosica, was the effort to avoid the mistakes made by other Catholic television networks that is, addressing a mainly elderly public, getting involved in “cultural wars” that create deep divisions within the Catholic world, between conservatives and progressivists. This happens in North America more than it does in Europe.

“On our network, we have decided as far as possible to avoid bias, particularly at a time of crisis in the Church and a world such as ours. The temptation is to become so fundamentalist and rigid with regard to doctrine and life, that one ends up closing themselves in a castle and no one listens to them a part from those inside it. On the other hand, there is also the temptation to conform to worldly values to such an extent that Church doctrine and the truth in the Gospel become diluted, distorted and flavourless.”

There are fewer than 1000 subscribers and Bell has dropped it, which I am not happy about as they've also dropped EWTN.

Oh, and by the way; what was all that stuff about Mr. Gregory Baum?