Wednesday Evening Music and Devotional program at St. Thomas More, Scranton

Mount Calvary choir to sing at Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

On St. Nicholas Day, December 6th at 6 pm.  The choir of Mount Calvary Church This will continue its collaborative efforts with the Mother Seton Shrine and St. Mary's Spiritual Center. Their choir will be singing at shrine, which is 2 1/2 blocks away from the church on Paca Street in Baltimore.

Ad Jesum per Mariam - Final event in Atonement's Music Series for the 2013-14 season

Upcoming events for Advent at Mount Calvary Baltimore

1. Concert of Bach and Telemann Cantatas

Thursday, December 12, 7:30pm

Mount Calvary hosts a special concert: Students in Peabody Conservatory's "Bach and His Contemporaries" seminar taught by Dr. Andrew Talle will perform two cantata settings of "Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt", by J.S. Bach and G.P. Telemann.

This concert's featured soloists:

Dr. Richard Giarusso, baritone (special guest)

Andrew Hann, tenor

Kerry Holahan, soprano

We also welcome special guest Patrick Merrill, harpsichord.

This concert is free and open to the public. 

2. Gaudete Sunday: Choral Evensong & Benediction

Sunday, December 15, 4:30pm

Please join Mount Calvary for a special Advent Choral Evensong and Benediction in the Anglican Use at 4:30pm this Sunday for one of Mount Calvary's best traditions. Music will feature Dyson, Hassler and Palestrina. "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice." Free and open to the public.

Advent Lessons & Carols in Boston, December 1, 2013

First Friday Series at Mount Calvary, Baltimore continues on All Saints Day

Mount Calvary Catholic Church, Baltimore's first Ordinariate parish, continues its new monthly First Friday Series on November 1, as part of a special All Saints Day celebration. Confessions will be heard from 6:30 pm, and Solemn High Mass in the Anglican Use to follow at 7:00 pm. Fr. James Junípero Moore, O.P., our First Friday guest speaker, will preach the homily. The First Friday supper and lecture will follow immediately after Mass. Fr. Moore will be giving a talk on sacred music, entitled “Praise You Who Hath Taught You to Sing of His Love: Sacred Music & the New Evangelization.”  Fr. Moore earned degrees in music at Santa Clara University and the University of Notre Dame, and entered the Dominican novitiate in the Western province in 2000. He currently is pursuing a doctorate in Sacred Music at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. For more information, see our website at www.mountcalvary.com.

Anglican Embers published and on way to subscribers

Anglican Embers is the quarterly journal of the Anglican Use Society, published (roughly) at the four embertides of the year. The latest issue just got mailed (a few weeks late). This issue is the final issue of the third volume (each volume has 12 issues), which means that Embers has now been published for 9 full years!

This issue's table of contents includes:

The Anglican Use & Ordinariates Online, page 523
The Anglican Patrimony and the New Evangelization,
Rev. John Jay Hughes, page 527
Compel People to Come In: Growth in Holiness,
Rev. Andrew Bartus, page 539
Practical Considerations and Future Directions in the Pastoral Provision and Ordinariate,
Dr. Marlon De La Torre, page 546
MUSIC: Minor Propers for the Feast of The Chair of St. Peter, Feburary 22
C. David Burt, editor, page 550

David Burt began the journal and served as the editor into the early issues of Volume II, after which he asked me to take over the journal. In that time we have published talks given at the annual Anglican Use Conferences, three graduate dissertations (serially) on topics of interest to the Anglican Use, several new settings of Mass propers for major feasts (Our Lady of the Atonement, Sacred Heart, Conversion of St. Paul), an account of the Society's pilgrimage to Rome and many other articles. Several articles are available for download from the Anglican Embers page on the AUS web site.

Solemn Mass from AUS Conference

On Friday evening, November 9th, we celebrated the Anglican Use Mass in a solemn manner, with the diocesan choir supporting our singing and Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph as principal celebrant. Msgr. Steenson was the homilist.

Hymnal 1940 now online

With a grateful hat tip to Jeffrey Tucker at the Chant Cafe blog, readers will be glad to see that the Hymnal 1940 is now online at Hymnary.org. Only copyright free hymns are displayed, but this is a great resource to have available.

Music for the Anglican Use Conference Nov 8 & 9

Fr. Ernie Davis has forwarded the music programs for Evensong on Thursday, November 8th and the Solemn Mass on Friday, November 9th during the Annual Conference of the Anglican Use Society.

O Gracious Light

One of the new elements from the 1979 US Book of Common Prayer that found its way into the Book of Divine Worship is the Phos Hilaron, which is an optional hymn for the beginning of Evening Prayer.

The version given in the BDW is below.

O Gracious Light   Phos hilaron
O gracious Light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!

Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing thy praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Thou art worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.

Unfortunately, of course, there is no music in the BDW, nor a reference to where the music for this translation of the hymn can be found. In chanting the office, I usually fell back on using the version found in the Liturgy of the Hours, sung to the tune "Jesu, dulcis memoria" (LM). But a few years ago I stumbled upon the web site of the Metropolitan Cantor's Institute of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Pittsburgh (and doesn't it say something that there is a Cantor's Institute in an Eastern eparchy, i.e., diocese; you'd be hardpressed to find the equivalent in a Latin diocese). And there I found the archive of sheet music. The version of the Phos Hilaron below is from that archive.

This version pairs well with the chants from St. Dunstan's Plainsong Psalter for chanted Evensong, I find. Here's hoping that the Ordinariate will also find its way to establish some equivalent to a Cantors (a Schola) Institute, for the preservation, teaching and handing on of the Anglican musical patrimony: its hymnody, the chant work of learned clergy such as Canon Douglas, and Anglican Chant.

Msgr. Steenson's Visit to Minnesota

Brother John-Bede Pauley writes on Facebook:

The occasion of Monsignor Steenson’s visit was a huge success. Msgr. Steenson established strong ties with the Society of St. Bede the Venerable, and the SSBV demonstrated its commitment to respond to the Church’s invitation to encourage the Anglican patrimony’s development within Catholicism. My deepest gratitude to everyone who took part in choral Evensong last evening, whether as a musician and/or as a participant, and to those who kept us all in your prayers! The importance of the Pastoral Provision of 1980 and of Anglicanorum coetibus in the life of the Church have only begun to be appreciated in relation to evangelization, ecumenism, liturgy, and (speaking as a musicologist) liturgical music.

The potential the Society of St. Bede the Venerable and St. John’s have for contributing to this movement has likewise only begun to be appreciated. It is with a sense of humble gratitude, then, that I reflect on the potential for continued growth and development yesterday’s visit represents.

Because decisions in the Church and in individual hearts and minds rarely happen in a trice, I refrain from making premature comments about the opportunities that were discussed yesterday. But I will say this much. After Msgr. Steenson’s visit, the future of the SSBV looks even more promising. I believe it is a future that will bear much fruit if we are faithful in understanding and living the opportunities Anglicanorum coetibus sets before us and if we are, as we have been, supported by the immeasurable help of your prayers, time, and talents.

You can follow the events of the Society of St. Bede on their blogsite.

Blog vacation

Dear Readers,

I will not be blogging any news articles for the next 6 weeks or so, as I have a few items to take care of that will consume a great deal of time. At the beginning of May I was laid off from my job of 13 years, which I was fortunate enough to know about well ahead of time. I took some classes for the six months prior to my termination, and have a certification exam coming up in August that will require study.

Also, I am revising the book of Communion chants I assembled last year for use in our parish. These are in the same format as the music of David Burt's Anglican Use Gradual, with the addition of verses to sing during the communion. Along with fixing errors and typos, I want to add the chants for ritual Masses such as Marriage and Confirmation, and a table to help users coordinate between the "Ordinary Time" designation of Sundays upon which the Lectionary is based and the "of Epiphany" and "after Trinity" designations now assigned to those Sundays per annum in the Ordinariate Calendars. Once this is completed, I will alert you to their availability.

Our little Latin schola is singing this week for two Masses for Our Lady of the Atonement, and then I need to attend to preparing the music for the "high Mass" season of October through April.

And finally, I need to attend to getting the web site for the annual Anglican Use Society Conference finished and work on advertising for that.

And in addition to studying, editing and searching for work, there are the usual summer chores: the gardens, painting the house, erecting a new porch...

I am sure that you will not lack for news however, and recommend the following sites if you are not already visiting them regularly.

For thought-provoking commentary, I recommend the following blogs.

Vincent Uher's Tonus Peregrinus .

Fr. Stephen Smuts in South Africa.

Be on the watch for new posts from Fr. Hunwicke, whose blog has recently had a name change, from Liturgical Posts to Fr. Hunwicke's Mutual Enrichment. The title, I'm sure, hints at treasures worth seeking.

For news and analysis, from several viewpoints, visit the Anglo-Catholic blog, and the blogs of three of the bloggers there: Fr. Christopher Phillips, Fr. Edwin Barnes and Deborah Gyapong.

Additionally, you might wish to visit:

For Thine Own Service by Fr. James Bradley, and

Catholics in the Ozarks by Shane Schaetzel.

I wish you all well. Please keep the work of Msgr. Steenson, Msgr. Newton and Fr. Entwistle, and all of the new Ordinariate communities and the Anglican Use parishes in your daily prayer.

Laying hands on Fr Hunwicke

Only as a presbyter, of course. Fr John Hunwicke was ordained yesterday at the Church of St Aloysius at Oxford, the home of the Oxford Oratory, by Bishop William Kenney, Auxiliary in Birmingham.

Here he is, prostrate during the Litany of the Saints sung by Fr James Bradley:

The Newman Consort sang Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli for the Kyrie and Sanctus, and the plainchant Introit, Gradual, Offertory and Communion. At the anointing, they sang Iam non dicam vos servos by Dominique Phinot, and at Communion Byrd's Sacerdotes Domini. The singing was sublime and I was glad that I made the choice to attend in choro since I was able to listen to the music as part of my actuosa participatio. Fr Michael Mary and Brother Martin de Porres were also in choir, along with Fr Edward van den Bergh of the London Oratory. Concelebrants, in addition to priests of the Ordinariate, and priests from the Oratory, included Fr John Saward, Fr Aidan Nichols OP and Fr John Osman

The ceremony showed that the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham can teach many of us something about the Roman Liturgy. Having the propers sung in the proper place is routine for the Ordinariate at sung Masses. May their good example inspire parishes to discover the proper place of sacred music.

After Mass, along with the others present, I received Fr Hunwicke's blessing. I was glad to have made the journey to Oxford for the greater blessing of his priestly ordination which God has granted to the Church and for which many of us have been praying earnestly.

from Fr. Finigan's blog Hermenutic of Continuity.

‘Bells of Peace’ to ring in troubled neighborhood

The Rev. Ernie Davis (from left), Bruce Prince-Joseph and the Rev. Jeffrey Hon have worked
together to rejuvenate an electronic carillon in its new home,
St. Therese Little Flower Church.

Volunteers hope vintage instrument will ring out hope for neighborhoods plagued by crime.
BY EDWARD M. EVELD

A rare and vintage electronic carillon, a Kansas City treasure known as the Bells of Peace, first rang from the Liberty Memorial in 1961.
It was a gift from Joyce C. Hall for the memorial’s rededication, attended by Presidents Truman and Eisenhower. The carillon, a collection of “bells” played from a keyboard, has twice fallen silent, a victim of its somewhat old-school technology.
So maybe it’s appropriate this spring that the Bells of Peace once again are being resurrected. But this time it’s away from downtown, in a part of the central city dubbed Kansas City’s Murder Factory in a series by The Star, which found the 64130 ZIP code was home to more convicted murderers than any other in the state.
Just last week, police responded to reports of gunfire one evening and found the body of a 21-year-old man in a front yard near 55th and Euclid streets, three blocks from the limestone bell tower, five stories tall, of St. Therese Little Flower Church.
No bell was ever installed at the church, built in 1948. But soon four loudspeaker “horns” will be installed in the tower, and the carillon will chime on the hour and regularly serenade the neighborhood with its orchestra of 405 “bells,” actually brass rods. How soon depends on whether volunteers reviving the carillon can coax sound from some obstinately quiet rods.
“This is a thing of beauty,” said the Rev. Ernie Davis, pastor at St. Therese. “It’s a reminder of the divine, of God’s presence.”
No doubt people’s lives in these city neighborhoods are troubled by poverty and violence and struggles of all kinds, he said. The bells will be a signal of hope, Davis said....

A few months into the installation at St. Therese, McDonald, who again was enlisted to help, died suddenly. Hon is trying to complete the work, with the assistance of electrical engineer Brian Haupt, but they have hit a snag.
A large number of the bells, including the robust Flemish bells, refuse to ring, and they aren’t sure why. Hon said he would welcome input from anyone with ideas, particularly those with experience in vacuum tube and amplification technology from the 1950s and ’60s.
Initially the hope was for a carillon concert on Easter. But although many of the bells are working, Davis and the others didn’t want to showcase the carillon until it was in full voice.
Davis has confidence the carillon’s final crankiness will be resolved and the parish, active in the community, will be able to present its new gift. St. Therese serves about 220 families, provides charitable ministries including a food pantry and utility assistance and offers a Gospel Mass and a form of “High Mass” on Sundays. Its former parish school houses Hogan Preparatory Academy Middle School.
“I think that St. Therese — not the church, but the saint — is interested,” Davis said. “I think she’s pulling strings.”

Read the entire story at The Kansas City Star.

Anglican Patrimony in the Heart of the Church: WESTMINSTER ABBEY CHOIR TO SING IN ST. PETER'S

Vatican City, 6 March 2012 (VIS) - The Choir of Westminster Abbey in London, England, is due to sing alongside the "Cappella Musicale Pontificia", or Sistine Choir, on 29 June, in an event which will be broadcast across the world. The Westminster Choir has been invited to the Holy See through Msgr. Massimo Palombella, director of the Sistine Choir.
A joint communique made public today notes that "this momentous ecumenical occasion is the first time in its over-500 year history that the Sistine Chapel Choir has joined forces with another choir. The invitation to Rome came after Pope Benedict XVI visited the Abbey in September 2010 when he attended Evening Prayer and prayed at the tomb of St. Edward the Confessor with Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, as part of his State visit to England and Scotland".
Speaking about the forthcoming visit, the primate of the Anglican Church has highlighted how St. Peter is patron of both the Vatican Basilica and of Westminster Abbey, therefore "celebrating together his apostolic witness and example is a powerful reminder of the call that our Churches share to be faithful to the apostolic fullness of the Gospel today".
The two choirs will together sing at First Vespers in the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls on 28 June, and at Mass in the Vatican Basilica on the morning of 29 June. The Westminster Abbey Choir will also travel to the Benedictine monastery at Montecassino to sing Vespers and Mass with the monastic community at the burial place of St Benedict. It was Benedictine monks who established a tradition of daily worship which continues to this day in Westminster Abbey, founded in the year 960.

From the Vatican Daily News Service.

Evensong at Mount Calvary Baltimore, Sunday, January 22, 2012

Here's the final video from last weekend's hat trick of Anglican Use Liturgies in Washington and Baltimore. Mount Calvary, which regularly celebrates Evensong & Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at 4:30 on Sundays, hosted members of the St. Thomas More Society from Scranton, PA, as well as other well-wishers like myself on the Eve of the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. Fr. Dwight Longenecker, of Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Greenville, South Carolina was the preacher, and focused on Newman's retreat to Littlemore. The music, like that of the earlier Mass and the evensong of the day before in D.C. was superb and uplifting.

Video of Evensong at St. Anselm's Abbey, Washington, D.C.

As posted below, the St. Thomas of Canterbury Anglican Use Society held a festive Evensong on Saturday, January 21st, to celebrate the founding of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. Here is the full service.

Healey Willan Society Established by Canons Regular of St. John Cantius

BY SHAWN TRIBE

NLM readers will know that I have mentioned before the great work of the composer Healey Willan, particularly within the context of the potential for English chant and polyphony. Accordingly, I was delighted to hear that the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius have established the Healey Willan Society "in consultation with Mrs. Mary Willan Mason [daughter of Healey Willan], for the purpose of fostering the musical works of Healey Willan."

Not only this however, the Canons Regular share the good news that this past June, Mary Willan Mason legally entrusted the musical legacy and estate of her father to them...

Read the rest at The New Liturgical Movement

Catholicism: What is an Anglican-use Parish or Community?

While I have been happy to report on news about the Anglican Use, the Ordinariates and associated happenings in the Church, one thing we have all no doubt noted is how almost all such stories are found in the religious press or on blogs whose focus is on Catholicism or the Ordinariates in particular. In a sense, we are talking to ourselves.

So it is always a pleasure to run across an article in a medium that is not specifically religious; it gives hope that a wider public will learn about the riches available through the Anglican Use liturgy and the Ordinariates. Such as the one below:

Ask any former Anglican or Episcopalian convert to Catholicism what he or she misses most. The answer almost always includes music. As former Anglicans--members of the Episcopal Church in the United States--my husband and I usually give the same response. We also miss the beautiful "thee's" and "thou's" of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, which for many years was the basis of the liturgy used in the Episcopal Church, and the enthusiasm with which many parishioners embraced singing in church.

Many Anglican-to-Catholic converts are thrilled when they discover the possibility of becoming a member of what is known as an Anglican-use parish or community...

Read the rest of Vonda Sines' reflection at Associated Content on Yahoo.