SUNG LATIN MASS

The next Sung Latin Mass will be on 6th February. The music is given below. All are welcome to attend this celebration of Mass

Kyrie & Agnus Dei
Mass for Four Voices, by William Byrd

Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei
Missa Cunctipotens Genitor Deus
(anonymous 10th and 11th century plainsong)

Offertory Motet

Crux Fidelis, attributed to King John IV of Portugal

Communion Motet

Ave Verum, by Byrd

Recessional

Alle psallite cum luya (Anonymous)

Some pictures from the Low Mass in honour of St Raymond of Penyafort

Missa Cantata

Yesterday we offered the First Missa Cantata (Sung Mass) in the Extraordinary Form. Here are a couple of images frm the Mass. There would have been more but I only realised that the batteries were low at 7:20pm. We will be better organised next time.

May I record my thanks to the the choir and servers who offered their time and talents to make this a fitting celebration of the Holy Mass.

Mass in the Extraordianry Form will be offered every Friday at 7:30pm. On the FIRST FRIDAY of the month there will be a Missa Cantata (Sung Mass). The rest of the month Low Mass will be offered.

Traditional Latin Mass

Don't forget that beginning this Friday 16th January the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Tridentine, Latin) Mass will be offered at St. Marie's.

The First of these Masses will be a Missa Cantata - sung Mass. Music for the Mass is as follows:

Plainsong propers from the Liber

Kyrie & Agnus: Lassus Missa OctaviToni

Offertory: Palestrina Sicut Cervus

Recessional: Plainsong sequence, Laetabundus.

After this 'opening Mass' the Extraordinary From will be offered at St Marie's every Friday. It is hoped to have a Missa Cantata on the First Friday of each month and the rest of the month Low Mass will be offered.

Blessing of Chalk

It is a tradition on the Feast of the Epiphany for the priest to bless at Mass chalk so that the faithful can use this sacramental to bless their homes. As you know at St Marie's we are dedicated followers of tradition so I thought I would revive this custom.

At the end of Masses this weekend I will bless chalk using the following prayer:

Bene + dic, Domine Deus, creaturam istam cretae: ut sit salutaris humano generi; et praesta per invocationem nominis tui sanctissimi, ut, quicumque ex ea sumpersint, vel ea in domus suae portis scripserint nomina sanctorum turoum Gasparis, Melchioris et Baltassar, per eorum intercessionem et merita, corporis sanitatem, et animae tutulem peripiant. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. R Amen

Bless + O Lord God, this creature chalk to render it helpful to men. Grant that they who use it in faith and with it inscribe upon the entrance of their homes the names of thy saints, Caspar, Melchior and Baltassar may through their merits and intercession enjoy health of body and protection of soul. Through Christ our Lord. R Amen

The faithful can then take home the blessed chalk and recite the following prayers and inscribing with the chalk the date -2009 and the initials of the Magi Caspar, Melchior and Baltassar.

First go round the house sprinkling Holy Water in each room in silence. Then the father (or other adult) with the blessed chalk writes the following over or near the door of the house:

20 + C + B + M + 09

After which the following is said:

Leader: Peace be to this house.
All: And to all that dwell herein.
Leader: From the east the Magi came to Bethlehem to adore the Lord; and opening their treasures, they offered costly gifts: gold to the great King, incense to the true God, and myrrh in symbol of His burial. Alleluia

All: My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm:He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree.He has filled the hungry with good things;and the rich He has sent empty away. He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy; As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.

All: From the east the Magi came to Bethlehem to adore the Lord; and opening their treasures, they offered costly gifts: gold to the great King, incense to the true God, and myrrh in symbol of His burial. Alleluia

Our Father…
Leader: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
Leader: Many shall come from Saba
All: Bearing gold and incense.
Leader: O Lord, hear my prayer.
All: And let my cry come unto thee.
Leader: The Lord be with you.
All: And with thy spirit.


Leader:
Let us pray.
O God, Who by the guidance of a star didst this day reveal thy Sole-Begotten Son to the Gentiles, grant that we who now know thee by faith may be brought to the contemplation of thy heavenly majesty. Through the same Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.

Leader:
Let us pray.
Bless, O Lord, almighty God, this home that it be the shelter of health, chastity, self-conquest, humility, goodness, mildness, obedience to the commandments, and thanksgiving to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. May this blessing remain for all time upon this dwelling and them that live herein. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Holy Name of Jesus

On the 3rd January we celebrate the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.

The invocation of the Holy Name has been a continuous practice from the earliest days of the Church. Its veneration in liturgical celebrations dates from the fourteenth century. The spread of the devotion in Italy and then throughout Europe was due to the efforts of St Bernadine of Siena and his disciples, and the liturgical feat was sanctioned in the sixteenth century. In 1530 Pope Clement VII granted an indult to the friars minor to celebrate the office of the Holy Name.

On this day we remember Fr. Ray Matus, Fr. Christopher Hilton, Brother Richard Bailey and Brother Andrew Lyons who staff the Church of the Holy Name, Oxford Road, Manchester as they celebrate their Patronal Festival. Pray fervently that if it be the Lord's will the Congregation of the Oratory might be founded in that church.

From the sermons of St Bernardine of Siena (Sermon 49. Art 1 (Op. Omnia 1V)

This most Holy Name was the object of all the deepest longings of our fathers in the faith, the restless waiting of centuries, long years of weariness and prayerful expectation. Now in the era of grace it has been made know to us.

The name of Jesus is an indispensable foundation of the faith since he it is who makes us children of God. Our Catholic Faith is grounded in the knowledge and light of Jesus Christ, the light of the soul, the door to life, the secure foundation of eternal salvation. Not to have the faith or to abandon it is, so to speak, to step out into the darkness of the night without a light, stumbling headlong into hazards with eyes closed. However well developed human reason may be it is a blind guide for man's mind to follow in his attempts to understand the secrets of heaven. It is to build a house without foundations, or ignore the door and make an entry through the roof.

The name of Jesus us the crowning glory of the preacher, for it is Jesus who illuminates and strengthens, and gets a ready hearing for the preachers words. What, after all, is the source of the extraordinary burning light and attraction of this name. To the enlightened, who in that light see light, the words of the Apostle may be aptly applied: Once you were all darkness, now you are light in the Lord: walk as children of the light.