tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-150187272026-04-17T07:00:00.127-04:00New Liturgical MovementRichard Chonakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02327763839418228519noreply@blogger.comBlogger17923120tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-72550468327475989572026-04-17T07:00:00.000-04:002026-04-17T07:00:00.121-04:00Review of Monastery and High Cross: The Forgotten Eastern Roots of Irish ChristianityThe Faddan More PsalterIf you want to read a book full of historical and liturgical surprises, pick up a copy of Connie Marshner’s 2024 Monastery and High Cross: The Forgotten Eastern Roots of Irish Christianity (Sopia Institute Press).
We have always known that St. Patrick was sent to Ireland by the Pope, not to bring the Gospel to the Emerald Isle for the first time but to tend a Christian Michael P. Foleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02649905848645336033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-18158392444063845482026-04-16T16:30:00.000-04:002026-04-16T16:30:00.116-04:00The Hours of Boussu (Part 1)Here is yet another magnificent book of Hours from the endless treasure trove that is the Bibliothèque nationale de France, known as the Hours of Isabelle de Lalaing, the noble lady for whom it was made sometime after 1490. It is also called the Hours of Boussu, the town in the county of Hainaut (in modern Belgium) of which her family were the lords; the anonymous artist is known as the master ofGregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-6859290650303579332026-04-16T08:30:00.000-04:002026-04-16T08:30:00.114-04:00An Especially Beautiful Byzantine Chant for EasterIn the Divine Office of the Byzantine Rite, a chant called the Exapostilarion is sung at the hour of Orthros between the section known as the Canon (explained here) and the Laudate Psalms. As in every liturgical tradition, some of the most beautiful texts and musical settings of them are found in Holy Week and Easter; here is an absolutely extraordinary version of the one for Easter, performed inGregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-45213978891389526992026-04-15T15:30:00.000-04:002026-04-15T15:30:00.118-04:00The Rite of Blessing of the Agnus Deis (Part 1)Following up on our post on Monday about the blessing of the Agnus Deis, we here give the text of the blessing promulgated by Pope Benedict XIV. A previous version from the late 15th century will be given in the second part. This post is reproduced with some modifications from the website of the Cappella Gregoriana Sanctae Caecilia (St Cecilia Gregorian Choir), based in Manilla in the Philippine Gregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-15893623393488071732026-04-15T07:30:00.023-04:002026-04-15T07:30:00.119-04:00The Voice of Tradition: Dom Prosper Guéranger’s “Anti-Liturgical Heresy”Originally published at Adoremus Bulletin, this article by Richard Kaleb Hammond is more timely than ever, thanks to the recent invocation, by the Abbot of Solesmes and by Andrea Grillo, of Dom Prosper Guéranger as a supposed proponent, in advance, of the liturgical reform (!). We are all the more grateful to be publishing Mr. Hammond’s article in its original form, with many passages restored Peter Kwasniewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02068005370670549612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-39881575457501158442026-04-14T16:45:00.000-04:002026-04-14T16:45:00.117-04:00The Oratory of Ss Cecilia and Valerian in Bologna Since at least the last decades of 8th century, April 14 has been kept in the Roman Rite as the feast of three martyrs named Tiburtius, Valerian and Maximus. Valerian is said to have been the fiancé of St Cecilia, converted by her, after which he in turn converted his brother Tiburtius; Maximus was a soldier, one of several who witnessed the other two first beaten and then beheaded for the Faith,Gregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-322479514131319602026-04-14T07:00:00.000-04:002026-04-14T07:00:00.116-04:00Art, Beauty, Creativity and Inspiration #3: Is Beauty in The Eye of The Beholder? Or are there standards by which we can measure it?Detail of Portrait of Cornelius Van Der Geest, by Anthony Van Dyck, Flemish, 17th century.This is the third in a four-part series exploring a Christian philosophy of art and beauty. In the first post, I examined what art is and what makes it good and Christian. Last week, I looked at the traditional process of artistic creation and the effect thatDavid Claytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07041908477492455609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-85968605763635939872026-04-13T08:45:00.000-04:002026-04-13T08:45:00.116-04:00Pope St John XXIII Blessing the Agnus Deis
Some interesting unused footage of Pope St John XXIII blessing the Agnus Deis in 1959, from the YouTube channel of British Pathé. (The video has no sound.)
Agnus Deis are discs of wax impressed with an image of the Lamb of God, and often with the arms of the Pope or the image of a Saint on the reverse. They were traditionally blessed by the Popes as described by the old Catholic Encyclopedia:Gregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-90120279701116394752026-04-12T07:45:00.000-04:002026-04-12T07:45:30.024-04:00Low Sunday 2026
As newborn babes, alleluia, desire the rational milk without guile, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. 80 Rejoice to God our Helper; sing aloud to the God of Jacob. V. Glory be... As it was... As newborn babes... (The Introit for Low Sunday.)
Quasi modo géniti infantes, allelúia: rationábiles, sine dolo lac concupíscite, allelúia, allelúia, allelúia. Ps. 80 Exsultáte Deo, adjutóri nostro: Gregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-30712380542253278792026-04-11T13:00:00.004-04:002026-04-11T13:00:00.156-04:00The Station Churches of the Easter Octave (Part 3)Alongside the Apostles, the martyrs were held in special honor among the early Christians; their feasts are the oldest and most universal in the early liturgical calendars, and the first among them, St. Stephen and the Holy Innocents, are celebrated immediately after the birth of Christ. It was anciently the custom in some places to commemorate those who have shared most especially in the PassionGregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-66243042050512979142026-04-11T09:00:00.016-04:002026-04-11T15:50:26.315-04:00An Important New Resource for the Study of Holy WeekRomanitas Press has just made available a very useful resource for the study of Holy Week, and particularly, of the reform of it promulgated by Pope Pius XII in 1955. This is a three volume series by a German Jesuit priest named Herman Schmidt, who taught liturgy at the Gregorian University in Rome, compiled with all the thoroughness one would expect from a German and a Jesuit. The first volume Peter Kwasniewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02068005370670549612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-33891378103337385332026-04-10T19:00:00.000-04:002026-04-10T19:00:00.116-04:00Eastern Music for Good FridayToday is Good Friday on the Julian calendar, and so here are two interesting pieces of music for the day, one Byzantine and one Coptic, brought to my attention by the YouTube suggestion algorithm. The first is a chant for the Ninth Hour in the Byzantine Rite when it is sung as part of the Good Friday service known as the Royal Hours; I have previously described this service in full. The channel Gregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-37221010651616227892026-04-10T13:00:00.000-04:002026-04-10T13:00:00.113-04:00Silent Retreats with the ICRSP at the Sacred Heart Retreat Center in Wisconsin The Sacred Heart Retreat Center in Burlington, Wisconsin, which is run by the Institute of Christ the King, has recently updated its schedule of silent retreats, some of which run for a whole week, and others over a long weekend. If you are interested in spending some time away from the world in prayer and contemplation, with the traditional Mass available to attend daily, you are invited to takeGregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-55153320593751213682026-04-10T07:00:00.003-04:002026-04-11T14:03:26.748-04:00The Risen Lord as Hunter and TrapperSince last week we examined Patristic metaphors of the Crucifixion as a fishing trip, this week let us turn to similar images of the Paschal mystery in St. Augustine of Hippo.
Jesus the Ratcatcher
Augustine was probably unfamiliar with the fishing metaphor that the (mostly) Greek Fathers were using, but he came up with a similar image on his own. If the Devil is a rat, then the Son of God is Michael P. Foleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02649905848645336033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-56150538708420919842026-04-09T07:00:00.001-04:002026-04-09T07:00:34.662-04:00Video of Medieval Vespers of Easter in Paris
As I described in an article last year, Vespers of Easter Sunday and the days within the octave was celebrated in the Middle Ages according to a special form used only in that period. There were many variations to the ceremony; my article was based on the Use of Sarum, simply because the rubrics of Sarum liturgical books are more thorough than those of most other medieval Uses. When the See of Gregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-27701407778822298322026-04-08T16:00:00.028-04:002026-04-08T16:00:00.110-04:00Potent New Work Defends Intuition Behind Summorum Pontificum and Critiques Violence of Traditionis CustodesAs Kevin Tierney has pointed out more than once, there are many indications that Traditionis Custodes has been a tremendous failure in its overt mission of ridding the Church once for all of the dreaded Tridentine rite. For sure, its implementation (like that of Sacrosanctum Concilium) has led to damages, divisions, and dismay in far too many places, but worldwide there has been little attempt toPeter Kwasniewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02068005370670549612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-55692587796257925242026-04-08T07:15:00.001-04:002026-04-08T07:15:00.118-04:00The Station Churches of the Easter Octave (Part 2)The first part of this series, covering the Sunday and Monday of Easter, was published two days ago.The Introit of Tuesday’s Mass also clearly refers to the Saint at whose church the station is kept. As the Pope comes to the tomb of St. Paul, the “vessel of election, to carry (Jesus’) name before the gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel”, the Church sings “He gave them the water of Gregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-17945943276153716182026-04-07T19:00:00.006-04:002026-04-10T06:59:20.694-04:00A Papal Latinist Comments on the Victimae PaschaliA friend on social media recently shared this link to a recording of Fr Reginald Foster OCD, one of the great Latin scholars of our age, commenting on the Latinity of the Easter sequence Victimae Paschali. This was originally broadcast on Vatican Radio as part of a program in which he regularly participated called The Latin Lover. The link is one of dozens hosted on a website run by Fr Gary Gregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-7372102436391402942026-04-07T07:00:00.000-04:002026-04-07T07:00:00.118-04:00Art, Beauty, Creativity and Inspiration #2: Inspiration and CreativityA Christian UnderstandingThis is the second in a four-part series in which I explore the nature of art and beauty, and their place in Christian life and culture. Last week, I asked the foundational question: What is art? – and argued that good art is the product of a creative act ordered toward beauty and a good purpose, and that it can be Christian even without an explicitly religious subject. David Claytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07041908477492455609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15018727.post-43906938594114102282026-04-06T07:00:00.000-04:002026-04-06T07:00:00.123-04:00The Station Churches of the Easter Octave (Part 1)
For the newly baptized Christians of the church of Rome, the octave of Easter was the culmination of both their baptismal preparation, and of the seven-week long series of stational visits that brought them and the Pope to most of the important churches of the city.
The station of the Easter vigil is of course at the cathedral of Rome, the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior, where the Popes Gregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0