O Come, O Come Emmanuel

You will no doubt have sung this hymn already this year- we are half way through Advent already. This classic Advent hymn consists of the Magnificat Antiphons for the coming week leading up to Christmas. I’ll be posting about each of them individually so, in the meantime, enjoy this beautiful arrangement in Latin sung by the Gesualdo Six and the familiar English below.

St Cecilia Mass, Charles Gonoud

For the feast of St Cecelia I’d like to share the St Cecelia Mass by Charles Gonoud. The work was premiered in 1855 in Saint-Eustache, Paris where is was the custom to premier a new Mass on our saint’s feast day.

November 22.–ST. CECILIA, Virgin, Martyr.

IN the evening of her wedding-day, with the music of the marriage-hymn ringing in her ears, Cecilia, a rich, beautiful, and noble Roman maiden, renewed the vow by which she had consecrated her virginity to God. “Pure be my heart and undefiled my flesh; for I have a spouse you know not of–an angel of my Lord.” The heart of her young husband Valerian was moved by her words; he ‘received Baptism, and within a few days he and his brother Tiburtius, who had been brought by him to a knowledge of the Faith, sealed their confession with their blood. Cecilia only remained. “Do you not know,” was her answer to the threats of the prefect, “that I am the bride of my Lord Jesus Christ?” The death appointed for her was suffocation, and she remained a day and a night in a hot-air bath, heated seven times its wont. But “the flames had no power over her body, neither was a hair of her head singed.” The lictor sent to dispatch her struck with trembling hand the three blows which the law allowed, and left her still alive. For two days and nights Cecilia lay with her head, half severed on the pavement of her bath, fully sensible, and joyfully awaiting her crown; on the third the agony was over, and in 177 the virgin Saint gave back her pure spirit to Christ.

Reflection.–St. Cecilia teaches us to rejoice in every sacrifice as a pledge of our love of Christ, and to welcome sufferings and death as hastening our union with Him.

The Dream of Gerontius: St JH Newman on the four last things

Not long after converting and after having read St John Henry Newman’s Apologia and Loss and Gain, I discovered the Dream of Gerontius. I was aware of Elgar’s setting as a music student but hadn’t studied it or performed it but as a fresh convert, I was beguiled by Newman’s flawless prose- a creative and enthralling communication of the Church’s doctrine on the four last things. Coupled with Elgar’s music, the result is a monumental emersion in the realities of Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell. There are too many things to comment on in this work so I’ll share my favourite performance.

Elgar was married in the Brompton Oratory and as a wedding gift, his best man gave him a copy of Newman’s poem, The Dream of Gerontius. When he had finished writing his setting of it, Elgar commented to his wife ‘this is the best of me.’ The link to the Brompton Oratory is significant to me because it was there that Mrs Pearce and I attended our first Traditional Latin Mass and I, as another Anglican friend of mine did, knelt at the Lady Altar and asked Her to guide me as to whether I should convert to Catholicism.

If you don’t have a lot of time to do some November reading, take time to immerse yourself in this dramatic presentation of the realities of death. And, Pray for the Holy Souls!

Feast of All Saints: O Quam Gloriosum

Happy feast of All Saints.

Here is a motet by the Spanish Priest composer, Fr Thomas Luis de Victoria- O Quam Gloriosum, complete with beautiful footage from the BBC.

O quam gloriosum est regnum,
in quo cum Christo gaudent omnes Sancti!
Amicti stolis albis,
sequuntur Agnum, quocumque ierit.

O how glorious is the kingdom
in which all the saints rejoice with Christ,
clad in robes of white
they follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

And Fr Victoria’s Mass on the same theme.

Vespers Hymn: The Feast of Christ the King

1. Te saeculorum Principem, Te, Christe, Regem Gentium,
Te mentium, Te cordium Unum fatemur arbitrum.

2. Scelesta turba clamitat: Regnare Christum nolumus:
Te nos ovantes omnium Regem supremum dicimus.

3. O Christe, Princeps Pacifer, Mentes rebelles subiice:
Tuoqu(e) amore devios, Ovil(e) in unum congrega.

4. Ad hoc cruent(a) ab arbore, Pendes apertis brachiis:
Diraque fossum cuspide Cor igne flagrans exhibes.

5. Ad hoc in aris abderis Vini dapisqu(e) imagine,
Fundens salutem filiis Transverberato pectore.

6. Te nationum Praesides Honore tollant publico,
Colant magistri, iudices, Leges et artes exprimant.

7. Submissa regum fulgeant Tibi dicat(a) insignia:
Mitique sceptro patriam Domosque subde civium.

8. Iesu, tibi sit gloria, Qui sceptra mundi temperas,
Cum Patr(e) et almo Spiritu, In sempiterna saecula. Amen.

V. Multiplicabitur eius imperium.
R. Et pacis non erit finis.

1. Thou, Prince of all ages, Thou, O Christ, the King of the nations,
we acknowledge Thee the one Judge of all hearts and minds.

2. The wicked mob screams out. “We don’t want Christ as king,”
While we, with shouts of joy, hail Thee as the world’s supreme King.

3. O Christ, peace-bringing Prince, subjugate the rebellious minds:
And in Thy love, bring together in one flock those going astray.

4. For this, with arms outstretched, Thou hung, bleeding, on the Cross,
and the cruel spear that pierced Thee, showed man a Heart burning with love.

5. For this, Thou art hidden on our altars under the form of bread and wine,
and pour out on Thy children from Thy pierced side the grace of salvation.

6. May the rulers of the world publicly honour and extol Thee; May teachers and judges reverence Thee;
May the laws express Thine order and the arts reflect Thy beauty.

7. May kings find renown in their submission and dedication to Thee.
Bring under Thy gentle rule our country and our homes.

8. Glory be to Thee, O Jesus, supreme over all secular authorities;
And glory be to the Father and the loving Spirit through endless ages.

V. His empire shall be multiplied.
R. And there shall be no end of peace

A Plenary Indulgence is available today. Click here for details.

For more information on this feast, see the below encyclical in which Pope Pius XI instituted it.

QUAS PRIMAS

ON THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING

Encyclical of Pope Pius XI promulgated on December 11, 1925.