Resurrection of Christ

Victimae Paschali Laudes

Victimae Paschali Laudes is one of the medieval sequences that were preserved in the Missale Romanum published in 1570 after the Council of Trent (1545-1563), this poetic liturgical hymn continues to be sung at the Tridentine Mass on Easter Sunday and through its Octave. The Easter sequence, attributed to Wipo of Burgundy (✞ 1048). This ancient chant tells the story of death and life locked in a struggle, wherein Christ, the Paschal victim, victorious over death, reconciles us to the Father. It tells the story of Mary Magdalene, who upon finding the empty tomb of the risen Christ and of finding the[…]

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Ego sum panis vivus – I am the bread of life

Ego sum panis vivus – I AM the bread of life

“I am the bread of life.Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead.This is the bread which cometh down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die.I am the living bread which came down from heaven.If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever;and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world.” — John 6:48-52. The musical tradition of the Catholic Church knows well many sacred chants in honor of the Eucharist. Palestrina’s four-part motet Ego sum panis vivus is one of[…]

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Dies Irae

Dies Irae (The Day of Wrath)

The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of all nations. It will take place after the resurrection of the dead and the Second Coming of Christ (Revelation 20:12–15). The doctrine, iconographic depiction and musical compositions of the “Last Judgment” are drawn from many passages from the apocalyptic sections of the Bible, but most notably from Jesus’ teaching of the strait gate in the Gospel of Matthew and also found in the Gospel of Luke. Dies Irae (The Day of Wrath)[…]

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Rorate Mass

Rorate Cæli Mass & Hymn of the Catholic Faith

Did your community have at least one Rorate Mass this Advent? Rorate Cæli is one of the most beautiful Hymns of the Catholic Faith. The text of this piece is a faithful rendition of the verse from the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 45:8) in Vulgate and other sources. It is a reverent and humble supplication to the mercy of God. It is a hymn of repentance and sorrow. The following recording comes from the Trappist Abbey of Citeaux in France. To listen, tap the play button. Latin English Rorate Cæli desuper,Et nubes pluant justum. Drop down dew, ye heavens, from aboveAnd let the clouds[…]

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Improperia “Popule meus, quid feci tibi?”

Improperia “Popule meus, quid feci tibi?”

The Improperia are the reproaches which in the liturgy of the Office of Good Friday the Saviour is made to utter against the Jews, who, in requital for all the Divine favours and particularly for the delivery from the bondage of Egypt and safe conduct into the Promised Land, inflicted on Him the ignominies of the Passion and a cruel death. It is during the Adoration of the Cross that these touching remonstrances are rendered by the choir. In all they consist of three distinct parts. Of these the third — composed of the antiphon “Crucem tuam adoramus”, the first[…]

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Mater Dolorosa

Stabat Mater Dolorosa

Stabat Mater Dolorosa is considered one of the seven greatest Latin hymns of all time.  It is based upon the prophecy of Simeon that a sword was to pierce the heart of Our Lord’s mother, Mary (Lk2:35). The hymn title means “‘Stood the mother, full of grief’.”  In Latin, the hymn consists of twenty couplets which describe the Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin at the Cross.  The Stabat Mater’s popularity is reflected by its use in the popular devotion of the Stations of the Cross. The message of the Stabat Mater focuses on the spiritual and emotional bond which unites Mary and all[…]

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Laudate Dominum by Mozart

Laudate Dominum

“Laudate Dominum” from Vesperae solennes de confessore, KV 339by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). Singer: Kiri te Kanawa The first part of the text is the entire Psalm 116  [117]. With just two verses and sixteen words in Hebrew, it is the shortest of all 150 psalms. As with the other Psalms, “Laudate Dominum” is concluded with a trinitarian doxology (Gloria Patri) when used in the Roman rite.  In Catholic churches, the Psalm may be sung after the blessing at the devotional service called Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Latin Text English Translation Laudáte Dóminum omnes gentesomnes populi;Quóniam confirmáta estsúper nos misericordia eiuset véritas Domini mánet[…]

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Christ the King

Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat!

The Feast of Christ the King – Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Regis – was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 in the encyclical Quas Primas, as an antidote to secularism, a way of life which leaves God out of man’s thinking and living and organizes his life as if God did not exist. The feast is intended to proclaim in a striking and effective manner Christ’s royalty over individuals, families, society, governments, and nations. “If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a[…]

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Filiae maestae Jerusalem by Antonio Vivaldi

«Filiæ mæstæ Jerusalem», RV 638 by Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)

“And there followed him a great multitude of people, and of women, who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning to them, said: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me; but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For behold, the days shall come, wherein they will say: Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the paps that have not given suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us; and to the hills: Cover us. For if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in[…]

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Magnificat - The Canticle of Mary

Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum

The Magnificat, the canticle of the Incarnation, recalls to us each day that God has stripped Himself of His glory to clothe Himself in the livery of poor and suffering humanity. “He raised [Mary] above all others because she declared herself to be the lowest of all creatures. When He made for Himself a dwelling place on earth, it was not in the palaces of kings. He chose poor, humble parents and all that the world disdained in order to cast down its pomp. This was the proper character of divine power in the new alliance: to make its virtue[…]

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Te Deum laudamus Hymn

Te Deum laudamus

Te Deum laudamus, ( Latin: “God, We Praise You”, ) is an Early Christian Hymn of praise. Traditionally ascribed to Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine. In the Roman Breviary it is entitled as “Hymnus SS. Ambrosii et Augustini”. In the traditional office, the Te Deum is sung at the end of Matins on all days when the Gloria is said at Mass; those days are all Sundays outside Advent, Septuagesima, Lent, and Passiontide; on all feasts (except the Triduum) and on all ferias during Eastertide. A plenary indulgence is granted, under the usual conditions, to those who recite it in[…]

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Council of Vigilance and Restoration of Sacred Music by Pope St. Pius X

On the Restoration of Sacred Music by Pope Pius X – “Tra Le Sollecitudini”

Motu Proprio promulgated by Pope Pius X on November 22, 1903 I. General Principles II. The different kinds of Sacred Music III. The Liturgical Text IV. External form of the sacred compositions V. The singers VI. Organ and instruments VII. The length of the liturgical chant VIII. Principal means IX. Conclusion Among the cares of the pastoral office, not only of this Supreme Chair, which We, though unworthy, occupy through the inscrutable dispositions of Providence, but of every local church, a leading one is without question that of maintaining and promoting the decorum of the House of God in which[…]

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