“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[…]

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[…]

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[…]

“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[…]

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[…]