“O for your spirit, holy John, to chastenLips sin-polluted, fettered tongues to loosen;So by your children might your deeds of wonderMeetly be chanted.” Paolo Diacono (Paul the Deacon) (ca. 720 – ca. 799) a monk of Monte Cassino and a friend of Charlemagne, had composed, in honour of St. John the Baptist, the hymn: “Ut queant laxis.” In the thirteenth century the Benedictine monk Guy of Arezzo noticed that the notes sung on the first syllabes formed the sequence of the first six degrees of the scale. He named each degree by the corresponding syllable: “Ut, re, mi, fa, sol,[…]

By Fr. Dominique Bourmaud, August 2010 edition of the The Angelus magazine. The Mozart Effect Most classical music lovers will have heard of The Mozart Effect. Don Campbell, author of this book, explains that music can help transform health, education, and well-being. Music was found to reduce stress, depression, or anxiety and improve memory. Mozart was seen to drastically lessen epileptic fits in a comatose state, help direct rats out of a maze, and make cows yield more milk. The tastiest results occurred when Japanese yeast listened (!) to Mozart. The discoverer of the Mozart effect comes from overseas. He has[…]

During a riot at Rome, a mob came to the house where St. Bridget lived; a leader talked of burning Bridget alive.  She prayed to Our Lord to know if she should flee to safety.  Jesus advised her to stay:  “It doesn’t matter if they plot Thy death.  My power will break the malice of Thy enemies:  if Mine crucified Me, it is because I permitted it.”  Our blessed Mother added:  “Sing as a group the AVE MARIS STELLA and I’ll guard you from every danger.” This Ave Maris Stella track comes from “A Day in the Cloister” — Gregorian[…]

Psalmus 50 (51) Psalm 50 (51) 1 In finem Psalmus David 1 Unto the end, a psalm of David, 2 Cum venit ad eum Nathan propheta quando intravit ad Bethsabee 2 when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bethsabee. 3 Miserere mei Deus secundum magnam misericordiam tuam et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum dele iniquitatem meam 3 Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy. And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity. 4 Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea et a peccato meo munda me 4 Wash[…]

At the request of Pope Urban IV St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) composed the office (the official prayers of the Church) for the feast. This office is the source of the famous Eucharistic hymns Pange Lingua Gloriosi and Tantum Ergo Sacramentum (the final two verses of the Pange Lingua). The hymn expresses the doctrine of transubstantiation, in which, according to the Roman Catholic faith, the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. Liturgical Use: Vespers hymn on the Feast of Corpus Christi: the Tangtum Ergo and doxology are sung during Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. It is used also as[…]