Saturday, September 26, 2015
PAPAL MASS IN PHILADELPHIA'S STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL CATHEDRAL
The Mass is stunningly beautiful and please note the lovely Benedictine altar arrangement. Why don't more cathedrals and parishes implement what the Holy Father, two now, have modeled in this regard. Why the intransigence?
Also note how the Concelebrants receive Holy Communion at a papal Mass in the USA--THEY DO NOT DRINK FROM THE COMMON CHALICE, THEY INTINCT THEIR HOST INTO THE PRECIOUS BLOOD HELD BY BY A DEACON! THANK GOD FOR HYGIENIC COMMON SENSE! AND THE HOLY FATHER GIVES HOLY COMMUNION TO THE DEACONS BY INTINCTION JUST AS HIS HOLINESS DOES IN ROME!
Also of note is the nice and sober quality of the liturgical chants. Hail Holy Queen is the processional which for liturgical purests is anathema to sing a Marian hymn as a processional!
There has been a serious upheaval in the music ministry of this cathedral as Archbishop Chaput fired the previous director who left with sour grapes. Their new director seems to have stepped in and done a great job following what his boss the Archbishop wants!
There is a very nice blend of Latin and English with a smattering of Vietnamese and Spanish here and there. The Latin parts of the Mass are very nicely executed.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Latin Roman Canon, in the USA, by the Pope! This made me happy! Now why couldn't they have done exactly the same thing for St. JunÃpero Serra's canonization Mass? He would have had a personal liturgical connection with the Roman Canon in Latin, far more than with EP3 in Spanish.
I also liked both the Holy Father's chasuble and mitre here. One of the nicer sets he's worn. And as you say, the church itself, with an altar rail and the cathedra at the side, not the middle, is a beautiful one indeed.
Yes indeed the chasuble and miter were beautiful.
Man, I am being labeled a neo-con Catholic for supporting this Pope and his papal visit. Thank you, Father, for your support and clear headed-ness regarding Pope Francis.
If you're going to have a processional hymn it should be a Marian one since the Mass is the Common of the BVM. A liturgical purist would have preferred a fanfare and 'Tu es Petrus' followed by the Introit 'Salve Sancta Parens'.
It was a pity that instead of the proper Communion antiphon with verses from the Magnificat, we got the Magnificat done in the manner of a responsorial psalm. On the other hand it was good to hear that old favourite 'O Sanctissima' - once a staple, alas now rarely heard.
The priest who read out the translation of the HF's homily was obviously English; I wonder who he was? However, nul points to the concelebrating priest seen taking photographs of the Elevation.
I have seen all three US Masses and have come away with a favourable impression. The music was appropriate and well performed and (amazingly) there were no female servers. It would seem that Guido Marini uses the papal Masses in St Peter's as the model and this seems to suit Pope Francis's sober and restrained liturgical style.
I will say the Per Ipsum in this Mass was a pain to listen to. Too many voices at once, and not to an established tune!
I missed the Papal Mass yesterday as I was at Atlanta's Greek festival, held at their Cathedral. An associate (priest) to the dean of the cathedral told me a typical Divine Liturgy (Mass) last about two hours---not talking Easter here, just a typical Sunday. Not sure many Catholics would support such a length (nor would it be practical at Catholic parishes that have multiple Masses on Sundays, where you have to get people out within an hour to make room for the next round.) In the Orthodox Churchy, a priest can only celebrate one Divine Liturgy on a Sunday---no multiple Masses on a given day.
Post a Comment