Wednesday, April 2, 2008

St Joseph!

At the Pro., the late-breaking news - to which the inimitable Fr Z alerted me - that St Joseph was meant to be transferred to before Holy Week in the old as well as the new form of Mass, was not well-received, Fr Rowe pointing out that five days' warning, on the strength of a blog, however well-known, was hardly the sort of canonical let alone rubrical direction that must be obeyed, especially as he had already published the schedule of Masses based on a very reliable Ordo anyway. (For the same reason, we will be singing Mass of St Patrick at 5:30pm tomorrow.)

Hence we sang Mass of St Joseph today at 6:30pm. I was delighted to join in singing with the Victoria Singers, and letting my voice blend in rather than perforce sing everything by myself! We simply psalm-toned the propers, and did Mass I for the Ordinary (except for the Gloria from Mass VIII) and Credo III; for fillers, we added in the Regina cæli before Mass (to honour his spouse), the O filii et filiæ (in yet another slightly different arrangement) at the Offertory (for Eastertide), and - since it was an evening Mass - Te lucis ante terminum (!) at Communion. For a recessional, we sang "Joseph, the scriptures love to trace / the glories of thy kingly line".

Fr Rowe preached on fidelity to God's will, after noting how peculiarly fitting it was to feast St Joseph today, after his dear Spouse the Blessed Virgin Mother yesterday. The Preface for St Joseph is a worthy companion to Our Lady's Preface, from which it manifestly derives:

Vere dignum... Et te in festivitate beati Joseph debitis magnificare præconiis, benedicere et prædicare. Qui et 'vir justus', a te Deiparæ Virgini sponsus est datus [cf. S. Matt. i, 18-19]: et 'fidelis servus et prudens, super Familiam tuam est constitutus' [cf. S. Luc. xii, 42]: ut Unigenitum tuum, Sancti Spiritus obumbratione conceptum, paterna vice custodiret, Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Per quem...

(Truly worthy... And on the Feast of Blessed Joseph with due praises to magnify, bless and preach [or, proclaim] Thee. Who was both a 'just man', a husband given by Thee to the Virgin Theotokos [cf. St Matthew i, 18-19]; and 'a faithful and wise servant, set over Thy Family' [cf. St Luke xii, 42]: that Thy Onlybegotten, conceived by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, he might watch over with fatherly care, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through Whom...)


After Mass, Fr and I had a meal and some beers with Peter, who as I mentioned earlier is applying to join the Carmelite Monks in Wyoming: best of luck, Pete, with getting the visa at the consulate tomorrow! Godspeed.

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