Release of Hymns of Mount Athos & The Glory of Byzantium: Christmas Hymns

On November 17, Jade Music/Milan Entertainment, Inc. is releasing the album "Hymns of Mount Athos" by the Choir of Monks from the Monastery of Simonos Petra. Legendary Mount Athos is home to twenty Orthodox monasteries with more than two thousand monks living, praying, singing and meditating. For centuries they have dedicated several hours of the day to liturgical chant, reflecting on their faith and the depth of Byzantine culture. Simonos Petra is a beautiful symbol of monastic life. Built in the 13th century, it is home today to sixty monks. This recording, Hymns of Mount Athos, is a testimony to the pure beauty of Orthodox chant.

Two weeks later, on December 1, we will release the album "The Glory of Byzantium: Christmas Hymns".

Following the success of The Glory Of Byzantium, Jade Music is releasing The Glory of Byzantium: Christmas Hymns. The album features the Byzantine Choir Of Greece under the direction of Lycourgos Angelopoulos. Compositions on this recording were mostly written by composers of the 17th and 18th centuries; Petros Bereketis, Hourmouzios Hartofylax, Petros Lampadarios, and Petros Peloponnisios among others. These centuries belong to the most important when it comes to post-Byzantine art.

While I have not listened to either of these CDs yet, I am interested in them since Jade Music has consistently provided high quality products in the past. For a list of other Music CDs by them, please click on "Music Reviews."

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Year for Priests

From June 2009 - June 2010, we commemorate the Year of the Priest. In the words of Pope Benedict XVI: "Precisely to encourage encourage priests in this striving for spiritual perfection on which, above all, the effectiveness of their ministry depends, I have decided to establish a special 'Year for Priests' that will begin on June 19 and last until June 19, 2010. In fact, it is the 150th anniversary of the death of the Holy Cure d'Ars, John Mary Vianney, a true example of a pastor at the service of Christ's flock."

In light of this Year and as we soon approach half of it being completed, let us reflect on the extent to which we have prayed for good and holy priests. Have we prayed for holy priests to continue to persevere and fight heresy such as modernism as well as social evils such as abortion and euthanasia? Have we prayed for traditional young men to answer the call of God to serve at the Altar as a priest? Have we prayed for more priests to help spread the Mass of the Ages and the Saints - the Tridentine Latin Mass - and helped them whenever possible to do so?

Now is a fitting and appropriate time to evaluate our actions in light of this Year of the Priest. Below is a list of various posts from mine that may be useful to your spiritual growth at this time:

• World Day of Prayer for Priests (2007)
• 44th World Day of Prayer for Vocations (2007)
• Plenary Indulgences Each Month for the Year of the Priest
• Priests are to be "Witnesses of Love"
• 2 Year Anniversary of Summorum Pontificum
• Priestly Ordination of Men Alone

Prayers for Priests:

• Prayer for Priests
• Prayer for Priests II
• Prayer for a Deceased Priest

Image Source: Parish priest Father Salvatore Cantatore celebrating mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Poughkeepsie, NY, US, March 1952, Photographer: Ralph Morse

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First Thursday of the Month: Plenary Indulgence Available

For the faithful, a plenary indulgence can be obtained on the opening and closing days of the Year for Priests, on the 150th anniversary of the death of St. Jean-Marie Vianney, on the first Thursday of the month, or on any other day established by the ordinaries of particular places for the good of the faithful.

To obtain the indulgence the faithful must attend Mass in an oratory or Church and offer prayers to "Jesus Christ, supreme and eternal Priest, for the priests of the Church, or perform any good work to sanctify and mould them to his heart."

The conditions for the faithful for earning a plenary indulgence are to have gone to confession and prayed for the intentions of the Pope.

Source: Zenit

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Interview with Monsignor Bartolucci on Traditional Catholicism

Thank you to the reader who notified me of the following interview with Monsignor Bartolucci available on Disuptationes Theologicae [simply translate the page into English using Google Translate or a similar service].

The following intial excerpt from the interview is already quite revealing in terms of the views of Mons. Bartolucci:

INTERVIEW WITH MONSIGNOR. DOMENICO BARTOLUCCI
by Pucci Cipriani and Stefano Carusi

A meeting with Monsignor Domenico Bartolucci, the distinguished Mugellan musician, Maestro Emeritus of the Sistine Chapel, admirer, friend and collaborator of Benedict XVI.

It is a sunny afternoon on the green hills of the Mugellan landscape, when we arrive on the Roman church of Montefloscoli, in the antique rectory full of memories the Maestro Perpetuo of the Sistine Chapel is enjoying the fresh air, behind him a framed photo of the hug the reigning pontiff is giving Monsignor Domenico Bartolucci, the successor of Lorenzo Perosi in the Sacred Palace. On his writing-desk the now-famous book of Monsignor Brunero Gherardini: “Il Concilio Vaticano II- un discorso da fare” (“The Second Vatican Council – a debate to be started”), edited by Edizioni Casa Mariana.
It is on the subject of the liturgical reform that we start our conversation with the Maestro, with Domenico Bartolucci, who in liturgical and musical matters has been at ease working and giving counsel to five popes and who is a friend and collaborator of Benedict XVI, whose work he says is “an immense gift to the Church, if only they would let it work”.

Maestro, the recent publication of the Motu proprio “Summorum Pontificum” has brought a gust of fresh air into the desolate liturgical panorama which surrounds it. Even you may now celebrate the Mass of all time (“messa di sempre”.)

To tell the truth, I have always and without interruption celebrated it since my ordination … on the contrary, I sometimes found it difficult to celebrate according to the modern rite, even if I never said so.

The Mass which never was abolished, is it not?

Those are the words of the Holy Father even if some people pretend not to understand and even if many in the past have argued that the opposite is true.

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All Souls Day Traditional Requiem Mass from 2007 at St. Francis de Sales Oratory

Today is the Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed (All Souls)

This feast, dating back to the 11th Century, is a time to remember all of the faithfully depart and pray that they are now in the grace of God. God certainly is Love and He is mercy. The only thing we can do is trust in Him and pray for our loved ones.

In the middle of the 11th century, St. Odilo, the abbot of Cluny (France), said that all Cluniac monasteries were to offer special prayers and sing the Office for the Dead on November 2, the day after the feast of All Saints. The custom spread from Cluny and was was adopted throughout the entire Roman Catholic Church. Now we the entire Church celebrates November 2nd as All Soul's Day.

Indulgence:

To gain a Plenary Indulgence form noon Nov. 1 until midnight Nov. 2, visit the church, pray for the Holy Souls and also for the intentions of the Holy Father. On All Soul's Day and for a week afterward, a Plenary Indulgence for the Holy Souls is granted for a visit to the cemetery with devotion and prayer for the dead. All through November, you can gain partial indulgence every day you visit the cemetery and pray for the dead.

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Feast of Christ the King 2009: Louisville, KY

A beautiful video of the Traditional Latin Mass from St. Martin of Tours Church, Louisville, KY on the Feast of Christ the King, October 25, 2009. Archbishop Jospeh Kurtz attended in choir and preached, making a pastoral visit to the Louisville Latin Mass Community.

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Archbishop Raymond Burke Celebrates First Traditional Latin Mass in St. Peter's Basilica

In the holy city of Rome on October 18, 2009, a Solemn Pontifical High Mass was sung in the Gregorian Rite by the Most Rev. Raymond Burke in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the Vatican Basilica. What a sign for the Faithful with the Tridentine Mass celebrated in the Vatican itself!

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Tridentine Latin Mass Sponsored by the Thomas More Society of Boston College

The below images were from a Tridentine Latin Mass sponsored by the Thomas More Society of Boston College, celebrated in St Mary's Chapel by Fr Agustin Anda, assisted by Fr. Gary Gurtler, S.J.. Chant choir Schola Amicorum, from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

This Mass took place on the Feast of St Michael the Archangel in September 2009. The acolytes are Philip Micele and Michael Williams.



Image Sources: These photos are from the Greater Boston Tridentine from Flickr, used with permission

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First Thursday of the Month: Plenary Indulgence Available

For the faithful, a plenary indulgence can be obtained on the opening and closing days of the Year for Priests, on the 150th anniversary of the death of St. Jean-Marie Vianney, on the first Thursday of the month, or on any other day established by the ordinaries of particular places for the good of the faithful.

To obtain the indulgence the faithful must attend Mass in an oratory or Church and offer prayers to "Jesus Christ, supreme and eternal Priest, for the priests of the Church, or perform any good work to sanctify and mould them to his heart."
The conditions for the faithful for earning a plenary indulgence are to have gone to confession and prayed for the intentions of the Pope.

Source: Zenit

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Pray for the Repose of the Soul: Michel Lefebvre and Fr. Didier Bonnetterre

The blog Credidimus Caritati requests prayers for the following two individuals:

Michel Lefebvre, the brother of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who passed away peacefully on the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, 15 September 2009. He was aged 90.

Father Didier Bonneterre, one of the most senior priests of the Society of St Pius X, who passed away in a car accident in Paris on the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, 15 September 2009.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescat in pace. Amen.

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