open book: What did you hear?

December 03, 2006

What did you hear?

First Sunday of Advent edition.

What hymns were sung? What were the Mass parts? How was the Advent wreath handled? What liturgical colors were in evidence? Homily?

So...when did Lo, How a Rose "ere Blooming become an Advent hymn? Especially a First Sunday of Advent hymn?

Just wondering.

Our parish uses the very unfortunate Mass setting - Missa Emmanuel - in which the Sanctus, Eucharistic Acclamation and Great Amen are awkwardly set to "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." It just doesn't work.

The Advent wreat was blessed and lit after the Offertory hymn and before the Prayer over the Gifts, a placement I'd not seen before. (Folks are assuring me this is "by the book." Not exactly. Perhaps you can see it that way if there had been no Offertory procession or hymn and the Communion vessels hadn't been prepared and were sitting on the altar, and the lighting of the Advent wreath hadn't occurred after all of that. So, yeah, technically, "After the General Intercessions"...but that's generally understood to be right after the General Intercessions. Not that I care. I was more interested in the wreath being blessed at the second Mass of the weekend, and visions of my old friend Dorothy kept dancing through my head, since I believe in the parish at which we worked one of the priests insisted on blessing the Advent wreath at every Mass and that drove...Dorothy...crazy!)

Homily? It concerned the circular nature of life, that the readings we had at the end of the liturgical year are echoed in the readings for the First Sunday of Advent. He then segued into the Gospel: Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will be sprung on you suddenly, like a trap, and a call for us not to let the busyness of the season distract us, etc.

Rich Leonardi gives us a snapshot of a Cincinnati parish here.

Posted by Amy Welborn | Permalink

Comments

At my parish we too used the Mass setting in which the Sanctus, Eucharistic Acclamation and Great Amen are awkwardly set to "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." As you noted it just doesn't seem to work, but at least it is a move in the right direction and away from things like Mass of Glory or Mass of Creation.

Posted by: Fr. Christensen at Dec 3, 2006 12:12:35 PM

Missa Emmanuel here too.

The Advent wreath was lit right at the beginning of mass, after the entrance hymn and procession. The priest's vestments and choir robes were all purple. The entrance hymn was something that I don't remember hearing before and can't quite remember the title of now, but it seemed like an Advent appropriate song.

Posted by: Bill H at Dec 3, 2006 12:28:14 PM

I blessed the Advent wreath at only one Mass, the 5 pm Mass at the northern parish.

Amy, what you witnessed, as far as the blessing, is "by the book" -- that's what the book of blessings calls for. Maybe I'll do it that way some day, but it seems odd to me.

So I had a mother and son come forward in procession, and did the blessing right away, then they lit the candle, and we were on with Mass. At the other Masses, I merely had someone come forward, during the procession, and light the candle during the opening song.

This Advent, we are trying some English antiphons, from Collegeville: this Sunday it was: "The days are coming, surely coming, the promise is coming, the justice of the Lord."

Positive: it's more in line with what the Missal actually calls for, although it's English, not Latin -- and this week was not actually the assigned antiphon. Negative: it requires handouts, which are a mess in the pews.

People did sing it well.

At the preparation, we sang "Creator of the Stars of Night" in English; God willing, we'll try it in Latin next year.

At communion, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" -- another hymn I'd like to try in Latin; but I don't know if the hymnal has it that way (pity).

For Advent, we are doing something "educational" at some of the Masses: we are praying the Angelus, either before or after, depending on the time. It works out we're doing it for every one but 9 am. When it comes at the end, we simply do it after the dismissal, but before the closing hymn.

This was my idea: I want to help our parishioners learn some time-tested prayers, so I'm emphasizing different ones through the year.

The closing hymn was "O Come, Divine Messiah."

The Mass settings are Proulx, but not the Missa Emmanuel.

At the 9 and 10:30 am Masses (two different parishes), we had a Rite of Acceptance/Welcome for catechumens and candidates. That meant a short dialogue at the beginning, and a signing of them, and presentation of a crucifix, after the homily, before they were dismissed to break open the Scriptures.

I confess, due to time crunch today, I used Eucharistic Prayer II (I almost never use it for Sunday); I used the Roman canon on Saturday. I did do a shorter homily, found by clicking my name below.

Posted by: Fr Martin Fox at Dec 3, 2006 12:55:39 PM

7:45 am Mass, Immaculate Conception, Durham, NC.

Despite the handouts at the end of the pews for "Missa Emmanuel," I was relieved to hear Proulx's Community Mass for mass parts. This may have been because the early morning mass tends to have a slightly more traditional flavor in hymns: I think everyone else is getting "Missa Emmanel," like it or not. Either that or our choir guy is waiting until later in the advent season to use most of the handout. We'll see. Now if only they'd do Proulx's gloria during a non-purple season sometime! I can count on one finger how many times I've hear that Gloria at a mass!

I pretty much agree with Amy that using the "O come o come" theme for mass parts doesn't seem to work. Don't remember the opening hymn: something I'd never heard before. Psalm was Marty Haugen's version of "To you, O Lord, I lift my soul," which I've always liked tolerably well. "One bread, one body" for Communion, then some Advent-y hymn (16th century, I think) set to Stuttgart (of "Heart of Christ" fame: a tune I enjoy quite a bit) for recessional: not too bad. The pastor's homily was (as I've come to expect) a quite good one on the need to "pay attention." I'm pretty sure Fr. hit all of the readings, plus he talked about St. Francis' theological worldview and what it can teach us. Very nice.

Posted by: Pedantic Classicist at Dec 3, 2006 1:13:44 PM

We also had the Mass settings that were to "O come Emmanuel," which made me upset because a) its awkward as you said, and b) my parish used to (several years ago now) always sing the Mass parts in Latin in the two penitential seasons, to highlight that they were penitential. I always looked forward to that, and now we don't do it anymore. We sang an Alleluia before the Gospel--I don't know when that started, I don't remember doing that last year. We did a Taize chant at the Recessional, and I can't remember the name of the Processional hymn...and I never listen to the Meditation hymn, I'm always too busy praying.

The homily was on the need to practice the virtue of patience, that Christmas does not come until the vigil on the 24th, that we are in a great season of Advent that gets swallowed up by a culture that can't wait for Christmas, then is sick of it by Dec. 26th. He also addressed that this attitude is prevalent in other parts of our lives and causes cultural problems (We don't wait for marriage to live together and sleep together, so therefore we toss marriage like our Christmas trees, because its anticlimactic.).

The Advent wreat was lit before Mass by a server, no blessing, and the candle lit was not the one opposite the rose candle--the altar server was quite young so it may have been a mistake.

Posted by: nab at Dec 3, 2006 1:17:43 PM

St. martin of Tours, Louisville KY.

Traditional hymms, not however, O come O come... .

Chant, Sanctus etc. in Latin.

No Advent wreath (Yay--it's ment for home use!)

Homily on the end times, and Advent as a preparation to commemorate the Incarnation, but also to prepare us for the Parousia.

Smells, Bells, Chant and Glorificatio of God, in keeping with Tradition and the uses of a fine, liturgically oriented Parish.

Deo Gratias!

Posted by: ignorant redneck at Dec 3, 2006 1:21:24 PM

Started with O Come, O Come Emmanuel. The Advent wreath was blessed last night at 5:00 pm Mass. I wasn't there but I know that father did it during the Offertory, because that's went father always does it.
We unfortunately, do neither antiphons, nor seasonal Sanctus, Eucharistic Acclamation or Great Amen. Our music minister seems to believe that it is too difficult for the church community to learn a selection of liturgical music, but has no trouble at all with new hymns. Don't misunderstand me, he is very musically gifted and wonderful with the youth choir, but like many present day music ministers has no formal training in liturgical music.
The homily was on preparation for the second coming, with a call for us to renew our dedication to participating fulling in the liturgy, which is to say pray with conviction, sing with prayerful contemplation and to loudly proclaim our parts of the prayers.

Posted by: TerryC at Dec 3, 2006 1:21:59 PM

nab:
The Advent wreat was lit before Mass by a server, no blessing, and the candle lit was not the one opposite the rose candle--the altar server was quite young so it may have been a mistake.

o-0 WHAT? There's an order in which purple candle to light? Oh lord! I'm twenty-three years old and I never knew that. We've never done it in my house either, only known that it went purple, purple, pink, purple.

Posted by: Eileen R at Dec 3, 2006 1:27:32 PM

Holy Rosary, Indianapolis

Beautiful Indult Mass according to the 1962 Missal. Choir was in top form and the parish was filled. Smells, bells and the proper tone for the start of advent.

My wife went to Holy Spirit at Geist, blue vestments, blue advent candles, enough said.

Posted by: WRiley at Dec 3, 2006 1:32:06 PM

Oh, and this year, at one of my parishes, we replaced the blue, oil-filled candles from years past with real candles which are purple. Alas, the rose candle is pink. Can't have everything.

Posted by: Fr Martin Fox at Dec 3, 2006 1:38:36 PM

Just a couple of comments -- I've been in parish music since I was a child many years ago. Thank goodness we did not use Missa Emmanuel. It shoe-horns in words and destroys a perfectly fine hymn. Unless I am wrong, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," (the hymn) is more appropriately sung the fourth Sunday of Advent, because the O Antiphons are sung the week prior to Christmas.

The homily was excellent and based on the readings of being prepared. Our young priest emphasized examination of conscience each evening, Confession, and Eucharistic visits and reception. It was a prayerful Mass.

Posted by: bgb at Dec 3, 2006 1:41:54 PM

I had no idea that Proulx's Missa Emmanuel was so unpopular. I'm very traditional when it comes to liturgical music (if it were up to me, we'd all use the graduale not the 4 hymn sandwich) but I don't mind Missa Emmanuel at all. As Father mentioned above, it's not perfect but it's light years better than Haugen/Haas stuff. My parish will be using it for Advent. I do think it would work better if done a cappella - the organ accompaniement has too many short notes and sounds choppy and bouncy.

Our other hymns were all traditional vernacular from the red Worship hymnal. I'm drawing a blank remembering all the names, but our recessional was Sleepers Awake.

One candle on the advent wreath was already lit before Mass started - possibly it was lit at the earlier Mass this monring. The vestments were purple.

The homily stressed how Advent is a time of preparation and anticipation. Our priest specifically mentioned going to confession as an important part of preparing for Christmas.

Posted by: AJP at Dec 3, 2006 1:45:43 PM

Eileen R--
I've been taught that you do the purple candle opposite to the pink, so that you go around the wreath to do purple, purple, rose, purple. If you do one of the candles next to the rose candle then you can't move in a circle, you criss-cross. It's not huge, but it made me do a double-take.

Posted by: nab at Dec 3, 2006 2:01:37 PM

Ft. Wayne, IN, 8am Mass

Monsignor wore violet and blessed the Advent wreath at the back of the church by the font before the first hymn.

Much like Rich's parish, the Sanctus, Gloria, and Agnus Dei were chanted in Latin and the Kyrie in Greek.

The homily was about being prepared and separating yourself from the world because you never know when Christ will come, or short of that, when your last day on Earth will be.

Posted by: Dan at Dec 3, 2006 2:03:48 PM

The first candle lit should be the one opposite the pink candle. The correct sequence is purple, purple, rose, purple. At two Masses I had to stop the lector from lighting the wrong candle. It was the only one that had been lit, but it still seemed to be a problem. Dan in Ft. Wayne-- please tell me that you all really didn't do a Gloria.

Posted by: Fr. M at Dec 3, 2006 2:35:12 PM

St. Thomas Aquinas Univ. Parish, Charlottesville VA.
7:30 AM Sunday Mass, the Gregorian Schola.

Hymns: "Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending" (Entrance), "Awake, Awake, and Sleep No Longer" (Offertory), Creator Alme Siderum (Communion Meditation--Latin verses alternating with English), and "People Look East" (Recessional). The women of the schola sang the Communion Verse "Ecce Virgo"--yes, we know it is normally Sunday 4--and very nicely.

The Mass parts were those we normally sing, following the old Dominican prctice, on what used to be called "Major Sundays" (those of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Eastertime). In the Roman Gradual these are Kyrie XIV, Sanctus XVII, and Agnus II (when there is a Gloria--Not Today!--it is the Roman Gloria II).

The homily fit well with the "apocalytic" theme of the Gospel and hymns: Father's essential point was that our lives have many tramatic changes and "endings" in this world, and that these make only real sense when we meditate with Faith on the Great Ending that will be Christ's Second Advent and see them in the light of that coming.

Posted by: Quiet Soul at Dec 3, 2006 3:25:22 PM

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Carmel, IN

The celebrant was the pastor in purple vestments. The large Advent wreath in the santuary was already lit. There are small and uncharactertistically crude banners for the O Antiphons on the back wall of the sanctuary.

The homily was by a visiting priest who will be giving the parish mission this week. He walked around everywhere but the ambo and talked entirely too much about himself. I will be skipping his mission.

The processional was "O Come, O Come Emmanuel".The opening parts of the Mass were chanted. We used a Sanctus and Acclamation written by the Music Director. The recessional was "Creator of the Starry Night." Can't remember the other two hymns but the Offertory was something traditional, of German origin.

Posted by: Sandra Miesel at Dec 3, 2006 3:25:55 PM

O Come O Come, Emmanuel, purple robes, Advent wreath, an air of seriousness and simplicity. An impassioned call by our Haitian parochial vicar to respond to Christ, who has come, is coming now in Word and Sacrament and will come in glory at the end of time, by living a holy life. Father mentioned some ways we don't respond. He got everyone’s attention when he talked about how wrong it is to look at others besides our spouses on the Internet FOR OUR OWN PLEASURE. I thanked him afterwards.

Posted by: Judy at Dec 3, 2006 3:28:11 PM

Holy Family Cathedral, Tulsa Okla. 10 am mass
Bishop Slattery was the celebrant, Gregorian mass
Men chanted the Conditor Alme before mass, and the Veni Creator
prior to the Bishops homily, which was about our death and the
end of time.
It was nice to pray to the scent of incense in the Cathedral!

Posted by: Tim Young at Dec 3, 2006 3:52:41 PM

St Thomas the Apostle, Ann Arbor, MI
12:30

The priest was definitely in purple. (he happens to have gorgeous vestments)
There was an Advent wreath over the baptismal font which was blessed and lit after the procession.

Hymns: Some gathering hymn (Let all who gather??), O Come O Come, Emmanuel (Offertory). The reduced choir sang for communion (something I don't remember, and then Laudamus te =))and "Wherever He Leads I'll Go" for the recessional. The reduced choir sang for communion (something I don't remember, and then Laudamus te =)) Not a fan of the last one, it sounds strange on our organ in the big huge church. I also did not see how the first and last hymn were Advent related. It seems so much more complicated to try to find hymns that "match" the Sunday, rather than using the antiphons the church offers us.

At the 12:30 mass they have begun to do all the Propers (except the creed, and the Our Father) in Latin Chant (setting seven in a red missal I've seen in several churches). Last week for Christ the King we chanted all the actual antiphons (in English, but propers still in Latin) for all our singing, except the recessional. That was amazing. The impression was given that they (the priests and the music people) want to phase that in.

There was also a baptism today. I know that it used to be forbidden to marry during Advent, (I don't know if that's still true). Was that ever true for baptisms?

The homily was about the threefold coming of Christ, Advent's purpose of preparing us for the Second Coming as much as for Christmas, and the need to be awake, and vigilant for no one knows the hour or the day. A recommendation to make "New Year" resolutions because today is the beginning of the new year for the Church. Also talked about the dangers of materialism numbing us spiritually, hence the need to awake.

Posted by: rh at Dec 3, 2006 3:58:54 PM

Amy -- "There Is a Rose E'er Blooming" was referring to the first reading, which contains the prophecy in question. Maybe not the best choice, but there is a rationale there.

Opening Hymn: "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"
Psalm: Marty Haugen "To You O Lord I Lift My Soul" (which I too like)
Offertory: organ
Communion: "Take and Eat"
Meditation: "Advent Processional"
Closing: "The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns"

Posted by: Maureen at Dec 3, 2006 4:03:16 PM

Our Lady of Good Counsel, St. Augustine, FL
Tasteful Advent wreath, blessed at yesterday's vigil Mass just before the Prayers of the Faithful (some problems getting it lighted, but finally it lit).
Music last night and this morning:
O Come, O Come Emmanual (we'll do this every week, moving through the verses two at a time)
Psalm from Respond & Acclaim
Gospel Acclamation for Advent by Davis Haas
Offertory was The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns
Mass of Creation for Sanctus, Acclamations and Amen
Agnus Dei - Latin chant (this was new this week - and I think it went over well)
Communion - Psalm 85 Let Us See Your Kindness by Dominic MacAller - this will stay for four weeks
Recessional - People Look East

Slowly but surely, the pastor and I are trying to move away from the hymn sandwich. Maybe arriving at antiphons with a side of hymns?

Posted by: Mary Jane at Dec 3, 2006 4:14:38 PM

My wife went to the chant workshop at the cathedral in Mobile (Alabama) yesterday about which Amy posted a note here a week or so ago. The group showed off their new chanting skills at the Saturday vigil Mass. So except for the closing hymn it was an all-chant Mass. And I have to say that Amy's reflections of a few weeks ago about the superiority of this to the "now let's sing a song" approach were right on. It really imparted a sense of unity to the whole thing.

Posted by: Maclin Horton at Dec 3, 2006 4:16:00 PM

Our Cathedral choir in Mobile, I'm very pleased to report, did the full Propers from the Graduale for Advent, in Latin! This is an enormous step forward in every way, and provides wonderful support to what we are doing in our own parish. We sang the Introit ("Ad te levavi") and the Communio ("Dominus dabit"), and also a post-communion in English, Creator of the Stars at Night. The Schola sang for offertory the Thomas Tallis settings of "A New Commandment" and "Gloria patri et filio..."). No instruments were used. Only voices. It was a beautiful liturgy in every way--and especially uplifting for us, knowing that our own cathedral was at the same time setting a standard for the rest of the archdiocese.

Posted by: jeffrey at Dec 3, 2006 4:19:59 PM

We don't wait for marriage to live together and sleep together, so therefore we toss marriage like our Christmas trees, because its anticlimactic.

That is so incredibly cool! I can't believe a Catholic priest anywhere in America would have the nerve to draw this very pointed--and appropriate--connection. At our parish, references to the norms of the wider culture are always indirect, often so indirect as to be obscure--and therefore sure to pass over everybody's head. This was true in our first Advent homily.

Posted by: ron chandonia at Dec 3, 2006 4:39:25 PM

St. Mary of the Assumption/Fort Worth

I sang at all three English Masses, as we were introducing a new Mass setting, which doesn't have a name (that I know), but it's the Latin setting used on EWTN. Nice and simple, but we also sang the Pater Noster in Latin, using a setting that's NOT simple. Is there a singable setting? And another question: Father blessed the wreath at each Mass prior between the antiphon/hymn process and "In the Name of the Father,Son, and Holy Spirit". Is it proper to bless an object multiple times?

Hymns: Come,Thou Long Expected Jesus, Wake,Awake for Night is Flying (Wachet Auf), and something else for recessional (sorry, memory fails). For Communion, it was an "Advent Litany", which is a setting of the O Antiphons sung by a cantor; the choir/congregation respond "Come and Save Us". I thought it was beautiful. We had an ice storm the night of choir rehersal, so no anthem. There really wasn't time for one with the long hymns at Offertory and Communion anyway.

The rest of the music was the proper antiphons, using a chant developed by a Benedictine monk, I think from St. Meinrad's. We did gregorian in the summer, but I really like these. Now if I could get Jack to put them in the nave for people to sing along...

Sermon: Father is going to preach on "O be joyful in the Lord" (Ps. 100) all Advent, and his main point today was the distinction between happiness (Santa Claus coming) and joy (Jesus coming). There was some business about tamales (happiness) and the gathering of family and friends (joy) at which they get eaten, as well. Actually, good tamales are pretty much a joy for me. :-)

Posted by: Ken at Dec 3, 2006 4:52:52 PM

SF Bay Area, 10:00 Mass. We did NOT sing "O, Come, O, Come, Emmanuel". We also had new booklets in the pews, still from OCP, but different - no separate music issue, readings and propers for all year till next Advent, and none of the Mass opening/closing prayers, just the unchanging stuff.

I don't remember the opening hymn. We sang the Kyrie in Greek, with English petitions in between the Greek lines. I couldn't make out most of the words of the petitions. Offertory was, I think, We cry to you, Lord (that was the gist of the refrain, anyway and the verses were about wanting peace and love), Communion song was Maranatha, closing was City of God. We always sing the Sanctus, the setting was different this Sunday, and I didn't recognize it. THe Great Amen and Acclamation always echo the Sanctus melody. We sang the Psalm, but didn't use the setting in the booklet.

Homily about how God is there to help us, if we just come to Him. Forgiveness is there, but we need to come to Him.

And the Advent wreath was already lit, presumably from the earlier Masses. The priest did call the lack of flowers to our attention, saying we won't have them through Advent because it's a more serious season.

Posted by: Elaine at Dec 3, 2006 5:10:13 PM

My 4th grade daughter noticed during the uber-folksy "Glorgy to God" (with clapping) that her MagnifiKids said that this prayer/hymn is not said during Advent. I actually did not know this. After Mass, I suggested she show this to the priest, which she timidly did. The priest responded by laughing and calling her the "liturgical police" and then asked her "What's the difference between terrorists and liturgical police? You can negotiate with terrorists." Then sensing comparisons between 4th grade girls and murderers might not be very pastoral, laughed and said "I'm going to report you to the pope for doing a good deed." Nice.

Posted by: Charles at Dec 3, 2006 5:42:48 PM

We also did the Missa Emmanuel. I know that it seems shoe horned in spots,but I thought it worked better this year than ever.

Our cantor (who is superb) intoned it from the choir loft. I thought that this would be disaster (she wasn't in view), but folks seemed to sing right along.

It isn't because everyone already knew it either. We have 30-35% turnover every year, so counting on congregational memory doesn't serve us well.

Maybe it is one of those things that needs perfect execution, not fool proof (as some other settings can be.)

Posted by: Cathy at Dec 3, 2006 6:07:30 PM

Charles, you should post the name of the Parish, and the name of the priest--things like this thrive on the fact there is no real accountability, and count on the fact we won't make waves.

Experience has shown that when we speak out on the internet, things happen.

Posted by: ignorant redneck at Dec 3, 2006 6:21:15 PM

Good for your daughter for noticing and politely pointing out that discrepancy, Charles. Hope she's not discouraged by the priest's insensitive response.

Posted by: Lynn at Dec 3, 2006 6:27:45 PM

Ron Chandonia--
Yes, we are blessed with a wonderful priest who speaks up. He makes sure to take opportunities, with humor, but also with razor-sharp precision, to point out the ways Catholics are called to live contrary to the world. The quote you pulled from me is quite literally the words he spoke. It is incredibly cool.

Posted by: nab at Dec 3, 2006 6:29:31 PM

I finally got my First Advent homily up (http://hancaquam.blogspot.com). I'm not happy with it...oh well. Anyway, went "by the book" on the wreath blessing at the hospital this a.m. and blessed it after the homily. The rector of the university parish here does it after the entrance procession and uses a longish, didactic prayer I've never before. I will likely go by the book again. This will throw the choir off though. Note to self: get there early!

Fr. Philip, OP

Posted by: PNP, OP at Dec 3, 2006 7:29:09 PM

Mr. Redneck- You are definitely correct about accountability, but I'm a bit wary of making a big deal out of this. Its a smallish parish. My kids go to the parish school and I help with the Confirmation program some years. They would immediately know I was the one who brought it up and it would be difficult for us to remain there.

Thanks Lynn for your comment. My daughter didn't really get the "joke" by the priest, and we came home and were able to use it as an opportunity to learn why we don't do the "Glory to God" during Advent.

Posted by: Charles at Dec 3, 2006 7:30:29 PM

I played the flute at two masses this weekend at my church in a suburb of Dallas.

Opening Song - The Time Of Promise, which was written by our pianist in 2000 as a meditation hymn. Since our theme for Advent this year is "We Live The Promise", we're doing this as the opening hymn for all the masses during Advent. It's a very simple and reverent arrangement, with only piano as instrumentation.

Mass parts - Missa Pacem, a new mass from GIA that was written after Sept. 11th. The Lord Have Mercy and Lamb of God in particular are almost chant like. It's very minimalist if you leave out the brass quartet/quintet that the instrument parts are written for (what were they thinking?). I transposed the Trumpet I part and play it in the flute's low octave, which works much better during Advent, when we live by the adage in our choir and church that "less is more".

Responsorial Psalm - Haugen's "My Soul In Stillness Waits". One of his better psalm arrangements - again, very minimalist.

Preparation - Creator Of The Stars Of Night, a rlatively new arrangement based on the chant. It adds a refrain to the chant verses.

Communion - Bread of Life by Bernadette Ferrell (Sat. Mass - I am not a big fan of her stuff); Come, Lord Jesus by Dan Schutte (Sun. Mass)

Meditation - the chant version of Creator Of The Stars Of Night (Sat.); a flute/piano instrumental of Come, Lord Jesus (Sun)

Closing - In The Day Of The Lord (Sat - I don't like doing this one during Advent because we do it sooooo slow unless it's Gaudete Sunday); Wake, O Wake And Sleep No Longer (Sun)

The Advent wreath was blessed at the Saturday Mass, but the deacon lit the candle for the fourth week (we have different size candles for each week - the fourth week candle is the shortest, the first week is the tallest and is opposite the rose candle in the wreath). The correct candle was lit this morning. The priests (I saw both of them this weekend) had new vestments which are a lighter purple than the Lenten vestments. The only funny thing was that the deacon's sash looked like it had glitter on it.

Our pastor, as per usual, chanted parts of the Mass this morning. Our parochial vicar, who is from India, has recently started chanting parts as well (he's not as comfortable with singing as our pastor) - we've been giving him lots of compliments to ensure that he continues. Saturday was the second or third week that he's been chanting.

Posted by: Alia at Dec 3, 2006 7:30:31 PM

St. Vincent de Paul (Hmong ethnic parish), St. Paul MN, 9:00 am Hmong/English Mass

This was my first time at this parish for Sunday Mass, though I have been there for Holy Hours during the week. The parish is special in the area because it is the only one that ministers to our large Hmong population - it is also a very poor parish in a poor part of town, and has endured much in the past few years. It also happens to be the secondary parish for our Cathedral's rector (it was his parish assignment before being named rector, and after having worked so hard to build up this very suffering parish, he is still pastor there and it is now a mission parish supported by the Cathedral).

I went here today because I brought a few of my Confirmation students from my suburban parish into St. Paul to participate in a non-suburban Mass (ie, look, there are people out there other than Scandanavian blondes! :) and then to help out the Missionaries of Charity after Mass, teaching Sunday School to the Hmong kids. It was a great experience for them, I will be doing it monthly from now on!

So, this Sunday morning Mass was in both Hmong and English, which I think is typical here. Fr. does not speak Hmong very well, but there are two Hmong deacons. So the deacons' parts and most of the congregation's responses are in Hmong, while the propers and canon are in English. Fr. gives a homily in English and then the deacon gives it in Hmong.

The music was entirely in Hmong - so I have no idea what they sang but it sounded ok, a combo of accapella and organ. I didn't recognize any of the tunes though, and it was a 4 hymn sandwich - but then again, do they even have the antiphons translated into Hmong? (Yes, I know - Latin is the answer. Fr. loves Latin, but you can't build Rome in a day... it shall come one day soon I trust). No Gloria, you'll be happy to hear Fr. Fox!

The wreath was out already, I trust that Fr. blessed it at the Vigil Mass, lit (in proper order :) by a server before Mass.

Homily was great, as usual with this priest - some parts were particular to this parish culture, because the Hmong celebrated their New Year last weekend, and now the Church celebrates her New Year today, and then the civil New Year is a few weeks away still. After expanding on the readings a bit, he went back to the New Year theme and talked about New Year's resolutions - for holiness, not exercise! Daily prayer, Sunday Mass, etc etc. It was well done, interesting enough that even my Confirmation students paid pretty close attention (growl - the problem with youth today is that even the good ones need a fire lit under them!!)

Happy New Year everyone! :)

Posted by: Roamin' Roman at Dec 3, 2006 7:43:51 PM

Same Mass settings as usual, minus the Gloria.
Entrance hymn - O Come Divine Messiah
I didn't notice an Advent wreath.
Homily on Christmas starts on Dec. 25, contrary to the commercialization which has Christmas end at 3pm on the 25th and also 2nd Coming.
One of the other hymns was I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light, don't remember the others.

Posted by: Mary Kay at Dec 3, 2006 7:45:45 PM

St. Hugh, Coconut Grove, FL, 9 a.m.
Opening song: O come, o come, Emmanuel. Can't remember what else was sung, but they were appropriate for the season.Vestments were appropriately purple. The Advent wreath was already lit.
Homily focused on how we are all so preoccupied with the end times, but should think about our own "end times" and prepare for death, which is sure to come when we least expect it.

Posted by: Mila at Dec 3, 2006 7:51:50 PM

Posted by: Mila at Dec 3, 2006 7:51:53 PM

Sorry for the double post. We also did the Agnus Dei in Latin. Have been doing it in Latin for the past 3-4 weeks, and I have noticed that most people don't sing any of the other songs, but when it comes to the Agnus Dei in Latin, you can hear them! I wonder if our pastor has noticed...

Posted by: Mila at Dec 3, 2006 7:54:52 PM

St. Patrick, McCook, NE
6:00 Vigil Mass

Our hymns were already mentioned by other commentors. Had the advent wreath blessing "by the book".

Homily was excellent, about using the days of Advent to prepare for the celebration of Jesus' coming. I really liked the mention of spending time with the Blessed Sacrament, as an especially appropriate way to prepare since Bethlehem means "house of bread". Our pastor really promotes both frequent Confession and Eucharistic adoration.

Posted by: Kathy at Dec 3, 2006 8:05:04 PM

St. Thomas Aquinas, Charlottesville VA

Sorry for double post, I failed to include the following:

Vestments: priest and deacon wore matching purple vestments, chasuble and dalmatic.

Advent Wreath: blessed with a long prayer between the Entrance Hymn and the Sign of the Cross.

And I forgot also to mention that the Creed was the Gregorian Credo I.

Posted by: Quiet Soul at Dec 3, 2006 8:15:36 PM

Sts. Peter and Paul, Naperville, IL.

We have an extremely brave priest. I always like his homilies, and today's was particularly strong.

What to give at Christmas? Well, who you should be giving to is Christ. And a really good gift to give him is your confession. Try and bring as many people to confession as you can. What sort of things to confess? First on- not going to Mass on Sunday. Not acceptable because you're tired or hung over. In line with the debauchery comment, he mentioned drinking too much or doing drugs. Then on to marital love. It is meant only for marriage. Don't live with each other before/outside of marriage, young or old. Don't do it with yourself. Don't use tv or the internet to view it. And if you're in marriage, don't think you've got no problems. Accept the gift of life, don't use birth control, specifically mentioning birth control pills.

I know there was more, but I was busy toddler wrangling. If you get a chance, say a prayer for this priest, Father Jerome. He says the sorts of things in his homilies that we so often wish we heard more of.

Posted by: chris at Dec 3, 2006 8:29:32 PM

Had to cantor People Look East--grrrrrrr. Possibly counterbalanced by Wake O Wake and Sleep No Longer (a favorite) and Adoro Te Devote. Didn't get to the pelican verse, but wow is it fun to run over the Latin. My pastor is preaching at all the Masses, apparently for the stewardship drive. He is so good. It's not a parish in financial hardship by any means, and he focused much more on service. He talked about how in Ephesians it says that we're supposed to make up the Body of Christ come to full stature, and that this happens because we support one another, and that we should always be working for one another's salvation.

Last night I went to the National Shrine in DC. Very nice, as usual. One of my favorite things about the Shrine is that even if they don't sing the Introit and Communio at the Mass I go to, still, it's printed in the program and easy to refer to. The advent wreath was blessed after the homily, and they say novena prayers during Mass before some feasts, including the Immaculate Conception.

-Am I right in thinking that the Saturday daily Mass Gospel was the same as the 1st Sunday Advent Cycle C, or were they just similar?

Posted by: Ephrem at Dec 3, 2006 8:31:23 PM

Went to our teen mass. Most of the music from something called the Mass of the Solid Rock.

Eh.

When I turned forty, I gave myself permission not to do hand motions with the songs (they're not really hymns) at Mass, no matter how people look at me.

The homily was virtually identical to the one in Amy's post.

Posted by: Tim J. at Dec 3, 2006 8:55:30 PM

Dear Mary Jane,

I hope you come back to see this comment!!!

One parish I know uses the hymn sandwich with the antiphons. The antiphons are chanted A) after the procession or B) immediately after the priest consumes, depnding upon which we speak.

Posted by: Andy K. at Dec 3, 2006 9:35:21 PM

Shekou Catholic Community, Shenzhen, PRC

Since it was the first Sunday in December we elected to go to the afternoon English-language Mass instead of the Chinese Mass in the morning. This Mass is 90% Filipino with a smattering of white and other Asian ethnicities. The choir is all Filipino, less one Chinese lady.
The opening hymn was Joy to the World. No Gloria. The offeratory song was one I don't believe I've ever heard called Give Thanks. Our communion song was a Tagalog pop-sounding song called Emmanuel that made most of the congregation very happy to hear and sing along enthusiastically. Our closing hymn was Carol of the Bells.
We had no homily, though the priest mentioned that at his other four Masses that day his homily was about not being afraid of endtimes, that God is telling us about the earth shattering because he loves us. The gospel was read by one of the men in the church, not the priest. The priest excused himself at the Kyrie to the back of the cafeteria where Mass is held and heard confessions during that time. He asked if we could just limit ourselves to one fault and time of last confession, so he could get everyone who wanted the Sacrament. Then a few minutes after what would have been his homily, he returned to the front, asked those of us who had been to confession to join him in an Act of Contrition and then he gave us our absolution. Then it was time for the Creed. If he didn't do it this way, most of these people would never get to Confession. Ever. This priest says 5 Masses in essentially 2 countries (HK and PRC).

Posted by: ambrose at Dec 3, 2006 9:39:38 PM

I have thorooughly enjoyed hearing so many diverse yet fundamentally united (n sense of being First Sunday of Advent) descriptions of the Masses celebrated across the country, and even among some multi-lingual/cultural parish communities.

Now I have a question..........................

What would YOU like/want to hear for the First Sunday of Advent [I have some sense of the desired music lol how about the rest lol] ?

Posted by: Father Elijah at Dec 3, 2006 9:40:39 PM

Father Elijah--great question!

I would like to hear--something different. Usually the best homilies I hear during the year say that the readings talk about x and this is how we apply it to our lives.

That's great, but for Advent I'd love to hear some different things. I realize it's not the Christmas season yet, but people have Christmas on their minds, so it's a teachable moment.

=Maybe say something less discursive, more meditative, less obviously applicable, more like praying. Maybe a meditation on the Psalm of the day, or some theme it suggests. Today, maybe "trust" or "God's kindness"--and then go to town. Talk about different Scripture passages related to trust that have touched you in some way, about a saint who said something about trust. Just say these things one after the other: "Another way of looking at trust is..."

-A homily about symbols and the fact that we have a lot of symbols in the Church. Talk about bringing symbols and sacramentals into the home, praying together as a family.

-A really good Christological homily. It's rare that a priest feels comfortable pitching a challenging theological homily on Christmas, because it will sail over the heads of many visitors. And then after Christmas every Sunday has its own feast. But sometime in Advent, I would think, it would be a good idea to go over basic Christological truths about the two natures and how they go together. That can be done on Jan. 1, but that's usually a much smaller crowd than you get on an Advent Sunday.

Just some thoughts--thanks for asking, Father.

Posted by: Ephrem at Dec 3, 2006 10:07:35 PM

I forgot to say that we chanted the "Agnus Dei" in Latin, also.

Re: what we'd like to hear

I'd actually like to hear more about foreshadowings of Jesus in the Bible. A lot of this stuff I've been reading in the Fathers is totally different and new to me. All the associations behind the Sun of Righteousness. All the associations behind Mary going up to visit Elizabeth. Etc.

I'd like to hear more Advent songs that sound mysteeeeerious. That was always one of the good points of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" -- mysterious melody, mysterious wording, lots of imagery to ponder. (Mysterious, but not discordant.)

Posted by: Maureen at Dec 3, 2006 10:21:20 PM

Maureen -- You definitely want to hear "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" -- my favorite

Posted by: jreynolds at Dec 4, 2006 8:25:33 AM

At my parish, plus the usual array of service music from our parish hymnal:

Processional: Hark! The Herald Voice is Sounding (no, not an Xmas hymn)
Psalm 25: Tone IIIa
Offertory: Sion, At Thy Shining Gates
Communion anthem (from our service of lessons and carols for Advent from later in the day*)
Recessional: Up, Awake! (with choral 2d verse, and super soprano descant on verse 3)

* Which included a world premier of a setting of the O Antiphons; as well as many other hymns and anthems (the Palestrina Alma Redemptoris Mater included among the latter).

Vestments: Violet
Advent Wreath of Damocles (several feet in diameter) hanging over the central aisle crossings in the middle of the nave (halfway to the sanctuary) -- Advent wreaths are indeed meant for the domestic church (should be hung over your dining table, btw).

Homily was on the nature and need for vigilance.

Posted by: Liam at Dec 4, 2006 8:58:17 AM

Just a clarification on the proper time to bless the Advent wreath "by the book."

The blessing is not to take place after the offertory, but at the conclusion of the general intercessions: "The general intercessions follow, either in the form usual at Mass or in the form provided here. The celebrant concludes the intercessions with the prayer of blessing" ("Order for the Blessing of an Advent Wreath [within Mass]," _Book of Blessing_, no. 1518.

Posted by: Fr. Daren at Dec 4, 2006 8:58:41 AM

Epiphany Byzantine Catholic Church, Roswell, GA

No Advent wreaths -- just an anticipatory celebration of the feast of St. Nicholas.

Gospel was the parable of the rich man with the good harvest whose life was required of him that night. Homily was about what our treasures really are, and that we should be working to gain heavenly treasure all the time, not trying to use our faith as "fire insurance" and living by earthly standards. Father addressed particularly the wearing of religious symbols -- if not done with the proper disposition, they become superstitions. Likewise, believing that we are in God's favor because of our earthly economic circumstances is a trap for the faithful; we are all going to leave this world with empty pockets and we would do well to remember that and act accordingly.

Posted by: Scherza at Dec 4, 2006 9:14:17 AM

Here's my question:

If the Advent wreath doesn't belong in church, why is there a blessing for it in the Book of Blessings?

Personally, I don't mind. I do remember when it crept into the churches - in the mid-70's. As a religious educator, it is a wonderful tool and symbol. Nice way to call kids' attention to the change of season.

I also have to say that I am a big proponent of violet as the Advent color. I was never a fan of powder blue, but how to make it different than Lent? (Violets are blue....) We have new vestments with a very bluish purple and deep violet accents. I think that the vestment vendors finally caught on to the problem and realized that they could sell a parish two sets of "purple." (Now to just stop the priest from wearing the Advent vestments in Lent....)

Posted by: Cathy at Dec 4, 2006 9:23:04 AM

Fr. Elijah,
I would like to hear some theology as opposed to "hear is the reading and hear is what it means for your interpersonal relationships". That approach is fine, but overdone in my opinion.

For instance, this weekend would have been a great time to discuss the second coming. What do we know about it? What do we not know about it? Is it a single event? Is it merely everyone's personal time of death? Will Jesus come back in bodily form? Does this have anything to do with that line in the Creed about the resurrection of the body? Compare this to the expectation and hope that Israel had for the Messiah, etc.

Obviously, it would not be good to have a University lecture, but some intellectual red meat would be nice. With a good discussion of such a topic I think most people could figure out "how do I apply this to my life?" all on their own.

Posted by: Matt at Dec 4, 2006 9:32:13 AM

BTW, as someone pointed out on my site, I'm sure the Gloria was omitted from the "Ordinary Mass" I wrote up and to which Amy linked. Suffice it to say that the ordinaries -- Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei -- were chanted.

Posted by: Rich Leonardi at Dec 4, 2006 9:46:02 AM

In Columbus, O., at the home parish. All in English, as we got up early -- last conservatory Christmas concert was yesterday afternoon, daughter's cello recital was yesterday afternoon, and we went to the earlier Sunday Mass and not the 11.30 when the Hispanophone community attends.

Music. Opening was ex-St. Louis Jesuit Dan Schutte's latest latest hit, "Christ circle round us." Based on the O antiphons, on which also Veni Emmanuel is based. No apparent recognition that it's much too early for the O antiphons, which belong at the end of Advent and not the beginning. Responsorial psalm and gospel acclamation by the book from the OCP's "Respond and Acclaim," one of the publisher's few useful books. Eucharistic acclamations were from the "Danish Amen" Mass in our hymnal, a WLP book. Communion was the silly "Make of Your Hands a Throne," a setting by Steven Warner, head of Notre Dame's folk choir, of some ancient communion text. As usual, no one but the choir sang during communion. Closing wasn't memorable, or at least I can't remember it.

No sung response for prayer of the faithful for Advent or Lent at our parish. That means no dreadful OCP "O ... God ..., hear .... us ...... hear ......... our .......... prayer .................."

Homily. Mass celebrated by resident priest who came to live at our parish when he was assigned to run a diocesan hospital chaplain program. He is a former high school religion teacher. What were the people going to die of fright about? They weren't prepared for what was to come, the judgment. Then turned to a promotion of the vicariate's Advent penitential service on the following Sunday. Intelligent man.

Other items. Advent wreath blessed after opening procession. Used book of blessings, I believe. New violet vestments (more a red-purple and not a blue-purple) with matching altar frontals.

Posted by: RP Burke at Dec 4, 2006 9:51:43 AM

St Francis, Ann Arbor, MI

I was reading for the children's liturgy at the first Mass w/ children's liturgy (not the first Mass of the morning - it's only done at the second and third).

Arrived to discover that the coordinator had not replaced the Year B lectionary with the Year C one. Frantic search, asked Father where it might be kept, and got it into place.

I mention this because Father forgot for a minute to call and dismiss the children. he was sitting down, I was getting worried ... and then he stood back up and sent us off.

We had a good chuckle about it after Mass. However, I now have a mental note to arrive even earlier to check the lectionary situation if I ever get the change-of-liturgical-year Mass again.

I can't remember the songs - they weren't my favourites, but they were good. Older music, the kind that has stood the test of time (one was a Bach melody).

Big wreath, hung from the ceiling (on pulleys, so it gets lowered down for lighting).

We have an empty manger by the altar with a pile of straw surrounding it. The priest told the children that for every good deed they do starting now, they can put one straw into the manger to make a soft bed for the baby Jesus.

And one of the children got quite perturbed at the alleluia for the Gospel. He thought there wasn't any, so I was able to make the point that advent isn't quite as solemn as lent, so there's no gloria, but there are alleluias.

Posted by: Sarah at Dec 4, 2006 9:56:04 AM

Christ the King, Ann Arbor.
We were a little late for the 4:30 Vigil Mass, so we missed the entrance hymn, which may have been "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." We did not have a Gloria (we do things right around here). The Ordinary settings were different from those in Ordinary Time, but nothing unusual. The Kyrie was Gregorian (and Greek). Most parishes would probably find it difficult, with a very long melisma in each line, but we're used to it. The homily dealt with watching for the coming of Christ--not Fr. Ed's greatest, but good nevertheless. The lighting of the Advent wreath was right after the Prayers of the Faithful. The Offertory Hymn was a song by a Sister from the Servants of God's Love called "Like a Son of Man." The Communion Hymn was another local product called "Our Blessed Hope," of which I am extremely fond. (Unfortunately, I don't think there's a recording of it anywhere that I can link to.) The Recessional was Jim Cowan's version of "The King Shall Come." The most interesting thing at the Mass was the announcement that this week the bishop (who sent in his retirement a year ago, but hasn't been replaced yet) will be here later this week to receive one of the women in the parish as a Consecrated Virgin. For about the fifth time in the last year, Fr. Ed told us this would be his last visit as bishop.

Posted by: Henry Dieterich at Dec 4, 2006 10:06:27 AM

Posted by: Henry Dieterich at Dec 4, 2006 10:06:31 AM

Cathy

The blessing regularizes what was a development. I don't object to the advent wreath in church so much as want to emphasize its origins and place in the home, hanging over the dining table.

As for violet: violet is not blue. Violet is violet (remember ROYGBIV as the acrostic to remember the colors of the spectrum?). It's a distinct color. Sometimes "purple" is used in English to denote it, though one could have lovely arguments with historians about the tinctures that denoted different things. There are violet-blues (meaning a blue that is tinted with violet) and blue-violets (meaning a violet that is tinted with blue) -- the latter are more violet than the former. And the same on the red side of violet.

Interestingly, growing up in the 60s and 70s, our church always used redder violets for Advent and bluer violets for Lent.

Posted by: Liam at Dec 4, 2006 10:24:46 AM

Very forgetable songs, so forgetable I've already forgotten them. This was a very, very laid back liturgy. I guess we don't want to "peak too soon". A few weeks of pianissimo before the sweeping crescendo of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" which gets played once all Advent season around my parts. Well, no chance to get sick of it I guess. Absence makes the heart go fonder.

Posted by: TSO at Dec 4, 2006 10:28:29 AM

My college parish in small-town Mississippi

"O Come O Come Emmanuel" for the entrance AND the recessional. Yikes. I love that song, but I have a feeling it's going to get old pretty fast if they do it like that all Advent. The rest of the music was utterly forgettable stuff out of the "praise and worship" hymnal. Our pastor was trying to get the choir not to use it, but he has unfortunately had to leave the parish due to bad health.

The response to the Prayers of the Faithful was odd: "Be born in us, be born in our world." All the petitions seemed to be about social justice. I never hear a petition for an end to abortion, unless it's disguised as a vague plea to "respect life." I wonder who writes these for our parish???

The visiting priest announced that we have been assigned a new pastor. I hope he will be the answer to our prayers. It has been hard to manage these past few months without a regular pastor.

Posted by: Tina at Dec 4, 2006 11:09:08 AM

There is an assertion that arises in liturgical discussions, to wit: that the colors for Advent and Lent are subtly different. It seems to have the force of law for some, to wit: parishes and priests "should" only wear Advent colors in Advent, Lent in Lent, etc.

As far as I can tell, the GIRM says nothing about this; the Ordo, which is supposed to reflect the GIRM, as well as embodying broader traditions, raises the matter not as law, but more as a sometime tradition and thus an option.

It is good to keep in mind that many parishes can't afford to be so particular, especially as they often already have a collection of vestments, reflecting the good (and bad) taste of pastors and liturgy committees past, and further, many of these vestments are oddly sized -- I am 6'1", and some of the vestments in the closets look like painting smocks on me.

So, the result is that while one may have a closet-full of vestments (and hence the parish may wonder why father is buying more), in fact the selection is slimmer.

Yes, it's easy to say, "get rid of 'em" -- but parishioners have long memories about such things, and a pastor does well to find out first the history of a particular vestment ("I remember Monsignor wearing that!" or, "That was a donation of the Ladies' Sodality"); result? They stay in the closet ad saeculum saeculorum.

These things can be rectified, over time...

Posted by: Fr Martin Fox at Dec 4, 2006 11:59:06 AM

Re: mystery
I like "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence", but I haven't heard it sung much.

Re: Advent wreaths
Ours was blessed at the Saturday vigil Mass, and apparently a havoc-full time was had by all. We usually have it lit before Mass proper starts, because something goes wrong nearly every year. This year, the sucker wouldn't light so they had to resort to ladders, after about ten minutes of trying different things. But last year, the server managed to knock the glass off one of the candles and down onto the floor, so....

Hanging that sucker up in the air is just asking for trouble, even though it looks good; and you can't even tell if the candles are lit if it's up very high. My old home parish just sat the Advent wreath on a sort of plinth down on the same level as the baptismal font, and I think that was a lot more practical and candle-wreath-y.

Posted by: Maureen at Dec 4, 2006 1:32:09 PM

We have a somewhat "laid back" choir, so I won't go into that (although the recessional was O Come, O Come Emmanuel)

But Father spoke on the necessity to separate Christmas and Advent. He claimed he "couldn't care less" about non-Christians' traditions (he has a habit of speaking tongue-in-cheek) - but that Catholics were destroying the anticipation of Christmas by celebrating it too early.

He then went on to "out" another priest in our parish... apparently he had purchased a Christmas tree and dragged it through the rectory to his room. 1) he was decorating too early and 2) pine needles... everywhere!

Posted by: Bill Puschmann at Dec 4, 2006 1:41:31 PM

My folks in Texas said the priest began his homily singing, "you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why . . . Who is coming to town?"

My favorite Advent Hymn sung at a Spanish Mass in Northern Virginia was the recessional - "La Virgen Suena Caminos."

Posted by: jrg at Dec 4, 2006 1:58:12 PM

Kathy,

Liam summed up nicely, and in a much more civil way than my ignorant self could, about advent wreaths in church. I will only add that I'v found that sometimes the wreath upstages the Word, and the Eucharist--becomming for some people the center of the day. This is, I think, a problem of catachesis, but a problem none the less.

Charles--

It's sad to me that a priest would make such a boorish comment to a child. It's also sad to me that a priest would disregard the usages of our Rite. But saddest of all is the idea that the Faithful have to put up with this, as well as be denied their right to apropriate liturgies for fear of retribution. It's the worst kind of clericalism, to me at least. And, I think it's similar in nature to why we have so many scandals. Prayers for you, your pastor, and your parish are on the way.

Pax.

Posted by: ignorant redneck at Dec 4, 2006 2:00:06 PM

Large parish, NW of Chicago, Diocese of Rockford

I was the lector at 9 AM Mass. We started with a Gathering Rite written by our Liturgy Director, based on the parish theme "Prepare for the Promise." There is a refrain we sing every week of Advent. The verse changes every week, and it is the entrance propers for each Sunday. (I like that a lot.) The Gathering Rite includes a Kyrie (call & response with cantor), a sung tone for the prayer, & a simple Amen. We are blessed with 3 priests who can sing well, and they sang the prayer on the tone as written.

The Gathering Rite flanks the Jesse Tree presentation. We trade off between the Advent wreath & the Jesse Tree. A family will bring down the ornaments, the cantor explains the story behind each symbol, and the Deacon puts it on the tree. I like the Jesse Tree; it leads up to the culmination in the Incarnation. It also fills in well with our theme of "Prepare for the Promise," since each symbol has some kind of promise or link to Jesus. For people who grumble about "no Advent wreath," our parish has lots of prayers and family devotions for the Advent wreath at home, listed on our website or distributed in the office for those with no internet access.

Mass Parts: Missa Emmanuel, our first stab at it. We had been rehearsing it since mid-November, so the people were ready for it. I like it. I am also a cantor, and will be doing the solo parts for the next 3 weeks. We sang the chant Our Father.

Preparation: O Come O Come Emmanuel, the only time we will sing it during Advent. It would be overkill to sing it more often, with the Missa Emmanuel.

Communion: Creator of the Stars of Night. Is this a requirement written down somewhere, as it looks like most parishes sang this song for the 1st Sunday of Advent?

Recess: Wait for the Lord.

Homily: Father Tom talked about this being the beginning of the church's new year. He talked about cycles. Talked about end times; for some of us, this is the last liturgical cycle we will experience, as our lives end. He had a really good thread about how Christmas preparations are a trap--we let the hustle, bustle and commercialism squeeze out Jesus. He invited us to get closer to Jesus. One of the best ways to experience closeness: go to Reconciliation. He hears confessions before every Mass, and encouraged us to experience the sacrament often.

Our vestments are blue with violet accents. The church environment has plain evergreen wreaths and baskets of greens, accented with purple berries and purple kale. The wreath in the altar area has a dark blue backdrop. It is all quite lovely. The main color comes from the ornaments on the Jesse Tree.

Posted by: LynnMH at Dec 4, 2006 2:08:25 PM

Am I right in thinking that the Saturday daily Mass Gospel was the same as the 1st Sunday Advent Cycle C, or were they just similar?

Yes, in fact, at our parish, the Saturday homily was based on that.

-----
First Sunday of Advent, St. Edward the Confessor, Bowie, MD

Gathering: My Soul in Stillness Waits
Psalm: Haugen--To You, O Lord, I Lift My Soul
Advent Gospel Acclimation by Haas
Preparation: The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns
Communion: O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Sending: City of God (not quite sure why, it doesn't seem to fit)

We did the Advent Wreath after the Prayer of the Faithful. The homily was about waiting.

Posted by: cjmr at Dec 4, 2006 5:31:26 PM

In response to the question about "Creator of the Stars of Night" (Conditor Alme Siderum) seeming to be obligatory in Advent.

This wonderful hymn, was and still (in the Latin edition) is the Vespers hymn of the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) every non-saint's day from the First Sunday of Advent to the 16th of December (when it is/was replaced by "Verbum salutis Omnium").

Traditionally hymns were never sung at Mass but, in modern practice, where hymns are sung because the Gregorian propers are "too hard" etc., it does make nice link with the most ancient music of Advent, even in its many English versions.

The hymn itself is anonymous and dates to the 6th century, making it one of the most ancient in the Breviary. Unfortunately in 1632 a classicist pope ordered that it be rewritten in more "correct" Latin (only the opening line remained untouched) and that was the version that appeared in the Breviary until the post-Vatican II Liturgia Horarum of 1974 restored (for the most part) the ancient texts of the hymns. One of the most laudable reforms after Vatican II.

By the way, the Dominican Order never had to use these "reformed" hymns, so we always sang the ancient version.

Posted by: Fr. Augustine Thompson O.P. at Dec 4, 2006 6:31:11 PM

St. Matthew's DC

A Prelude Piece in Geman, could have been Brahms but it wasn't listed
Opening: Wake O Wake Offertory: And He Shall Purify from Handel's Messiah
Mass Parts: the Modern "chant" setting in Worship
Communion: Thus Saith the Lord/But Who May Abide also from Messiah.
Closing: The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns

Good homily about how to approach Advent. The Msgr. asked the congregation to thinkg as if Jesus were really coming to judge and whether we would be ashamed of anything we've done...the not so subtle hint being, "Go to Confession."

Additionally, though this wasn't at a Mass, I went to concert on the Hill with a group from Georgetown University that sang Victoria's Missa O Magnum Mysterium. It's nice to know someone there knows how to teach and sing Renaissance polyphony well. It's just too bad it wasn't the Chapel Choir.

Posted by: gcc at Dec 4, 2006 10:03:45 PM

All Saints Parish, St. Mary's Church, Corning, NY, 11:30am Mass

Priest Vestments: Homespun White not sure if with Violet accents or not. No other colored vestments. No altar or chalice coverings other than the usual one altar cloth. Choir downstairs, up by altar without robes, and mic'd. No organ (even though we have a nice one) piano instead.
Lighting of the Advent wreath blessed by priest and lit by a couple from the parish

Processional: Gather Us In (Haugen)
Offertory: Jesus, Come to Us (Haas)
Communion: (Some Bernadette Farrel song, I think Bread of Life, I admit I was trying to pray rather than to listen to this.)
2nd Communion: To be Your Bread, Christ be our Light (Haas)

Recessional: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Mass Setting: St Louis Jesuit Mass

Music is basically forgettable, and I had never done O Come, O Come Emmanuel as a recessional before...seems to me more appropriate as a Processional.

Posted by: CPT Tom at Dec 5, 2006 2:13:16 PM