mass – According to the Whole

December 23, 2023December 23, 2023

The Unlikely Alleluia

This year, something is happening on Christmas Eve that rarely happens: it falls on a Sunday. This is the only liturgical Vigil that is allowed to fall on a Sunday, as Vigils in the Western Rite are always penitential and preparatory in nature (fasting is prescribed and the liturgical color is purple). So in all other instances where a Vigil would fall on a Sunday (excepting the Vigil for Epiphany which simply gets replaced by the Mass of the Holy Name of Jesus), the Vigil gets anticipated and bumped back to Saturday or the first available day prior. Christmas Eve is entirely unique in being able to be celebrated on a Sunday. And when this does happen, aside from the fast being lifted, there is almost nothing that changes liturgically. . . . except for one particular Proper chant which is only ever sung in this instance. That chant is the Alleluia verse, which runs:

“Alleluia, alleluia. Tomorrow, the iniquity of the earth shall be done away: and the Savior of the world shall reign over us. Alleluia.”

[Latin] “Alleluia, alleluia. Crástina die delébitur iníquitas terræ: et regnábit super nos Salvátor mundi. Alleluia.“

February 25, 2019February 12, 2023

The Secret Current: Lectionary Lessons and the Way to Easter

In the Western Tradition, Septuagesima Sunday kicks off the Easter cycle of the Church Year (like beginning the Triodion in the Eastern Rite). As the first of the three Sundays which make up the Pre-Lent season in the West, Septuagesima (the Sunday nearest the 70th day before Easter) makes it clear liturgically that we have turned a corner: all “alleluias” are suppressed until Easter, as well as other exuberantly joyful hymns and canticles, and the liturgical color is changed to violet. The lectionary also shifts gears to themes appropriate to this new path: themes of repentance, renunciation, and works of mercy.

March 12, 2018June 17, 2020

Comparing the Liturgies of East and West

In the first decades of the Church, Christians (both in Jerusalem and the cities where the Apostles preached) would have used essentially the same liturgical form of worship. Over time, as the Church grew to include various people groups and their languages, the original Eucharistic service from Jerusalem was developed and adorned by those various peoples according to their unique musical and artistic expressions, poetic traditions, and senses of beauty, dignity, and piety. Continue reading “Comparing the Liturgies of East and West”