Since the choir was all either absent or sick (as I am, with a cold), we had no sung Mass today, alas; on the positive side, the 9.15 am Mass only took 45 minutes including hymns at start and end, and Leonine prayers, which was good, especially for Fr Rowe, who's hurt his foot and was limping.
I did miss singing the glorious Introit for the feast, which I first learnt from my dear old choirmaster, Bede Dunne, back in Hobart when I was part of the Gregorian schola there in the mid-1990's:
It has always interested me how the Introit, Offertory and Communion today are all based on Tobit xii, 6 - reiterating the glorious truth that God the Trinity loves us and hath wrought for us mercy:
Benedicta sit sancta Trinitas atque indivisa Unitas: confitebimur ei, quia fecit nobiscum misericordiam suam.
Benedictus sit Deus Pater, unigenitusque Dei Filius, Sanctus quoque Spiritus: quia fecit nobiscum misericordiam suam.
Benedicimus Deum cæli, et coram omnibus viventibus confitebimur ei, quia fecit nobiscum misericordiam suam.
(It is unsurprising that the Gradual and Alleluia are likewise from the Canticle of the Three Youths in Daniel iii.)
The Trinity Preface, said or sung, is always marvellous, and I have many green Sundays coming on which to enjoy it...
On an Eastern note, I took with me to Mass my copy of The [Byzantine] Divine Liturgy Explained, to pray its fine prayers after Communion, and as ever I savoured therein one of my favourite lines, a doxology from one of those prayers:
Σὺ γὰρ εἶ τὸ ὄντως ἐφετόν, καὶ ἀνέκφραστος εὐφροσύνη τῶν ἀγαπώντων σε, Χριστὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ σὲ ὑμνεῖ πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.
(For Thou art the One truly sought for, and the unutterable gladness of those that love Thee, Christ our God, and Thee the whole creation hymneth unto the ages. Amen.)
After the 11.15 am Mass and necessary packing up, I chaffeured Fr, as agreed, since he needed someone to drive him down to Mandurah in his own car, to give him a chance to have a nap on the way. It took just over 45 minutes, and when we got there I dropped Fr off to take communion to a shut-in (giving me a chance to finish Matins almost, which BTW has fine readings from SS Fulgentius and Gregory Nazianzen). We then drove over to Gerard's house, where a roast beef lunch was waiting for us - on the way, Fr finished off Matins for me with its Te Deum and collect. That, apart from the Divine Mercy chaplet, was as much prayer as we managed to fit in!
Fr Rowe was to drive on to Bunbury for the 6 pm Mass there, but Gerard instead took me to the train station, where I caught the 3.07 train to Perth. It took just under an hour, and gave me a chance to say Lauds and the Little Hours (Athanasian Creed at Prime, yay!), plus get in a little reading of my own.
Now I'm off to visit a relative of mine...
I did miss singing the glorious Introit for the feast, which I first learnt from my dear old choirmaster, Bede Dunne, back in Hobart when I was part of the Gregorian schola there in the mid-1990's:
It has always interested me how the Introit, Offertory and Communion today are all based on Tobit xii, 6 - reiterating the glorious truth that God the Trinity loves us and hath wrought for us mercy:
Benedicta sit sancta Trinitas atque indivisa Unitas: confitebimur ei, quia fecit nobiscum misericordiam suam.
Benedictus sit Deus Pater, unigenitusque Dei Filius, Sanctus quoque Spiritus: quia fecit nobiscum misericordiam suam.
Benedicimus Deum cæli, et coram omnibus viventibus confitebimur ei, quia fecit nobiscum misericordiam suam.
(It is unsurprising that the Gradual and Alleluia are likewise from the Canticle of the Three Youths in Daniel iii.)
The Trinity Preface, said or sung, is always marvellous, and I have many green Sundays coming on which to enjoy it...
On an Eastern note, I took with me to Mass my copy of The [Byzantine] Divine Liturgy Explained, to pray its fine prayers after Communion, and as ever I savoured therein one of my favourite lines, a doxology from one of those prayers:
Σὺ γὰρ εἶ τὸ ὄντως ἐφετόν, καὶ ἀνέκφραστος εὐφροσύνη τῶν ἀγαπώντων σε, Χριστὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ σὲ ὑμνεῖ πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.
(For Thou art the One truly sought for, and the unutterable gladness of those that love Thee, Christ our God, and Thee the whole creation hymneth unto the ages. Amen.)
After the 11.15 am Mass and necessary packing up, I chaffeured Fr, as agreed, since he needed someone to drive him down to Mandurah in his own car, to give him a chance to have a nap on the way. It took just over 45 minutes, and when we got there I dropped Fr off to take communion to a shut-in (giving me a chance to finish Matins almost, which BTW has fine readings from SS Fulgentius and Gregory Nazianzen). We then drove over to Gerard's house, where a roast beef lunch was waiting for us - on the way, Fr finished off Matins for me with its Te Deum and collect. That, apart from the Divine Mercy chaplet, was as much prayer as we managed to fit in!
Fr Rowe was to drive on to Bunbury for the 6 pm Mass there, but Gerard instead took me to the train station, where I caught the 3.07 train to Perth. It took just under an hour, and gave me a chance to say Lauds and the Little Hours (Athanasian Creed at Prime, yay!), plus get in a little reading of my own.
Now I'm off to visit a relative of mine...
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