"For Those in the Distant Country"

Here's a really lovely piece from the blog "Interrupting the Silence"; it's a sermon on today's Gospel reading, the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).

Detail of Rembrandt’s Return of the Prodigal Son (source)

When I was in the first grade I gathered my stuff and took off for the distant country. I ran away from home. Fortunately, it was a quick trip and I was back in time for supper. In the years since then my trips to the distant country haven’t been nearly as short or uneventful. There have been casualties and losses along the way. People were hurt. Sometimes it was me, sometimes it was others. The distant country always disappointed. It didn’t give me the life I was looking for. It didn’t make me the person I wanted to be. It left me feeling lonely, empty, and lost.

There are a thousand different routes to the distant country: sorrow and loss, sin and guilt, failure and regret, the sheer difficulty of life, to name just a few. More often than not our journey to the distant country is an attempt to run away from home, ourselves, and our lives. The distant country convinces us that the life we want and the person we want to become cannot be found within ourselves. It denies that the kingdom of God is within and creates the illusion that if we can just get to a new place, a new time, a new circumstance everything will be better.

Most of us, I suspect, will at some point in our lives buy in to that illusion. We will gather our stuff and travel to the distant country. The life we want and the person we want to become, however, are found not in the distant country but through repentance. The distant country, as the younger son experienced, offers nothing but starvation and death. That’s why last week Jesus was so intense and direct in his call for us to repent. He seems to know that it’s not a matter of whether we will go to the distant country. Chances are we will. The real question is whether we will repent.

Repentance, the journey home, requires an honest appraisal of our life. We must look at who we are and who we are not, what we have done and what we have left undone, as well as the circumstances that we allow to deny us the fullness of life. Repentance is about more than right behavior and being good. Yes, sometimes we do bad things that we just need to stop doing but often we need to repent and turn away from the failures, guilt, or regrets that bind us to the past, the sorrows and losses that keep us from being fully alive, or the fears that control our lives and keep our world small.

Repentance is the choice to no longer run away from ourselves or our lives. Yet, how can we ever go home knowing what we know about ourselves, having squandered the life given us, and having spent time in the pig pens of the distant country? Surely, that was the younger son’s question when he finally “came to himself.” It was also Bob’s question.

Bob was probably in his late 70s. He had been quiet and attentive throughout the evening as I taught about the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). When I finished speaking Bob was the first one out of his chair. I could tell, as he made his way to the front of the classroom, that he was upset. “What about the bath,” he demanded. “You didn’t say anything about the bath.” I told him I had no idea what he was talking about. That only upset him more. “You know where that kid had been!” “Yes,” I said, “in the pig pen.” “And you know what he would have smelled like and what was on him.” “Pig poop,” I said kiddingly. Bob did not think that was funny. Then he went on to explain. “The son was dirty and smelly. The father would never hug him, kiss him, or put a robe on him until the son first had a bath. Why didn’t you talk about the bath?”

I told him that a bath was not part of the story, that we can never get clean enough to go home. Instead, we go home to become clean. The father receives the son as he is. He hugs him, kisses him, robes him – all without a bath. The son is immersed and washed in the Father’s love.

Bob just could not believe that, so together we read the story again. When we got to the end of the story his eyes filled with tears and he said, “All my life I thought this story said the son had to take a bath before he could go home.” I said to him, “And all your life you’ve been trying to get clean enough to go home.” He simply nodded in silence, tears running down his face.

For all the years he spent in the distant country Bob never did get clean enough to go home. Instead, “he came to himself.” He started gathering the fragments of his life, the clean and the unclean, the acceptable and the unacceptable, things done and things left undone, all that he was and all that he had. He recognized that the unclean and unacceptable parts of his life were real, but they did not have to be his final reality. In the past those parts of his life kept him from going home and exiled him to the pig pens. Now those pieces of his life would become the way home. They would become places of healing, new life, wholeness, forgiveness, love, and grace.

I don’t know what took Bob to that distant country or what he so desperately tried to wash away but I know that his story is my story and your story. We too have been to the distant country. We too have lived with the pigs. We too have washed but cannot get clean. In coming to himself Bob would ultimately have to trust the Father’s love more than he trusted the pig stink. So must you and I. After all, the Father does.

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This sermon is for the Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year C. It is based on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Luke 15:1-3, 11-32.

"Drop, Drop Slow Tears" (Orlando Gibbons)

Sung by the Kings College Choir, Cambridge:

The Lent 4 Gradual: Laetatus sum

Here's this beautiful Gradual, sung by Musica Gregoriana:



The text comes from Psalm (121/)122, verses 1 and 7; verse 1 is also part of the Introit for today.

I was glad when they said unto me:  let us go to the house of the Lord.  Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.

Psalm (121/)122 is one of the "Songs of Ascents"; according to Wikipedia, its uses in Judaism include:

• Its recitation following Mincha between Sukkot and Shabbat Hagadol.^[1]
• Its recitation on Shabbat Nachamu (the Shabbat after Tisha B'Av) in some traditions.^[2]
• Verses 7-9 are part of Talmud Berachos 64a.^[3]

The Gospel for this year is Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 - the parable of the Prodigal Son:

All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

So Jesus told them this parable:

"There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."' So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe--the best one--and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.

"Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.' Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!' Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.'"

The Benedictines of Brazil offer a complete list of today's propers; note that the Offertory and Communio vary, depending on the Gospel for the day.

Hebdomada quarta quadragesimæ  Dominica
Introitus: Cf. Is. 66, 10.11; Ps. 121 Lætare Ierusalem (3m46.5s - 3540 kb) chant score
Graduale: Ps. 121, 1. V. 7 Lætatus sum (1m58.9s - 1858 kb) chant score
Tractus: Ps. 124, 1.2 Qui confidunt (3m13.4s - 3024 kb) chant score
Offertorium: Ps. 134, 3.6 Laudate Dominum (1m37.4s - 1524 kb) chant score
                 quando legitur Evangelium de filio prodigo:
                  Ps. 12, 4.5 Illumina oculos meos (1m33.8s - 1468 kb) chant score
Communio:  Ps. 121, 3.4 Ierusalem, quæ ædificatur chant score (1m09.7s - 1092 kb)

                 quando legitur Evangelium de cæco nato:
                  Io. 9, 6.11.38 Lutum fecit (39.3s - 616 kb)

                 quando legitur Evangelium de filio prodigo:
                  Lc. 15, 32 Oportet te (28.9s - 454 kb)

The old set of propers, though, are the same for every year - and Laetatus sum does indeed appear as the Gradual.  Here's a version of it from that link:



Laetatus sum has been set by many composers.   Here's a lovely one, from Scarlatti, performed by the Nederlands kamerkoor; Harry Van der Kamp, Conductor:



Vivaldi went there, too:




Here's Monteverdi's; it's part of Vespro della Beata Vergine (AKA, Vespers of 1610).  I believe the musicians are part of La Verdi Barocca, out of Milan:



And of course, not to missed (again!) is C.H.H. Parry's "I was glad":



Other Chantblog articles about the propers for the day include:

• The Introit for the Fourth Sunday in Lent: Laetare Jerusalem ("Rejoice, O Jerusalem")
• The Tract for Lent 4: Qui confidunt in Domino 

The parable of the Prodigal Son seems to have been a source of inspiration for dozens of artists; Rembrandt did at least 4 drawings and two oils of it - but many, many others have painted the story as well.

Here's one of the Rembrandt drawings, from 1642:

Here's an oil I like a lot, painted in 1773 by Pompeo Batoni:

This one's from Swedish painter Axel Kulle, done in 1882:

"The Renaissance of the Mass Propers"

A good article today by J. J. Ziegler in Catholic World Report:

March 05, 2013

Members of the choir sing during the annual Christmas concert at St. Malachy's Church -- The Actors' Chapel in New York Dec. 13, 2010. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)

The publication of the new English translation of the Roman Missal has helped revive interest in the use of chant in the ordinary form of Holy Mass. The Roman Missal includes many more chanted texts than did the previous edition, allowing clergy and people alike to “sing the Mass, rather than merely to sing at Mass,” as Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth, executive director of the ICEL (International Committee on English in the Liturgy) Secretariat, said in a 2010 address.

The new Roman Missal includes a new translation of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), which also has fostered greater interest in chant. Citing Sacrosanctum Concilium (the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) and subsequent curial documents, the GIRM states that “the main place should be given, all things being equal, to Gregorian chant, as being proper to the Roman Liturgy.… Since the faithful from different countries come together ever more frequently, it is desirable that they know how to sing together at least some parts of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, especially the Profession of Faith and the Lord’s Prayer, according to the simpler settings” (nos. 41-42).

When Catholics think of Gregorian chant at Mass, many tend first to think of chants associated with the Ordinary of the Mass—that is, the parts of the Mass that tend not to vary from day to day—for example, the Kyrie, Gloria, Profession of Faith (Credo), Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.

But there is also another set of chanted prayers at Mass: the propers, that is, five chants that are proper, or specific, to each Mass. The past two years have witnessed a revival of interest in the propers in parishes in the English-speaking world.

“I would contend that there are two primary reasons for the increased popularity of chanting the propers at Mass,” Father Dan Merz, associate director of the Secretariat of Divine Worship of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, told CWR. “First, there is a renewed interest in the texts proposed by the Church herself for the Mass, as opposed to individual choices that may not coincide with the rest of the Mass as well. This goes together with the desire for more accurate translations of texts used at the Eucharist and the other liturgies of the Church. The entrance and Communion antiphons are often scriptural and serve as an official commentary or meditation of sorts on the Mass of the day, as opposed to hymns or songs chosen on the local level.”

“Second, there is a renewed interest in chant itself, including Gregorian chant,” he added. “Many Catholics grew up without any experience or knowledge of chant, and so there is a natural desire to uncover a part of the tradition that was lost—at least to them.”

In the Roman Missal (the liturgical book used by the priest at the chair and at the altar), there are proper antiphons and prayers for Masses on different days of the liturgical year: the Entrance Antiphon, Collect, Prayer over the Offerings, Communion Antiphon, and Prayer after Communion. The texts of the five chanted propers, however, are found not in the Roman Missal, but in another liturgical book, the Graduale Romanum (used by the schola cantorum, or choir), which, like the Roman Missal, was revised after the Second Vatican Council.

In his work The Reform of the Liturgy 1948–1975, published posthumously in Italian in 1983, Archbishop Annibale Bunigni, who served as secretary of the Consilium for the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (1964-69) and secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship (1969-75), recounted that the Consilium entrusted the revision of the books of Gregorian chant to the Abbey of St. Peter of Solesmes, the French Benedictine monastery that has been a center for chant studies since its re-founding by Dom Prosper Guéranger in the 1830s. A revised Graduale Romanum was issued in 1974, and its introduction discusses the differences between the preconciliar and postconciliar editions.

The abbey of Solesmes has also published the Gregorian Missal, which contains the Order of the Mass in Latin and English, as well as the five proper chants of the Mass (from the Graduale Romanum) and the proper prayers for the Mass (from the Roman Missal) for Sundays, solemnities, and feasts of the Lord.

The five chanted propers in the Graduale Romanum are the introit (entrance chant), gradual, Alleluia, offertory, and Communion chant. The gradual holds the same place in the Graduale Romanum as the responsorial psalm does in the Lectionary. During Lent, the tract replaces the Alleluia chant, and during Eastertide, there are two Alleluia chants, the first replacing the gradual.

At times, the texts of the introit and Communion chant for a particular day in the Graduale Romanum differ from the texts of the Entrance Antiphon and Communion Antiphon on that same day in the Roman Missal, and the text of the Alleluia for a particular day in the Graduale Romanum at times differs from the text in the same day in the Lectionary.

The Graduale Romanum is not the only official liturgical book containing chants for use at Mass. Following the Second Vatican Council, the Graduale Simplex was developed by the Consilium in collaboration with the monks of Solesmes. The Graduale Simplex, issued in 1967 and revised in 1974, is the result of Sacrosanctum Concilium’s call for “an edition [to] be prepared containing simpler melodies, for use in small churches” (no. 117).

In addition, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops requested in 2001—and received from Rome in 2002—the permission to allow for the singing of the Entrance Antiphon and Communion Antiphon from the Roman Missal. In the Church’s liturgical discipline, these two antiphons are typically intended for recitation when there is no singing (GIRM, nos. 48, 87).

Thus, in the dioceses in the United States, the GIRM lists several legitimate options for singing at the entrance and at Communion:

(1) the antiphon from the Missal or the antiphon with its Psalm from the Graduale Romanum, as set to music there or in another setting; (2) the antiphon and Psalm of the Graduale Simplex for the liturgical time; (3) a chant from another collection of Psalms and antiphons, approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop, including Psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms; (4) another liturgical chant that is suited to the sacred action, the day, or the time of year, similarly approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop (no. 48, cf. no. 87).

Cantus, the Latin word translated as “chant” in the fourth option, means “that which is sung,” Father Richard Hilgartner, executive director of the USCCB’s Secretariat for Divine Worship, told Catholic News Service in 2011, thus allowing for the singing of hymns—an option permitted in Musicam Sacram, the 1967 curial instruction on sacred music, which described hymns as a “custom legitimately in use in certain places and widely confirmed by indults” (no. 32).

In many parishes, this last option from the GIRM—the singing of a hymn—is the sole option at the entrance and at Communion that parishioners have experienced for several decades.

Likewise, at the offertory, few Catholics have heard the option of an offertory chant from the Graduale Romanum, with most parishes legitimately singing a hymn instead (GIRM, no. 74).

After the first reading and before the Gospel, most parishes use the Responsorial Psalm and Gospel acclamation from the Lectionary, rather than the chants from the Graduale Romanum or Graduale Simplex, which are also legitimate options (nos. 61-62).

Most parishes in the English-speaking world, then, find themselves in a curious position at this juncture in liturgical history. On the one hand, the Church teaches that within the context of the ordinary form of the Mass, “the main place should be given, all things being equal, to Gregorian chant, as being proper to the Roman Liturgy” (GIRM, no. 41). On the other hand, another option, also legitimate, has become ingrained in the practice of most parishes.

Practical aids to chanting the propers

“A desire to sing the proper texts of the Mass as encouraged in Sacrosanctum Concilium (nos. 116-117) and prioritized in the General Instruction on the Roman Missal (no. 48) has become increasingly evident since the recent implementation of the new English translation of the Roman Missal,” ICEL’s Msgr. Wadsworth told CWR. “One of the obstacles to the practical realization of this desire is the relative scarcity of chant resources in English.”

“My first piece of advice to priests and their liturgical musicians is to consider that the advent of the Internet has revolutionized the manner in which music is published,” Msgr. Wadsworth added. “Publishers of liturgical music are no longer the sole source of materials for music in the Mass. Much music is available, and generally free of charge, through a number of important websites that enable composers and musicians to share the fruits of their labors with an immediacy that was previously unimaginable.”

“The new edition of the Roman Missal contains more music than any of its predecessors and that includes a certain amount of music for the singing of proper texts, particularly in Holy Week and certain other feasts,” notes Msgr. Wadsworth. “All of this music (including accompaniments) is to be found at the ICEL music page.”

Msgr. Wadsworth paid tribute to the Church Music Association of America for its work in making the Mass propers more accessible.

“One organization, above all others, has made this quest its particular project in recent years – the Church Music Association of America (CMAA),” said Msgr. Wadsworth, who described its website as “a splendid resource at the service of all who wish to sing the proper texts either in Latin or in English. Within this site there is access to a vast array of musical resources, all free for download and immediate use.”

Jeffrey Tucker, the managing editor of the CMAA’s quarterly journal, Sacred Music, told CWR that “the realization of the role of propers came only in the last few years” and helped overcome debates between proponents of different hymns.

“All of us came to realize that the debate over hymns was rather pointless,” he said. “The point of the Vatican II instructions was to proclaim the word. The word is already given to us [in the propers]. That was an incredible revelation. It changed everything.”

Msgr. Wadsworth says that several resources offered by the CMAA are “highly useful” for a parish “that might be making its first foray into the territory of sung propers” or that otherwise wish to foster Gregorian chant: Adam Bartlett’s Simple English Propers, Arlene Oost-Zinner’s Parish Book of Psalms, the Simple Choral Gradual of Richard Rice, and Father Samuel F. Weber’s “extensive range of settings.”

“We are certainly experiencing a Gregorian chant renaissance in our day, and we are very blessed to see a flowering of new musical resources that find their inspiration in the inestimable treasures of sacred music which the Second Vatican Council spoke of and exalted,” says Bartlett, director of sacred music at Saints Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix.

Bartlett, who has also developed the Lumen Christi Missal, told CWR that

many parishes are not yet ready to take on the full singing of these chants in their Latin settings, and it is for this reason that both the Simple English Propers (SEP, 2011) and the Lumen Christi Missal (LCM, 2012) were developed and published. The SEP sets the text of the Graduale Romanum, in English translation, for the entrance, offertory, and Communion for Sundays and feasts and is intended for beginning and average parish choirs to undertake the singing of the full proper of the Mass in simple musical settings that can be sung effectively each week. The LCM, however, is a book for Catholics in the pew, and it provides for them (among many other things) a repertoire of sung propers in English that can be sung by ordinary parish congregations with a sensitive and gradual introduction and with good catechesis.

Oost-Zinner told CWR that her intention in developing the Parish Book of Psalms was
“to write original, modal melodies for the short antiphons and use Gregorian psalm tones for the verses. The melodies are based on the flow and sound of the English text, similar to the way in which traditional Gregorian chant melodies arose from the Latin text.” Msgr. Wadsworth describes them as “attractive settings of responsorial psalms for use through the year.”

Father Weber, a Benedictine who is currently stationed at St. Eugene’s Cathedral in Santa Rosa, California and whose works are available online, told CWR that he is working on three books that will be published by Ignatius Press: The Propers of the Mass for Sundays and Solemnities, The Sunday Vesper Book for Parishes, and The Book of Responsorial Psalms, Gospel Acclamations, and Sequences for Sundays and Solemnities.

“The English antiphons [are] written in a chant style that grows out of the natural pattern and flow of the English text—and the polyphonic settings draw their musical ‘grammar and vocabulary’ from traditional Catholic Church music,” says Father Weber. “All the settings are for the approved English texts, however. The ‘atmosphere,’ if you will, that this music creates, is the same as that of the tradition of the Roman Rite, only using English words.”

Msgr. Wadsworth also recommends several other resources for introducing the propers in parishes. Referring to the archabbey in Indiana, he says that the “St. Meinrad monk and prolific composer and arranger of chant, Father Columba Kelly, OSB, has a number of useful resources on the monastery’s site.” He also notes that “Corpus Christi Watershed has a wide variety of resources that could be immediately helpful in a parish context.”

The Vatican II Hymnal, published in 2011, “might be an excellent way to help congregations follow the wishes of the Council and ‘pray the Mass,’” says Jeffrey Ostrowski, president of Corpus Christi Watershed. “This book contains simple Mass settings approved by the USCCB, the complete readings…and 100 percent of the Mass proper texts. With the Vatican II Hymnal, no matter how the choir sings the propers (in English, in Latin, using psalm tones, etc.), the congregation can always follow the prayers as the Council desired.”

“More than 200 beautiful hymns for the congregation were also included, since it is not always possible for choirs to be present at every single Mass,” adds Ostrowski, who told CWR that “a huge portion of the music provided by Corpus Christi Watershed comes from contemporary composers.”

Referring to The Anglican Use Gradual, published by C. David Burt in 2004, Msgr. Wadsworth said that “the musical experience of Catholics who worship in accordance with the Anglican Use is put at the service of the wider Church in [this] very interesting collection of chant.”

“Gregorian chant both in English and in Latin in the Catholic Church is on the upswing,” says Burt. “The Anglicans have a tradition of chant and hymns which has been successful for many years.”

Burt told CWR that “except for special occasions, the preparation of the traditional Latin chants from the Graduale Romanum is beyond the scope of most parish choirs. But the simpler chants in The Anglican Use Gradual and in Bartlett's Simple English Propers are quite within their reach. Combining these chants with congregational hymns is also extremely effective.”

“There are two further possibilities that offer the possibility of immediate implementation with minimum preparation and even the most modest musical resources,” added Msgr. Wadsworth. “There are a number of publishers that offer settings of proper antiphons using simple Gregorian psalm tones; the work of Lawrence M. Rutherford in his English Psalm Tone Propers would be an example of such an approach. The hymn-writer Kathleen Pluth has produced a collection of Hymns for the Liturgical Year which are often verse settings of introits or other proper texts that may be sung to well-known hymn tunes.”

“Since most choirs are unfamiliar with singing the totality of antiphons of the Mass, the beginning selection for this chant should be as familiar and simple as possible, that is, in the vernacular and using plain chant or psalm tones,” says Rutherford, whose English Psalm Tone Propers “fulfills both of these requirements, as they are an uncomplicated method of introducing chant to the Mass.” He said that his forthcoming work “is currently at ICEL and the USCCB for their permissions.”

“My interest in the proper texts lies in their ability to take evangelization to an even deeper level,” says Pluth. “Pastors are undoubtedly aware that some members of their congregations pray contemplatively. I believe that every Catholic is called to a profound life of prayer, to the contemplative life…God has wisdom to share with us, and the proper texts allow us to find that wisdom.”

Pluth and some of the other musicians and liturgists contacted by CWR recommend that any parishes that wish to implement the propers do so over time.

“The introduction of chant propers should be accompanied by education—not only of the musicians, but also of the congregation so that the people can appreciate the scriptural roots, historical tradition, theological significance, liturgical purpose, and pastoral value of these chant pieces,” says Dr. Paul Taylor, executive secretary of the National Liturgical Council, an advisory body established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. “From a musical point of view, proper chants (and ordinary chants) require proper training! Otherwise, poorly prepared and sung liturgical music can have a negative effect on the congregation it is meant to serve.”

“Whatever one’s preferences among these options might be, any decision should not be made based on one’s personal preferences, but on the common good of the whole parish and in dialogue with the appropriate members of the parish—for example, the music director, members of the choir, members of the liturgical committee,” adds the USCCB’s Father Merz.

“I think [implementing propers] is relatively straightforward: I always wonder why so little has been done to establish it in the 50 years since Vatican II,” says Msgr. Wadsworth. “We have an opportunity to do something about that now, and I believe that the effects would be immediately evident and the improvement to the quality of our celebration of the Mass very considerable.”

Sarum Compline for the Third Sunday of Lent

 Sarum-chant.ca has posted English Compline for several seasons:

We are pleased to host on this site beautifully prepared editions of the Sarum Office of Compline in contemporary English.  Thanks go to Emil Salim for assembling these booklets, which cover the following seasons:
   Compline 1: Advent.
   Compline 5: The Octave of Epiphany.
   Compline 6: Ordinary Time.
   Compline 7: The Third Sunday of Lent.
   Compline 9: Ferias in Passion Week.
   Compline 14: From Low Sunday to the Vigil of the Ascension.

Here's a PDF file of "Compline for the Third Sunday of Lent."   (Linked from the "Annex" page.)   The image on the cover is Rembrandt's "Prodigal Son."

The Gradual for Lent 3: Exsurge Domine non praevaleat

The Gradual for the third Sunday in Lent is Exsurge Domine non praevaleat ("Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail").


Lent - Third Sunday: Gradual Exsurge Domine from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

Here's the full chant score:

The text comes from Psalm 9:20, 4.  Here's CCWatershed's translation:

Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail; let the gentiles be judged in your presence. When my enemies are turned back in defeat, they shall lose strength and perish before your face.

Wikipedia says, in re: Psalm 9, that:

• Verse 4 is found in the repetition of the Amidah on Rosh Hashanah.^[2]
• Verse 11 is part of Uva Letzion.^[3]
• Verse 13 is part of Av Harachamim.^[4]

The Gospel on Sunday is this one, from Luke 13:1-9:

There were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them--do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did."

Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, 'See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?' He replied, 'Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"

Here are all the chant propers for the day from the Brazilian Benedictines:

Hebdomada tertia quadragesimæ
DominicaIntroitus: Ps. 24, 15.16 et 1-2 Oculi mei (3m02.3s - 2852 kb) 
Graduale: Ps. 9, 20. V. 4 Exsurge... non prævaleat (3m46.7s - 3546 kb) 
Tractus: Ps. 122, 1-3 Ad te levavi (1m45.2s - 1646 kb) 
Offertorium: Ps. 18, 9.11.12 Iustitiæ Domini (1m21.7s - 1278 kb) 
Communio:
                 Quando legitur Evangelium de Samaritana:
                 Io. 4, 13.14 Qui biberit aquam (3m02.3s - 2852 kb)

                 Quando legitur aliud Evangelium:
                 Ps. 83, 4.5 Passer invenit (3m30.3s - 3288 kb) 

Here are posts on Chantblog for some of the other propers of this day:

• The Introit for the Third Sunday in Lent: Oculi Mei ("My Eyes")
• The Lent 3 Tract: Ad te levavi oculos meos and The Tract for Lent 3: de Lassus' Ad te levavi oculos meos
• Passer Invenit  (The Communion Song)

Interestingly, Passer Invenit is the Communio in the EF - but is used in the Ordinary Form as the Communion Song for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, as well as on this day - except when the Gospel reading is the story of the Samaritan woman at the well.

So Passer it is this year; note the citation at the Chanblog link that "This chant, which mimics the sound of a turtle dove, is surely one of the most spectacular in the Gregorian repertoire"!

Lenten Array, Edgbaston

From Wikipedia: