Corpus Christi video clips

Here they are at last. I've been having some trouble with Gloria TV but my persistence has been rewarded.

Introit Cibavit eos, sung by all.


The Gradual and Alleluia, sang by a smaller group of cantors. We also (all) sang the Sequence, but the camcorder couldn't cope with the sound of the organ which accompanied it.


The Offertory, Sacerdotes Domini, sung by the cantors.


The Communion, sung by all, in alternation with the verses of Psalm 22.


The Introit and Communion verses are, in fact, antiphons for psalsm, although the psalms are usually not sung any longer. It is still possible to sing them, however, and at communion there is usually time. The correct psalm (in the correct psalm-tone) for each Introit and Communion is given in a book 'Versus Psalmorum et Canticorum' (1962) which can be downloaded for free from the Church Music Association of America here, and bought hard copy (2008 reprint) from them via Lulu here.

The custom of singing the psalm with the communion verse seems an admirable one to me, and it has long been followed in Oxford; it is also done commonly at St Bede's Clapham Park and at the St Catherine's Trust Summer School - and no doubt other places as well.

Corpus Christi and Termly Dinner

Corpus Christi at the Oxford Oratory was our last Mass of term, and of the academic year. The Oratory church is the largest at which we sing, and Masses on Holy Days can attract a congregation of a hundred. As has become the custom, this was the occasion of some First Holy Communions. Mass was celebrated by Fr Jerome Bertram Cong Orat.

After Mass we had our Termly Dinner, which I suppose can be at lunchtime, at the Old Parsonage, just over the road from the Oratory.

Video clips to follow. More photos of the Mass here.

First Friday of June

This was Whit Friday, the Friday after the Feast of the Ascension (Whitsun). It was an Ember Day. Here is the Greater and Lesser Alleluia, and the Sequence. The Sequence and the second of the two Alleluias are the same as for Whitsun; they are repeated every day of the Octave until Sunday (which is Trinity Sunday).

The two Alleluias are sung by our cantors, but the full schola sings the Sequence.

Mass at Mapledurham, Vigil of Pentcost 2009

Today we had a Sung Mass at Mapledurham House. I didn't have my camera or camcorder with me (for a change!) but we had a schola of 11, including our coach Adrian Taylor, the chapel was filled to capacity (which is forty people!), and it was a wonderful occasion. Mass was sung by Fr Simon Leworthy FSSP, who is based in Reading.

The weather was glorious. We had lunch in the nearby 'Pack Horse Inn' and returned to the house for a tour. It was a Catholic house continuously through penal times, and is still occupied by descendants of the Blount family who owned it then - the Eystons. Mr John Eyston having inherited it at the age of four, has spent a lifetime in a painstaking restoration. It is open to the public on Saturday afternoons in the Summer, and is worth a visit.

So you have something to look at, here are a couple of photos from my mobile phone, and a link to some much better one of our Mass in this chapel last year.

More videos

Lesser Alleluia, Virga Jesse & Greater Alleluia, Ave Maria


Offertory Beata est Virgo


Communion Unde huic, followed by the hymn Ave Maris Stella

Chant Training Day

On Saturday our annual public Gregorian Chant Training Day took place. The first of these was led by the late Dr Mary Berry; since then they have been led by Mr Philip Duffy.

Having a public event such as this is intended to stimulate interest in the Chant, especially among local Catholic singers, as well as providing an opportunity for Schola members to experience a nationally recognised Chant expert.

We rehearsed the hymns of Benediction (we attended the regular Benediction on Saturdays at 11am) and the Votive Mass of Our Lady, Salve sancta parens, with the variations for the Easter Season, with Mass IV. We had sung most of the chants before and Mr Duffy was able to focus on the interpretation.

A matter of particular interest in Tempore Paschale is where to stress the word 'alleluia'. Alleluia is added to many of the chants in the Easter Season, so we sang it again and again. The syllable marked as stressed is the third - allelUia - but Mr Duffy explained that there is a secondary stress on the first: ALlelUia. Or better, the second and the final syllable are de-emphasised. You can hear how we sang alleluia after a day of Mr Duffy's instructions!

The day concluded with Sung Mass at 3.30pm, accompanied by the participants, celebrated by Fr John Saward, who had very generously hosted the event in his church and hall.

'Catholic congregational music a laughing stock'

James MacMillan, the Catholic composer, has sent a message to Archbishop Vincent Nichols, who just been elected Chairman of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and is being installed as Archbishop of Westminster tomorrow. It is about Church music. He says:

Liturgical "activists" have used the vacuum after the Council to push their own agenda of de-poeticisation, de-sacralisation, and a general dumbing down of the Church's sacred praise. Pope Benedict is determined to confront the problem. The faithful are fed up with sloppy practice, inappropriate, terrible music and the gradual drift away from Catholic standards in the liturgy. My hope is that Archbishop Nichols will give a clear lead in the pursuit of profundity in liturgy. This means a recognition that there were terrible mistakes made in the past few decades that have made new Catholic congregational music a laughing stock.

See The Times.