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Mount Calvary Music: April 7, 2019

March 31, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments


Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery, Pieter Brueghel II

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Lent V

April 7, 2019

8 A.M Said Mass

10:00 A. M.  Sung Mass

Breakfast in the undercroft following the 10:00 A.M. Mass

____________________

Common

Missa de Angelis

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The Great Litany

The Great Litany was the first service written in English. It was composed by Thomas Cranmer in 1544 from older litanies: the Sarum rite litany, a Latin litany composed by Martin Luther, and the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. The word litany comes from the Latin litania, from the Greek litê, meaning “prayer” or “supplication.” Litanies are penitential exercises. They are the urgent supplications of the people of God suffering under or dreading divine judgements and asking to be spared or delivered from calamities which at the same time they confess that they deserve. After invoking the Trinity, we ask to be delivered from the evils that come upon us because of sin: heresy, schism, natural disasters, political disasters, war, violence, murder, and sudden and unprovided death.

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Anthems 

William Byrd (1540-1623) 

Miserere mei Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam, et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum, delle iniquitatem meam.

 Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy. According to the multitude of thy commiserations, take away mine iniquity.

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Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)

O Lord, in thy wrath rebuke me not: neither chasten me in thy displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak: O Lord, heal me, for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore troubled: but, Lord, how long wilt thou punish me? O save me, for thy mercy’s sake.

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 Hymns 

What wondrous love (WONDROUS LOVE) is, as its repetitions evidence, an American folk hymn, from the Second Great Awakening. This hymn articulates the question that Christians ask every day: what did I do to deserve such a wonderful love from God and from Christ? The hymn is an offering of thanks to the Son for laying aside his crown as King and humbling himself even unto death. Jesus took on the sin and shame of man and thereby became the Lamb who was slain to save us from our sins. Jesus is not only the Lamb, but he is I AM, Lord and God. Our response is endless praise, and forever we shall marvel and ask, “What wondrous Love?”

O sacred head sore wounded (PASSION CHORALE) was composed by Paul Gerhardt (1607—1676), who closely modeled it after a stanza of a poem, Salve mundi salutare, possibly by St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153) or Arnulf of Leuwen, which contains seven stanzas meditating on how the different parts of Jesus’ body suffered during the Passion. The head is the seat of honor, “face,” and was insulted by a mocking crown of thorns, by spit, and blows from fists. Yet it is the vision of that face that will be our happiness and joy forever, for He has born all our guilt and shame, and given us His life.

 

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Mount Calvary Music: March 31, 2019

March 26, 2019 in Uncategorized No Comments

 

The Prodigal Son and His Father

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Lent IV

Laetare Sunday

March 31, 2019

8 A.M Said Mass

10:00 A. M.  Sung Mass

Breakfast in the undercroft following the 10:00 A.M. Mass

____________________

Common

Missa de Angelis

____________________

Anthems

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594)

Laudate Dominum, quia benignus est: psallite nomini ejus, quoniam suavis est: omnia quaecumque voluit, fecit in coelo et in terra.

Praise ye the Lord, for He is good: sing ye to His Name, for He is sweet: whatsoever He pleased, He hath done in heaven and in earth.

Here is Vox Australia.

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Andrea Rota (1553-1597)

Laetare Jerusalem: et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam. Gaudete cum laetitia, qui in tristitia fuistis: Ut exsultetis, et satiemini ab uberibus consolationis vestrae.

Rejoice, O Jerusalem: and come together all you that love her. Rejoice with gladness, you that have been in sorrow: That you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation.

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Hymns

Rejoice the Lord is King (DARWELL’S 148th) is by Charles Wesley (1707-1788). The hymn has four principal sources. First, it begins with a clear allusion to Psalm 97:1, 12. Second, the 2-line refrain, with which each verse except the last concludes, begins with a citation of part of the Third Century Eucharistic text, Sursum Corda (‘Lift up your hearts.’). Third, the refrain continues with a reference to Philippians 4: 4. Fourth, the content of the hymn is influenced by that section of the Nicene Creed which deals with Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension, the belief that he will come again as Judge, and the unending nature of his Kingdom.  The final stanza concludes with a modified version of the refrain, in which the words of Sursum Corda are replaced by an allusion to 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

#409 Just as I am (WOODWORTH) is by Charlotte Elliott (1789–1871). Elliott was an invalid most of her life and was distressed by her inability to help spread the Gospel. She confided to a clergyman her distress that she was unable to offer any service to God. The clergyman told her that “you must come as you are—a sinner— to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” When we sin, we, like Adam, want to hide from the face of God. We have nothing to offer Him but He calls and commands us, “Come!” We come in repentance and sorrow to receive his great gift: Himself in the Eucharist.

#337 When I survey the wondrous cross (ROCKINGHAM) is by Isaac Watts (1674—1748). When preparing for a communion service in 1707, when he himself was thirty-three years old, Watts wrote this personal expression of gratitude for the love that Christ revealed by His death on the cross. Watts echoes Paul: “But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal 6: 14). The third stanza repeats almost verbatim phrases from St. Bernard of Clairvaux’s hymn “Salve mundi salutare”:  such sentiments would be felt by any sincere Christian who meditated upon the crucifixion.

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El Grito de S. José

March 19, 2019 in Uncategorized No Comments

Hispanics have noticed the affinity that children have for the making of noise and have developed the custom of the grito. A leader will call out a question, and the people (especially the younger members) will call out a response.

Here is one from New Mexico:

Quién en esta casa da la luz?

 Jesús

Quién la llena de alegría?

Maria

Quién conserva en la fe?

José

The Eucharistic Chapel in the Cathedral in Santa Fe is dedicated to St. Joseph, and over the reredos is the inscription:

Quién conserva esta casa in la fe? José

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Mount Calvary Music: March 24, 2019

March 17, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

The parable of the fig tree

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Lent III

March 24, 2019

8 A.M Said Mass

10:00 A. M.  Sung Mass

Breakfast in the undercroft following the 10:00 A.M. Mass

____________________

Common

Missa de Angelis

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Anthems

Richard Farrant (1530-1580)

Hide not thou thy face from us, O Lord, and cast not off thy servants in thy displeasure; for we confess our sins unto thee, and hide not our unrighteousness. For thy mercy’s sake, deliver us from all our sins.

Here is the choir of Westminster Abbey.

William Byrd (1540-1623)

Ne irascaris Domine satis, et ne ultra memineris iniquitatis nostrae. Ecce respice populus tuus omnes nos. Be not angry, O Lord, and remember our iniquity no more. Behold, we are all your people.

Here is the choir of Ely Cathedral.

Hymns

The Great Litany was the first service written in English. It was composed by Thomas Cranmer in 1544 from older litanies: the Sarum rite litany, a Latin litany composed by Martin Luther, and the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. The word litany comes from the Latin litania, from the Greek litê, meaning “prayer” or “supplication.” Litanies are penitential exercises. They are the urgent supplications of the people of God suffering under or dreading divine judgements and asking to be spared or delivered from calamities which at the same time they confess that they deserve. After invoking the Trinity, we ask to be delivered from the evils that come upon us because of sin: heresy, schism, natural disasters, political disasters, war, violence, murder, and sudden and unprovided death.

Rock of ages (TOPLADY) has been a stay and comfort in days of peril, and in the hour of death. No other English hymn can be named which has laid so broad and firm a grasp upon the English-speaking world. It was written by the Rev. Augustus Toplady (1740–1778), an Evangelical priest of the Church of England, who was first a friend of John Wesley but who quarreled with him over predestination.

Take up thy cross (BRESLAU) was composed by the American Episcopal clergyman Charles William Everest (1814—1877) when he was still a teenager. It is based upon the Scripture: “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’” We must die to self to be reborn in Jesus. If we accept the sufferings of this life in union with His sufferings, we like Him will rise from the dead to a new life. The cross is not only painful, but shameful, in the eyes of this world, which thinks it folly to deny oneself the pleasures of life in order to follow the perfect Law of the Lord. We train ourselves in small ways so that we can bear the greater crosses. We spend Sunday morning in church rather than in bed, so that we can patiently endure the death of a loved one. But we do not bear these crosses in our own power, but He in us bears them.

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Mount Calvary Music: March 17, 2019

March 10, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

 

Mount Calvary church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Lent II

March 17, 2019

8 A.M Said Mass

10:00 A. M.  Sung Mass

Breakfast in the undercroft following the 10:00 A.M. Mass

____________________

Common

Missa de Angelis

____________________

Anthems

Richard Farrant (1530-1580)

Call to remembrance, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindness, which hath been ever of old. O remember not the sins and offences of my youth, but according to thy mercy, think thou on me, O Lord, for thy goodness.

Here is the Tewkesbury Abbey School Choir.

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William Byrd (1540-1623)

Lord in thy rage rebuke me not for my most grievous sin, nor in thine anger chasten me, but let me favour win. Have mercy Lord on me, because my state is weak to see, heal me, O Lord, for that my bones are troubled sore in me.

Here is Sara Stowe and a consort of viols.

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Hymns

#119 O wondrous type! O vision fair (WAREHAM) is a translation of Cælestis formamgloriæ partly by John Mason Neale (1818-1866)Moses and Elijah are key persons in Jesus’ mission. Gospel writers mention Moses thirty-seven times and Elijah twenty-seven times. In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Abraham tells the Rich Man, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” (Luke 16:31). Before his Passion, Jesus went to the top of a mountain to converse with Moses and Elijah. There Jesus “was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.” (Matthew 17:2), with Peter, James, and John as witnesses. Shortly after this event, Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:51) to battle Satan and death.

Be Thou my vision (SLANE) Be thou my vision. The Irish monk Eohaid Forgaill (530-598) was a Latin scholar and “King of the Poets.” He was said to have spent so much time studying that he went blind, and was give the name Dallán, “Little Blind One.”   He wrote this poem asking God to be his vision. But “vision” here means more than physical sight. The original Irish word means “vision” or “rapture,” in the sense used by the Old Testament prophets. The language of this hymn is drawn from traditional Irish culture: it uses heroic imagery to describe God as the ‘chieftain’ or ‘High King’ who provided protection to his people or clan.

‘Tis good, Lord, to be here (SWABIA) was written by Joseph Armitage Robinson (1858-1933), D.D., Dean of Westminster. Jesus, with Peter, James and John, had to come down from the mountain.  The next story in Matthew 17 is of Jesus meeting the crowd and healing an epileptic boy; He predicts His death.  In the Liturgy, we catch of glimpse of the Uncreated Light that shone through the humanity of Jesus. It is given to strengthen us in the realities and difficulties of everyday life, where God is to be found.

 

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Mount Calvary Music: Lent I: March 10, 2019

March 5, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Lent I

March 10, 2019

8 A.M Said Mass

10:00 A. M.  Sung Mass

_________________

Common

Missa de Angelis

Anthems

Adrian Batten (1591-1637)

Lord, we beseech thee, give ear unto our prayers, and by thy gracious visitation lighten the darkness of our hearts, by our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Here is the Schola Cantorum Occidentalis.

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

Lord, how long wilt Thou be angry, shall Thy jealousy burn like fire forever? O, remember not our old sins, but have mercy upon us, and that soon, for we are come to great misery. Help us, O God of our Salvation, for the glory of Thy Name. O deliver us, and be merciful unto our sins, for Thy Name’s sake. So we that are Thy people and the sheep of Thy pasture shall give Thee

Here is the Choir of Clare College Cambridge.

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The Great Litany

The Great Litany was the first service written in English. It was composed by Thomas Cranmer in 1544 from older litanies: the Sarum rite litany, a Latin litany composed by Martin Luther, and the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. The word litany comes from the Latin litania, from the Greek litê, meaning “prayer” or “supplication.” Litanies are penitential exercises. They are the urgent supplications of the people of God suffering under or dreading divine judgements and asking to be spared or delivered from calamities which at the same time they confess that they deserve. After invoking the Trinity, we ask to be delivered from the evils that come upon us because of sin: heresy, schism, natural disasters, political disasters, war, violence, murder, sudden death.

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Hymns

#335 Glory be to Jesus (CASWELL/WEM IN LEIDENSTAGEN) is an 18th century Italian hymn Viva! Viva! Gesu! Che per mio bene translated by Edward Caswell (1814–1878), an Anglican clergyman who converted to Catholicism and joined John Henry Newman at the Oratory in Birmingham.

#55 Forty days and forty nights (HEINLEIN) was written by the Anglican clergyman George Hunt Smyttan (1822-1870). It was published in the March 1856 edition of The Penny Post and was revised five years later as Forty Days and Forty Nights in Hymns Fitted to the Order of Common Prayer (1861), by the Rev. Francis Pott (1832–1909).

 

 

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Mount Calvary Music: Ash Wednesday: March 6, 2019

March 4, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

 

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Ash Wednesday

March 6, 2019

12:10 P.M. Said Mass

7:00 P. M.  Sung Mass

_________________

Common

Missa de Angelis

Anthems

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

Remember not, Lord, our offences, nor the offences of our forefathers; neither take thou vengeance of our sins: spare us, good Lord, spare thy people, whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood, and be not angry with us for ever.

Lenten Prose: Attende, Domine

Refrain: Hear us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have sinned against thee. 1. To thee, Redeemer, on thy throne of glory, lift we our weeping eyes in holy pleadings: listen, O Jesus, to our supplications. 2. O thou chief cornerstone, right hand of the Father, way of salvation, gate of life celestial, cleanse thou our sinful souls from all defilement. 3. God, we implore thee, in thy glory seated, bow down and hearken to thy weeping children: pity and pardon all our grievous trespasses. 4. Sins oft committed now we lay before thee: with true contrition, now no more we veil them: grant us, Redeemer, loving absolution. 5. Innocent, captive, taken unresisting; falsely accused, and for us sinners sentenced, save us, we pray thee, Jesus our Redeemer.

Hymns

#59 Lord, who throughout these forty days (ST. FLAVIAN) is by Claudia Frances Ibotson Hernaman (1838–1898). Forty is a symbolic number in Scripture. It rained for forty days and nights when the earth was overtaken by floodwaters, and Noah waited another forty days before opening the window of the Ark. Israel wandered in the desert for forty years. Jesus was seen on earth following the resurrection for forty days. In this case, Christ’s forty days in the wilderness provides the primary paradigm for the forty days of Lent.

#190 Let Thy Blood in mercy poured is by John Brownlie (1857–1927), a Scots Presbyterian minister. This hymn is a translation of a Greek hymn. The tune JESU MEINE ZUVERSICHT was first published in Johann Crüger’s Praxis Pietatis Melica (1653).

In this Lenten hymn attributed to Pope St. Gregory the Great (540—604), # 61 The glory of these forty days, (SPIRES) the typology so frequently used by the Fathers is employed. We are told that our fast, which we keep in imitation of Our Lord’s fast, was prefigured in the Old Testament – by Moses, fasting before receiving the Law; by Elijah who, while fasting, was given the vision of the chariot of fire; and by Daniel who, through fasting and meditation, was delivered from the lions’ den. And, as St. John the Forerunner fasted and became the herald of the Messiah, we pray that we may, through our fasting, be prepared to see Our Lord. The translator was Maurice Frederick Bell (1862-1947).

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A Cautionary Note before the Pancake Breakfast; or: Episcopal News from All Over

March 2, 2019 in Episcopal Church No Comments Tags: boys

This important religious news was published in the New York Times of June 2, 1907 :

EGG THROWN IN CHURCH

Dr. Ladd of Jamaica Hit While Holding Services

While holding a special service in his church recently, the Rev. Dr. Ladd, rector of  Grace Episcopal Church in Jamaica, L. I., was struck with an egg. Every effort has been made to keep the matter secret, but the investigation to discover the identity of the egg thrower revealed the facts.

Dr. Ladd and Prof. Frank E. Hopkins, director of the music, arranged ten days ago for an elaborate service upon the twelfth anniversary of  the installation of the surpliced choir in Grace Church, and Prof. Hopkins obtained the co-operation of the boys’ choir from the Church of the Heavenly Rest of this city. A large congregation attended. Also outside the church a large crowd of boys appeared.

Word had been passed round that ice cream was to be served to the choir boys after the service, and many boys believed that they could palm themselves off as choir members and share in the feast. Prior to the service they gathered at the chapel door and importuned some of the church officers for some of the cream that stood in tubs in the chapel.

When repulsed they sought means to revenge themselves. A sitting hen, whose nest was near the church, was robbed.

During the rendering of a cantata, an egg, believed to have been intended for Prof. Hopkins, since he had refused to give the cream to outsiders, was thrown through an open door. It struck Dr. Ladd as he sat in the chancel, breaking and spreading its contents upon his white surplice. A second egg followed. A couple of the larger members of the choir rose quietly and passed through the door, but the boys who had thrown the eggs escaped.

Prof. Hopkins has been doing detective work ever since, and Dr. Ladd has left his home for a short rest.

 

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Mount Calvary Music: March 3, 2019: Quinquagesima

February 24, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

Domenico Fetti – The Parable of the Mote and the Beam – 1619

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

March 3, 2019

Quinquagesima

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Common

An Anglican Folk Mass, Martin Shaw

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Anthems

Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901)
Meditabor in mandatis tuis, quae dilexi valde: et levabo manus meas ad mandata tua, quae dilexi.
I will meditate on thy commandments, which I have loved exceedingly: and I will lift up my hands to thy commandments, which I have loved.

Here is  the Millikin University Choir.

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Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich, Herr Gott, zu unsern Zeiten. Es ist doch ja kein andrer nicht, der für uns könnte streiten, denn du, unser Gott, alleine.
In these our days so perilous, Lord, peace in mercy send us; no God but thee can fight for us, no God but thee defend us; Thou our only God and Saviour.

Here is the Northwestern University Chorale.

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Hymns

#414 O for a heart to praise my God (AZMON) is by Charles Wesley (1707-1788). This hymn has the Wesleyan emphasis on the religion of the heart, which is transformed by the saving blood of Jesus. The hope for perfection is deeply Wesleyan. The Beatitudes likewise point the Christian to greater and greater perfection: Blessed are the pure of heart, blessed are the meek. Perfection is found in love, because we become sharers of the divine nature, and Jesus reveals the “new, best name” of God, Love.

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#781 Lord Jesus, think on me (SOUTHWELL) is a translation by the Anglican clergyman Allen William Chatfield (1808-1896) of the Greek hymn, Μνώεο Χριστέ by Synesius of Cyrene (375-430). Synesius was the Bishop of Ptolomais, one of the ancient capitals of Cyrenaica that is today part of modern-day Libya.

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#409 Thou art the Way (DUNDEE) is by the Episcopal Bishop George Washington Doane (1799-1859). “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6). In His sayings which begin “ego eimi, I am,” Jesus implicitly makes a claim to divinity, because the name of God is  YHWH, “I AM WHO AM.” Jesus is the only Way to the Father, because Jesus alone is God and man and unites the two; Jesus is the only Truth, because He reveals the Father and He reveals the ultimate meaning of creation, which is Himself, in whom and for whom the universe was created; Jesus is the only true Life, which death itself could not destroy, and which through His resurrection and the power of the Spirit He pours forth onto a dying world to rescue it from eternal death.

 

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The Wobbling Chair of St. Peter

February 22, 2019 in Pope Francis No Comments

Today is the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, and I have been reflecting upon the resemblance between the erratic behavior of the present occupant of that chair and the erratic behavior of the first occupant of that chair.

Peter was impulsive and did not always think things through. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man”; telling Jesus he should avoid being crucified and being called Satan in return; claiming he would die rather than deny Jesus and then denying him three times; jumping from his boat and swimming ashore when he sees the risen Jesus on the seashore.

But Jesus called him Rock. I think it is clear that Jesus was not referring to Peter’s steady and unshakeable character, but to the supernatural gift of faith that the Father gave Peter, enabling Peter to see that Jesus was the Messiah.

So we do not have to trust in the natural character of the popes.  We trust in the gift of faith that God gives to the popes so that they will never not proclaim Jesus as the Messiah – note the negative.  God will never let a pope formally teach heresy and lead people astray, but God does not make the pope an oracle whose every chance remark is divinely inspired.

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Pope Francis the Inconsistent

February 20, 2019 in clergy sex abuse scandal, Pope Francis 1 Comment Tags: Pope Francis, Spadaro, two plus two equals five

Pope Francis, as everyone is beginning to notice, is erratic. He is not a systematic thinker; he does not like to be bound by logic; you never know what he is going to do or say next.

Peter Isely, a survivor of sexual abuse, told Crux:

In Isely’s view, survivors have typically encountered two different personas in Francis, one being the sympathetic pastor who has a deep sense of the horrifying impact of abuse, and another who can be cryptic, insensitive and who appears to fail to take action against known abusers.

“I don’t think we’ve ever heard someone from the Chair of Saint Peter talk about these crimes the way he has, and the effect and impact it has on the victim,” he said. “But then we’ve got this other Pope Francis.”

“Sometimes he says some alarming things, like he did in Chile,” Isely said, alluding to Francis essentially accusing abuse victims who protested against Bishop Juan Barros on charges that he covered up for Chile’s most notorious abuser priest, of calumny.

“We’ve got this guy who allows these bishops to cover up these crimes. And when a bishop is removed, we know that’s why he’s being removed, but he won’t say that’s why he’s being removed,” Isely said, adding that it’s not yet clear which persona will show up to the summit, but he’s hoping it’s the first.

In his Amoris Laetitia, he seemed to say that divorced people who entered second unions can receive Communion. Catholic theologians have followed the logic that a person may be civilly divorced, but if he is still in a valid, sacramental marriage, he commits adultery if he tries to marry again, and is therefore in a state of serious sin and cannot receive communion. The four cardinals who asked Francis to explain –the Dubia–were simply ignored.

Worse still, Father Antonio Spadaro, S.J., confidant of the pope, tried to defend Francis by this tweet.

This phrase has a disturbing history.

The phrase “two plus two equals five” (“2 + 2 = 5”) is a slogan used in many different forms of media, most notably the 1949 dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell. In the novel, it is used as an example of an obviously false dogma that one may be required to believe, similar to other obviously false slogans promoted by the Party in the novel.

Orwell’s protagonist, Winston Smith, uses the phrase to wonder if the State might declare “two plus two equals five” as a fact; he ponders whether, if everybody believes it, that makes it true. The Inner Party interrogator of thought-criminals, O’Brien, says of the mathematically false statement that control over physical reality is unimportant; so long as one controls one’s own perceptions to what the Party wills, then any corporeal act is possible, in accordance with the principles of doublethink (“Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. (Wikipedia)

Solidarity in Poland used the slogan Two plus two always equals four to counteract the Communist party line.

The poster reads: Let Poland be Poland. Two plus two always equals four.

Spadaro is obviously no deep thinker; nor is he much acquainted with history, or he would never have used that example.

But for Francis, one day 2+2 equals 4, the next day maybe 5, the next day maybe 3; and his courtiers, sycophants, and defenders have to justify his erratic statements.

Francis proclaims the need for synodality and lay involvement in stopping sexual abuse. Then he forbids the American bishops from voting on proposals, one of which is to set a lay investigative board. Only the pope can investigate bishops! But then Francis lets Chinese Communist atheists appoint bishops.

He in a footnote in Amoris laetitia raises the issue of communion for Catholics in invalid unions, a question that raises many serious doctrinal questions. But he dismisses any serious discussion of changing the rule of celibacy for priests in the Latin church, although most of the Eastern churches in union with Rome have married priests. Married priests raise no doctrinal issues; the question is whether it would be a fruitful change in the Latin church. Maybe, maybe not. Most the laity would welcome it or at least not object.

Because Francis is erratic, he has not established a clear policy to deal with sexual abuse; he has lessened the penalties that abusers received under Pope Benedict. Since there is not clear policy, one cannot even object to it. One day he lets an abuser function as a priest; the next day he defrocks McCarrick. It all depends the whim and mood of the day. I have little or no hope that any clear and consistent policy about sexual abuse will be established as long as Francis is pope.

Oh, yes. And his critics are tools of the devil:

Speaking on the eve of a landmark Vatican summit on the prevention of clerical sex abuse, the pontiff told a congregation of 2,500 pilgrims in Saint Peter’s Basilica that those who “live their whole life accusing the Church” are “friends, cousins and relatives of the devil”.

Take that, you mean-spirited victims of sexual abuse. Can’t you shut up!

 

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Men’s Retreat at Mount Calvary

February 20, 2019 in Uncategorized No Comments

Men and Integrity in Money, Anger, Sex

Rev. Albert Scharbach

Dr. Leon Podles

–When–

Saturday March 16 8:30 AM-1 :30 PM

–Where–

Mount Calvary Church

816 N. Eutaw St

Parking on adjacent lot

–Why–

Do you keep your religion in an airtight box?

Do you open it an hour a week?

Does it have anything to do with the rest of your life?

Or do you lead a double life?

Confessions – Mass – Benediction

Breakfast and Lunch Provided

Free: $15 donation suggested

Sign up so we know how much food to provide

–Sign Up Here–

Further info:  (410) 728-6140

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Mount Calvary Music February 24, 2019: The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

February 19, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

February 24, 2019

The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

The Patronal Feast of the North American Ordinariate

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Common

An Anglican Folk Mass, Martin Shaw

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Anthems

Henry Walford Davies (1869-1941)

God be in my head, and in my understanding; God be in mine eyes, and in my looking; God be in my mouth, and in my speaking; God be in my heart, and in my thinking; God be at mine end, and at my departing.

Here is the Clare College Chapel Choir.

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Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548–1611)

Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam. Et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum.

Thou art Peter and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And I will give Thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Here is The Cardinal’s Music.

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Hymns

Firmly I believe and truly (NASHOTAH) is adapted from John Henry Newman’s 1865 poem The Dream of Gerontius about the progress of a soul from death to salvation. As an Evangelical, Newman (1801—1890) rejected the doctrines of purgatory and the intercession of saints, but as part of his conversion (1845), he came to a realization of the fullness of the communion of saints: those striving on earth, those being purified by the divine fire, and those in heaven moved by love to pray for those on earth and in purgatory. The poem (Greek Geron: old man), relates the journey of a pious man’s soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory. As the priests and assistants pray the prayers for the dying, Gerontius recites this creed and prays for mercy. Sanctus Fortis, Sanctus Deus is from the Good Friday liturgy and is alluded to in the line “him the holy, him the strong.”

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#393 Faith of our fathers (ST CATHERINE) by Frederick William Faber (1814–1863), in its original form, spoke to Catholics of their history, and conflicts (‘living still/in spite of dungeon, fire and sword’; ‘Our Fathers, chained in prisons dark,/Were still in heart and conscience free’), as well as their aspirations. Faber wrote the hymn at a critical time for Roman Catholics in the British Isles: in England: Catholic Emancipation and the restoration of the Catholic Hierarchy were key issues; meanwhile Ireland was still suffering from the devastation caused by the Great Famine, and was wrestling with the inequities occasioned by British rule.

__________

From all Thy saints in warfare (KING’S LYNN) is by Horatio Nelson (1823—1913), nephew of Admiral Horatio Nelson. He became 3rd Earl Nelson in 1835. In 1857 he and John Keble, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement, compiled the Sarum Hymnal. This hymn was published in 1864. It honors the saints while carefully avoiding mention of any intercessory role.

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The Chair of St. Peter in Antioch

Philip Kosloski

While St. Peter is widely known as the first bishop of Rome, the “prince of the apostles” started out his ministry in the “Rome of the East,” the ancient city of Antioch.

The Roman Empire at the time of Christ hailed Antioch as the new capital of the East over that of Alexandria. It became a pivotal city, one favored by the emperors of Rome and a vital part of the Empire.

It also became an important city for Christians in the first few decades after Jesus’s death. Antioch became the home to many Jewish Christians who fled Jerusalem after St. Stephen was stoned to death. For this and other reasons it made perfect sense for Peter to minister to the spiritual needs of these early Christians.

According to the Golden Legend, Peter arrived in Antioch to preach the good news of Christ. However, Theophilus, governor of the city, did not want him there and said, “Peter, why are you corrupting my people?” Peter tried to convert Theophilus, who immediately had Peter imprisoned.

St. Paul heard about Peter’s imprisonment and visited Theophilus in order to gain his trust. While there St. Paul was able to visit Peter and then urged Theophilus to release him. Theophilus refused, but was curious about St. Paul’s claim that Peter could raise the dead. He said that if Peter could raise his son that he would release him. Miraculously, the governor’s son was raised from the dead through Peter’s intercession and he was given freedom in Antioch to preach the gospel. Theophilus would later receive an account of Jesus’ life through the hands of St. Luke.

Whatever the veracity of this story is, the people of Antioch welcomed Peter’s preaching and built a chair for him to be placed above everyone else while he taught them about Jesus. It is believed that Peter stayed in Antioch for seven years before going to Rome to become the first bishop there.

In the centuries after Peter’s death, it was the custom for bishops to celebrate the anniversary of their initial consecration. The Church appointed February 22 as the anniversary of Peter’s elevation to a bishop in Antioch. This was called the “Chair of St. Peter in Antioch,” referencing the chair that Peter sat in to teach the people.

Over time this feast was merged with the feast commemorating the “Chair of St. Peter in Rome,” and became a single feast on February 22.

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A Digression on the Popular Use of Hymns

Faber wrote an Irish version of Faith of our Fathers. This version, entitled ‘the same Hymn for Ireland’ featured seven stanzas. In it ‘Mary’s prayers/ Shall keep our country fast to thee’. The most important alterations/additions were as follows (the last two lines remain the same in all versions):

1. Faith of our Fathers! living still,
        In spite of dungeon, fire and sword: 
    Oh! Ireland's hearts beat high with joy
        Whene'er they hear that glorious word,
     Faith of our Fathers, &c.
5. Faith of our fathers! guile and force
        To do thee bitter wrong unite;
    But Erin's Saints shall fight for us,
        And keep undimmed thy blessed light. 

6. Faith of our Fathers! distant shores
        Their happy faith to Ireland owe; 
    Then in our home, oh, shall we not
        Break the dark plots against thee now?

7. Faith of our Fathers! Days of old
        Within our hearts speak gallantly;
    For ages thou hast stood by us,
        Dear Faith! And we will stand by thee.

Though ‘Faith of our fathers’ was intended by Faber for use in church and in private devotions (it became one of the most popular Catholic hymns of the 19th century), it acquired a more secular purpose, though still with religious associations: it is sung at the All-Ireland Gaelic football final, though now as part of the half-time show, rather than before the start of the match. The sport has important connections with the Catholic Church: parish priests were often chairmen or presidents of local clubs, and bishops were patrons of provincial Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) councils. Indeed Thomas Croke (1824-1902), Archbishop of Cashel and an ardent Irish nationalist, was instrumental in founding the GAA. While traditions such as the bishop’s throwing out the first ball at the All-Ireland final have passed into history, the singing of ‘Faith of our fathers’ still survives as an expression of communal feeling, and also of pride in Irish national identity, with which Gaelic sports are particularly associated.

 

 

 

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Mount Calvary Music February 17, 2019

February 10, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

February 17, 2019

Septuagesima 

_________________

Common

An Anglican Folk Mass, Martin Shaw

____________________

Anthems

Thomas Tallis (1510-1585)

Out from the deep I call to thee, O Lord hear my invocation. Thine ears bow down; incline to me and hear my lamentation. For if thou wilt our sins behold, that we have done from time to tide, O Lord, who then dare be so bold as in thy sight for to abide.

Heer are the Chapelle du Roi & Alistair Dixon.

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Arvo Pärt (1935-  )

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Amen.

Here are the San Diego Pro Arte Voices.

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Hymns

# 367 When morning gilds the skies is a translation by Poet Laureate Robert Bridges (1844—1930) of a German hymn, ‘Beim frühen Morgenlicht’ (‘At early morning light’) from Sebastian Pörtner’s Katholisches Gesangbuch (Würzburg, 1828). The tune LAUDES DOMINI is by Joseph Barnby (1838—1896). An accomplished and popular choral director in England, Barnby showed his musical genius early: he was an organist and choirmaster at the age of twelve.

# 418 Blest are the pure in heart  is based on an 1819 poem by John Keble (1792—1866). It is a good example of the quiet hymn: although it is pre-Tractarian, it fits well with the doctrine of Reserve in matters of religion. The tune FRANCONIA is by the Anglican clergyman William Henry Havergal (1793–1870), who based it on a German tune.

# 288 O worship the King, all glorious above is by Sir Robert Grant (1780—1838), MP and Governor of Bombay. In this adaptation of Psalm 104 it is God’s ‘bountiful care’ which streams from the hills and descends to the plain, ‘and sweetly distils in the dew and the rain’. The result is a magnificent hymn of praise to God as Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer. In the last verse, Grant points to Christ as the ultimate reconciler of a broken, but still beautiful creation. The last rhyme end/Friend, emphasizes that the purpose (telos-end) of our creation was that we should in the end (forever) forever enjoy the friendship of God in Christ. The tune HANOVER is by William Croft (1678–1727), a student of John Blow and successor to Jeremiah Clark at the Chapel Royal.

 

 

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Purgatory and the Fathers of the Church

February 8, 2019 in Fathers of Church, Purgatory No Comments

 

Purgatory seems to have vanished from the consciousness even of Catholics. Funeral masses are celebrations or canonizations of the deceased, some of whose serious faults persisted until death.

John Chrysostom (c. 349–407) was archbishop of Constantinople, The city still had many pagans in it, a and Christians sometimes adopted the extreme rituals of mourning, such as wailing women. Chrysostom rebuked this, reminding Christians that their faithful deceased were with God. Some objected that their beloved Christian deceased were not always faithful, and this created fear for tehri destiny. Here is what Chrysostom replies:

“8. But I know not where he has gone, you say. Why do you not know, tell me? For according as he lived well or otherwise, it is evident where he will go. Nay, on this very account I lament, you say, because he departed being a sinner. This is a mere pretext and excuse. For if this were the reason of your mourning for the departed, you ought to have formed and corrected him, when he was alive. The fact is thou dost every where look to what concerns yourself, not him.

“But grant that he departed with sin upon him, even on this account one ought to rejoice, that he was stopped short in his sins and added not to his iniquity; and help him as far as possible, not by tears, but by prayers and supplications and alms and offerings. For not unmeaningly have these things been devised, nor do we in vain make mention of the departed in the course of the divine mysteries, and approach God in their behalf, beseeching the Lamb Who is before us, Who takes away the sin of the world — not in vain, but that some refreshment may thereby ensue to them. Not in vain does he that stands by the altar cry out when the tremendous mysteries are celebrated, For all that have fallen asleep in Christ, and for those who perform commemorations in their behalf.  For if there were no commemorations for them, these things would not have been spoken: since our service is not a mere stage show, God forbid! Yea, it is by the ordinance of the Spirit that these things are done.

“Let us then give them aid and perform commemoration for them. For if the children of Job were purged by the sacrifice of their father, why do you doubt that when we too offer for the departed, some consolation arises to them? Since God is wont to grant the petitions of those who ask for others. And this Paul signified saying, that in a manifold Person your gift towards us bestowed by many may be acknowledged with thanksgiving on your behalf. 2 Corinthians 1:11 Let us not then be weary in giving aid to the departed, both by offering on their behalf and obtaining prayers for them: for the common Expiation of the world is even before us. Therefore with boldness do we then intreat for the whole world, and name their names with those of martyrs, of confessors, of priests. For in truth one body are we all, though some members are more glorious than others; and it is possible from every source to gather pardon for them, from our prayers, from our gifts in their behalf, from those whose names are named with theirs. Why therefore do you grieve? Why mourn, when it is in your power to gather so much pardon for the departed?”

(Homily 41 on I Cor)

By the fourth century Christians were  remembering their dead at the Divine Liturgy with confidence that this was helpful to them, as were “prayers and supplications and alms and offerings.” We should remember those who have gone before us by praying to the saints for them, by having masses said for them, and by giving alms to the poor. Remember the last especially the next time you encounter a beggar; your alms may help obtain pardon for someone you love.

 

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