All Souls Day Mass...how was it?

[Rand_Al_Thor]

Pax vobiscum!

So how was the All Souls Day Mass if you went today? I’ll describe the one I just got back from, since it was absolutely amazing.

It was a Sung Requiem Mass according to the old Dominican Rite. The priest wore black vestments and they had a catafalque covered in a black cloth and surrounded by 6 candles. All the chants for All Souls Day were done, including Dies Irae as the Sequentia. The Absolution was done after the Mass, too. This was one of the most beautiful Masses I’ve ever attended, and also the first time I’ve gotten to see black vestments…those are cool!

So how was your All Souls Day Mass? Oh, and what where the readings at the NO Mass? The ones done tonight were 2 Maccabees 12:43-46 and John 6:37-40. Were they the same?

In Christ,
Rand

 

[Nekic]

Pax vobiscum!

So how was the All Souls Day Mass if you went today? I’ll describe the one I just got back from, since it was absolutely amazing.

It was a Sung Requiem Mass according to the old Dominican Rite. The priest wore black vestments and they had a catafalque covered in a black cloth and surrounded by 6 candles. All the chants for All Souls Day were done, including Dies Irae as the Sequentia. The Absolution was done after the Mass, too. This was one of the most beautiful Masses I’ve ever attended, and also the first time I’ve gotten to see black vestments…those are cool!

So how was your All Souls Day Mass? Oh, and what where the readings at the NO Mass? The ones done tonight were 2 Maccabees 12:43-46 and John 6:37-40. Were they the same?

In Christ,
Rand

I can’t remember the readings, but oh, was it an eventful mass.

During the homily, a lady in the front pew asked what happens to those who commit suicide.
An elderly Italian man behind her said “Crazy”, as in, “you’d have to be crazy to do that”.
The mother of the lady who asked the question turned around and said to him, “Don’t say that!”, and kept going for half a minute, while Father was, at the same time, trying to say to her that he has half got the answer.
He goes on to explain that those who commit suicide are most of the time, under so much stress to do so that the culpability for the sin is lessened or even nullified.
At the end of the mass, the old man and woman get into a huge argument over it.
Quite amusin, yet at the same time, quite disappointing. Just after mass, they fight.

But besides that, it was a nice mass. I served, and whenever I serve, I try as best I can to make the mass nice and distraction free for those offering the Holy Sacrifice, not like the little brat altar servers who don’t know a proper fitting alb when they see one…

And unfortunately, no black vestments. It was done on a portable altar of repose, I thought (vainly) that father was saying it ad orientem. Silly me. They just pulled it back from the wall.

 

[CatholicNerd]

Pax vobiscum!

So how was the All Souls Day Mass if you went today? I’ll describe the one I just got back from, since it was absolutely amazing.

It was a Sung Requiem Mass according to the old Dominican Rite. The priest wore black vestments and they had a catafalque covered in a black cloth and surrounded by 6 candles. All the chants for All Souls Day were done, including Dies Irae as the Sequentia. The Absolution was done after the Mass, too. This was one of the most beautiful Masses I’ve ever attended, and also the first time I’ve gotten to see black vestments…those are cool!

So how was your All Souls Day Mass? Oh, and what where the readings at the NO Mass? The ones done tonight were 2 Maccabees 12:43-46 and John 6:37-40. Were they the same?

In Christ,
Rand

I was lucky enough to have attended Mass at Holy Rosary during the Byrd festival this summer. And I got a Pontifical High mass, at that… 'tis a royal shame that most Dominican houses and parishes in this country don’t celebrate the liturgy with such reverence. Tis a shame that I can count the number of parishes in this country that celebrate proper requiem masses on two hands (well that applies to the missa normativa. There are plenty that do it well according to the Tridentine and older Monastic uses)…

My old Schola sang a full requiem Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in Spokane tonight. I really wish I could have been there… I ended up writing music for this morning’s Mass here since there are NO adaptations of the requiem propers in the OCP books, except for perhaps the “Song of Farewell” and “May the Angels Be Your Guide.” I think the priest’s vestments featured every color except black, too… sigh I wanna move to Portland.

 

[OSPX]

Pax vobiscum!

So how was the All Souls Day Mass if you went today? I’ll describe the one I just got back from, since it was absolutely amazing.

It was a Sung Requiem Mass according to the old Dominican Rite. The priest wore black vestments and they had a catafalque covered in a black cloth and surrounded by 6 candles. All the chants for All Souls Day were done, including Dies Irae as the Sequentia. The Absolution was done after the Mass, too. This was one of the most beautiful Masses I’ve ever attended, and also the first time I’ve gotten to see black vestments…those are cool!

So how was your All Souls Day Mass? Oh, and what where the readings at the NO Mass? The ones done tonight were 2 Maccabees 12:43-46 and John 6:37-40. Were they the same?

In Christ,
Rand

That’s very interesting…mine was celebrated exactly like yours!!!

Whats the name of your parish?

 

[Rand_Al_Thor]

That’s very interesting…mine was celebrated exactly like yours!!!

Whats the name of your parish?

Pax tecum!

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary in Portland. It’s not really my parish, though, but I’ve been going there ever since I moved downtown.

In Christ,
Rand

 

[AJV]

Pax vobiscum!

So how was the All Souls Day Mass if you went today? I’ll describe the one I just got back from, since it was absolutely amazing.

It was a Sung Requiem Mass according to the old Dominican Rite. The priest wore black vestments and they had a catafalque covered in a black cloth and surrounded by 6 candles. All the chants for All Souls Day were done, including Dies Irae as the Sequentia. The Absolution was done after the Mass, too. This was one of the most beautiful Masses I’ve ever attended, and also the first time I’ve gotten to see black vestments…those are cool!

So how was your All Souls Day Mass? Oh, and what where the readings at the NO Mass? The ones done tonight were 2 Maccabees 12:43-46 and John 6:37-40. Were they the same?

In Christ,
Rand

I attended 3 Masses (out of 8) and the readings at each were different. But Maccabees was mentioned in all the homilies, even for the two where it was not read, and the priests’ remarks at the beginning of the Mass.

No music whatsoever.

 

[leaner]

We had our first Latin NO mass since the decision came down. It was a work in progress, but I’m happy to see it being brought back to everyday life. Everything was black/purple, six altar boys, priest wore black fiddlefront (as opposed to fiddleback) over cassock and alb – silver and black candles surrounding the altar, and I think the priest did well with the Latin, seeing as I’m sure it’s been a while since he’s said an entire mass in Latin; the readings and homily were in English. He said that the parish response would go a long way to bringing back a Latin service monthly. Oh, and if I ever bring my kids to mass at 6pm without serving them some sort of sustenance first, just shoot me. That was a HUGE mistake.

 

[grotto]

That’s very interesting…mine was celebrated exactly like yours!!!

Whats the name of your parish?

…

There was a time, not so very long ago, when you would attend Mass and be able to say that about all Catholic Churches!

 

[Rabbititus]

I attended a church I’d never been to before, but always admired architecturally. This church was built in the late 19th Century is a sort of Victorianized English Gothic, but with a sancturay that was remodeled in the early 1900s to be all marble. The post Vatican II altar was made to match the marble high altar, which served as a tabernacle.

The mass was said by a foreign priest who at times struggled with his English a little bit, and he was assisted by an adult alter server who wore the traditional black and white. There weren’t any musical intruments used, nor were there collection or communion hymns -just an entrance and exit hymn (“Holy Holy” and “Holy God We Prase Thy Name.”). The entire mass was spoken, except for the Alleluia, which was sung by the alter server.

There wasn’t a very big turn out, less than a couple dozen people - mostly elderly. In fact, I was likely the youngest person there and probably one of three people under forty. Everyone was fairly spread out too, which made the sign of peace interesting (people just sort of nodded to eachother).

For me the best and most interesting thing about this mass was that it was my first encounter with a communion rail and communion on the tounge. I didn’t get a spot on the rail right away, and wasn’t sure if I was supposed to fill in a spot once someone else left or wait until everyone at the rail was gone. Other than that, it was a wonderful new experience.

Overall, I thought it was very reverent and lovely.

 

[Tomster]

So sad! During the homily the celebrant asked us to pray for the souls in heaven and purgatory. I prayed my rosary (for the souls in purgatory) and don’t remember much of anything else.

Tomster

 

[Trident59]

Rand,

My wife and I also attended Holy Rosary last night.
And yes, you are right, it was truly amazing. Too bad more parishoners didn’t turn out but it was a nasty rainy night with a horrible accident out on the freeway.

I’m no spring chicken but I’ve never seen a Requiem Mass in the old Dominican Rite before. It was a very spiritual experience.

I was really dissappointed that all of my grown children could not find the time to attend.

 

[Rand_Al_Thor]

Rand,

My wife and I also attended Holy Rosary last night.
And yes, you are right, it was truly amazing. Too bad more parishoners didn’t turn out but it was a nasty rainy night with a horrible accident out on the freeway.

I’m no spring chicken but I’ve never seen a Requiem Mass in the old Dominican Rite before. It was a very spiritual experience.

I was really dissappointed that all of my grown children could not find the time to attend.

Pax tecum!

I had thought that there would be more people there, too. I guess the rain kept many away. I went with my girlfriend who had only been to one Dominican Rite Mass before. She prefers the NO in English, but after the Mass last night said that she prefers a Mass like that for a feastday. She said that especially for the feast of All Souls, the Latin Mass was more appropriate since it is so much more solemn and reverent and it also sets it aside as an important day. I certainly agree.

Also, that was the first time I’ve heard Dies Irae and Requiem Aeternum “live” instead of hearing a recording. Those and In Paradisium are definitely three of the most beautiful chants ever composed.

In Christ,
Rand

 

[proud2bcatholic]

At St. Thomas the Apostle in Phoenix at 7pm we had a Tridentine Mass. Everything was in chant, including the Dies Irae. The priest wore a beautiful black fiddleback for Mass and he wore a different beautiful black vestment (same type of vestment which is worn for the Asperges Me) for the absolution of the dead. We had a catafalque draped with a beautiful black vestment and 6 candles. We also had about 7 Knights of Columbus there in full regalia.

 

[Asperges_Me]

I made it a point to take a couple of hours leave from work to go to our All Souls TLM in our city. This is the first time since I’ve been a child that I had a chance to go to a Requiem Mass complete with the singing of the “Dies irae” and the priest using black vestments. For those of you not familiar, the All Souls Requiem Mass is essentially like a funeral mass without a body. In fact a Requiem Mass is one of the only times where the words to the Agnus Dei are changed. We sing “dona eis requiem” instead of “miserere nobis”. “Grant them rest” instead of “have mercy on us”. I never even knew that there are three Masses for All Souls Day in the TLM. One of the few days in the liturgical year where there are more than one Mass. When I see all of the rich liturgical tradition and customs that were simply thown away or discarded after VII, it makes me very, very, sad. Hopefully if the Universal Indult ever sees the light of day, maybe one can have the option of a Requiem Funeral Mass once again.

 

[CatholicNerd]

Hopefully if the Universal Indult ever sees the light of day, maybe one can have the option of a Requiem Funeral Mass once again.

One of the best kept secrets of American Catholicism: we still can!!! I’ll ask around and see if anyone made a videorecording of the All Souls Mass up in Spokane a few days ago. I’d have made one but I wasn’t there. It was celebrated at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes and featured the Introit, chanted readings, the Gradual, the Tract, the Sequence (it is permissible in the new rite), the offertory, and the communion chants. And no, this was not some cooky invention. The Requiem Mass is very much a part of the modern liturgical books. Now if they’d just get rid of the other “options…”**