The publisher of NLM and president of our parent organization, the Church Music Association of America, Fr Robert Pasley, is encouraging all our viewers to participate in the CMAA’s effort to promote the use of Gregorian chant, and join the new CMAA Groups initiative. Please share this message with anyone you think might be interested!
Friday, November 13, 2026
On the Orans Posture and Why the Laity Do It
A friend shared with me some thoughts about the question of laity imitating the priest in the orans posture, which was once very popular among the faithful, has died down somewhat over the years, and has recently been clamped down on by the Archbishop of Portland. Here’s what he wrote:
Since we have “orans posture discourse” making the rounds yet again, I thought I’d offer some reasons for why this issue arises to begin with.It is entirely natural for people who are acting with or responding to someone to mimic or mirror their actions. When someone waves or extends a hand, we tend to wave or extend a hand. Hence, when the priest makes the Sign of the Cross in blessing, he does it with his hand away from his body, symbolizing that it’s being given (or ‘sent’), and in response the faithful make the Sign of the Cross touching their body, symbolizing their reception of it. In the Eastern Church they take this one step further: the priest makes the Sign of the Cross in blessing the ‘regular way’ (towards his left first, then his right), and the faithful in response make it the opposite way (right shoulder, then left shoulder), in a literal mirror image of his action.
Most of the actions of the faithful during the Mass (both Novus Ordo and TLM) can be boiled down to ‘responding’ to the priest’s actions, not ‘mirroring’ it. There are exceptions (sitting and standing in unison with the priest, for instance). For the most part, this can be explained by the fact that the laity are simply not doing exactly what the priest is doing. They don’t have a host or a chalice in front of them at the elevation, so they don’t elevate anything, and so on.
By Catholic Answers’ count, the ‘orans posture’ is used 28 times during the (Novus Ordo) Mass. There has been widespread controversy about the faithful mirroring it at exactly one of these 28 times. Maybe there are times and places where the faithful mimic it more than that one time, but I haven’t heard much about it; evidently, they’re much rarer.
So why does it happen in this case? At that one time out of the 28, the faithful are expressly told to say (or sing) exactly what the priest is saying (or singing), namely, the Lord’s Prayer. They are speaking in unison with him, rather than listening and responding with Sed libera nos a malo or, as occurs with the Collect, ‘Amen’ (at which time he uses the exact same orans posture). Is it any surprise, then, that if they’re supposed to be saying just what he says, and they’re looking him right in the eyes, they will then (consciously or unconsciously) start doing what he does? Isn’t that just human nature?
The fact that an official rubric requests something directly contrary to what’s natural and intuitive for humans is quite silly. This is not a case where human nature is fallen and we need to work against it; all the principles of human intuition at work here are entirely in accord with right reason.
So the bishops and even the Vatican can clarify all they like (as they did in a 1997 statement) that “neither may deacons or non-ordained members of the faithful use gestures or actions which are proper to the same priest celebrant.” But that hardly fixes the clash with human nature itself found within the rubrics. No amount of clarifications will help the fact that the faithful are “not sure what to do with [our] hands” (as the meme goes).
The bimillennial Western tradition is wiser in this regard: the celebrant faces away from the people, so that they are not picking up cues from him, and he alone recites or chants the Lord’s Prayer, at the end of which the servers, or all the faithful at High Mass, respond: Sed libera nos a malo. This preserves the recitation/response model that is customary throughout the Mass.
Saint Didacus
Didacus of Alcalá (1400-63) came from a poor but pious family in Spain. He is known to us today as a saint from the (communal) Franciscan Order, his first aspirations were to be a hermit. He embraced the hermit’s life as a child, placing himself under the spiritual guidance of a hermit who lived not far away. And when he was old enough, he became a wandering hermit.
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| Portrait of St Didacus, 1651-53, by the Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664). |
But after a while, Didacus felt a calling to the religious life. He entered the Observant (or Reformed) branch of the Order of Friars Minor in Albaida and was sent to the friary in Arruzafa, where he was received as a lay brother. A lay brother was a member of a religious community who did not pray in choir or prepare for holy orders. Lay brothers did most of the manual labor in a community while their better-educated brethren focused on liturgy, preaching, and leadership. For Didacus that meant working at various trades to support the friary.
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| Spaniards and the Guanche people on the Canary Islands. |
The Canary Islands, located about sixty miles off the coast of North Africa, had recently been conquered by Spain, and the Franciscans wished to bring the Gospel to the native Guanche people. Didacus was among the first missionaries to set foot on the islands. In 1445, he was appointed as Guardian of the Franciscan community on Fuerteventura. It was unheard of to make a “mere” lay brother the Superior of a community, but Didacus stood out for his holiness and prudence. He was also passionate about justice. His defense of the Guanche against the genocidal practices of the colonizers forced his return to Spain in 1449.
After a brief stay in Rome helping victims of an epidemic, Didacus spent the rest of his life in the friary of Santa María de Jesús in Alcalá. After his death, his body is believed to have remained incorrupt, not undergoing rigor mortis and emitting a pleasant odor.
Two posthumous miracles seem to corroborate this belief. During a hunting trip, King Henry IV of Castile fell from his horse and injured his arm. After doctors failed to alleviate the intense pain, the king prayed to Didacus for a cure. The Saint’s body was then removed from its coffin and placed next to the king. Henry kissed the body and placed Didacus’ hand on his injured arm. Instantly, it was healed.
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| Henry IV of Castile |
Second, Don Carlos of Asturias fell down a flight of stairs after a night of carousing and landed on his head. Partially paralyzed, blind, and feverish, he asked to make a petition to Didacus. The Saint’s body was brought to the prince and the prior placed the prince’s hand on Didacus’ chest. Carlos fell into a deep sleep, had a dream in which Didacus told him he would be alright, and awoke healed.
If “Saint Didacus” does not sound familiar, perhaps you know the Spanish version better: “San Diego.” California’s second-most populous city received its name when Sebastián Vizcaíno (1550-1629), commanding the ships San Diego, Santo Tomás, and Tres Reyes, landed on the shores of the San Diego Bay on November 12, 1602, and had Mass said in honor of St. Didacus, even though Didacus’ feast day is on November 13. After the Mass, Vizcaíno named the bay after the Saint.
But whether Didacus is the Latin version of Diego remains disputed. All we know is that when Rome canonized the man, they named him Didacus from didache, the Greek word for teaching and the name of one of the earliest books about Christianity. [1] Apparently, the Congregation reviewing Diego’s holiness was so impressed that they considered him to be an embodiment of the ideals of primitive Christian doctrine. And thus the name Didacus/Diego was transferred from a book to a man to a bay to a city.
Note
[1] A complete copy of the Didache was not found until 1873, but Rome since the fifteenth century had a copy of the third-century commentary on the Didache, the Didascalia Apostolorum, and thus the Congregation was aware of the book’s existence and some of its content.
Thursday, November 12, 2026
Video of Concert Featuring Rare Music in Honor of St. Francis of Assisi
A well-produced video of the nearly-hour-long concert of chant and polyphony in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, performed at the FSSP oratory dedicated to him in Lincoln, Nebraska, is now up on YouTube, with running translations of these most unusual pieces. I encourage you to listen, enjoy, and explore the repertoire. A few of these pieces probably haven’t been heard for decades, even centuries:
The program:
00:00 Uppon La Re Mi ~ Thomas Preston
03:54 The Cloak with the Stars ~ Carson Cooman
08:59 O Sanctissima Anima ~ plainchant
10:00 St. Francis Divests Himself of All Worldly Wealth ~ Carson Cooman
13:19 Proles de Cælo ~ Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
20:50 Alleluia Franciscus pauper ~ plainchant
23:56 Beatus Franciscus ~ Jerónimo de Aliseda
28:32 Blessed Francis, Holy Father ~ Dom Gregory Murray, O.S.B.
31:08 St. Francis and the Sermon to the Birds ~ Carson Cooman
34:23 O Virum Mirabilem ~ Peter Philips
37:54 Pavane ~ François Poulenc
42:04 Audit in Evangelio ~ Tommaso Graziani
45:38 Salve Sancte Pater ~ plainchant
46:36 Salve Sancte Pater ~ Costanzo Porta
48:47 La François ~ Michel Corrette
Enjoy!
Cardinal Burke to Speak on “Mary’s Maternal Mission: Our Lady of Guadalupe as Co-Redemptrix”
Attend online, Wednesday, December 2nd at 8pm EST
The Institute of Catholic Culture is pleased to announce a live webinar with His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke to help the faithful prepare for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Cardinal Burke will present the lecture titled “Mary’s Maternal Mission: Our Lady of Guadalupe as Co-Redemptrix.” While controversial, the Marian title of Co-Redemptrix enlightens our own mission to cooperate with Christ’s work of redemption.
The live lecture will take place over Zoom on Wednesday, December 2nd at 8 pm Eastern time. It is free and open to the public. Registration is required at instituteofcatholicculture.org.
Our Lady’s apparitions to St. Juan Diego in 1531 offer a vivid expression of Marian theology. They manifest Mary’s maternal mission to bring Christ’s mercy, healing, and salvation to all peoples. They also help us to properly situate the title of Mary as Co-Redemptrix, pointing us to Her unique cooperation in the saving mission of her divine Son. Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, therefore, should strengthen fidelity to Christ, encourage consecration to Mary as a path to Him, and inspire all the baptized to unite their suffering, service, and witness with Christ for the salvation of the world.
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Videos of Three Recent Lectures by Dr. Kwasniewski
This fall has been a busy time. I'm pleased to share videos of three recent lectures that are now on my YouTube channel; given the liturgical themes they are likely to be of interest to NLM readers.
Why Divine Worship Needs the Power of Non-Verbal Language
Description: The traditional Mass, despite its supposed "disadvantages" such as the lack of the vernacular, seems to be surprisingly effective at leading souls to communion with God—and that is, in part, because it is so effective in communicating what can never be fully put into words. For the crucial thing is not hearing about God, but somehow encountering God Himself, seeing Him, tasting Him. In this talk I explore the power of “non-verbal language”: the sacred atmosphere, the eastward orientation, the sonic iconostasis, and the abundant symbolism of the old rite.
This lecture was given in Burr Ridge, Illinois, on September 30, 2026. The event was sponsored by the Sag Bridge Mission Society.
Description: The traditional Mass, despite its supposed "disadvantages" such as the lack of the vernacular, seems to be surprisingly effective at leading souls to communion with God—and that is, in part, because it is so effective in communicating what can never be fully put into words. For the crucial thing is not hearing about God, but somehow encountering God Himself, seeing Him, tasting Him. In this talk I explore the power of “non-verbal language”: the sacred atmosphere, the eastward orientation, the sonic iconostasis, and the abundant symbolism of the old rite.
This lecture was given in Burr Ridge, Illinois, on September 30, 2026. The event was sponsored by the Sag Bridge Mission Society.
Mystic of the Mass and Defender of the Eucharist: Discovering the True St. Francis of Assisi
Excerpt: «Even as Our Lord has been re-interpreted in a thousand ways to serve the agendas of various heresies or ideologies over the centuries, so too has St. Francis been made a mascot or spokesman of causes that have little or nothing to do with the historic saint.
For example, Franco Zefferelli’s 1972 film "Brother Sun, Sister Moon," presents Francis as if he were, in the words of Augustine Thompson, “a free spirit, a wild religious genius, a kind of medieval hippie, misunderstood and then exploited by the medieval Church”—quite as if he would have fit right in at the Woodstock Festival of 1969. Other writers have presented him as an environmentalist or ecologist before his time, a lover of animals, a pacifist, a feminist, a revolutionary for the poor, even a herald of South American Liberation Theology.
While there’s a hint of truth in some of these depictions—Francis did, in fact, love the natural world and was delighted with birds in particular; he did care for the poorest and most downtrodden, especially lepers; and he was a peace-maker in the context of the volatile Italian city-state politics of his day—the fact is, they are distortions and diminishments of his true greatness as the intensely mystical, Eucharistic, liturgical, and dogmatic Catholic he was. And this true portrait is what I will share with you tonight.»
Lecture given on October 4, 2026, in honor of the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis, in Carmel, Indiana, sponsored by Corpus Christi for Unity and Peace.
Excerpt: «Even as Our Lord has been re-interpreted in a thousand ways to serve the agendas of various heresies or ideologies over the centuries, so too has St. Francis been made a mascot or spokesman of causes that have little or nothing to do with the historic saint.
For example, Franco Zefferelli’s 1972 film "Brother Sun, Sister Moon," presents Francis as if he were, in the words of Augustine Thompson, “a free spirit, a wild religious genius, a kind of medieval hippie, misunderstood and then exploited by the medieval Church”—quite as if he would have fit right in at the Woodstock Festival of 1969. Other writers have presented him as an environmentalist or ecologist before his time, a lover of animals, a pacifist, a feminist, a revolutionary for the poor, even a herald of South American Liberation Theology.
While there’s a hint of truth in some of these depictions—Francis did, in fact, love the natural world and was delighted with birds in particular; he did care for the poorest and most downtrodden, especially lepers; and he was a peace-maker in the context of the volatile Italian city-state politics of his day—the fact is, they are distortions and diminishments of his true greatness as the intensely mystical, Eucharistic, liturgical, and dogmatic Catholic he was. And this true portrait is what I will share with you tonight.»
Lecture given on October 4, 2026, in honor of the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis, in Carmel, Indiana, sponsored by Corpus Christi for Unity and Peace.
The Traditional Latin Mass—What Truly Unites All the Clans
Excerpt: «The unity of Catholicism comes not from blind obedience to superiors but from professing one and the same faith, from being orthodox. The term “orthodoxy” means both right worship and right belief. It means worshiping God in a traditional apostolic rite and holding the deposit of faith....
Unity does not mean and has never meant uniformity. And in a time of crisis, we actually need “all hands on deck.” Whatever our differences as traditionalists may be—some of them legitimate, some of them debatable, some of them regrettable—now is not a time to wage war against one another, when we are threatened with liquidation at the hands of the worshipers of modernity.
Now is a time for mutual charity, as of brothers baptized into Christ, soldiering for their King; mutual toleration, as of patriots who disagree about civic policy but love their fatherland and are willing to die for it; mutual understanding, as of sympathetic souls enflamed by the same longing for divine beauty and holiness; and, last but not least, friendly cooperation in common endeavors.
This is not to promote a “lowest common denominator” approach; I would prefer to call it a “highest common good” approach! For God is the common good of the entire universe, as St. Thomas Aquinas says, and in the Holy Eucharist is contained the Real Presence of that common good, to which, or rather, to Whom, God’s mercy unites us. Nothing could be more important to focus on and prioritize than this Divine Fire of Charity—and how we approach Him, praise, adore, and receive Him.»
This lecture was given on October 2, 2026, at the Catholic Identity Conference in Pittsburgh.
Visit Dr. Kwasniewski’s Substack “Tradition & Sanity”; personal site; composer site; publishing house Os Justi Press and YouTube, SoundCloud, and Spotify pages.
Excerpt: «The unity of Catholicism comes not from blind obedience to superiors but from professing one and the same faith, from being orthodox. The term “orthodoxy” means both right worship and right belief. It means worshiping God in a traditional apostolic rite and holding the deposit of faith....
Unity does not mean and has never meant uniformity. And in a time of crisis, we actually need “all hands on deck.” Whatever our differences as traditionalists may be—some of them legitimate, some of them debatable, some of them regrettable—now is not a time to wage war against one another, when we are threatened with liquidation at the hands of the worshipers of modernity.
Now is a time for mutual charity, as of brothers baptized into Christ, soldiering for their King; mutual toleration, as of patriots who disagree about civic policy but love their fatherland and are willing to die for it; mutual understanding, as of sympathetic souls enflamed by the same longing for divine beauty and holiness; and, last but not least, friendly cooperation in common endeavors.
This is not to promote a “lowest common denominator” approach; I would prefer to call it a “highest common good” approach! For God is the common good of the entire universe, as St. Thomas Aquinas says, and in the Holy Eucharist is contained the Real Presence of that common good, to which, or rather, to Whom, God’s mercy unites us. Nothing could be more important to focus on and prioritize than this Divine Fire of Charity—and how we approach Him, praise, adore, and receive Him.»
This lecture was given on October 2, 2026, at the Catholic Identity Conference in Pittsburgh.
Visit Dr. Kwasniewski’s Substack “Tradition & Sanity”; personal site; composer site; publishing house Os Justi Press and YouTube, SoundCloud, and Spotify pages.
The Feast of St Martin of Tours 2026
Truly is it fitting and just, right and profitable to salvation, that we should honor Thee, almighty Lord, in the praises of Thy blessed priest and confessor Martin, who, being filled with the gift of Thy Holy Spirit, already in his preparation for the Faith was found to be so perfect, that he covered Christ in the person of a poor man, and with the garment that he received in his own poverty, clothed the Lord of the world. O happy the generosity that divinity performeth! O glorious the divison of the cloak that covered both the solder and the king! Worthily didst Thou bestow the rewards of Thy confession upon this man; worthily did the Arians’ ferocity lie subject to him; worthily with such great love for martyrdom did he in safety not fear the torments of the persecutor. How great, do we think, will be the glorification of his passion, when a (mere) piece of his cloak hath been so precious? And what shall he receive for the offering of his whole body, who for the small amount of his cloak, merited both to clothe and to see God? O the kindliness of his spirit, worthy to be imitated; o the might of his virtues, worthy to be venerated! So did he fullfil the duties of the bishop’s office which he undertook, that he could demand the observance of discipline through the model of his upright life. So did he give medicine to the hopeful by his apostolic virtue, that he saved some by his prayer, and others by his very countenance. This, o Lord, is Thy power and glory, which the Angels praise, the Archangels venerate; the Thrones, Dominations, Virtues, Principalities and Powers adore; which the Cherubim and Seraphim with shared rejoicing praise. And we pray that Thou may command our voices to be brought in among them, saying with humble confession: Holy, Holy, Holy... (The Ambrosian Preface of St Martin of Tours.)
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| The central lower panel of the St Martin Polyptych, 1485-1505, by Bernardo Zenale and Bernardino Butinone; painted for the church of St Martin in Treviglio, Italy, about 22½ miles to the east of Milan. |
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| The complete painting; at top, from left to right, Ss Lucy, Catherine of Alexandria, and Mary Magdalene, the Virgin and Child with Angels, Ss John the Baptist, Stephan and John the Evangelist: at bottom, from left to right, Ss Zeno of Verona, Maurice, and the Apostle Peter, the Charity of St Martin, Ss Sebastian, Anthony, and the Apostle Paul. In the predella; from left to right, the Annunciation, Crucifixion and Resurrection. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.) |
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| The church of St Martin in Treviglio (photo by Nicola de’ Grandi) |
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
The Geghard Monastery in Armenia
A friend of mine recently visited Armenia, and very kindly agreed to share with us some of the pictures which he took at various churches and other religious sites; we will be publishing more of these over the next couple of weeks. This set were taken at a monastery located about 19 miles to the east of the capital, Yerevan, which is traditionally said to have been founded by St Gregory the Illuminator, who evangelized Armenia at the very beginning of the 4th century. It was formally known as “Ayrivank – the monastery of the cave”, but is now called “Geghardvank – the monastery of the Spear” (often shortened to just Geghard), because of the tradition that St Jude Thaddeus brought the point of the spear which pierced Our Lord’s side to Armenia, and it was kept at this monastery. The relic is now at the Etchmiatsin cathedral, the Vatican of the Armenian Apostolic Church, of which we will show some pictures later.
Baroque Portraits, Still Lifes, and Landscapes
An Illustration of How Sacred Art Can Inform Profane Art
The Baroque period of the 17th century saw the flourishing of a whole new Christian culture. Beginning in Italy and closely associated with the liturgy as part of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, it gave rise to a flourishing of art, architecture, and music, both religious and secular, across much of Europe, in Catholic and Protestant countries alike. I contend that beauty drove this cultural spread. These works of art spoke powerfully and irresistibly to the people of their age, and patrons and buyers decided they wanted art like this in their homes and churches. We can look at one part of this cultural movement, painting, as an example of what happened more broadly. The portraiture, still-lifes, and landscapes of the period reflected the stylistic elements of Baroque sacred art described in the previous chapter, adapted and developed for each genre.
Portraiture
Here is a portrait Anthony Van Dyck painted when he was just 21, around 1620, while still working in the studio of his master Rubens.
The sacred artist working in a naturalistic mode will rely more on gesture to communicate mood. The portrait artist, by contrast, seeks to illuminate the mood and unique qualities of the person’s soul through a strong focus on the face, and particularly the eyes.
Still Life
Still lifes, like portraits, were painted by both Catholic and Protestant artists during this period. The example shown here is by the French artist Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, who worked in the 18th century. His Still Life with Peaches, a Silver Goblet, Grapes, and Walnuts exemplifies the characteristic Baroque approach. We see the variation in focus, coloration, and tone in accordance with the principles described in the previous chapter.
Landscape
Landscapes are more difficult to paint in the Baroque style than portraits or still lifes, for several reasons. First, a landscape is a more complex composition. There will very likely be trees, animals, people, and buildings all working together in harmony to create a unified impression. At the very least, there will be several principal foci rather than one.In this context, the foci are the elements that draw our attention most strongly when we look at a scene. Unless we have reason to do otherwise, we tend to look at people first and to linger on them longest, then at the works of human hands such as a farmhouse or a cart, and then at animals and plants. In this respect, our natural interest tends to follow the hierarchy of being.
The best landscapes respect this hierarchy and tend to present all aspects of creation in harmonious relation with one another, typically placing the human figure in the principal focus. The artist’s goal in a landscape is to present the whole as beautiful while emphasizing the properly ordered relationships between things. Sometimes the artist will wish to make something other than a human being the center of interest, as when a herd of cows in a meadow becomes the principal subject. Even then, a cowherd who watches from the sidelines ought to be placed in the composition in a way that acknowledges the superiority of the human being in relation to the animals, even while the animals command the primary interest. This balance is not easy to strike.
This attention to hierarchy matters in all genres of painting, not only in landscape. When the proper ordering of relationships is represented in visible things, it develops in us the capacity to look beyond the visible and to seek the ultimate being to whom all things point by their very existence, which is God. When everything in a painting is treated with equal interest, or worse, equal disinterest, it not only misrepresents reality but makes that leap of faith toward heavenly things, which should be the goal of every Christian artist, harder for the viewer to take. A successful landscape therefore requires the artist to portray a complex web of relationships between many creatures, presenting each so that it plays its part in the whole without overloading the eye with equal detail throughout.
When Rubens painted his landscapes, he adopted the standard Baroque template, rendering large portions of them in deep shadow or in sepia tones drained of color. It is apparent that what worked so powerfully in sacred art did not transfer to landscape in quite the same way. To me, his landscapes always look as though they are observed from a vantage point deep inside a dark forest.
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Peter Paul Rubens, Landscape with a Rainbow. |
How the Technical Difficulties Were Overcome
While the sacred art of the Academy, the name given to the state-sponsored art school in Paris that came to dominate the style of art across Western Europe, declined during the 17th century, the quality of secular painting continued to develop. Artists steadily worked out how to overcome the technical difficulties of representing natural subjects in oil.One development was to move beyond gray and sepia as the sole basis for tonal work. While still using selective tonal rendering, artists began incorporating colors closer to those of nature, such as gray-green for foliage. This allowed compositions to escape the deep shadow that characterized Rubens's landscapes.
To tackle the foliage problem, artists worked out how to select certain areas for detailed rendering, knowing the observer’s eye would read the whole as uniformly detailed. The approach was to identify where the eye naturally falls in a given composition, then to offer more color and detail in those areas while leaving adjacent areas more summary. A similar technique was applied to the representation of cloth in portraiture. To distinguish velvet from satin, for example, one would select one area, typically where light and shadow meet, for a detailed rendering of texture and color. The rest of the same fabric would be handled with less color and less detail, but in such a way that the balance prompts the eye to perceive the whole as fully realized. Vermeer, working in the 17th century, provides a striking example of this method in the rendering of the carpet in the following painting.
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Johannes Vermeer, The Concert, c. 1663–66. |
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796–1875) was perhaps the first painter to fully master this approach in outdoor landscape. The painting below, Ville d’Avray, was painted around 1867.
Why Secular Art Survived While Sacred Art Declined
It is worth asking why secular painting continued to develop and improve during a period when sacred art was in decline. One reason, I suggest, is that regardless of an artist’s worldview or religion, if his intention in painting a landscape is to capture its beauty, that intention is consistent with a Christian understanding of the natural world. This is why even landscapes painted by artists with no Christian commitment, such as Chinese Daoist painters, may be considered compatible with the Christian understanding of how a landscape ought to be painted.Practical pressures also come into play. People will not buy landscapes unless they find them beautiful, so the artist who wants to sell his work had better make them beautiful. Similarly, those who commission portraits want a likeness that shows the subject in the best light, as those who love them might see them. These commercial incentives have kept a tradition of representational skill alive in portraiture and landscape even through periods when institutional taste moved in other directions.
This is why, even in the last 100 years, painters working in representational traditions have continued to find patrons. The Italian portrait painter Pietro Annigoni, who famously painted Elizabeth II as a young woman, is one example. Andrew Wyeth in America and William Heaton Cooper in the British watercolor landscape tradition are others. It is worth noting that Wyeth and Heaton Cooper both came from artistic families and had their fathers’ example to guide their formation.
The Lesson for Today
The lesson we can draw from the story of the Baroque tradition is this: when we have an authentic liturgical renewal accompanied by art forms genuinely connected to it, we can hope to see a transformation of the wider culture, just as the Baroque transformed the culture of its own day. We cannot know in advance what the next such renewal will look like, if it comes. But if it does succeed, it will be its beauty, and not the approval of art critics or university lecturers (this one included), that wins the world over.Monday, November 09, 2026
A Sequence for the Dedication of a Church, by Adam of St Victor
Today is the feast of the dedication of the cathedral of Rome, formally known the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior, but often referred to by the nick-name St John in the Lateran. This dedication is celebrated by all dioceses and churches of the Roman Rite, in addition to their own local dedications, so here is a sequence for such feasts by one of the great masters of the genre, Adam of St Victor, who flourished in the first part of the 12th century. After serving as precentor of Notre-Dame de Paris, he entered the abbey of Augustinian Canons Regular dedicated to St Victor in Paris’ Rive Gauche, very close to the Sorbonne. This abbey was one of the major intellectual centers of the High Middle Ages, and literary works produced by its members were swiftly diffused throughout Europe.
Four years ago, I addressed the persistent misunderstanding that the liturgical reform of St Pius V removed the great majority of sequences from the Mass. The reality is that the Roman Missal had always had very few sequences, and as various churches and orders adopted it, they adopted its sparse repertoire of them along with it. The diocese of Paris, however, kept its own Missal, and traditionally used this sequence, but in the Neo-Gallican reform, it was shortened by the removal of several stanzas, while some others were rewritten. The reformed version is the one sung in the recording given below. The English translation is taken from The Liturgical Poetry of Adam of St Victor (vol. 1), by Digby Wrangham of St John’s College, Oxford. (Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., London, 1881.) |
| A page from a Missal according to the Use of Paris, written in the first quarter of the 14th century. The intonations of three different sequences (usually called “proses” in French liturgical books) are given in the lower part of the left column; the first, Rex Salomon fecit templum, is also by Adam of St Victor. At the time this Missal was produced, the Sequence might vary according to the choice of the choirmaster. Later editions of the Parisian Missal will specify that either Rex Salomon or Jerusalem et Sion be sung on the feast, and the others during the days within the octave of the dedication. |
| Jerusalem et Sion filiae, Coetus omnis fidelis curiae, Melos pangas jugis laetitiae, Alleluia Christus enim desponsat hodie Matrem nostram, norma justitiae, Quam de lacu traxit miseriae, Ecclesiam. |
Jerusalem and Sion’s daughters fair! And all the faithful crowd that worship there! / That ceaseless strain of tuneful joy prepare, / “Alleluia!” For Christ, Who doth all righteousness display, / to our Mother-Church espoused to-day, / That Church, whom He in love hath drawn away / From depths of woe. |
| In Spiritus Sancti clementia, Sponsa sponsi laetatur gratia: A reginis, laudum cum gloria, Felix dicta. Dos ut datur, crescit laetitia: Quæ dos! quanta! triplex potentia, Tangens coelum, terram et stygia Judicia. |
Through the blest Spirit’s mercy from above / The Bride rejoices in the Bride- groom’s love. / Earth’s queens with glorious praises doth she move To call her blest, Mid greater joy still is her dowry given: What! and how great! that threefold power, which heaven, / And earth below, and the dread judgments even Of hell affects. |
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Mira loquar, sed sanum credere: Foederatam tarn largo munere, De proprio produxit latere Deus-Homo. Formaretur ut sic Ecclesia Figuravit in pari gloria Adae costis formata femina, Hostis Eva. |
Belief is wise, though strange my tale: that bride, / by gifts of such vast magni- tude allied / to Him, was taken out of His own side / By the God-Man: That thus the Church should form and shape receive / equal glory, we a type believe / was woman, formed—source of our sorrow, Eve! / From Adam’s rib. |
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Eva fuit noverca posteris: Haec est mater electi generis, Vitae portus, asylum miseris Et tutela. Pulchra, potens, partu mirabilis, Ut luna, sol, fulget spectabilis, Plus acie multo terribilis Ordinata. |
Eve a stepmother hath been to her seed; the Church to her elect a Mother indeed, Life’s haven, an asylum in their need, And sure defense, She, beautiful and great, in birth divine, fair as the moon, clear as the sun doth shine / more terrible than armies’ serried line / With banners dight. |
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Multiplex est, singularis, una, Generalis et individua Omnis aevi, sexus, simul una Parit turmas. Haec signata Jordanis fluctibus; Haec quae venit a terrae finibus, Scientiam audire cominus Salomonis. |
Multifold is she, yet but one alone has all together, and each singly, known of every age and sex, yet only one; Troops she brings forth. Jordan! thy waves a type of her appear, and she, that from the ends of earth drew near, / that, face to face, she might the wisdom hear / Of Solomon. |
| Haec typicis descripta sensibus, Nuptiarum induta vestibus, Caeli praeest hodie civibus Christo juncta. O solemnis festum laetitiae Quo unitur Christus Ecclesiae, In quo nostrae salutis nuptiae Celebrantur |
She, whom these types, when understood, portray, / Robed for her marriage-feast in bright array, / presides o’er all the hea- venly host to-day, / The bride of Christ. O holy joy’s bright feast-day in the skies, Which joins the Church with Christ in marriage-ties! / That marriage-day, whose rite mankind allies / With saving health. |
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Coetus felix, dulce convivium, Lapsis ubi datur solatium, Desperatis offertur spatium Respirandi! Justis inde solvuntur praemia, Angelorum novantur gaudia, Laeta nimis quod facit gratia Charitatis. |
O happy gathering! O sweet feast of heaven! / When consolation to the lapsed is given, / And to the sinner, to despair now driven, / A breathing-space! Here their rewards are to the righteous paid, / And angels’ joys, renewed again, displayed / Feast, by the grace of charity thus made / Too full of joy. |
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Ab aeterno fons sapientiae, Intuitu solius gratiae, Sic praevidit in rerum serie Haec futura. Christus ergo nos suis nuptiis, Recreatos veris deliciis, Interesse faciat gaudiis Electorum! Amen |
The fount of wisdom from the first hath known, / through the clear insight given by grace alone, / As the due course of things hath onward gone, / What is to be. Therefore may Christ, by these His marriage-rites, / take us, refreshed there- by with true delights, / partake those joys to which His love invites All His elect! Amen. |
Sunday, November 08, 2026
Music for First Vespers of the Dedication of a Church
In the Benedictine Divine Office, there is normally a short responsory after the chapter of both Vespers and Lauds, just like those found at the minor Hours in the Roman Office. At First Vespers of major feasts, this may be replaced with one of the long responsories from Matins; this is not obligatory, however, which is why these responsories are included in an appendix in the monastic antiphonal, but not noted in the breviary. For the feast of the dedication of a church, the responsory is the second from Matins, Fundata est. This recording of it by the Latvian ensemble Schola Cantorum Riga makes excellent use of a drone with the Gregorian music.
The standard hymn for both Vespers of a dedication feast, Urbs Jerusalem beata, is the work of an unknown author of the Carolingian era, the later 8th century or first part of the 9th, when such feasts first began to be kept. It is traditionally split into two parts, with the second (beginning with the strophe Angularis fundamentum) sung at Lauds. Both parts were drastically changed in Urban VIII’s revision of the hymns, and very much for the worse; the post-Conciliar Liturgy of the Hours has restored the original version, with almost none of the typical cack-handed emendations.
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| The hymn Urbs Jerusalem Beata in the first edition of the breviary of St Pius V; the typographer incorrectly placed the red letters marking the beginning of a new strophe after each 4 verses (as is typical of the great majority of hymns), rather than after every 6 as the meter of this specific hymn requires. |
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| The translation by the great John Mason Neale. |
A setting in alternating Gregorian and polyphony by the Franco-Flemish composer Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474).
The antiphon for the Magnificat: Sanctificávit Dóminus tabernáculum suum, quia haec est domus Dei, in qua invocábitur nomen ejus, de quo scriptum est: Et erit nomen meum ibi, dicit Dóminus. (The Lord hath sanctified His tabernacle; for this is the house of God, wherein His Name shall be invoke, of which it is written, And my Name shall be there, saith the Lord.)This year, at First Vespers of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, a commemoration is made of the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (resumed), with this antiphon taken from the Sunday Gospel, Matthew 13, 24-30, is also in mode 1g, and quite similar to the one that precedes it. (This video cannot be played on a site on which it is embedded; click to open it on YouTube in a separate tab.)
Aña Collígite primum zizania, et alligáte ea in fascículos ad comburendum: tríticum autem congregáte in hórreum meum, dicit Dóminus. (Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them into bundles to burn; but gather the wheat into my barn, saith the Lord.)
Finally, we take leave of the feast of All Saints with a commemoration of Second Vespers of the octave day.
Aña O quam gloriósum est regnum in quo cum Christo gaudent omnes Sancti, amicti stolis albis sequuntur Agnum quocumque íerit! (O how glorious is the kingdom in which all the Saints rejoice with Christ; clothed in white robes, they follow the Lamb wherever he goeth!)
The Octave of All Saints 2026: The Confessors
From the Breviary according to the use of the Roman Curia, 1529, the conclusion of the sermon for the third day in the Octave of All Saints.
After the most unconquered witnesses of Christ follows the venerable chosen company of pontiffs and priests, and the blessed perfection of the most holy confessors, illuminated by the light of truth, and resolute in the confession of the apostolic faith. They pleased the one God, because they showed forth the faith of the holy Trinity in the perfection of their works. Although they did not pass from the light of this world by the sword or any other sort of torment, they were taught in the school of the virtues under the discipline of the Gospel, and by the wonderful patience of the Cross; they fought against the beasts of heretical depravity with the sword of the spirit (which is the word of God) and so nevertheless merited the glory of martyrdom. And although some of the holy confessors never attained the dignity of the priesthood, they were yet in no wise inferior in holiness and justice, in the virtues and the examples of their lives. These then are the men who while they were clothed in the garment of mortal flesh, could say in the spirit of truth with Paul, “our conversation is in heaven.”
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| The Charity of St Martin, by Jacob van Oost the Elder (1603-71); now in the Groeinge Museum in the painter’s native city of Bruges in Belgium. Martin was one of the very first Confessors to be venerated as a Saint. |
The Saints by faith conquered kingdoms, wrought justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, recovered strength from weakness, became valiant in battle, put to flight the armies of foreigners: women received their dead raised to life again. But others were racked, not accepting deliverance, that they might find a better resurrection. And others had trial of mockeries and stripes, moreover also of bands and prisons. They were stoned, they were cut asunder, they were tempted, they were put to death by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being in want, distressed, afflicted: Of whom the world was not worthy; wandering in deserts, in mountains, and in dens, and in caves of the earth. And all these being approved by the testimony of faith, in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
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The tabernacle of the Four Crowned Martyrs, on the outside of the Orsanmichele in Florence; commissioned from the sculptor Nanni di Banco by the guild of wood- and stone cutters, 1408. Notice the clever image of two sculptors making a statue on the right side of the lower panel.
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Saturday, November 07, 2026
The Feast of All Saints 2026: The Martyrs
From the Breviary according to the use of the Roman Curia, 1529, the continuation of the sermon for the third day in the Octave of All Saints.
After the aforementioned princes of the Church and standard bearers of her spiritual combat comes most readily the troop of the most elite soldiers, that is, the triumphant army of the holy martyrs, patient in their suffering, clothed in white in the contest of their passion, crowned with their precious blood. The ancient dragon, like a most fierce and roaring lion, found a new device for his deceptions; for he that once ordered men to worship the just as gods (as is read concerning the body of Moses), afterwards attacked those who worshipped the true God become man, the Lord Jesus Christ, with due honor. But because the holy martyrs fought manfully for the faith in the stadium of war, they were given a happy reward, and rightly crowned with glory and honor.
“As is read concerning the body of Moses.” These words refer to an episode in a Jewish apocryphal work, the Assumption of Moses, which is mentioned by St Jude in his Catholic Epistle (verse 9): “When Michael the Archangel, disputing with the devil, contended about the body of Moses, he durst not bring against him the judgment of railing speech, but said, ‘The Lord command thee.’ ” (The last words of this verse are quoted in Pope Leo XIII’s famous prayer to St Michael.) The Assumption of Moses is only partially preserved, and the episode in question is not in the part that survives, but ancient scholars such as Origen, who had the complete text to hand, claim it as the work cited by St Jude. The anonymous author of our sermon refers to a tradition going back to Tertullian that idolatry was taught to mankind by the devil, and here claims that in the story cited by St Jude, the devil’s purpose in trying to get the body of Moses was to have the Jews worship it as an idol.
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The central panel of an altarpiece dedicated to the Virgin Martyr St Margaret of Antioch, made in either Hamburg or Lüneburg, German, ca. 1520 now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Her legend says that she was swallowed by a dragon (seen here at her feet, and also in the lower panel immediately to the right of her), and destroyed it by bursting out of its side; this of course represents her spiritual triumph over the forces of darkness.
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The Dispute between St. Michael and the Devil over the Body of Moses, by Matteo da Lecce, ca. 1575. This painting is on the back wall of the Sistine Chapel, and for reasons which should be obvious, has been entirely overshadowed by the rather more impressive works of Michelangelo on the ceiling above.
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Durandus on Prayer for the Dead (Part 2)
The following is taken from the entry on All Souls’ Day in William Durandus’ Rationale Divinorum Officiorum (7.35), the Summa Theologiae of medieval liturgical commentaries. This is one of the longest sections of the seventh book, which covers the Sanctoral cycle, and will be presented in several parts in this month especially dedicated to prayer for the dead. Click here to read part 1.
On a (major) feast day, an anniversary Requiem ought not to be celebrated, nor should a Mass for the dead be said unless the body is present. But in every season the Mass for the dead can be celebrated if the cadaver is present, except on Good Friday, since on that day the body ought not to be buried, but rather reserved for the next day. And then on Saturday the Mass can be sung for it, and the body buried. Likewise, if anyone should die on Easter, let his body be laid aside for the next day, and then be buried with the celebration of the Mass, for a body ought not to be buried without a Mass, although the contrary is done in very many places.
And although according to the Council of Chalon, prayer and sacrifice should be offered for the dead daily, on the aforementioned days (the third, seventh and thirtieth after burial, and on the anniversary), this is done especially by the friends (of the deceased). Indeed, some people generally pray for the dead at the evening and morning Office in all seasons, excepting only feast days; others celebrate Mass for them daily, others at the beginning of each month sing nine psalms, nine readings and nine responsories (i.e. the Office of the dead with three nocturns at Matins), and indeed, it is a holy thought and profitable to salvation to pray for the dead, that they may be released from sin. (2 Macc. 12, 46; from the Epistle for the anniversary Requiem.)
In some places the Office of the dead is not said in church from Holy Thursday until the octave of Pentecost, since they say that all the offices of that time ought to be brief, and also not on Sundays. And the story is told that a certain abbot prohibited his monks from celebrating for the dead on Sundays, but because of this, the dead themselves afflicted him with harsh beatings, and therefore he revoked this prohibition.
Note also that the prayers which are offered in the churches for the dead who are very good are acts of thanksgiving; for those souls which are perfectly good, as soon as they go out of their bodies, fly to the heavens and have no need of our assistance. For the moderately good, expiations are made, or mitigations of their pains, since they enter purgatory, because while they were alive, they did not complete the penance enjoined upon them, by means of which the alms, prayers, fasts and sacrifices which are done for them benefit them. … as for the very evil, prayers are rather consolations of the living, for the help we proffer does them no good, since their souls immediately go down to hell.
Also note this, that according to Jerome, when a psalm or Mass is said for all souls, it is received no less than if it were said for each one of them … but if they are said for a specific intention, they benefit those for whom they are especially made, rather than others. If they are done in general or in common, they benefit rather those who had greater merit in this life… For according to Augustine *, although they do not benefit all those for whom they are done, nevertheless, because we do not know whom they benefit and whom they do not, they ought to be done for all, so that no one may be left out. For it is better that they be superfluous to those they neither harm nor benefit, and that they should be lacking to those whom they benefit, and therefore the anniversary day is celebrated, as is said above.
* De cura pro mortuis gerenda, chapter 18, a passage added to the Office of the Dead for All Souls by the breviary reform of St Pius X.
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| The Four Latin Doctors of the Church, 1632, by the Dutch painter Abraham Bloemaert (1564-1651). Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons. |
But can the prayers of him who because of mortal sin is not in charity benefit one who died in charity? I answer that sacramental works such as the Mass, the Office of the dead, the collection of alms, and the like, done by such a one, are very powerful, and do benefit the dead, both because they have their efficacy from God, and not from the one who does them, and because he does them not in his own name, but as the representative of all, which it to say, he acts in the name of the whole church…
For if we condemn the prayers of men whose conscience reproves them for sin, the dead will be helped by the prayers of few. Therefore, it seems we ought to say that the prayers of the man who is still in faith, even though he is not in charity, do not benefit the one who dies in charity from the merit of the life of the one who makes them. Nevertheless, because these prayers are made according to the teaching of the Church, through one who is in faith, and for one who has merited to receive such benefits, where the charity of the doer fails, the merit of faith supplies, as does the charity of the Church that commands him to make the prayer, and the capacity of the dead man who receives them, and also the generosity of the merciful God, who according to Ambrose does not revoke His benefits, but rather makes even greater His overflowing generosity, and in that generosity, considers a good work done by someone as if it were done by the one whom it benefits.
For even according to the laws (of man), if someone pays the debt of another, the debtor himself is set free … and according to Augustine, even though nothing is begotten from a stone trough, nevertheless, the water that passes through it makes the earth fertile. And Jerome says, “If perchance you see someone do things that are just, even in the midst of many sinful works, nevertheless God is not unjust, such that He should forget the few good things for the sake of the many evil ones.”
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| Dante and Vergil converse with the envious on the second ledge of Purgatory. Illustration by Priamo della Quercia, in a manuscript of the Divine Comedy produced in Siena in the mid-15th century, now known as the Yates Thompson Dante. Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons. |
The dead know of the prayers which are done for them in three ways according to Augustine: first, by divine revelation, when God reveals this to them; second, through the representation of good angels, for the angels who are always present here with us … can go down to them and announce them to them immediately; third, through what they learn from those souls that depart from the earth (i.e. the newly arrived in Purgatory); fourth, by experience, namely, when they feel that they are released from their pains.
It should be known that the dead who are very bad do not know what is done by the living, except insofar as it is permitted to them to know it. Likewise, neither do the moderately good know, those who are still in the fire of purgatory, and do not yet enjoy the vision of God, except insofar as it is permitted to them to know by one of the ways mentioned above. But the very good, who now enjoy the vision of God, know very well what is going on here on earth, according to what Gregory say, “What is there that they do not know, those who see the One who sees all things?” Nevertheless, others say that they know all the things which are necessary to them, but not other things…
As to whether the dead have any care for the living, Augustine treats of this extensively in his book On the care to be taken for the dead. Furthermore, as Augustine says, “Many believe that some of the dead appear to the living, either in dreams or in some other way”, and we find in Gregory’s Dialogues that they have often given indication where their bodies lay unburied, or urged that burial be arranged for them, and countless other things of this sort, and those things are true, and so it is found in a great many other authentic writings.
Nevertheless, as the same Augustine says in the aforementioned book, although the dead seem to indicate or ask such things in dreams, we ought not therefore to think that they know of these things. For the living also very often appear in dreams to those who are asleep, but do not know that they appear to them, … for which reason, we ought rather to believe that these are the workings of angels, done through God’s Providence for some form of consolation of the living. ….
