Ember Wednesday of Pentecost 2025

The late 12th-century liturgical commentator Sicard of Cremona explains the texts of the Mass of Ember Wednesday in the Octave of Pentecost, and why the summer Ember Day fasts are united to the solemnity.

“The Office of Wednesday preaches on knowledge, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit, who even unto this day has enlightened the Saints. This gift grew in abundance from the five books of Moses, and the few writings of the prophets, as the Daniel foresaw, saying, ‘Many shall pass over, and knowledge shall be manifold.’ (Dan. 12, 4)

The Gospel reveals this to us mystically in the story of the five loaves and two fishes, which were multiplied between the mouths of those that ate them; likewise, the Law and the Prophets are multiplied in the studies of those that contemplate them. … And note that two readings are done (before the Gospel), since two people are converted to the faith (i.e., the Jews and the gentiles), and because those who are to be ordained (at the Mass of the Ember Saturday) are instructed in the pages of both Testaments. Before these in the Gospel is set forth bread, that is to say, the Sacred Scripture.

The Introit that comes before these (readings) is fitting: ‘God, when Thou went forth before Thy people, making a way for them, dwelling among them, alleluia, the earth was moved, the heavens dropped down, alleluia, alleluia.’ For through knowledge, God has gone forth, which is to say, He has become known; and because by meditating on the sacred expositions, (the Apostles) explained the Scriptures. Therefore, in the Offertory is sung ‘I meditated upon thy Commandments.’ And because they say the same thing, and there is no division among them, rightly the Communion antiphon adds, ‘I leave you my peace, alleluia, my peace I give you, alleluia.’

Pentecost, from the San Piero Maggiore Altarpiece by Jacopo di Cione, 1370

Understand that today’s Ember Day fast does not detract from the solemnity of the Holy Spirit, but rather illuminates it, because the delights of the Holy Spirit bring with them distaste for the delights of the body; and because, the Bridegroom being taken away, the Apostles had to fast, as the Lord had foretold, when He said, ‘The Bridegroom will be taken away from them, then they will fast.’ (Matthew 9, 15) Wherefore, being filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to fast of their own free will. For this reason, some begin the Lent of summer on the previous Monday, but others more correctly esteem today’s fast as the beginning of the fast of this period. And some put the end (of this fast) at the feast of St John (the Baptist), whether it have six weeks or not. Others include the feast of St John, fasting without a fixed ending point, until they fulfill the six weeks.” (Mitrale, VII, 9)

Sicard goes on to claim that a “summer fast” or “summer Lent” was known to St Jerome, but as a matter of choice, not of obligation like Lent before Easter. (He is citing Jerome’s letter 41 to Marcella, but misunderstanding it.) The Eastern churches still have an analogous observance in the “Fast of the Apostles”, which runs from the Monday after the feast of All Saints until the feast of Ss Peter and Paul on June 29. (The Byzantine All Saints is kept on the Sunday after Pentecost, Trinity Sunday in the Western rites.)

Practical Steps for Transitioning from the 1962 to the Pre-1955 Roman Rite — Part 2: The Mass

See here for Part 1: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2025/06/practical-steps-for-transitioning-from.html

Before any kind of work can begin in earnest, one must have an ordo alongside the old books of liturgy and try to learn the rubrics. The well-established Saint Lawrence Press Ordo is slightly different from the web-based Ordo of Restore the ‘54, which has the new Assumption and Immaculate Heart offices, the Common of Holy Popes, and some changes to the calendar, like the feast of the Queenship of Mary on May 31, which bumps Saint Angela Merici to the next day. This is not a terribly important feast, but the problem is now that a new double of the II class interrupts a week routinely filled with some feasts: the Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity, etc. routinely fall on or around this day, and as a double of the II class, it eventually is transferred to a free day.

One could also simply ignore all but the changes to the Assumption and its octave and call it a day, as the Immaculate Heart Mass has become beloved among Catholics attached to not just the liturgy but to the devotional culture of the immediate pre-conciliar era. But having claimed that “1939” is the recension to which we ought to return, then we ought to explore why this is so, and while honoring Our Lady’s request to honor her Immaculate Heart on five first Saturdays is not something which I treat frivolously, nevertheless, she did not say that it must be with the votive Mass of the Immaculate Heart.

Attention must also be called to the rubrics of votive Masses, somewhat different than the 1962 rubrics, though not challenging as the SLP Ordo has a handy chart. The trouble is that a Requiem Mass or a votive Mass said on more solemn occasions (so, something more complex than the replacement of the ferial Mass per annum when votive Masses are permitted) have special rubrics for the orations, the Gloria, the Credo, and the precedence, all of which are vastly different from the 1962 rubrics, which are not necessarily straightforward or simple as it is.

If one has a sufficient command of French, then referencing the Manuel de liturgie et cérémonial selon le rit romain of Stercky (taking over for LeVavasseur) is indispensable in addition to the original Fortescue. (Vol. II of Stercky is found here.) These volumes are far more comprehensive than Fortescue(-O’Connell) and O’Connell combined, and the work should have been entirely translated a long time ago; they merit republication in French as well. Note that an excerpt in translation entitled Sacrificare, Ceremonies of Low Mass was published in 1946 and is currently available as an on-demand print, though it deserves a proper reprint from a reputable publishing house.

The Last Gospel is a unique, beloved feature of the traditional Mass; why would we not wish for this text to be said at the Mass of the Easter Vigil?

In all cases, it is perfectly wise to begin with the little details: the name of Saint Joseph is not in the canon. One can immediately begin bowing to the cross as required at the epistle corner; using the three tones of voice and two kinds of head bows and bows of the body respectively; always reciting the prayers at the foot of the altar and the Last Gospel—mostly the ordinary one from Saint John; praying the Confiteor before communion; finally, incensing the celebrant of a sung Mass after the Gospel. [Note 1]

Additionally, the priest should simply not sit down, and he should rise a little earlier, in order to read the epistle and gospel at solemn Mass, which essentially no one will mind; the faithful are listening to the chants. Finally, the priest should follow the traditional rubrics for the tones of the preface and Pater Noster, which happen to neatly correspond to the new categories of the 1962 office (in particular, simples are commemorations, simple votive Masses are IV class, and nothing else changes). 

These small changes get us to the situation immediately before 1960, as seen at this Mass of the XXIV Sunday after Pentecost from Ushaw College in England, now closed.

The pastor should also strive to say Mass pro populo on the required days, a table of which would be found in the various books covering the subject. Treating holy days, even suppressed ones, as something special is almost entirely lost, and this will have to be recovered as well. “Why can’t I have Mass said for Grandma Anne and Grandpa Lawrence on their name days?” Well, because the church considers saying Mass for the people under the pastor’s care one of his most important duties.

One can add the Credo for Apostles, Doctors, Saint Mary Magdalene, and the Holy Angels without touching the calendar or precedence and without making any other commemorations. Since there is already a preface of the Blessed Sacrament, the preface of the Nativity on Corpus Christi celebrated on Thursday or as an external solemnity can be used without difficulty, as there is already the possibility of avoiding the common preface or, on Sunday, that of the Trinity, and virtually no one would blink if the same preface was used on the Transfiguration.

As far as more significant changes go, I would of course start with Holy Week and the vigil of Pentecost. A wealth of material exists such that the rite can be celebrated correctly and with dignity; I am no fan of broadcasting all liturgies, but 2020 provided proof that you can celebrate the traditional rite in a parish church with a skeleton crew. It is also true that the most reformatory changes occurred with these days of the liturgical year, meaning it’s impossible to mix-and-match old and new (i.e., pre-55 and 1955-1969) in a satisfactory way.

Nevertheless, if one must be incrementalist, then the easiest place to begin is on Holy Thursday, where the rubrics of Mass would deviate only for the ministers, not for the schola (aside from the Agnus Dei, where the change from the ordinary way is in the Pian rite, not that which came before or after) or for the faithful, and at Tenebræ, usually anticipated as it is. Psalm 50 is still right there in the books, and the strepitus (the fun part, the noise at the end) is essentially never omitted. Good Friday is perhaps the next change, given that the day is unique no matter what, followed by the two more complex and very notably different days, Palm Sunday and Holy Saturday.

Further, if you have folded chasubles for Holy Week, then you can then use them the rest of the year, starting with Candlemas, to which minimal changes were made and which only apply after Septuagesima, which means that only the vestments change (except once every few years).

Replacing “Ite, missa est” with “Benedicamus Domino” in Advent and Lent or on the Ember Days of September, then adding proper Last Gospels on penitential weekdays where the festal Mass is said instead (even without touching the 1962 rubrics of the Lenten calendar precedence!—one thinks of Saint Joseph, the Annunciation, the privileged votive Masses, proper first-class feasts, and the Masses now permitted by the decree Cum sanctissima), would be easy steps to take next, followed by the reintroduction of proper Last Gospels whenever they occur, including when a feast falls on an ordinary Sunday. One might wish to begin earlier with Christmas day, given that its Gospel is already Saint John’s prologue and would otherwise have no Last Gospel. Can anyone protest too much? In fact, the Ordinariate has this privilege!

By the way, there is virtually no reason to ever justify the short form of Ember Saturday’s liturgy, no matter what rubrics one uses otherwise.

The commemorations of the Mass should be added progressively according to the difficulty for the celebrant and the people. These are straightforward on double feasts or when a double feast is simplified due to the Sunday: pray the collects of the (other) saints, then move to the epistle, unless there is an oratio imperata to be prayed by the order of the bishop or other authority (rare if not nonexistent outside of certain traditional communities).

It can become much more complicated at a votive Mass, including the “daily” Requiem Mass which has three orations; when a semidouble or simplex feast is commemorated; or during octaves or other occasions which have different prayers than those of the season (e.g. a day within the octave of All Saints has different prayers than the ones assigned for the time after Pentecost, and so on and so forth).

More will be said about these with respect to the office, but suffice it to say that one could start on the rare occasions when one makes only the commemorations of the season, gradually moving to commemorate feasts, both of which can already be done, at least in a limited way, at a 1962-compliant low Mass. It is probably unwise to start with Sundays or feasts with four collects, e.g., on June 26, 2022, the Sunday within the octave of the Sacred Heart, when, in pre-55 land, collects would be sung of the Third Sunday after Pentecost, of several martyrs, of the Octave of the Lord, and of the Octave of Saint John the Baptist.

That leaves the calendar itself and the other rubrics. Start with the “votive” Mass of the suppressed feasts, all found in the section for various places of the 1962 missal; the feast of Saint Joseph in Paschaltide is the votive Mass of Saint Joseph, so one could usually say this Mass on the third Wednesday of Eastertide without fuss.

If a feast of an Apostle or another II class feast falls on a Sunday and would have taken its place before 1962, one should follow that precedence, commemorating Sunday appropriately. Also, move the Apostles to Monday if there is a conflict, as is the case when October 28 falls on the Sunday which is the feast of Christ the King or when Saint Matthias falls on a Sunday of Lent.

The full vigils, including that of the Epiphany, will have to be last, if one does not already possess a pre-1955 missal. The same holds for the octaves which have proper texts for all or some of the days (in particular, the days within the octave of Saints Peter and Paul), but the Second and Third Sundays after Pentecost have no textual changes not found in a 1962 missal and can be restored quickly as the Sundays within the respective octaves of the Lord.

The pre-1939 recension is imperfect. It would perhaps be better, at conventual Mass, to celebrate ancient vigils instead of later feasts (on June 28, the vigil of Saints Peter and Paul and variously the feast of Saint Irenaeus or of Pope Saint Leo II) and on August 9 (the vigil of Saint Lawrence and the feast of the Curé d’Ars). Instituting the vigil and suppressing or moving around, again, feasts, or removing the vigil in the 1960 liturgy came at the cost of everything else, and a change to permit the vigil at conventual Mass (without having to duplicate the festal Mass) would have mirrored the rubrics for private Masses (I take the meaning of “private” to be the Mass said outside of the parish schedule, not as the “parochial Mass” in lieu of a conventual Mass, where there is no community, the sort of Mass that priests say right after Lauds in the monastery). Those allowed priests to choose the Mass ad libitum when a vigil or ferial day of Lent, or the Ember Days, was to be said, although public Masses, including the main Mass, really ought to be of the feast. [Note 2]

One final change: the Mass of the Rogation days has a unique Alleluia in the pre-1962 missal; the Alleluia with the verse Laudate Dominum is sung, but the form is not responsorial. Two Alleluias are sung as on other days of Paschal Time in the 1962 missal, for consistency.

Surveying the many differences listed above, we should bear in mind that there is no one order that must be followed in implementing them, nor a prescribed pace at which to move. The changes to be implemented in parallel with one’s breviary (to be described in the next post) can be mixed and matched. The order I have suggested, however, seems to be a good general order that makes logical sense. At a minimum, I have tried to lay out each element that will need to be restored to the traditional Roman Mass.

Notes

[1] This one is more controversial, as not every place received an indult for incense at sung Mass before the 1962 rubrics made it universal. But it is the expectation the world over, and further detaching sung Mass from solemn Mass was a step in the wrong direction.

[2] As an aside, though, the term “private Mass” is nebulous, having at least eight definitions and has consequences if the priest is saying a community Mass for his community, conventual or otherwise, or as the main parochial Mass. As noted earlier, a pastor would have had to say Mass pro populo on many feast days according to the former law.

An Illuminated Psalter of the 13th Century

Here is another wonderful discovery from the website of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, an illuminated psalter from the beginning of the 13th century. (Département des manuscrits. NAL 1392) The manuscript begins with 13 pages of images of the life of Christ, each within a circular medallion, two per page, enclosed in a rectangular decorative border; these cover all the major feasts of the Church year, starting with Christmas (the birth of Christ and the annunciation to the shepherds.) Each such image also has two prophets with banderoles in their hands between the circles, but nothing written on them to identify them specifically.

Epiphany: the Magi before Herod, and with the Madonna and Child. St Matthew does not say how long it was between the actual birth of Christ and the arrival of the Magi, and this image is based on a type common in early Christian art, in which Jesus is a toddler, not a newborn.

The Wedding at Cana and the Baptism of the Lord.

The Temptation of Christ and the Transfiguration, the Gospels of the first two Sundays of Lent.

The parable of the Good Samaritan, and Christ with Mary Magdalene in the house of Simon the Pharisee.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

Pentecost Tuesday 2025

Accipite jucunditatem gloriae vestrae, alleluia: gratias agentes Deo, alleluia: qui vos ad caelestia regna vocavit, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Ps. 77 Attendite, popule meus, legem meam: inclinate aurem vestram in verba oris mei. Gloria Patri. Accipite.

The beginning of the votive Office of the Holy Spirit, from the book of Hours known as the Black Hours, made in Bruge, Belgium, ca. 1475, now in the Morgan Library in New York. (click for larger image)

Receive the delight of your glory, alleluia, giving thanks to God, alleluia, Who hath called ye to the heavenly kingdoms, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Psalm Attend, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. Glory be. Receive. (The Introit for the Mass of Tuesday in the Octave of Pentecost)

This introit is one of the very few pieces of the traditional Gregorian repertoire taken from an apocryphal book, that which in the Vulgate is called the Fourth Book of Esdras. The verses from which it is taken, chapter 2, 36-37, read in full: “Fugite umbram saeculi hujus, accipite jucunditatem gloriae vestrae. Ego testor palam salvatorem meum. Commendatum Domini accipite, et jucundamini, gratias agentes ei qui vos ad caelestia regna vocavit. - Flee ye the shadow of this age, receive the delight of your glory. I bear witness openly to my savior; receive him as one commended to ye by the Lord, and delight, giving thanks to him who has called ye to the heavenly kingdoms.” (The verses which immediately precede these are noted in post-Tridentine Missals as the source of the Introit Requiem aeternam, but the citation is much broader.) The Italian composer Giuseppe Tricarico (1623-97) composed the following version for vocal ensemble.

“God So Loved the World” - The Gospel of Pentecost Monday

As noted last month, the first part of the Nicodemus Gospel, John 3, 1-15 or 16, was said at two other Masses before it was assigned to the Finding of the Cross. On the other hand, the second part, verses 16-21, is found in the very oldest Roman lectionaries on Pentecost Monday, and remains there to this day. This may seem an odd choice, given that it speaks entirely about the mission of the Son, without reference to the Holy Spirit. It is assigned to this day as a compliment to the Epistle of the Mass, which is determined by its Roman Station church.

On Easter Monday, the Station is at St Peter’s Basilica, and the Epistle, Acts 10, 37-43, is part of Peter’s discourse in the house of the centurion Cornelius.

You know the word which hath been published through all Judea: for it began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached, Jesus of Nazareth: how God anointed him with the Holy Ghost, and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things that he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed, hanging him upon a tree. Him God raised up the third day, and gave him to be made manifest, not to all the people, but to witnesses preordained by God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he arose again from the dead; And he * commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is he who was appointed by God, to be judge of the living and of the dead. To him all the prophets give testimony, that by his name all receive remission of sins, who believe in him.

On Pentecost Monday, the station is at the basilica of St-Peter-in-Chains; the Epistle repeats the last two verses of the Epistle of Easter Monday, (beginning at the star noted above,) and continues to verse 48.

While Peter was yet speaking these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word. And the faithful of the circumcision, who came with Peter, were astonished, for that the grace of the Holy Ghost was poured out upon the gentiles also. For they heard them speaking with tongues, and magnifying God. Then Peter answered: Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Ghost, as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Baptism of Cornelius, represented on the bronze baptismal font of the church of St Bartholomew in Liège, by Reiner de Huy, completed by 1118.  Image from wikipedia by Jean-Pol Grandmont.

The second part of the Nicodemus Gospel, therefore, clarifies Peter’s statement that Christ is “judge of the living and of the dead.”

For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. For God sent not his Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by him. He that believeth in him is not judged. But he that doth not believe, is already judged: because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment: because the light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light: for their works were evil. For every one that doth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, that his works may not be reproved. But he that doth truth, cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, because they are done in God.

In the post-Conciliar lectionary, with the abolition of the Octave of Pentecost, this passage has been moved to the Wednesday after Low Sunday, as part of the lectio continua of the Gospel of John in Eastertide, broadly imitating the custom of the Byzantine Rite. A longer version, John 3, 14-21, is read on the 4th Sunday of Lent in the second year of the three-year cycle, and a shorter version, only verses 16-18, is read on Trinity Sunday in year A. Part of the Gospel is also assigned to the Exaltation of the Cross, verses 13-17. The first sentence is frequently used as an Alleluia verse in the new lectionary, although it is not part of the historical chant repertoire.

In the Byzantine Rite, this verse has a particularly prominent place, since it is cited at the celebration of every Divine Liturgy when the Anaphora of St John Chrysostom is used. During the Sanctus, the priest reads as follows.

We also with these blessed powers, o Lord and lover of mankind, cry out and say, ‘Holy art Thou, and all-holy, and Thy only-begotten Son, and Thy Holy Spirit. Holy art Thou and all-holy, and magnificent is Thy glory. Who did so love the world, that Thou gavest Thy only-begotten Son, that everyone that believeth in Him may not perish, but have eternal life.

This anaphora was created as a substitute for the much lengthier Anaphora of St Basil the Great, in which, by the word-count in Greek, the parallel prayer is almost exactly five times as long. Where St Basil recounts the whole history of our salvation, from the creation and fall of man to the Resurrection, Ascension and Second Coming of Christ, with many citations of the Sacred Scriptures, St John Chrysostom sums up the whole economy of salvation with a single verse: “For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.”

Chant Camp in Northern California, August 4-8

Chant Camp for Singers Ages 8-17, August 4-8, at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California.

Early bird pricing through June 25th | Discounts available for multiple children from the same family.

More information and registration available here.

Discover the joy of singing the Church’s sacred music!

The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music launches its choral program for young singers with an inaugural chant camp. (More information on the academic-year program forthcoming!)

A week of fun, engaging, and positive rehearsals, games, catechesis, time for prayer, and meals together; Chant Camp is a day camp for students who want to grow in their faith, learn to sing, and enjoy fellowship with other Catholics.

Add-on afternoon sessions: pipe organ, music theory, music composition

For students of all levels, from new chanters to those who have some experience chanting or singing in a Catholic choir.

Instructors: Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka & Prof. Christopher Berry

The Byzantine Gospel of Pentecost

After Nicodemus’ discourse with Christ in chapter 3, he will appear two other times in the Gospel of St John. At the end of chapter 19, he comes to help Joseph of Arimathea bury the Lord, bringing myrrh and aloe. Before that, he is mentioned in chapter 7, in the passage which the Byzantine Rite reads on Pentecost Sunday. (John 7, 37-53 and 8, 12)

On the last, and great day of the festivity, Jesus stood and cried, saying: If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink. He that believeth in me, as the scripture saith, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Now this he said of the Spirit which they should receive, who believed in him: * for as yet the Spirit was not given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Of that multitude therefore, when they had heard these words of his, some said: This is the prophet indeed. Others said: This is the Christ. But some said: Doth the Christ come out of Galilee? Doth not the scripture say: That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and from Bethlehem the town where David was? So there arose a dissension among the people because of him. And some of them would have apprehended him: but no man laid hands on him. The ministers therefore came to the chief priests and the Pharisees. And they said to them: Why have you not brought him? The ministers answered: Never did man speak like this man. The Pharisees therefore answered them: Are you also seduced? Hath any one of the rulers believed in him, or of the Pharisees? But this multitude, that knoweth not the law, are accursed.
Nicodemus said to them, (he that came to him by night, who was one of them:) Doth our law judge any man, unless it first hear him, and know what he doth? They answered, and said to him: Art thou also a Galilean? Search the scriptures, and see, that out of Galilee a prophet riseth not. And every man returned to his own house. ** Again therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying: I am the light of the world: he that followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

The first part of this reading makes an obvious and appropriate choice for Pentecost, even though the festivity mentioned at the beginning is the feast of Tabernacles, which takes place in the autumn. From very ancient times, Pentecost has been celebrated alongside Easter as a great baptismal feast. In his treatise in defense of the divinity of the Holy Spirit, St Basil the Great refers the beginning of this passage to Baptism, when explaining the words of 1 Corinthians 10, “our fathers … drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.”

The faith in the Spirit is the same as the faith in the Father and the Son; and in like manner, too, the baptism. … as a type, that rock was Christ; and the water a type of the living power of the word; as He says, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” The manna is a type of the living bread that came down from heaven; and the serpent on the standard, of the passion of salvation accomplished by means of the cross, wherefore they who even looked thereon were preserved. So in like manner, the history of the exodus of Israel is recorded to show forth those who are being saved through baptism. (chapter 14)

The Mass of St Basil, by Pierre Subleyras, 1743.

This tradition is shared in various ways by the Roman and Ambrosian liturgies. In the former, it provides the text of the Communion antiphon on the vigil of Pentecost, although the Gospel passage itself is not read on that day. The church of Milan reads the first paragraph (up to the red asterisk) on Easter night at a special Mass said for the newly baptized catechumens, and the same passage (including the words after the asterisk) at the parallel Mass for those baptized on Pentecost.

The question arises, though, as to why the Gospel continues with the discussion of Christ’s origins, the failure of the ministers to arrest Him, and the dispute between Nicodemus and the Pharisees, which would seem at first to have nothing to do with Pentecost.

When the ministers who were supposed to arrest Christ come back without Him, the Pharisees note, as a point against Him, that His followers come not from among themselves or the rulers, but rather, from “this multitude that knoweth not the Law (and) is accursed.” The Jewish feast of Pentecost commemorates the giving of that very Law to Moses on Mt Sinai; in the Synaxarion, broadly the Byzantine equivalent of the Martyrology, the notice for Pentecost states, “This feast we also took from the Hebrew Bible; for just as they celebrate Pentecost, honoring the number seven, and that when they had passed through fifty days from Pascha they received the Law, so we too as we celebrate for fifty days after Pascha receive the all-holy Spirit, who gives laws and guides into all truth and lays down what is pleasing to God.”

The scene known as the “traditio legis - the handing down of the Law”, represented in an ancient Christian sarcophagus now in the Pio-Christian collection of the Vatican Museums. The scroll in Christ’s hands is that of the new Law which replaces the Mosaic Law, and which He consigns to the Apostles for them to teach to all nations.

When read on Pentecost, therefore, these words remind us, as St Paul says in the Epistle to the Galatians (3, 13-14), that “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law … That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus: that we may receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.” This is precisely what happens in the Acts of the Apostles, as first the Jews, and then the Gentiles are baptized, receive the Holy Spirit, and begin to live under the new law given to the Church. The Byzantine tradition has a special chant from the same chapter of Galatians, “As many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ, alleluia,” which is sung on Pentecost in place of the Trisagion (“Holy God, Holy Mighty one…”), as also on the other days originally dedicated to the celebration of Baptism, such as Easter and Epiphany.

Part of the dispute also refers to Jesus’ supposed origins in Galilee, whence no prophet comes. When Nicodemus asks for Him to be heard before judgment, in accordance with the Law, the Pharisees say to him sarcastically “Art thou also a Galilean?”, as if to say that he could have no reason to ask this, other than as an act of special pleading for a fellow countryman. Although Christ Himself was born in David’s city of Bethlehem, the Apostles were natives of Galilee; at Pentecost, the Jews from various places who hear them speaking in their local languages ask themselves, “Are not all these that speak Galileans?” (Acts 2, 6) St Peter tells them that what is happening is the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy, “I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.” This to the Jews; in Acts 10, 37, when he preaches to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius, Peter notes that Christ’s ministry “began from Galilee.” St Paul will later state (Acts 13, 31) that the witnesses to the Resurrection were men who had come with Christ “from Galilee.” Therefore, the Pharisees who prided themselves on their knowledge of the Law and the Scriptures, and spoke of the ignorant as “accursed”, are shown to be wrong, as prophets have indeed arisen from Galilee.

Lastly we may note how at the end, the Gospel jumps from the final verse of chapter 7 to verse 8, 12 (at the point marked above by two asterisks.) The eleven verses not included here are the Pericope of the Adulteress, also sometimes known as the Wandering Pericope. This passage is missing entirely from several important early manuscripts of the Bible, and occasionally appears at the end of Luke 21, rather than the beginning of John 8. Among others, Ss John Chrysostom and Cyril of Alexandria both pass it over in silence in their respective commentaries on the Gospel of St John; the gap in the Byzantine lectionary therefore reproduces the Gospel text before the Pericope of the Adulteress had wandered into it.

A leaf of a ninth-century Greek lectionary. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des manuscrits, Grec 277

All this is summed up beautifully in the first Ode of the Byzantine Matins of Pentecost. “Indeed, as Thou once promised Thy Disciples, Thou sent forth the Paraclete, the Spirit, O Christ, and shed light on the world, O Lover of mankind. That which was proclaimed of old by the Law and the Prophets has been fulfilled; for today the grace of the divine Spirit hath been poured out on all believers.”

The Vigil of Pentecost 2025

IN those days: The hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me forth in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of a plain that was full of bones. And he led me about through them on every side; now they were very many upon the face of the plain, and they were exceeding dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, dost thou think these bones shall live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, thou knowest.” And he said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones, and say to them, ‘Ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will send spirit into you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to grow over you, and will cover you with skin: and I will give you spirit and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ” And I prophesied as he had commanded me, and as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold a commotion, and the bones came together, each one to its joint. And I saw, and behold the sinews, and the flesh came up upon them: and the skin was stretched out over them, but there was no spirit in them.

The Vision of Ezechiel, 1630, by Francisco Collantes (Madrid, 1599-1656); Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.

And he said to me, “Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, O son of man, and say to the spirit, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Come, spirit, from the four winds, and blow upon these slain, and let them live again.’ ” And I prophesied as he had commanded me, and the spirit came into them, and they lived, and they stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. And he said to me, “Son of man, all these bones are the house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost, and we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will open your graves, and will bring you out of your sepulchres, O my people, and will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have opened your sepulchres, and shall have brought you out of your graves, o my people, and shall have put my spirit in you, and you shall live, and I shall make you rest upon your own land: saith the Lord God.’ ” (Ezechiel 37, 1-14, the sixth prophecy of the Vigil of Pentecost, and seventh of the Easter vigil.)

This passage was accepted by the Church Fathers from the most ancient times as a prophecy of the resurrection of the body at the end of the world, and hence of the Resurrection of Christ that makes this possible. In the later second century, St Irenaeus of Lyon writes:

“Now Isaias thus declares (26, 19), that He who at the beginning created man, did promise him a second birth after his dissolution into earth: ‘The dead shall rise again, and they who are in the tombs shall arise, and they who are in the earth shall rejoice. … ’ And Ezekiel speaks as follows: ‘And the hand of the Lord came upon me, and the Lord led me forth in the Spirit, and set me down in the midst of the plain, and this place was full of bones. And He caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were many upon the surface of the plain very dry. And He said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I said, Lord, Thou who hast made them dost know. And He said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and thou shalt say to them, Ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord to these bones, Behold, I will cause the spirit of life to come upon you, and I will lay sinews upon you, and bring up flesh again upon you, and I will stretch skin upon you, and will put my Spirit into you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. … ’ ”

It is cited to the same effect by Tertullian, St Cyprian and St Ambrose in the West, by Origen, St Cyril of Jerusalem and St John Chrysostom in the East, among many others.

A Christian sarcophagus of the first quarter of the 4th century, with a representation of Ezekiel’s vision of the bones on the left, and the Adoration of the Magi on the right. The figures on the far left are cleverly shown in various stages of resurrection; the standing figure next to them is Christ, who is holding a thaumaturgical wand to indicate that He is performing a miracle, as Ezekiel looks on from behind. 

In the Byzantine Rite, this lesson is read at Orthros of Holy Saturday, one of the most beautiful services of the year, commonly called Jerusalem Matins. This is the only day on which this long and complicated ceremony ends with a special synaxis of three readings: Ezekiel 37, 1-14; 1 Corinthians 5, 6-8 and Galatians 3, 13-14 (as a single reading, titled to the former); and Matthew 27, 62-66, which tells of the setting of the guards at the Lord’s tomb. Among the Slavs, it is sometimes sung in a special setting; this recording was made at the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York, nine years ago. (The first few times I attended this service, I knew barely a word of Church Slavonic, and had no idea what was happening most of the time. It was sung rather more slowly than it is here, and the cantor used a score with all the notes printed out, rather than a lectionary, so I thought it was some kind of solo motet, a lamentation for the Lord’s death.)

This English version is also very beautiful; the prophecy is preceded by a chant from a Psalm called a prokimen, like most Scriptural readings in the Byzantine Rite other than the Gospel. This recording skips the Epistle and its prokimen, and goes straight to the Alleluia before the Gospel, one of the most beautiful in the repertoire.

No Gospel for Pentecost? A Radical Proposal Made to the Consilium

If one honestly compares the Roman Rite and the post-Conciliar rite, one will inevitably wind up asking oneself, frequently, Why on earth did they change or delete X, Y or Z feature of the historical liturgy? How did we benefit from this? This coming week, from which the very rich and ancient liturgy of the Pentecost octave was deleted, is one of the best examples of this – how are we better off for reducing the celebration of so great a mystery to a single day?

The prayers for the Mass of Pentecost Monday, and the Collect for Tuesday, in the Gellone Sacramentary, ca. 780 AD.  

But in some ways, the post-Conciliar liturgy is what it is because even more radical and deleterious novelties were discussed, but blocked by wiser heads. For example, I was once told the following story by a friend who studied at the Pontifical faculty for liturgy in Rome, Sant’ Anselmo (famously not a hotbed of rad-traddery), something that he learned in one of his classes. A serious proposal was made to the Consilium ad exsequendam, the committee in charge of inventing the new rite, that all episcopal vestments and insignia be completely abolished. (This would have been the logical continuation of the line laid down by the very first post-Conciliar reform.) But the majority, led by Abp Bugnini himself, recognized that this was a step way too far, and the proposal was shot down.

Our colleague Mathew Hazell, the mighty and tireless, tweeted today about a similarly bizarre idea, which was, fortunately, likewise voted down. A proposal was made to the subcommittee in charge of creating the new Mass lectionary (known as “Coetus XI”) there should be no Gospel on Pentecost, so that the Scriptural readings could culminate with the descent of the Holy Spirit in the first part of Acts 2 (verses 1-11). Here is Matthew’s translation of the relevant part of one of the subcommittee’s schemata (working notes), and the Latin original.

Now obviously, this proposal was not enacted, but the fact that it was ever made at all shines a light on the mindset of at least some of the reformers, and not a flattering one. In declaring that the traditional arrangement presents “a peculiar difficulty”, they are sitting in judgment of the entire liturgical tradition of all of Christianity, and finding it lacking, because every historical Christian rite has always had a Gospel as the last Scriptural reading at every Mass. And notice that this is called “a general rule”, where it is actually a universal rule, without any exception. (Was a similar aberration suggested for, say, the Conversion of St Paul, another event only narrated in the Acts, or for the feasts of the Ss Matthias and Stephen, who are only mentioned in the Acts?)

This then is where the magic word “pastoral” is pronounced, the free pass to do anything and everything to the liturgy, no matter how bizarre. And what makes such an idea “pastoral”? It is the assumption (which is omnipresent in the reform) that the faithful are morons, and in their ineducable stupidity, will be hopelessly confused and miss the point of the feast altogether, if the main event of the liturgical day is not presented as “the climax of the liturgy of the Word.”

As Matthew writes to me, “the schema itself is pretty light on other details, and the only indication of how seriously it was taken is a handwritten annotation which says ‘Relatores voted against this proposal’. (No information about the voting breakdown.). This would have been a vote taken among the members of the subcommittee: as Bugnini notes (Reform of the Liturgy, p. 140), in the week before the general meetings of the Consilium, the relators of each study group would meet as a ‘court of first instance’ to study the schemata which would be presented to the Fathers, and to smoothen the passage of these schemata.

It would seem, then, that the proposal was taken seriously enough to actually have a meaningful vote on it before the revised Ordo lectionum was presented to the Fathers, rather than it just being quickly dismissed out of hand.”

Although this lunatic idea was rejected, it cannot be said that Coetus XI was otherwise respectful of the Roman tradition on Pentecost. The readings of the vigil Mass, Acts 19, 1-8 and John 14, 15-21, were replaced with others that have no basis in the Roman tradition, Romans 8, 22-27 and John 7, 37-39. (The latter is taken from one of the two Ambrosian Masses of Pentecost Sunday.) On the feast, the traditional reading of Acts 2 is kept as the first lesson, and a Pauline epistle (1 Cor, 12, 3b-7 and 12-13) is added, which partly overlaps with the Ambrosian epistle (ibid. 1-11).

In the original version of the new lectionary, the vigil and the feast were not on the three-year reading. The Roman Gospel of Pentecost, which continues from that of the vigil (John 14, 23-31), was replaced with John 20, 19-23, which the Byzantine Rite reads not at the Divine Liturgy, but at Orthros. With the abolition of the octave, this meant that not one of the traditional Roman Gospels of Pentecost retained its place.

However, when the lectionary was revised in 1981, Epistles and Gospels for years B and C were added, albeit as options. The two epistles (Gal. 5, 16-25 and Rom. 8, 8-17) also have nothing to do with the Roman tradition; the Gospel for year B, John 15, 26-27 and 16, 12-15, is a shortened version of the Ambrosian Gospel for the vigil (John 15, 26 – 16, 14). The Gospel for year C, however, is John 14, 15-16 and 23b-26, which includes at least some of the historical Roman Gospels for the vigil and the feast.

The Holy Ghost Hole, Addendum

Pfarrkirche Lunz am See: Lunz Parish Church, Austria

There is a special joy in seeing something that one has only read about for years. I experienced this joy in Lunz am See, Austria, last week. This tiny town in Lower Austria, not far from the crystal-clear lake of Lunzersee, has a quaint parish church that was built around 1502. It is described both as a Marienkirche (a church dedicated to the Mother of God) and as a church dedicated to the Three Kings.

The exterior is typical of churches in the region: Gothic architecture with a high vaulted roof rising far above its small footprint, and a steeple loosely resembling a Byzantine onion dome. Atop the steeple is the double-barred patriarchal or archiepiscopal cross, a common symbol in lands once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The interior is especially unusual in that it has two high altars of equal scale in the sanctuary: one with statues of the Three Kings and the other with the locally famous “Mary in the Golden Chair” statue. Moreover, one can tell from the protruding wall in the middle, which changes the shape of the apse from a semicircle to the top of a Valentine’s Day heart, that a double altar was part of the original architectural plan. “To this day,” the parish website remarks, “there is no convincing explanation for the two naves.” If anyone knows the reason for this peculiar arrangement, please chime in below.

What also caught my eye was a genuine Holy Ghost Hole, as opposed to a Baroque organ-sound hole masquerading as such. I could tell that it was the real thing because I could see sunlight peeping through the church roof above the hole, despite the fact that the hole is now partially covered by electric lights. No doubt it has been a while since the hole has been used for its original purpose (as the means of throwing rose petals or lit straw into the nave during the Mass on Pentecost), but its continued existence testifies to a long and storied tradition of folk Catholicism.

And as a sidenote, despite holding on to many salutary traditions (such as shops being closed on Catholic high holy days like Ascension Thursday), Austria is not exactly experiencing a “new Pentecost” among its population. One small step in the right direction would be to bring back more traditions like the Holy Ghost Hole.

Tradition is for the Young - Photos of Recent Pontifical Mass

On May 18, the Fourth Sunday after Easter, His Excellency Ronald Gainer, Bishop Emeritus of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, celebrated a pontifical Mass in the traditional Roman Rite at St. Joseph’s Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Mass was sponsored by our friends at the Durandus Institute; the program of sacred music included Victoria’s Missa O Quam Gloriosum.

Anyone who has ever served this rite of Mass knows that it requires a fair amount of organizing and rehearsal to do properly; the reward is, of course, a ceremony which truly impresses upon one, forcibly and unmistakably, the power and majesty of what the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass really is. We can all take encouragement once again from the fact that almost none of the people who are making the effort and commitment to put this together are old enough to be doing so from any sense of “nostalgia”; what we see here is a true and sincere love for the richness of our Catholic liturgical tradition. Feliciter! (Photos courtesy of Gaudete Photography; click here to see the full album.)

Continue Reading this Article. . .

The Octave of the Ascension 2025

From the homily of Pope St Gregory the Great read on the octave of the Ascension in the Roman Breviary.

Concerning the glory of (Christ’s) Ascension, Habakkuk also said, “The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood still in her rank.” (3, 10-11) Who is here signified by the name of the Sun, if not the Lord, and by the name of the Moon, if not the Church? For until the Lord ascended to the heavens, His Holy Church was in every way afraid of the hostilities of the world, but after She was strengthened by His Ascension, She openly preached what She had come to believe in secret. Therefore was the sun was lifted up, and the moon stood still in her rank, since, the Lord went unto heaven, His Holy Church grew stronger the authority of Her preaching.

The Prophet Habakkuk, by Girolamo Romanino, from the Sacrament Chapel of the church of St John the Evangelist in Brescia, Italy. (1521-4.) The quotation on the banderole, the opening words of his canticle in chapter 3, follows the Old Latin text, which was translated from the Septuagint, rather than the Vulgate version of St Jerome. St Gregory cites this same older version above.

Therefore, dearest brethren, it behooveth us to follow in heart and mind thither, where we believe Him to have ascended bodily. Let us flee earthly desires; let nothing now delight us here below, who have a Father in heaven. And we must especially consider this, that He Who ascended in peace will return in dread, and require from us a strict account of our keeping of those commandments which He gave us in mildness. Let no man therefore reckon lightly these seasons of repentance, let no one fail to take care of himself while he can, for our Redeemer will come unto judgment all the more strictly, as He hath shown us great patience before the judgment.

The Ascension of Christ, by Jacopo Tintoretto