Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Influence of Benedict XVI in the Philippines

Two signs of the influence of the liturgical reform of Benedict XVI in the Philippines came in from two different Filipino readers this week. One is within the modern Roman liturgy and one, the ancient Roman liturgy.

The first images (by "Karl") come from the recent jubilee Mass of His Eminence, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, the Cardinal Archbishop of Cebu, Philippines.




(There is nothing specifically "Benedictine" in this image, but I show it to give some liturgical context.)


The next comes from Fr. Joseph Skelton, Jr. and shows a Solemn Mass for the Ascension, offered in one of the oldest churches in his diocese and one of the oldest stone churches in the Philippines; Immaculate Conception Parish, Baclayon, Bohol. The church was built in 1727 by the Spanish Jesuits.



More recent articles:


Year-long Palestrina500 Festival Formally Opens with Pontifical Mass
On Monday, December 9th, Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Grand Rapids, Michigan kicked off their year-long festival, Palestrina500, with a Mass celebrated by the Bishop of Grand Rapids and sung by the parish’s choirs.The Most Reverend David Walkowiak celebrated a Novus Ordo Mass concelebrated by the parish’s pastor, Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL, pastor...

Durandus on the Divine Office of the Circumcision
The octave of the Nativity expresses a two-fold matter: one part is the Circumcision of the Lord, which is narrated in the Gospel (Luke 2, 21), the other is the coming of man to God. For there is a two-fold coming, namely, of Christ to men, which is celebrated in the Nativity, and of men to Christ, which is celebrated on its octave, as noted by the...

Te Deum on New Year’s Eve
It has long been a custom in Catholic churches to sing the Te Deum, the hymn of thanksgiving par excellence, on New Year’s Eve, to thank God for all of the blessings received over the course of the previous year, and then to invoke His blessings for the coming year by singing the Veni, Creator Spiritus on New Year’s Day. In Rome, the Pope and card...

The Second Anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s Death
Deus, qui inter summos sacerdótes fámulum tuum Benedictum ineffábili tua dispositióne connumerári voluisti: praesta, quáesumus; ut, qui Unigéniti Filii tui vices in terris gerébat, sanctórum tuórum Pontíficum consortio perpétuo aggregétur. Per eundem Christum, Dóminum nostrum. Amen.God, Who in Thy ineffable providence, did will that Thy servant Ben...

A Byzantine Hymn for Christmas
When Augustus reigned alone upon earth, the many kingdoms of men came to an end, * and when Thou wast made man of the pure Virgin, the many gods of idolatry were destroyed. * The cities of the world passed under one single rule, and the nations came to believe in one sovereign Godhead. * The peoples were enrolled by the decree of Caesar, and we, th...

December 30: Mere Christmas Day
Adoration of the Shepherds, the theme of today’s GospelOne might think that the best way to honor the great mystery of the birth of the God-man is to devote eight days exclusively to its celebration. And yet in their inspired wisdom, all of the historic and apostolic liturgies mix the Octave of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ with the cult of...

The Station Churches of the Christmas Season (Part 2)
By the end of the fifth century, there were a number of Roman churches dedicated to St Stephen the First Martyr, including a monastery behind St Peter’s in the Vatican, and a large basilica on the via Latina. That which was chosen as the station church of his feast day, St Stephen’s on the Caelian Hill, is the one closest to the ancient Papal resid...

St Thomas of Canterbury 2024
St Thomas à Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29th, 1170, less than a month after he had returned from six years of exile in France, where he had been driven by a long persecution at the hands of King Henry II of England. The murder was followed by a wave of revulsion throughout Europe, which did much to promote the reforms wi...

A Medieval Fresco of the Holy Innocents
From the Servite church of the city of Siena, Santa Maria dei Servi (click image to enlarge.) This was painted in the 1330s by Pietro Lorenzetti, along with the brothers Francesco and Niccolò di Segna. The scene is set in Siena itself, the famous cathedral of which is seen at the middle of the top. Below the border is a famous quotation from Ma...

A 12th Century Tabernacle from Cologne
This post is kind of a follow-up on the series which we concluded yesterday on the twelve Romanesque basilicas of Cologne, Germany. I say “kind of” because it is generally believed that this magnificent tabernacle comes from the basilica of St Pantaleon in Cologne, but this is not completely certain. (All images from Wikimedia Commons: 1, 3, 4...

For more articles, see the NLM archives: