Last week, on the feast of the Immaculate Heart, our long-time contributor Fr Lawrence Lew celebrated a sung Mass in the Dominican Rite at the shrine of the Holy Rosary in London. This was part of the annual pilgrimage of the Schola Sainte-Cécile, who sang the Dominican chant propers and the Missa Exsultate Deo by the 17th-century French composer François Cosset. The shrine has 15 side-chapels, each one dedicated to a mystery of the Rosary. After the Mass, a Eucharistic procession was held, stopping at each of the last five chapels, where the Glorious Mysteries were prayed; while the procession went from one chapel to the next, the Schola sang a sequence for the feast of that mystery. (These were Victimae Paschali for the Resurrection and Veni, Sancte Spiritus for Pentecost; the sequences for the Ascension, Assumption and Coronation were taken from the medieval Parisian tradition.) The final Benediction was held at the main altar of the church, which as you can see below is huge, and has a huge choir in front of it. The church was quite packed for the Mass, and most of the congregation stayed for the procession. Thanks to Fr Lawrence and Mr Wojtek Szymczak for these photos; we also have a video from the Schola Sainte-Cécile’s Facebook page below.
At the singing of the Gospel.
Preaching pulpits are still being used in England!
Incensation at the Offertory
The Sanctus candle.
The classically medieval custom, common to most liturgical Uses apart from the Roman, by which the priest stretches his arms out in the form of a Cross at the Unde et memores.
The Fraction
Final blessing
The Eucharistic procession makes its way up the church’s right aisle towards the chapels of the Glorious Mysteries.
At the chapel of the Ascension.
The Schola sings the Veni, Sancte Spiritus as the procession goes to the chapel of the 3rd Glorious Mystery. The little bells which you can hear are attached to the top of the poles of the Sacrament canopy, a very nice touch.
Benediction at the main altar.
