Our good friends of the Schola Sainte-Cécile got to celebrate three major solemnities on Sundays this month: first, the feast of All Saints on November 1st, then the feast of St Eugenius, the principal patron of their home church in Paris, on November 15th, and then this past Sunday, the feast of the church’s other patron, St Cecilia, for whom the Schola is also named. The church was built in 1854, in the reign of the last French Emperor, Napoleon III, and named for St Eugenius, a 7th-century bishop of Toledo, Spain, partly to honor the emperor’s Spanish-born wife, Eugénie. In 1952, St Cecilia, the patron of musicians, was added as a second patron of the church because of its proximity to the Paris Conservatory.
As I am sure our readers have seen in the news, France is currently suffering through a second round of lockdowns, and the Masses are being celebrated without a congregation in attendance. Let us remember to pray for all those who are thus deprived of the opportunity to go to Mass, and to receive the other Sacraments, and for the swiftest possible end to such regulations. In the meantime, all of the ceremonies in the church are broadcast live on their YouTube channel, and then permanetly reposted. Below, I have also included links to their website, which gives the complete musical program (in French) for each ceremony. (Those pages include links to pdfs with the musical scores as well.) The Mass of St Eugenius begins with a rousing Christus vincit, as a relic of the Saint is carried though the church in procession – Feliciter! Feliciter!Mass on the feast of St Eugène (program)
Vespers (program)
Mass on the feast of St Cecilia (program)
Vespers (program)
