Dominican Rite Solemn Mass of Ember Wednesday of Advent, 2013

Thanks to the kindness of the Traditional Latin Mass Society of San Francisco, I can now present some photos for the Solemn High Dominican Rite Mass celebrated at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church in San Francisco CA on December 18, 2013.  I have selected some of the photos from the Society's photo gallery because they show distinctive Dominican features of Solemn Mass on penitential days and ferials.

The celebrant was Fr. Anselm Ramelow, O.P.,  of the Western Dominican Province who was assisted, once again, by the Province's student brothers from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology (Berkeley, CA).

Since it is not the Dominican custom to celebrate a devotional "Rorate" Votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin in Advent, this Mass was that proper to the Ember Day, which does, happily, have the Officium (Introit) "Rorate."  As it was expected that the Mass would be by candle light as is the common Roman custom, the church was in darkness except for the large numbers of candles.

Here are some photos from the Mass:

The Priest with his hands in the Dominican Orans Position

Here you can see the Dominican position of the hands at the Collects, with palms facing forward rather than toward each other as in the Roman Rite.

Ministers at the Sedilla

In this photo you can see the Dominican order of seating for the ministers (here during the sermon).  The higher ranking the minister, the closer to the altar, thus the priest (preaching and so not present) is closest, followed by the deacon, subdeacon, senior acolyte, etc.  You can also see over the major minsters' laps the violet "mappula" or "mappa," which is analogous to the Roman gremial.

Ministers reciting the Offertory Verse

In this unusual photo, you can see the order of the ministers to the Gospel side of the altar during the reading of the Offertory Verse.  In our Rite this position is taken so that at least the deacon can recite the verse with the priest.  In the middle ages, of course, all the ministers would have had the propers memorized from frequent use and so all would join the priest in the recitation.  (The acolytes would not normally carry candles at this point, but it was so dark in the church that they carried them so that the ministers would not trip on the steps.)

The Elevation of the Host

There is, of course, no thurifer since incense is not used on penitential days and ferials.

Here are the ministers in the sacristy after the Mass: Brother Christopher Wetzel, O.P. (in cappa, assisting), Bro. Thomas Aquinas Pickett, O.P. (senior acolyte), Rev. Bro. Peter Junipero Hannah, O.P. (deacon), Rev. Fr. Anselm Ramelow, O.P. (priest), Bro. Gabriel Mosher, O.P. (subdeacon), and Bro. Bradley Elliott, O.P. (junior acolyte).  The Dominican practice that the deacon and subdeacon do not wear dalmatics on penitential and ferial days is clearly evident in this photo.

A video of the entire Mass: