Dominican Art and Liturgy Announcements

In celebration of the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, two items of interest to our readers. First, the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, the Studium of the Western Dominican Province, has put up a wonderful Web-Exhibit of the VITA D. THOMAE AQUINATIS by Otto van Veen and published in 1610 in Antwerp. Itis a pictorial history of the life of St. Thomas Aquinas accompanied by a short Latin text of explanation accompanying each of the thirty-one illustrations. The inages are lovely and the explanations by Fr. Michael Morris, O.P., Professor of Religion and the Arts at DSPT are very informative. You can access the exhibit here. The first page of van Veen's Vita decorates this post.

Liturgically, in honor of the 15th anniversary of the dedication of the church, a Dominican Rite Missa Cantata of the Dedication of a Church will be celebrated at Holy Rosary Church, Portland OR, on Sunday, January 30, at 11:00 a.m. The pastor, Fr. Anthony-M. Patalano, O.P., will be the celebrant. Music will be by Cantores in Ecclesia and a reception will follow in the parish hall. You can read more about this event and get driving informatino here.

A blessed feast day to you all!

Renovation of the Sanctuary at Blessed Sacrament Parish, Seattle WA

Renovations of the Sanctuary were recently completed at the Dominican Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Seattle WA. Our readers have already seen images of the prerenovation building because it was the site for the Dominican Rite Solemn Mass celebrating the parish's 100th anniversary, and for a Solemn Dominican Rite Requiem Mass on All Souls last.

Here is an image of the church before the renovation of the sanctuary:


You can see that, after Vatican II, the sanctuary had been extended into the crossing and a modern style portable altar with floor candlesticks was placed on it. Seating faced in from the transcepts and forward from the nave to create a make-shift "church in the round." The old high altar can be seen at the back. The tabernacle previously on it had been removed to a side chapel in the north transcept.

Here is an image after the renovation:


You can see that the tabernacle is now back on the old high altar. A new free-standing altar, suitable for ad orientem as well as ad populum celebration was commissioned and installed. The extension into the crossing was removed, the communion rail put back in its original place. Thus the original configuration of the pews was also restored. In addition, stalls for chanting the office were commissioned to replace the folding chairs previously used in one of the transcepts for this purpose. Note also the "Benedictine" candle arrangement.

Slovanic Sub Tuum Sung by the Students of St. Albert the Great Priory

Here at St. Albert the Great Priory in Oakland CA, the community sings the Sub Tuum in Dominican Gregorian chant after every Saturday morning Mass.

Inspired by a Ukrainian brother who was recently ordained a bi-ritual priest, the brothers learned this Slavonic version of the hymn based on a 17th-century Polish melody. As we await the Purification of Our Lady on February 2, I thought our readers might enjoy this chant.



The opening photo shows the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Priory Chapel at St. Albert the Great House of Studies in Oakland CA.