Dominicans and Incense

I have occasionally commented that the Dominican and Roman practices concerning incense are often quite different.  So I thought readers might appreciate an overview of traditional Dominican usage.  The beautiful Gothic thurible to the right is virtually identical to the anniversary thurible at St. Albert the Great Priory in Oakland CA, our House of Studies.

A. Occasions when Incense is Used.

1. Although properly a Solemn Mass (with deacon and subdeacon) would normally be said every day in a priory with sufficient numbers, not all Solemn Masses use incense.  Incense is used at the Gospel, Offertory, and Elevation on all Sundays and Third Class (previously Simplex) feasts and above.  It is not used on ferials or at Requiems (except at the Absolution after Mass).

2. Incense is also used at Missae Cantatae on those days.  In fact, a recognition of this practice was requested by the Order and received from the Congregation of Rites every five years up to Vatican II to settle doubts about this practice. Today incense is universally used.

3. The altar is traditionally incensed during the Gospel Canticle of Lauds and Vespers on those days as well.

 B. How the Thurifer Handles the Censer when Loading it.

Although in parishes, perhaps because of the number of available altarboys, it was and is common practice for the thurifer to be accompanied by a boat-bearer, this was not the case in the conventual Mass.  And, as the priest in our rite never handles the spoon, this required certain techniques that seem complicated but are actually very simple.The presence of a boat-bearer actually complicates the handling of incense.  This method is used (at the sedilla) in preparation for the Gospel and at the Epistle Side of the altar in preparation for the Offertory.

The thurible used must be a conventional one with a cover that can be pulled up the three chains using a center chain.  When entering before the Gospel, the thurifer holds the chains near the disk (or the disk ring) with the little finger of the left hand; with his left forefinger and thumb he holds the boat (which must have a little pedestal base).  With his right hand he holds the chains just above the cover, holding the thurible at about waist height on his right side. This is how he always holds the thurible when it is not in use: it is never carried or held with the chain at full length, except during the singing of the Gospel, as will be explained below.

As the Alleluia or tract begins, he approaches the priest.  He lowers the thurible and, with his right hand, pulls up the center chain ring and hooks it on the ring finger of his left hand.  This will raise the thurible cover about four or five inches: more than enough to get access to the coals.  Then, with his right hand, he grasps the four chains just above the cover and raises them up so that he can grasp them with the last three fingers of his left hand.  The open thurible is now at waist height, and the thurifer's right hand is free.  With it, he opens the boat, and takes out a spoonful of incense.  He offers this to the priest, saying, "Benedicite."  The priest blesses the incense, the thurifer responding "Amen."

The thurifer then puts the incense in the censor, places the spoon back in the boat, closes the boat, and takes the chains off the three fingers of the left hand, letting the chains extend completely.  He then takes the center chain ring off the left ring finger and lowers the cover of  the thurible.  He then takes the chains just above the cover with his right hand, so as to assume the position for holding or walking with the thurible.  One should note that the sliding ring around the chains, if present, is never pushed down onto the cover of the thurible.  It remains at mid-point of the chains at all times.  If it is pushed down, these movements would be hindered or impossible.

This sounds complicated, but once the movements have been executed a couple of times, nothing could seem more natural.

C. Other Rules Governing the Thurible.

1. When the thurible is carried, whether there is incense lighted in it or not, it is never held with the full chain extended.  It is held or carried as explained above.  This means that the chains are in the proper position if the thurible is to be given to a major minister to hand to the priest.  If the thurifer is to hand the thurible to the priest himself, he must reverse his hands first--so that the priest will receive the thurible correctly oriented for use.  This manner of holding the censer renders it less visible and mobile, and so less distracting.

2. The thurifer never swings the censer back and forth (supposedly to keep the coals burning) as is usually done in the Roman Rite. Again, this prevents the object from distracting attention from the liturgical activities in process.

3. There is only one occasion when the thurible is held is held with the full chain extension (and again by the left hand).  This is during the chanting of the Gospel.  And, again, there is no swinging of the thurible.  This would distract attention from the Gospel.

4. When the thurifer (or priest or deacon) incenses, this is done without any swinging of the censer during the ductus.  Thus there is no chain-clanking.  The motion is straight up and down, entirely silent.  Dominican incensing is always silent: it should not distract from the music or the liturgical actions it embellishes.

5. The incensing of the deacon and subdeacon, as well as of the two acolytes, is done by the thurifer during the Preface.  The minsters face him in their positions: he gives the deacon two lifts of the censer; the subdeacon, one lift; and each acolyte, one lift.  He then incenses each friar in choir: the provincial receives three lifts; each priest, two lifts; other friars, one lift.  Our liturgical books do not mention the incensing of the people because, as ours is a monastic rite, it is assumed they are absent.  But it is common in parishes to give each side of the congregation one lift, and the choir in the loft one life. The image to the left shows the thurifer in position for the Preface. The photo shows Fr. Joseph Fulton (RIP) celebrating Mass at St. Albert the Great Priory in the mid-1950s.

D. Particularities in when incense is used in the Solemn Mass.

1. The thurible is NEVER carried in the entrance or exit procession. Nor is the Cross ever carried in these processions. The thurifer, boat-bearer, and crucifer do NOT participate in these processions: they sit in the sacristy or quietly and unobtrusively in the sanctuary on the Gospel side until they have functions to perform.  For the thurifer, his first function is at the Gospel.

2. There is no incensing of the altar during the Officium (i.e. Introit) chant.

3. The priest directs the preparation of the censer for the Gospel while seated at the sedilla (the bench for the three major ministers) as explained above.  The priest never touches the spoon.  The thurifer stands throughout this ceremony.

4. The deacon incenses the Gospel book with three simple, silent, lifts of the thurible.  He then hands it back to the subdeacon, who hands it back to the thurifer.

5. The incensing at the Offertory is simpler than in the Roman Mass. The deacon offers the incense to be blessed and then hands the priest he censer.  With it, he makes a single Sign of the Cross over the gifts. After this he raises and lowers the censer three times before the host and chalice (never lifting higher than his shoulder). If the tablernacle or Cross (or both) is present, he incenses it with one set of three lifts.  If there are reliquaries, he makes a moderate bow, and from the center, without moving, he incenses as a group those on the Gospel side with two lifts, then those on the Epistle side with two lifts.  If there is only one reliquary on the altar, he incenses it with two lifts.  Making a profound bow, he then incenses with three lifts above he altar as he moves to the Epistle end, once toward each candlestick.  He lowers the censer and returns to the middle.  In the same way he incenses the top of the altar while while going to the Gospel end.  Then then returns incensing the lower part of the altar three times as he returns. He stops before the Cross to make a profound bow, then completes the three lifts of the lower part of the Epistle side. On arrival there he surrenders the thurible to the deacon. In the images to the right and left (above) we see the blessing of incense and the incensing of the altar by Fr. Fabian Parmisano (RIP) at St. Albert the Great Priory, about 1960.

6. The deacon incenses the priest (using three lifts), when he has finished incensing the altar at the Offertory.  The incensing of the other ministers is done by the thurifer during the Preface, as already explained. At the left you can see the deacon (Fr. Paul Raftery) holding up the chasuble and incensing as Fr. Anthony-M. Patalano elevates the chalice during Solemn Mass at Holy Rosary Church in Portland OR in the 1990s.

7. Just before the Consecration, the thurifer, who is kneeling between the acolytes at the foot of the altar, loads the censer with unblessed incense.  He then passes it up to the deacon, who incenses the Sacred Species continuously during each elevation.  He then passes it back to the thurifer who rises, genuflects and leaves for the sacristy, as he has no functions during the rest of Mass.

E. The Thurifer at the Missa Cantata

1. The thurifer stays in the sacristy or sits in the sanctuary until the priest prepares the chalice after the Epistle.  As the priest begins to pass to the north side of the altar for the Gospel, the thurifer arrives and comes up the altar steps to meet the priest at the center as he passes over.  He there receives the blessing of the incense for the Gospel, descends and leads the acolytes around the corner of the steps for the Gospel.

2. At the Offertory, he brings the censor to the Epistle side for the priest's incensing of the altar.  He then receives the censer back and goes to the center of the sanctuary and waits.  He incenses the acolytes (and possibly the people) during the Preface, as he would at Solemn Mass.

3. He kneels in center of the first step as the acolytes ascend for the elevations and puts unblessed incense in the thurible.  He then incenses the elevations continuously as the deacon would at Solemn Mass.

Calendar for Lesser Know Dominican Blesseds

A question from a reader in Poland concerning the celebration of the "lesser" Dominican blesseds who were moved from the General Calendar of the Order to the local calendars of their provinces suggested this post.

Since the Dominican Calendar available for download on the left sidebar had nothing on these blesseds, I have added an addendum to that calendar listing both the blesseds approved for use in the provinces in 1962 along with the Dominicans beatified Dominicans from 1962 to the present (marked with *).

Although these saints would normally be celebrated as "memorials" (an extra collect) only in their own provinces, nothing prohibits celebration of them in other provinces.  And, for cause, they might also be celebrated as feasts of the Third Class, at least in their own provinces.  I might also add that if one of these blesseds has a tomb or shrine in one of our priories or churches, then in that place the blessed is celebrated as a feast of the Second Class.  This is parallel to Dominican saints with feasts of the third (or second) class: in the place of the shrine or tomb, they rank as first class.

Photos of Domnican Rite Missa Cantata of St. Dominic

As the system will not let me embed a flicker series "at this time," I give here the link for the photos:

http://www.flickr.com//photos/dominicanfriars/sets/72157630958324486/show/

You will have to click through a number of photos to get to the Mass itself.

Enjoy!

Solemn Dominican Rite Mass, Seattle WA, 8 August 2012

I am sure it will interest readers, especially in the Pacific Northwest, to know that a Solemn High Dominican Rite Mass of St. Dominic will be celebrated in the newly refurbished Blessed Sacrament Church at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, August 8.  Blessed Sacrament is located at 5050 Eighth Avenue N.E. and serves the University District of Seattle.

The celebrant will be Fr. Boniface Willard, O.P., and the Mass setting is the Missa de la Batalla Escoutez by Francisco Guerrero (1528–1599).

Domincian Rite Calendar Now Available for Download

Greetings,

As readers know, I make available for download on the left sidebar the Dominican Rite Calendar for each liturgical year.  As some people have asked for copies of the plain Calendar itself, without the current year's movable feasts and Sundays inserted, I have now made it available for download above the yearly calendars. See the link under the heading "Dominican Rite Texts -- Downloadable" on the left sidebar.

This calendar is based on the reformed calendar published in the Analecta S. Ordinis Praedicatorum, Dec., 1960. Minor corrections and additions have been made using the calendar published in the 1962 edition of the Breviarium Ordinis Praedicatorum.  So this now represents Dominican usage in 1962.   I have also added all Dominican saints canonized since 1962, on their traditional dates if already blessed in 1962, and on their current dates if beatified after 1962.

Saints peculiar to the Calendar of the United States are listed in brackets, again on their traditional dates if blessed before 1962, and on their current dates for after 1962. Those U.S. saints instituted after 1962 are given the rank of III class, if obligatory memorials, and the rank of memoria (an extra collect), if ranked as optional memorials or if they are obligatory memorials in conflict with a III class feast of the Dominican calendar. Those United States feasts marked with an asterisk (*) postdate the 1962 calendar and are included should a user wish to celebrate them--strictly speaking, they are not properly of the 1962 calendar. A supplement includes saints and other celebrations particular to all the dioceses where the Western Dominican Province has houses.

I have not included any saints placed on the Roman General Calendar since 1962, because such additions to our Calendar required a request by the Order to the Sacred Congregation of Rites (now of Divine Worship) and no such petitions have been made.  It is possible, of course, to celebrate any saint or blessed in the Roman Martyrology (2004) or on any particular calendar as a Votive Mass or Votive Office, so those wishing to commemorate newly canonized saints may avail themselves of this option, but they should be aware that as third-class votives, such commemorations cannot replace a second- or first-class feast--you would have to celebrate the votive of such saints on another day.  If there is already a third-class feast on the day, then the new saint should normally not replace that feast, but rather be commemorated by an additional collect as a memoria.  For pastoral need, however, a third-class votive could replace a third-class feast should there be a good reason.

I thank all those who have in the past sent me notice of typos and errors they have noticed.

Dominican Rite Masses in the Near Future

I am pleased to announce that there will be a Dominican Rite Missa Cantata on the traditional date of the Solemnity of St. Dominic, August 4, at St. Patrick's Church in Columbus, Ohio.  The announcement flyer is to the right.

I will also remind our readers that this there will be a Dominican Rite Low Mass in our Western Dominican Province at the Holy Rosary Church in Portland at 8:00 a.m. on the first Saturday of the month; this year the Solemnity of St. Dominic, and, as usual each Sunday, a Dominican Rite Mass at Holy Family Cathedral in Anchorage AK, although, as it is summer, this will be a Low Mass, not a Missa Cantata.

I thank in advance any friars who have information on other Dominican Rite Masses this summer for sending me notice so that I can publicize them. 

Liturgical Color at Dominican Rite Masses

A recent inquiry to me from a priest in the Dominican Eastern Province about whether he could use purple instead of (the unavailable black) at a Dominican Rite Requiem Low Mass, moved me to do some investigation about historical Dominican practices. The result was something of a surprise, and nothing about it is found in Bonniwell's history of our Rite.  And it confirmed that Dominicans can use purple at when the Roman Rite requires black, even without necessity.  Although, I would recommend because of admiratio populi that black be used in such cases.

Since the edition of 1687 edition of the Dominican Missal produced under the direction of the Master of the Order Antonin Cloche, O.P., Dominican vestment colors have been identical to those of the Roman use. Before that date, however, the practice was different. Use of white, red, and green basically followed the modern Roman use, but there were interesting exceptions. On simplex feasts of confessors, where the Roman use was white, the celebrant had a choice between using yellow or green. This use of yellow for confessors is a well-known aspect of the Sarum Rite.

The use of green assimilates, at least in the time after Epiphany and Trinity, simplex feasts to the ferial. This is not surprising, as the Dominican Rite of Humbert (1256) and the middle ages resisted the early modern practice of introducing so many saints' days and raising them in so much rank as to erase the ferial office and even that of Sundays (as was generally the case before the Pius X calendar reform). Indeed, the number of feasts above simplex was very limited in the ancient Dominican liturgy, even Apostles were only semidoubles. Although I cannot find any rubric on it, I suspect that the use of the ferial color was also at least an option on feasts of three lessons. In the 1200s and 1300s confessor feasts with yellow vestments included, among others, Gregory the Great, Benedict, Ambrose, Bernard, and Francis. All were only simplex feasts. It is also interesting that the vestment for the "highest feasts" was to be "the best one," but "a violet vestment cannot be used on Easter, nor a white one on Pentecost, nor a red one on Christmas."

Another surprise is the following rubric in the 1868 Ceremonial that goes back to Humbert: "Violet may be used in place of black." This odd provision speaks to a thirteenth-century development underway in Humbert's time. Innocent III forty years earlier had spoken of the liturgical colors as only "white, red, green, and black." But he mentions that violet has come into use in certain places. This Dominican rubric seems to reflect that older practice of using black not only for Requiems, but also on all other penitential days. So the friars had the option of conforming to the local use of violet during Lent, Advent, and Ember Days, where this had happened, but the assumption was they were still using black on those days as Innocent had considered normal. In 1869, of course, this rubric would also have permitted violet in place of black at Requiems–a practice that seems to have existed even in the Roman Rite in some places up to that time. Lest there be any confusion as to what the current Dominican practice was, the Caeremoniale of 1869 explicitly states that since the promulgation of the Cloche Missal these old rubrics completely abrogated and not to be followed. That they had to say this causes me a bit of suspicion. Were some Dominicans still following them? Perhaps the nineteeth-century French yellow chasuble decorating this post belonged to some French Dominicans?

The question of the interchangeability of black and violet brings up the issue of what color the paraments would be at a Requiem Mass if the Blessed Sacrament were reserved on the altar. Here what the Caermoniale of 1869 says and does not say is very interesting. About the tabernacle veil we read the following: "The exterior of the tabernacle is to be decently covered by a canopy (conopaeum). The canopy is to be of cotton, woolen, or hemp cloth, and to be white in color or, better, matching the color of the office of the day." The form of this rubric (which is not in Humbert) suggests to me, at least, that the specification "cotton, wool, or hemp" (gossypio sive lana sive cannabe), instead of "silk" (serica), is quite ancient and that the use of material matching the vestments, which would have been in silk, is later. Notice there is nothing to exclude use of any color of the day, including black. And I was unable to find any rubric to forbid a black conopaeum.

So, as of 1869, there was no formal rule in the Dominican Order against use of black tabernacle veils or black antependia on an altar with a tabernacle. But I suspect this was not the practice because of a related rubric. This involves an altar on which there is on-going Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. In that case, the altar paraments are all to be white, "even if that does not match the color of the vestments for a Mass being celebrated at it." This, of course, concerns Mass in the Presence of the Sacrament Exposed. Again, however, nothing is said about violet or black when the Sacrament is not exposed. Nevertheless, although the rubrics are silent, the earlier specification that the conopaeum may always be white, and the association of the Blessed Sacrament with white here, suggests that perhaps the practice in 1869 might have been to use a white conopaeum at Masses using black vestments at an altar with a tabernacle. But finding out what was actually done in our priories will require much more work than I am ready to undertake right now.

As it is my understanding that the debate over use of black or violet antependia at altars with tabernacles in the Roman Rite was only resolved in the mid-twentieth century, I am not surprised about the lack of clarity in the 1869 Caeremoniale. In any case, I suspect in the last century at least, many Dominican parishes probably just followed whatever the local Roman practice was. The medieval rubrics for Dominican vestment color options seem to envision this kind of accommodation to local practice. And I can assure you that not doing something the "Roman Way" can generate unpleasant comments from those who attend Dominican Rite Masses and from those who see pictures of them. The pressure on Dominicans to follow the common practice, alien to our traditions as it might be, will always be great.

Dominican Rite Mass, Cracow, Poland, July 1, 2012

Thanks to communications and help from Dominika Krupinska, a member of the schola that sang for the Mass, I am pleased to present a report on the Dominican Rite Missa Cantata celebrated in Cracow, Poland, on Sunday, July 1st, 2012, the Solemnity of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The celebration of this Mass, of which photos follow below, took place in the small Gothic style church of St. Giles at the foot of Wawel Hill (the seat of Polish kings), which has belonged to the Dominicans since the canonization of St. Hyacinth in the XVI century. The music for the Mass was led by the Schola Gregoriana Silesiensis of Wroclaw, directed by Mr. Robert Pozarski. 

The celebrant was a Polish Dominican, Fr. Lukasz Misko, O.P., who has worked in the Western Dominican Province of the U.S. for several of years. He learned the Dominican Rite while assigned to Holy Family Cathedral in Anchorage AK, where the Missa Cantata is celebrated very Sunday of the year at 4 p.m.  Fr. Lukasz will return to the Western Province in the fall and be assigned to Blessed Sacrament Church in Seattle WA, where the Dominican Rite is also regularly celebrated.

As the schola carefully distinguishes between Sacred Liturgy and Concert Performance, every attempt was made to allow congregation participation in the music, and to help comprehension of the prayers and lessons.  A beautiful booklet hand-missal was prepared containing all texts in Latin and Polish and the music of Mass.  I understand, in the words of Dominika that "The church was full of music. It was a real Missa Cantata!"  A copy of the program can be downloaded here.

This Mass is only part of the revival of the Dominican Rite in Poland. At the Song of Our Roots Festival in Jaroslaw each summer the Dominican Rite Divine Office of Matins-Lauds and Vespers is sung regularly by those attending. Thus Dominican chant is gaining popularity among chorale singers and those devoted to traditional and ethnic music all over Poland.

MASS OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD, JULY 1, 2012

The Asperges

(The cope is not worn for this ceremony in the Dominican Rite)

The Prayer Actiones Quaesumus

(Recited by the priest before descending for the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar.)

The Prayers at the Foot of the Altar

(Note the servers with candles)

The Gloria

(Intoned at the center of the Altar in the Dominican Rite, ministers will then swing right)

The Epistle

(Note the number of people present)

Preparation before the Gospel

(You see the servers with candles and the thurifer and boat-bearer)

The Homily

(by Lukasz Misko, O.P., from the wall pulpit of the church)

The Elevation

Ecce Agnus Dei before Holy Communion

(The Ecce was not originally part of the Dominican Rite

but was added from the Roman in 1961)

The intention for the Mass was for God’s blessing for people and groups promoting the revival of the Dominican Rite in Poland. Some 100 attendants from Cracow, Warsaw and Wroclaw were present for the Mass, some traveling 300 km to participate. It is expected that, when Fr. Lukasz comes to Poland for his vacation next year, this event will be repeated.

I thank Dominika Krupinska for help in preparing this report.

Dominican Rite News from Poland

Over the last few months, I have been working (long distance) with Dominika Krupinska of the Dominican Chant Schola Gregoriana Silesiensis (directed by Mr. Robert Pozarski), and with Polish friars, helping them to begin public celebration of the Dominican Rite in Poland. I intend to publish a post on this Mass in Poland presently. Not only has the first Missa Cantata now been celebrated, they have now established a website (in Polish) dedicated to the Dominican Rite:

Ryt dominikan'ski: tradycyjna liturgia Zakonu Kaznodziejskiego has a number of interesting articles and posts. Even those who do not read Polish will find nice images and photos there. As a Western Dominican, I am honored to see that the website's banner shows one of the Solemn Dominican Rite Masses celebrated at Blessed Sacrament Church in Seattle, a ministry of the Western Dominican Province.  This banner is reproduced at the beginning of this post.  The next Dominican Solemn Mass here in the West will be at Blessed Sacrament Church will be at 7:00 on August 8, and will be sung by the Tudor Choir. More information about the music and driving directions to the church may be found at the Tudor Choir site.

I will also mention that this coming Saturday there will be a Dominican Rite Low Mass at our Holy Rosary Church in Portland at 8:00 a.m., and, as usual, a sung Dominican Rite Mass is celebrated at Holy Family Cathedral in Anchorage AK, every Sunday at 4:00 p.m.

Dominican Rite Low Mass at Santa Maria Maggiore

These photos were taken at a Dominican Rite Low Mass celebrated by the American Dominican Fr. Pius Pietrzyk, O.P., a priest of the St. Joseph Province in the chapel of St. Pius V at Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, on the saint's feast. His intention was an increase in vocations to the Order. The server was Fr. Alan Moran, O.P. Santa Maria Maggiore is the home of the Sacred Penitentiary of the Roman Church, traditionally staffed by the Dominican Order.

The first image shows the celebrant on the way to the altar:

The Dominus Vobiscum:

The server is about to move the Missal for the Gospel:

I thank Fr. Pius for sharing these photos.

Solemn High Mass According to the Dominican Rite Masses on March 26th

I am pleased to share news about an upcoming Solemn High Mass according to the

Dominican Rite at Holy Rosary Church in Portland, Oregon on Monday, March 26, 2012 at 7:30 PM.

DOMINICAN SOLEMN HIGH MASS

THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Celebrant: Rev. Fr. Vincent M. Kelber, O.P.

Deacon: Rev. Br. Ambrose Sigman, O.P.

Subdeacon: Mr. Jesson Mata

CANTORES IN ECCLESIA will sing for Mass. Music will include Missa ‘Quam pulchri sunt’ by Spanish Renaissance composer Thomas Luis de Victoria,

the choir will also sing Anton Bruckner’s spacious setting of Ave Maria and Gregorian Chant Proper.

Dominican Rite Missa Cantata of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Holy Rosary Church, Portland OR

Holy Rosary Church has long celebrated the ancient Dominican Rite on a regular basis. Currently a Low Mass is offered every First Saturday of the month at 8:00 in the morning. Sung Masses are scheduled approximately once a month according to various feast days. Music for these Masses are offered by Portland’s own Cantores in Ecclesia. The most recent Missa Cantata was celebrated on the occasion of the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As customary on Candlemas, candles were disturbed to the faithful, a procession followed, and finally the Holy Sacrifice was offered. Last week Fr. Augustine Thompson posted the rubrics for the ceremonies of the Feast as observed by the Conventual Mass of a Dominican Priory. As is common in the Dominican Ceremoniale, rubrics for the laity are few. On such occasions, the rubrics of the Roman Rite can sometimes offer guidance.

Following are photos of the Missa Cantata celebrated by Fr. Vincent M. Kelber, O.P. The observance begins with the single prayer of blessing (as is found in the Dominican Missal), after which the candles are blessed with water and incense. The main celebrant is vested in cope for the procession that follows.



The faithful receive the blessed candles kneeling at the altar rail. Customarily they kiss the hands of the priest out of reverence for Christ in his minister. Here Francis-Hung Q. Le, O.P., pastor of Holy Rosary Church, helps distribute the candles.

The acolytes assist the people in lighting their candles.

A procession is made throughout the church by the minister and the servers. An acolyte serves the role of the friar in surplice who sprinkles Holy Water at the head of the procession. Following him are the acolytes with processional candles, the crucifer, friars and the celebrant. As is usual, the corpus of the processional cross faces not forward, but toward the friars and priests that “they may gaze upon the cross.” With its particular veneration of Christ Crucified and of the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, the Dominican Rite is at once manifestly Christocentric and soberly devotional.

Following the procession the priest returns to the sacristy to don the chasuble. Changing of vestments is not done at the chair as in the Roman Rite. Here the celebrant and servers recite the prayers at the foot of the altar asking God for mercy.

Candles are lit twice again during the Mass: during the singing of the Gospel, and from the lighting of the Sanctus candles until before Holy Communion. As to not inhibit the Gospel "procession" the candles were relit while the choir chanted.

Fr. Vincent contemplates the final words of the sequence.


The Elevation of the Sacred Body of Christ. Note the lit Sanctus candles upon the altar.



The moderate extension of the arms at the Unde et Memores.

As is permitted according to the custom of a place, the servers at Holy Rosary always pray a second Confiteor preceding the reception of the Holy Eucharist. Here Fr. Vincent is blessing the servers and communicants during the Absolutionem.

After the Mass Fr. Vincent returns from the sacristy to bless all the candles the faithful have brought from home for their own devotional use.


The next scheduled Missa Cantata at Holy Rosary Parish in Portland is Ash Wednesday on February 22, 2012.

Domincian Rite Misssa Cantata of St. Thomas Aquinas at St. Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula CA

I am pleased to make available this video of the Dominican Rite Missa Cantata sung at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula CA by the college chaplain, Fr. Paul Raftery, O.P. It was a First-Class Votive Mass sung on the occasion of the College's Patronal Feast (New Calendar) on January 28, 2012.



The servers are to be complemented on their mastery of complex rubrics and movements of the rite. Fr. Paul is a member of the Western Dominican Province House of Studies. If you want your servers to perform like these, get the Dominican Altarboy's Manual here.

The video was filmed by Mr. Joe Haggard and shows the entire Mass.

Candlemas in the Dominican Rite

As Thursday is Candlemas, called in the traditional Dominican Rite the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I though that it might be a suitable time to post something about the rituals attached to this feast in the Dominican Rite. These rites are the same in both the 1933 and 1965 Dominican Rite Missals and seem to go back virtually unchanged to the thirteenth century.

After Terce on the feast, the prior, in cope, accompanied by the deacon and subdeacon in dalmatics, who carry the missal and the processional, enter the choir preceded by the acolytes in albs carrying lighted processional candles. If the feast falls on Sunday, the priest performs the Asperges, if not he proceeds directly to the blessing. Standing before the step to the sanctuary, where the sacristan has placed the candles to be blessed slightly to the prior's right as he faces the altar, he sings the blessing in a moderate voice, using the tone for collects at the Hours:

The Blessing

The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.

Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, who on this day presented your Only-Begotten Son to be received into the arms of the Blessed Simeon in your holy Temple; we humbly entreat your clemency that you would be pleased to + bless, to + sanctify and enkindle with the light of your heavenly blessing these candles, which your servants wish to receive and carry lighted to the honor of your name; that by offering them to you, our Lord and God, we being worthy and inflamed with the holy fire of your sweet charity, might deserve to be presented ourselves in the holy temple of your Glory. Through the same Christ Our Lord. R/. Amen.

The Distribution and Nunc Dimittis

The prior then sprinkles the candles with holy water from the stoop held by the acolyte. The cantor then comes forward and offers a lighted candle to the prior and intones the Antiphon Lumen ad Revelation Gentium. It is sung by the community and followed by the chanting of the Nunc Dimittis, during which the antiphon is sung again after each verse of the canticle. This chant is repeated as many times as necessary for lighted candles to be distributed to the whole community.

The Procession

When all have their candles, the community then moves in procession fashion into the main cloister. The procession has this order, 1. a friar in surplice with the holy water, who sprinkles as he goes, 2. the acolytes with processional candles, 3. the crucifer, 4. the friars, two by two, in order of religion, youngest first, 5. the prior, flanked by the deacon and subdeacon (who carries the book). The procession moves counter clockwise around the cloister, stopping for the four stations, at each of which the acolytes and crucifer turn to the friars so that they can gaze on the cross for a moment. The cantor then intones the antiphon that accompanies the move to the next station. These antiphons are:

At Station 1: Ave Gratia, which celebrates Mary's role the birth of Christ who is light of the world.

At Station 2: Adorna, which calls on all to prepare their hearts, as Simeon did, to be a bridal chamber for Christ, the world's savior.

At Station 3: Responsum, which recalls how Simeon had been promised that he would not see death until he took the Light of the Gentiles in his arms.

At Station 4: Hodie, which recalls how Joseph and Mary brought the Christ Child into the temple. It is fittingly sung as the friars, carrying their candles, reenter the chapel and take their places in their stalls.

The ministers, meanwhile, return to the sacristy and the prior puts on the chasuble for Mass. When the ministers are ready, the friars begin the Officium of the Mass, Suscepimus. Friars hold their lighted candles in their hands until the Offertory. I might add that in the Dominican Rite the famous sequence Laetabundus is sung at this Mass.

The Candle Offering

When he has finished the Offertory Prayers, the prior receives his lighted candle and comes with the deacon and subdeacon, holding their candles, to before the altar. The sacristan comes up with a basket to receive the ministers' candles, which he snuffs and places in it. The friars of the community then come forward in procession, in order of seniority, enter the sanctuary, and offer their lighted candles, handing them to the sacristan and kissing the prior's hand. When all have offered their candles, the prior returns to the altar, receives the censer, and does the incensing and the lavabo. The Preface of Mass is that of the Nativity.

The Proprium Missarum Ordinis Praedicatorum of 1983 provides that these ceremonies may be incorporated into the Mass of the Presentation in the new Roman liturgy. And this includes the Laetabundus, even if the candle rituals are not done.

Dominican Gradual of 1950 Reprinted

I am pleased to announce another new offering from Dominican Liturgy Publications. We have just reprinted the Graduale iuxta Ritum Sacri Ordinis Praedicatorum, originally published by the Order in 1950. This was the last edition of the Dominican Gradual. It contains the Mass Propers for the Entire Year, as well as those of Votive and Ritual Masses. In addition it includes the Dominican Kyriale, with all the authentic medieval Dominican Ordinaries and the music for the responses at Mass. The on-line publication page limit (800 pages) required that we omit the supplement with extra Roman chant Mass Ordinaries, but as these are widely available both in published and electronic forms, this seemed a small price to pay for making this book available.

The volume is hardback, lies open easily, and has 800 pages, including the general index. The price is $35.25. When a used copy of the original edition can be found on the market, the price runs between $50 and $125, so this a very economical alternative. Although this is a scanned reprint, the quality is quite good. You can see what the printing looks like using the "preview" on the order page.

If you would like to purchase over 20 copies for your choir, I can offer a discount price of $33.00. Please write me directly (my email link is on the left sidebar) about this and other discounts for larger bulk purchases. (This discount is not available when ordering direct).

May this book make this music better known in our Dominican Houses and among choirs who perform Dominican chant. More information and ordering for this book is at this link.

Gospel Canticles in Dominican Chant

I am pleased to announce the first new book from Dominican Liturgy Publications for the year 2012. We have just published, in paper, the booklet Cantica Evangelica, which contains fully noted texts for the Gospel Canticles of the Divine Office (Benedictus, Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis) in Dominican Gregorian Chant.

The more complex mediationes for the Benedictus and Magnificat make these difficult to site sing. Now the entire texts are supplied with music. Along with these canticles this booklet also contains the Invitatory Psalm "Venite" (Ps 94/95) set to the special Dominican tones. Several of these melodies were previously only available only in the rare 1863 Antiphonarium, where there were deviations from the medieval music. The tones are now corrected and set in traditional style neumes for the first time.

May this book make this music better know in our Dominican Houses and among choirs who perform Dominican chant. The order page for this book may be found here.

On Deacons and Subdeacons at Dominican Rite Masses

A comment on a very old post and some discussion of Dominican traditions with brothers in our Western Dominican Province House of Studies as to vesting of the deacon, have prompted this overview of deacons and subdeacons and their vesture in the traditional Dominican Rite.

ON VESTMENTS OF THE DEACON AND SUBDEACON

1. In the traditional Dominican Rite, what are the proper vestments for a deacon and subdeacon?

Like the priest, the deacon and subdeacon wear the amice, alb, cinture, and maniple. On certain occasions, they also wear the dalmatic. The Dominican Rite does not follow the Roman Rite practice of distinguishing the dalmatic (worn by the deacon) from the tunicle (worn by the subdeacon), in which the dalmatic has two bars between the claves (vertical stripes) and the tunicle one. Although this distinction is sometimes seen at Dominican Masses (vestments with Roman decorations are more commonly available), properly, there is no distinction in style or name between the deacon's and subdeacon’s dalmatics. You can see, to the right, a photo of the deacon and subdeacon at the Gospel during an Easter Mass in the mid-1950s at St. Albert the Great Priory in Oakland CA. Both dalmatics are identical (and lacking the traditional claves).

2. On what days do the deacon and subdeacon wear the dalmatic at Mass?

The deacon and subdeacon wear dalmatics, according to the Caeremoniale S.O.P. (1869), n. 548-50:

a. On all Sundays
b. On all Feasts of Three Lessons and above (which after the 1960 calendar Reform means all IIId Class feasts and above).
c. For any Votive Mass when the calendar feast of that day is of IIId Class or above.
d. On weekdays of Octaves when the Mass of the day is proper to the octave (after 1960, these were only the Octaves of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost).
e. At Requiem Masses on the day of death, burial, anniversary, or (pro causa sollemnitatis) when said for a public figure. Otherwise, if the Requiem replaces the Conventual Mass, then the dalmatic is used only if the proper Mass of the Day would have required it. Otherwise not.
e. Before 1923, dalmatics were also worn at the Order’s special Votive Masses that replaced ferials of week. The calendar reforms of St. Pius X abolished these special Votive Masses so as to restore the celebration of ferials.

Otherwise, the deacon and subdeacon wear only the amice, alb, cinture, maniple, and (for the deacon) the stole. Priests, of course, always wear the chasuble at Mass. So, the dalmatic is not worn on: ferials not part of an octave, true vigils (i.e., NOT the anticipated Mass of a Sunday or Feastday--rather, the at the Mass of the day before the Ascension, Pentecost, St. John the Baptist, Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Lawrence, Assumption, and Christmas), and Ember Days. Nor do our deacons and subdeacons wear dalmatics or folded chasubles on Good Friday: on that day they wear only the amice, alb, cinture, maniple, and (for the deacon) the stole, even though the prior (or priest) celebrating the service wears a cope (Caermon. (1869), n. 1483).

3. At what other times is the dalmatic worn?

According to the Caeremoniale (1869), n. 551:

a. At processions when the priest wears a cope.
b. When singing the Genealogy and the Last Discourse of Jesus.
c. When assisting a priest wearing a cope at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

One should note that, in the Dominican Rite, the priest does NOT wear the cope for the Asperges unless a procession of the brethren precedes (the entrance of the ministers at Mass is NOT such a procession). At the Asperges, all three ministers do, however, wear the maniple. Note that this is different from Roman practice. I have included a photo of the Dominican major minsters at the Asperges (sorry about the quality) to illustrate our practice. Note also that these ministers are wearing apparelled albs, another Dominican tradition. It might also be added that the Dominican practice is to wear the maniple when preaching. Although it was very common in the Western Province for the priest to remove the chasuble and place it on the altar before preaching. I suspect that this was because Dominicans usually pin the maniple on the sleeve of the alb and this makes it hard to remove; thus the chasuble was removed instead. Current practice, however, in the Western Province is to remove neither when preaching at Dominican Rite Masses.

4. What would this mean for Dominicans who celebrate the modern Roman Rite?

Strictly speaking, nothing is required by these older norms. But the new Roman liturgical books leave a lot of leeway for the vesting of the deacon. Although the proper vestments of the deacon in the new rite include the dalmatic, it is not required (unlike the chasuble for priest celebrants). So it is possible to adopt some of the older Dominican practice.

Using the principle of progressive solemnity, it would be possible, or even preferable, for Dominican deacons to leave aside the dalmatic on ferials. This was, in fact, the practice when I was a student in the 1970s and 1980s at our House of Studies in Oakland CA. But if, in clear violation of the rubrics, deacons do not wear an amice, alb, and cinture but only their white habit (a practice that seems to be dying out in the Western Province but is often seen elsewhere), then, by all means, they should wear the dalmatic on ferials to make their infraction less visible to the congregation.


ON SUBDEACONS

The revival of the traditional Dominican Rite in some provinces since Summorum Pontificum, along with its long-continued, and now expanding use, in our Western Dominican Province, raises some new questions on the office and function of the subdeacon. I will attempt to answer these.

1. Who was able to serve as subdeacon in the Traditional Dominican Rite before Vatican II?

Obviously, before reform of the ordination rites, any friars having been ordained to the subdeaconate could serve; as well as priests and deacons, who were always previously ordained subdeacons. Now, the Caeremoniale S.O.P. (1869), n. 864, is very explicit, and quotes the General Chapter of Bologna (1564), on this: “No one may wear liturgical vestments and solemnly chant the Epistle if he has not, at least, been promoted the rank of subdeacon.” As, at a Missa Cantata, the Epistle could always have been sung "by any cleric” (Bonniwell, Ceremonial, p. 141) — which today would mean any clerical brother, as the tonsure is no longer given, this legislation refers only to the Epistle at the Solemn Mass. So what was and is commonly called a “straw subdeacon” (i.e., a man, normally a cleric, who vested as a subdeacon and performed that role) was clearly forbidden. Although the Caeremoniale calls the practice an "abuse," it was not uncommon, in the Order before Vatican II, for lay brothers to serve as "subdeacons" at Solemn Masses. In fact, an elderly cooperator (lay) brother told me that he regularly functioned as a subdeacon in the missions and in parishes when no priest was available. Since, in the Pre-Vatican-II church, “straw subdeacons” were tolerated in the Roman Rite, this use seems to have been generally adopted by Dominicans too.

2. Who may serve as a subdeacon today in the traditional Dominican Rite?

When the Dominican Rite Solemn Mass is celebrated today, a deacon or priest would be able to function as a subdeacon as they are both clerics (from their deacon ordination) and have been ordained to a rank above subdeacon (see above General Chapter norm). This is the common practice in our Western Province. What is to be done, if no priest or deacon is available, or those priests and deacons present cannot, for one reason or another, perform the duties of the subdeacon? Today, the only ministries given to Dominican priests before ordination to the deaconate are those of lector and the acolyte (which may be called a “subdeacon,” if the bishop’s conference wishes). Neither are canonically “clerics” because the clerical state now begins with the deaconate (even if one has received tonsure in a religious institute for whom the rites are performed using the old books).

As before Vatican II, when a problem presents itself on which our books are silent, one must turn to the practice of the Roman Rite as the mother rite. For the Roman Rite in the extraordinary form, a letter from the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei (Prot. No. 24/92, 7 June, 1993) provided that an installed acolyte (that is, an acolyte installed using the new Roman Roman Rite) may serve as subdeacon, but he is not to wear the maniple. The justification given for this decision is that, previously, one who had received the minor order of acolyte was permitted to serve, without the maniple, as in the liturgical role of subdeacon when that was needed. I myself am not sure that this restriction on using the maniple was correct, but that is another matter. This letter represents the current liturgical law for the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite.

There were, in the old days, two other restrictions on what such men serving as subdeacons could not do, beyond not wearing the maniple. They could not put water in the chalice and they could not dry the vessels. The deacon had to do those things. Ecclesia Dei omitted those restrictions. Was it an oversight? Probably not. Since a modern installed acolyte can purify the vessels (GIRM #279), he certainly can dry them. And today, when there are many extra chalices for concelebrants, they may be prepared with water and wine even by a sacristan before Mass — the current practice at St. Peters in Rome (“On Multiple Calices,” Zenit.org, Oct. 9, 2007). In addition, the legal dictum “silence gives consent” leads to the conclusion that when Ecclesia Dei choose to list only one restriction on an acolyte acting as subdeacon, it implied that any other older restrictions were no longer binding. With good reason!

Can a friar who has not received either the ministries of acolyte and lector, or has only received the ministry of lector, or, for that matter, can a simple layman, function as a subdeacon at Dominican Rite Solemn Mass? I would say no, even if lay brothers did this before Vatican II. The responsum from Ecclesia Dei cited above allows to function as subdeacon, only to those men who have, for one reason or another, been formally installed in the modern ministry of acolyte. I do not think I have to tell our readers that this does not mean installation as an Extraordinary Minister of Communion or being commissioned as an altar boy in a parish. I would add that the formal installation of lectors and acolytes in the new rite is permanent: it does not “go away” if the seminarian or friar who received it leaves the seminary or the order before making final vows.

Let us hope that along with the Missae Cantatae sung weekly, monthly, or annually, in our Western Dominican Parishes, that the full Solemn Mass become a more regular event.

Genealogy of Christ According to Matthew in Dominican Chant

In time for Christmas, we are making available the Dominican Chant for the Genealogy of Jesus Christ According to Matthew, found in the appendix to the Missale Ordinis Praedicatorum. Traditionally part of the Office of Matins for Christmas, when it is sung after the last Responsory, the Genealogy may also be used with the modern Liturgy of the Hours. According to the Proprium Officii Ordinis Praedicatorum (1982), p. 692, it may be sung after the second Responsory of Office of Readings, especially when this Office is sung just before Midnight Mass, or it may be transferred and sung in place of the Short Reading at First Vespers of Christmas.

The chant may be downloaded here, or from the left sidebar.