The Sarum Use.
Illustration: ORTHODOX WESTERN RITE
The Sarum Use at Candlemas.
Available on YouTube at
Sarum Candlemas
For a while I worked as a Priest in Oxford, and there became involved in a couple of Celebrations of The Use of Sarum. Both were videoed, in an amateurish way, and I thought it worth Posting at least some of this to YouTube, where you can still see those posts of The Coronation of Pope John XXIII that I posted last year.
A clip from The Offertory of the second Sarum Mass (Candlemas 1997) was Posted to YouTube a while ago, and much appreciated; now it seems time to put up some more.
The Sarum Use is the Mediæval English Rite of most Mediæval English Dioceses, and by the close of Catholic England at the death of Queen Mary was The Use for the whole Country (King Henry VIII had made it compulsory for everyone, and I don't suppose that The Hereford Use, or, The Bangor Use, etc, had much done to them to revive their own Uses, unless anyone out there knows different).
"Quam Pulchra Es".
The Sarum Use Chant.
Available on YouTube at
The Sarum Use is notable for great sumptuousness, being far more elaborate than, say, a Tridentine Mass. On greater occasions, such as Candlemas, it has four Vested Sacred Ministers (Priest, Deacon, Sub-Deacon, and Acolyte — Candle Bearers are known as Taperers).
In The Entrance Procession, you can see here a Beadle, with Gown and Rod, three Processional Crosses (the central one carried by the Acolyte), two Thuribles, Acolytes, Banners, Assisting Clergy, three Cantors in Copes (the "Rulers of The Choir"), MC (probably not authentic, but necessary in view of the fact that we hadn't done this regularly) Sacristan, carrying the to-be-blessed Paschal Candle, Sub-Deacon, Deacon, and Priest, behind each other despite the fact that The Celebrant wears a Cope (when wearing a Cope, he would, normally, be escorted to his Right by The Deacon holding the Cope). Vestments are white, throughout, (whereas the custom at Rome until 1962 was to do The Blessing and Procession in Violet).
First, the Church's Candles are Blessed with a lot of rapid Latin Prayers at The Epistle Side (The Sarum "South Horn"). These differ from The Roman Use, and include a Preface-style Prayer sung to The Sarum Simple Tone. The ordinary Chants of The Mass do differ a bit.
"Terribilis Est Locus Iste".
The Sarum Use Chant.
By The Victoria Consort.
Available on YouTube at
The Ritual is very clearly laid out in extant books, even with Fortuescue-type diagrams to show where everyone should stand. Therefore, I am confident that the Ceremony you will see in these clips is at least 85%-90% authentically "as it would have been".
Most of the things we couldn't get right were to do with the shape of some of the Vestments, for instance — those are firmly Roman Copes that The Rulers of The Choir are wearing, and occasions where The Rubrics aren't clear and we had to make an educated guess.
There are no genuflections in The Sarum Use — or at least none are mentioned in the books. It is possible that by 1558 they would have been introduced. But we stuck by the book.
The clip ends just as The Celebrant turns to Bless the People's Candles, which they hold in their hands — only the Clergy receive them directly from the Priest.
"A Solis Ortus Cardine".
12th-Century Chant from The Sarum Use.
Sung by Maddy Alabaster.
Available on YouTube at
The Sarum Rite, also known as The Use of Salisbury, was a variant ("Use") of The Roman Rite, widely used for The Ordering of Christian Public Worship, including The Mass and The Divine Office.
It was established by Saint Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury, and Richard Poore, in the 11th-Century, and was originally The Local Form used in the Cathedral and Diocese of Salisbury, England.
It later became prevalent throughout Southern England, and came to be used throughout most of England, Wales, Ireland, and (later) Scotland, until the reign of Queen Mary I and King Philip. Although abandoned after the 16th-Century and The Protestant Reformation, it was a notable influence on the pattern of Anglican Liturgy, represented in The Book of Common Prayer.
It later became prevalent throughout Southern England, and came to be used throughout most of England, Wales, Ireland, and (later) Scotland, until the reign of Queen Mary I and King Philip. Although abandoned after the 16th-Century and The Protestant Reformation, it was a notable influence on the pattern of Anglican Liturgy, represented in The Book of Common Prayer.
Occasional interest in, and attempts at, restoration of The Liturgy by Anglicans and Catholics have not, however, produced a general revival.
Highlights of The Sarum Use Mass
at Saint Thomas's Anglican Church, Toronto, Canada.
Candlemas, 2 February 2010.
Available on YouTube at
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