Solemn Vespers And Te Deum For The Semiquincentennial Of The Founding Of The United States. Saturday, 25 July 2026.

Text and Illustration: NEW LITURGICAL MOVEMENT

Vespers for the American Semiquincentennial 

in Philadelphia, This Saturday, 25 July 2026.

By: Gregory DiPippo.

THE DURANDUS INSTITUTE 

FOR SACRED LITURGY & MUSIC

 invites you to join in a commemoration of 

the Semiquincentennial (250th anniversary) of the 

Founding of the United States, with a Celebration of Vespers 

as it would have been experienced in 1776 in a Catholic Chapel of the Thirteen Colonies. 

It will take place at Saint Augustine Church, within walking distance of Independence Hall, on the Feast of Saint James, this Saturday, 25 July 2026, at 6 p.m. 

Vespers will be preceded by a Choral prelude about ten minutes before, and music outside the Church by the New Jersey Fifes and Drums for a full hour beforehand.

The event will conclude with the singing of the Te Deum, as was experienced by members of the Continental Congress, together with the French Minister and his Chaplain and attendants, when they attended the first celebration of Independence Day in a Catholic Church, on 4 July 1779, 

at Old Saint Mary’s, Philadelphia.

A Reception will follow in the Parish Hall next door; 

please come, and invite your friends !

Website: https://www.durandusinstitute.org/event-details/solemn-vespers-te-deum-for-the-250th-of-america

Facebook event listing: https://www.facebook.com/share/1ERsgVfHzA/

The Web-Site of 

THE DURANDUS INSTITUTE 

FOR SACRED LITURGY & MUSIC

can be accessed

HERE