Officium Defunctorum is a musical setting of the Office of the Dead, composed by the SpanishRenaissance composer, Tomás Luis de Victoria, in 1603. It includes settings of the movements of the Requiem Mass, accounting for about twenty-six minutes of the forty-two minute composition, and the work is sometimes referred to as "Victoria's Requiem".
Officium Defunctorum was composed for the funeral of the DowagerEmpress Maria, sister of Philip II of Spain, daughter of Charles V, wife of Maximilian II and mother of two emperors; it was dedicated to Princess Margaret for “the obsequies of your most revered mother”.
The Empress Maria died on 26 February 1603 and the great obsequies were performed on 22 April 1603 and 23 April 1603. Victoria was employed as Personal Chaplain to the Empress Maria from 1586 to the time of her death.
Victoria published eleven volumes of his music during his lifetime, representing the majority of his compositional output. Officium Defunctorum, the only work to be published by itself, was the eleventh volume and the last work Victoria published. The date of publication, 1605, is often included with the title to differentiate the Officium Defunctorum from Victoria's other setting of the Requiem Mass (in 1583, Victoria composed and published a book of Masses (Reprinted in 1592) including a Missa Pro Defunctis for Four-Part Choir).
Officium Defunctorum is scored for Six-Part SSATTBChorus. It includes an entire Office of the Dead: In addition to a Requiem Mass, Victoria sets an Extra-Liturgical Funeral Motet, a Lesson that belongs to Matins(scored for only SATB and not always included in concert performances), and the ceremony of Absolution, which follows the Mass.
Polyphonic sections are separated by unaccompanied ChantIncipits, thatVictoria printed himself. The Soprano II usually carries the cantus firmus, though "it very often disappears into the surrounding part-writing since the Chant does not move as slowly as most cantus firmus parts and the polyphony does not generally move very fast."
The sections of the work are as follows:
Taedet Animam Meam. Second Lesson of Matins (Job 10:1-7);
Missa Pro Defunctis (Mass for the Dead). With the Council of Trent, the Liturgy of the Requiem Mass was standardised. Victoria sets all of the Requiem Mass sections, except the Dies Irae (Sequence);
English: The Papal Basilica of the Minster of Saint Martin's, Bonn, Germany.
The Bonn Minster (German: Das Bonner Münster) is one of Germany's oldest Churches, having been built between the 11th- and 13th-Centuries. At one point, this Church served as the Cathedral for the Archbishopric of Cologne. However, the Minster is now a Papal Basilica.
Because of the massive nature of Romanesque walls, Buttresses are not a highly significant feature, as they are in Gothic architecture. Romanesque buttresses are generally of a flat, square, profile, and do not project a great deal beyond the wall. In the case of Aisled-Churches, Barrel Vaults, or Half-Barrel Vaults over the Aisles, helped to buttress the Nave, if it was Vaulted.
In the cases where Half-Barrel Vaults were used, they effectively became like Flying Buttresses. Often, Aisles extended through two Storeys, rather than the one Storey which is usual in Gothic architecture, so as to better support the weight of a Vaulted Nave. In the case of Durham Cathedral, Flying Buttresses have been employed, but are hidden inside the Triforium Gallery.
The Arches used in Romanesque architecture are nearly always semi-circular, for openings such as doors and windows, for Vaults and for Arcades. Wide doorways are usually surmounted by a semi-circular Arch, except where a door with a Lintel is set into a large Arched recess and surmounted by a semi-circular "Lunette" with decorative carving. These doors sometimes have a carved Central Jamb.
Narrow doors and small windows might be surmounted by a solid stone Lintel. Larger openings are nearly always Arched. A characteristic feature of Romanesque architecture, both ecclesiastic and domestic, is the pairing of two Arched windows or Arcade openings, separated by a Pillar or Colonette, and often set within a larger Arch. Ocular windows are common in Italy, particularly in the Facade Gable, and are also seen in Germany. Later-Romanesque Churches may have Wheel Windows or Rose Windows with Plate Tracery.
There are a very small number of buildings in the Romanesque style, such as Autun Cathedral, in France, and Monreale Cathedral, in Sicily, in which pointed Arches have been used extensively, apparently for stylistic reasons. It is believed that, in these cases, there is a direct imitation of Islamic architecture. At other Late-Romanesque Churches, such as Durham Cathedral, the pointed Arch was introduced as a structural device in Ribbed Vaulting. Its increasing application was fundamental to the development of Gothic architecture.
English: Autun Cathedral, France.
Français: Cathédrale Saint-Lazare - Ville d'Autun, France.
An Arcade is a row of Arches, supported on Piers or Columns. They occur in the interior of large Churches, separating the Nave from the Aisles, and in large secular interior spaces, such as the Great Hall of a Castle, supporting the timbers of a Roof or Upper Floor. Arcades also occur in Cloisters and Atriums, enclosing an open space.
Arcades can occur in Storeys or Stages. While the Arcade of a Cloister is typically of a single Stage, the Arcade that divides the Nave and Aisles, in a Church, is, typically, of two Stages, with a third Stage, of window openings, known as the Clerestory, rising above them.
Arcading on a large scale generally fulfils a structural purpose, but it is also used, generally on a smaller scale, as a decorative feature, both internally and externally, where it is frequently "Blind Arcading", with only a wall or a narrow passage behind it.
English: The Facade of Notre Dame du Puy, Le Puy-en-Velay, Auvergne, France,
has a more complex arrangement of diversified Arches:
Doors of varying widths; Blind Arcading; Windows and Open Arcades.
In Romanesque architecture, Piers were often employed to support Arches. They were built of masonry, and square, or rectangular, in section, generally having a horizontal moulding, representing a Capital, at the springing of the Arch. Sometimes, Piers have Vertical Shafts attached to them, and may also have horizontal mouldings at the base level.
Although basically rectangular, Piers can often be of highly complex form, with half-segments of large, hollow-core, Columns on the inner surface supporting the Arch, or a clustered group of smaller Shafts, leading into the mouldings of the Arch.
Piers that occur at the intersection of two large Arches, such as those under The Crossing of the Nave and Transept, are, commonly, cruciform in shape, each Arch having its own supporting rectangular Pier at right angles to the other.
Columns are an important structural feature of Romanesque architecture. Colonnettes, and attached Shafts, are also used structurally and for decoration. Monolithic Columns cut from a single piece of stone were frequently used in Italy, as they had been in Roman and Early-Christian architecture. They were also used, particularly in Germany, when they alternated between more massive Piers. Arcades of Columns, cut from single pieces, are also common in structures that do not bear massive weights of masonry, such as Cloisters, where they are sometimes paired.
In Italy, during this period, a great number of antique Roman Columns were salvaged and re-used in the interiors and on the Porticos of Churches. The most durable of these Columns are of marble and have the stone horizontally bedded. The majority are vertically bedded and are sometimes of a variety of colours. They may have retained their original Roman Capitals, generally of the Corinthian, or Roman Composite style.
Some buildings, like Santa Maria in Cosmedin, and the Atrium, at San Clemente, in Rome, may have an odd assortment of Columns, in which large Capitals are placed on short Columns and small Capitals are placed on taller Columns to even the height. Architectural compromises of this type are seen where materials have been salvaged from a number of buildings. Salvaged Columns were also used to a lesser extent in France.
Vatican Radio today reports that His Holiness, Pope Francis, urges everybody to keep praying for Peace in the Middle East, saying the search for Peace is a long one that requires patience and perseverance.
Speaking during his Angelus address, the Pope also condemned the proliferation of wars and conflicts and questioned whether they were wars about problems or commercial wars to sell arms on the black market.
His remarks came just hours after thousands of people attended a prayer vigil in Saint Peter’s Square, Rome, on Saturday evening, as part of the events for the special day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria and the world.
In addition, Fr. Finigan, Parish Priest, Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen, has the following Article on the Blackfen Parish Web-Site, OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
Prayers and fasting for Syria and the Middle East
Pope Francis has said:
“I wish to make add my voice to the cry which rises up with increasing anguish from every part of the world, from every people, from the heart of each person, from the one great family which is humanity: it is the cry for peace!
It is a cry which declares with force: we want a peaceful world, we want to be men and women of peace, and we want in our society, torn apart by divisions and conflict, that peace break out! War never again! Never again war! Peace is a precious gift, which must be promoted and protected. [...]
Let us pray for peace in Syria and throughout the world, that the prayers of people of faith may encourage leaders of nations and peoples to abandon warfare and violence and to turn to peaceful dialogue to resolve differences.”
On Saturday, we had prayers at Benediction, the Mass for Peace and Reconciliation in the evening, and the Archbishop’s Bidding Prayer for peace.
Since you may have missed this call to prayer and fasting, I encourage you to Please respond to the Holy Father’s leadership by offering your own prayers, penances, and works of charity for this important intention.
Mass in Saint Cuthbert's Chapel, Ushaw College, Durham, England, during a Latin Mass Society Training Week for Priests and Servers, April 2011. Photo: Latin Mass Society http://www.lms.org.uk/
A cheap and nasty distortion of one of Fr. Ray Blake's blogposts has been doing the rounds of the mainstream media - obviously some people think the traditional media "Silly Season" is still up and running, and can't find anything better to do than rehash a poorly-written and even more poorly-researched blurb (I hesitate to call it an article) from a local rag.
Fr. Ray Blake.
As the piece has been picked up by a few different sources, I am reposting Fr. Blake's response (as he asked on his blog.)
Fr. Ray Blake wrote:
"I was saying that the poor, the really poor, turn our lives upside down. I know the local paper pays peanuts and expects its journalists to create stories in order to get onto the news networks but this is just a malicious and deliberate misrepresentation.
"It is very interesting to see what a disreputable journalist can do with a few carefully chosen adjectives. I didn't 'condemn', 'complain', 'blast' etc, and I am pretty certain that some of his other quotes are not my words, especially not, 'test my holiness', I don't speak like that, 'only God is Holy'. Though I admit in an informal moment I might question the marriage of the parents of someone who disrupts the worship of an entire congregation, especially if they consistently steal from the church or other poor people.
"It is interesting to see how an unscrupulous journalist can so easily put an entirely different slant on a simple theological reflection, presumably even basic Christian concepts are beyond the comprehension of some.
"Well, journalists are obviously as messy as the poor; except unscrupulous journalists can do more damage. Perhaps Mr Gardner might like to help on our soup run, it doesn't have to be 365 day a year, once a week would be fine, providing he treats our clients with respect, or maybe he could take Jason or Daryl or Pawel or Dawn out for a cup of coffee or a meal, or just come a clear up the next time someone comes in and vomits or bleeds all over my kitchen because he is drug or has been beaten up.
"Maybe next time I run out of money I could tap him for a few quid when some vulnerable 17 year old girl needs to top up her phone to speak to her mum because her boyfriend has beaten her up or she needs a roof over head because she is sleeping in a tent and it is just few degrees above zero and she is vulnerable, or maybe the next time I am arranging a child's funeral and someone comes to the door in need of someone to talk because they are suicidal I can send them round to Bill's place so he can spend a couple of hours listening to them.
Here, to, I am neither complaining, blasting, lambasting or anything else, just asking. "I understand Mr Gardner's little piece has been syndicated internationally, perhaps kind readers might, if possible post my response."
Fr. Blake is charitable enough to ask his readers to pray for the journalist who was attacking him, and for all in the media.
An excellent critique of the shoddy item in the Argus has already been written by Caroline Farrow. I really cannot improve upon it, so I recommend you go and read it for yourselves.
The system of Monasticism, in which the Religious become Members of an Order, with common ties and a common rule, living in a mutually-dependent Community, rather than as a group of Hermits living in proximity, but essentially separate, was established by the Monk, Benedict, in the 6th-Century.
The Monasteries, which sometimes also functioned as Cathedrals, and the Cathedrals that had bodies of Secular Clergy, often living in Community, were a major source of power in Europe. Bishops, and the Abbots of important Monasteries, lived and functioned like Princes. The Monasteries were the major Seats of Learning, of all sorts. Benedict had ordered that all the Arts were to be taught and practised in the Monasteries. Within the Monasteries, books were transcribed by hand, and few people outside the Monasteries could read or write.
English: Basilica of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, France.
In France, Burgundy was the centre of Monasticism. The enormous and powerful Monastery at Cluny was to have lasting effect on the layout of other Monasteries and the design of their Churches. Unfortunately, very little of the Abbey Church at Cluny remains; the "Cluny II" re-building of 963 A.D., onwards, has completely vanished, but we have a good idea of the design of "Cluny III" from 1088–1130, which, until the Renaissance, remained the largest building in Europe. However, the Church of Saint Sernin, at Toulouse, 1080 – 1120, has remained intact and demonstrates the regularity of Romanesque design with its modular form, its massive appearance and the repetition of the simple arched window motif.
One of the effects of the Crusades, which were intended to wrest the Holy Places of Palestine from Islamic control, was to excite a great deal of religious fervour, which, in turn, inspired great building programmes. The Nobility of Europe, upon safe return, thanked God by the building of a new Church or the enhancement of an old one. Likewise, those who did not return from the Crusades could be suitably commemorated by their family in a work of stone and mortar.
Español: Basílica de Santiago, Galicia, Spain.
English: Basilica of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain.
Photo: 7 February 2005.
Source: Own work.
Author: Vasco Roxo.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Crusades resulted in the transfer of, among other things, a great number of Holy Relics of Saints and Apostles. Many Churches, like Saint-Front, Périgueux, had their own home-grown Saint, while others, most notably Santiago de Compostela, claimed the remains and the patronage of a powerful Saint, in this case one of the Twelve Apostles.
Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain, became one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in Europe. Most of the pilgrims travelled the Way of Saint James on foot, many of them bare-footed as a sign of penance. They moved along one of the four main routes that passed through France, congregating for the journey at Jumièges, Paris, Vézelay, Cluny, Arles and Saint Gall, in Switzerland. They crossed two passes in the Pyrenees and converged into a single stream to traverse North-West Spain.
Along the route, they were urged on by those pilgrims returning from the journey. On each of the routes, Abbeys, such as those at Moissac, Toulouse, Roncesvalles, Conques, Limoges and Burgos, catered for the flow of people and grew wealthy from the passing trade. Saint-Benoît-du-Sault, in the Berry Province, is typical of the Churches that were founded on the pilgrim route.
The general impression given by Romanesque architecture, in both ecclesiastical and secular buildings, is one of massive solidity and strength. In contrast with both the preceding Roman and later Gothic architecture, in which the load-bearing structural members are, or appear to be, Columns, Pilasters and Arches, Romanesque architecture, in common with Byzantine architecture, relies upon its walls, or sections of walls, called Piers.
Romanesque architecture is often divided into two periods, known as the "First Romanesque" style and the "Romanesque" style. The difference is chiefly a matter of the expertise with which the buildings were constructed. The First Romanesque employed rubble walls, smaller windows and un-vaulted roofs. A greater refinement marks the Second Romanesque, along with increased use of the Vault and Dressed Stone.
Castle Rising, Norfolk, England, shows flat Buttresses and reinforcing
at the corners of the building, typical in both Castles and Churches.
Castle Rising Castle is a ruined Castle, situated in the village of Castle Rising,
The walls of Romanesque buildings are often of massive thickness, with few, and comparatively small, openings. They are often double shells, filled with rubble.
The building material differs greatly across Europe, depending upon the local stone and building traditions. In Italy, Poland, much of Germany, and parts of the Netherlands, brick is generally used. Other areas saw extensive use of limestone, granite and flint. The building stone was often used in comparatively small and irregular pieces, bedded in thick mortar. Smooth ashlar masonry was not a distinguishing feature of the style, particularly in the earlier part of the period, but occurred chiefly where easily-worked limestone was available.
May it be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet] in the trial of death.
O sweet Jesus,
O pious Jesus,
O Jesus, son of Mary.
Ave Verum Corpus is a short EucharisticHymn that has been set to music by various composers. It dates from the 14th-Century and has been attributed to Pope Innocent VI.
The Hymn's title means "Hail, True Body", and is based on a poem deriving from a 14th-Century Manuscript from the Abbey of Reichenau, Lake Constance.
The poem is a meditation on the Catholic belief in Jesus's Real Presence in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, and ties it to the Catholic conception of the redemptive meaning of suffering in the life of all believers.
The Miserere is written for two Choirs, one of five and one of four voices, and is an example of Renaissancepolyphony surviving to the present day. One of the Choirs sings a simple version of the original Miserere Chant; the other, spatially separated, sings an ornamented "commentary" on this.
The Tenebrae Service, where the Miserere would be sung, normally began at around 3 A.M. During the Ritual, candles would be extinguished, one by one, save for the last candle, which remained alight and was then hidden. Allegri composed his setting of the Miserere for the final act within the first Lesson of the Tenebrae Service.
It was the last of twelve falsobordoneMiserere settings, composed and chanted at the Service since 1514, and is the most popular: at some point, it became forbidden to transcribe the music and it was allowed to be performed only at those particular Services, thus adding to the mystery surrounding it.
Writing it down or performing it elsewhere was punishable by excommunication. The setting that escaped from the Vatican is actually a conflation of verses set by Gregorio Allegri, around 1638, and Tommaso Bai (also spelled "Baj"; 1650–1718) in 1714.
Based upon John the Baptist's reference, in John 1:29, to Jesus ("Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world"), the text in Latin is: Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.
Which means:
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
Construction began in 1845 and was completed in 1885. The windows were designed and created by the Belgian stained glass artist, Jean-Baptiste Capronnier.
The building received Protected Status (beschermd erfgoed), through a Royal Decree, which was issued on 9 November 1976.
Text, unless otherwise stated, from The Liturgical Year, by Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B. Translated from the French by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B. Volume 14. Time After Pentecost. Book V.
Címerleírás: A Magyar Köztársaság címere hegyes talpú, hasított pajzs. Első mezeje vörössel és ezüsttel hétszer vágott. Második, vörös mezejében zöld hármas halomnak arany koronás kiemelkedő középső részén ezüst kettős kereszt. A pajzson a magyar Szent Korona nyugszik.
The dexter (left side from the viewer's point) features the so-called Árpád stripes, four Argent (silver) and four Gules (red) stripes. Traditionally, the silver stripes represent four rivers:
The sinister (right side from the viewers point) consists of an Argent (silver) double cross on Gules (red) base, situated inside a small Or (golden) crown, the crown is placed on the middle heap of three Vert (green) hills, representing the mountain ranges Tátra, Mátra, and Fátra.
"Out of the eater, came forth meat, and, out of the strong, came forth sweetness [Judges xiv. 14.].
The people with teeth of steel, grinding the nations, gives itself up as food to him, to whom was said: "Kill and eat;" [Saint Peter, in the vision at Joppe, which signified the assimilation of the Gentiles by the Church] the mouth of the Huns, formerly vomiting foam and rage, now distils the honey of Charity.
Such, O Christ, are Thy Miracles; such are Thy Works, O Our God " [Baron. Annal. eccles. Silvestri II. an. 2, Christi 1000].
Thus, does Baronius, on reaching in his history the year of Christ 1000, hail the arrival of the Hungarian Deputies, who came to offer to the Roman Church the suzerainty of their land, and beseech the Vicar of Christ to confer the title of King upon their Duke, Stephen.
Let us read the history of the apostolic King, as given in the book of Holy Church.
Stephen introduced into Hungary both the Faith of Christ and the regal dignity.
He obtained his Royal Crown from the Roman Pontiff; and having been, by his command, anointed King, offered his Kingdom to the apostolic See.
He built several Houses of Charity at Rome, Jerusalem, and Constantinople; and with a wonderfully munificent spirit of religion, he founded the Archiepiscopal See of Gran and ten other Bishoprics.
His love for the poor was equalled only by his generosity towards them; for, seeing in them Christ Himself, he never sent anyone away sad or empty-handed.
The following is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.
2 September. Feast Day of Saint Stephen. King and Confessor.
Semi-Double.
White Vestments.
A descendant of those proud and terrible invaders, the Huns, Stephen was chosen by God to win over his subjects to Christ and His Vicar.
He was given the Baptismal name of Stephen, in consequence of his mother having a vision of the Martyr Saint Stephen, who foretold her that he would convert Hungary, whose first King he became when the Pope had raised the country into a Kingdom.
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Having married the sister of the Emperor, Saint Henry, he surrounded himself, to govern his Kingdom, with men of tried holiness and prudence. He passed entire nights in the contemplation of Heavenly things (Introit), practised the greatest austerities, and, seconded by the Queen, his pious spouse, gave abundant alms (Epistle) to widows, and Churches.
The greatness of his zeal, for the propagation of the Faith, justly won for him the title of "Apostolic King" or "Apostle of Hungary", and deservedly obtained for him from the Holy See the privilege, transmitted to his successors, to have the Cross borne before him.
Pope Francis has called for a day of Fasting and Prayer for Peace in Syria, in the entire Mid-East region, and throughout the whole world, to be held this coming Saturday, 7 September 2013.
Speaking ahead of the traditional Angelus Prayer, with pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square, today, Pope Francis said: “On [Saturday] the 7th of September, here [in St Peter’s Square], from 7 P.M. until Midnight, we will gather together in Prayer, in a spirit of penitence, to ask from God this great gift [of Peace] for the beloved Syrian nation, and for all the situations of conflict and violence in the world.”
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