Sunday, May 31, 2009

Solemnity of Pentecost...

Today is less the "birthday of the Church" and more the "manifestation of the Church". Just as Christ was born in Bethlehem, and was made manifest at his Baptism (i.e., "This is my beloved Son" and "Behold the Lamb of God") so too was the Church born from the side of Christ at Calvary and made manifest at Pentecost.

The Holy Father celebrated Mass this morning at St. Peter's Basilica and I was able to be a minister of communion. The first photo was the view from my seats directly behind the alter while the second photo partially shows the Cologne Germany Chamber Orchestra. The orchestra, along with the men and boy's choir, along with a quartet of vocal soloists, sang the Missa Solemnis B Hob XXII: 14 by Haydn on the occasion of his 200th anniversary of death. It was beautiful, especially the Gloria.

Afterwards I joined the local Holy Cross community at the Generalate for lunch and now hope to do some Latin and Greek studying since my exams quickly approach in three days.

Happy Feast of Pentecost to you all.

UPDATE: A fellow Casa priest has found a video of the Mass online.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I saw a video of the Mass online today and I thought the orchestral setting was beautiful. It must have been an amazing experience to hear it in person.

It reminds of when I attended the Solemn High Requiem Mass at St. John Cantius last November, in which they sang Mozart's Requiem. An uplifting and ineffable experience.