Sacred Music at St. Mary’s

Music for the First Sunday of Advent (Missale Romanum of 1962, 9:00 a.m.)
Mass for Four Voices (William Byrd, c.1543-1623)
Gregorian Mass of the First Sunday of Advent: Ad te levavi
Motet at the Offertory: Ad te levavi (G.P. da Palestrina, c.1525-1594)
Motet at the Communion: Conditor alme siderum (Guillaume Dufay, c.1400-1474)
Hymn of Thanksgiving: Te Deum (plainsong, mode iii)

Music for the First Sunday of Advent (Missale Romanum of 1970, 11:00 a.m.)
Gregorian Mass for Sundays of Advent & Lent (Vatican Gradual, Mass XVII)
Alleluia: Ostende nobis (plainsong, mode viii)
Hymn at the Offertory: Wake, Awake, For Night Is Flying (Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme)
Communion: Dominus dabit benignitatem (plainsong, mode i)
Hymn at the Communion: Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending (Helmsley)

A note on choir cassocks
With the beginning of the new liturgical year, we are very pleased this Sunday to use for the first time new cassocks and surplices for the St. Mary’s choirs. The choir fulfills an important liturgical role, and this dress reminds us of the solemnity of purpose which attends the rendering of sacred music, the “handmaid of the liturgy.” As the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of Vatican II states: “…members of the choir also exercise a genuine liturgical function. They ought, therefore, to discharge their office with the sincere piety and decorum demanded by so exalted a ministry and rightly expected of them by God’s people. Consequently they must all be deeply imbued with the spirit of the liturgy, each in his own measure, and they must be trained to perform their functions in a correct and orderly manner” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 29). We are grateful to John Chidsey for making possible our use of these choir cassocks, and we pray that they will inspire us to sing with ever greater devotion to Almighty God.

Advent Lessons & Carols
Please join us for a ceremony of Advent Lessons & Carols on Friday, December 14th, at 7:00 p.m. Anthems, chants, and carols of the season will be interspersed with nine readings from Holy Scripture prophesying the birth of Our Lord. Music will be sung by the St. Mary’s Choir (11:00 a.m. Mass) and the Coro Hispano de Santa María (1:00 p.m. Mass), joined by guest organist Isabelle Demers. For further information, please contact the music office: music@stmarynorwalk.net or 866-5546 x115.

Prelude: Improvisation on the Introit Dignus est agnus

Mass Ordinary: Missa Octavi Toni (Orlando di Lassus, 1530-1594)

Alleluia: Potestas eius (plainsong, mode i)

Acclamation at the Offertory: Christus vincit (Ambrosian chant)

Communion: Sedebit Dominus Rex (plainsong, mode vi)

Motet at the Communion: Jesu, Rex admirabilis (G.P. da Palestrina, c.1525-1594)

Postlude: Hodie mecum eris in Paradiso (from Les sept Parôles du Christ) (Charles Tournemire, 1870-1939)

Prelude: Wir danken dir, Herr Jesu Christ [BuxWV 224] (Dietrich Buxtehude, c.1637-1707)

Mass Ordinary: Missa de Angelis (Vatican Gradual, Mass VIII)

Hymn at the Offertory: Come, Ye Thankful People, Come (St. George’s Windsor)

Communion: In the sight of the angels (plainsong, mode viii)

Postlude: Te Deum in A Minor [Op. 59, No. 12] (Max Reger, 1873-1916)

Prelude: Apparition de l’Eglise éternelle (Olivier Messiaen, 1908-1992)

Alleluia: De profundis (plainsong, mode vii)

Hymn at the Offertory: Lord Christ, When First You Came to Earth (Mit Freuden zart)

Communion: Amen dico vobis (plainsong, mode i)

Motet at the Communion: O Bone Jesu (G.P. da Palestrina, c.1525-1594)

Postlude: Praeludium in F# Minor [BuxWV 146] (Dietrich Buxtehude, c.1637-1707)

Prelude: Prélude (from Messe basse pour tous les temps) (Gaston Litaize, 1909-1991)

Alleluia: Qui posuit (plainsong, mode iv)

Hymn at the Offertory: If There Be That Skills to Reckon (Lewes) (arr. Philip A. Prince)

Communion: Dominus regit me (plainsong, mode ii)

Organ meditation at the Communion: Communion (from Messe basse pour tous les temps) (Litaize)

Postlude: Prière d’action de grâces (from Messe basse pour tous les temps) (Litaize)