The Liturgical Year emphasizes different aspects of our faith in each season. The beginning of the Liturgical Year is Advent, “a period for devout and joyful expectation.” (General Norms of the Liturgical Year, 1969) Our joyful expectation in Advent becomes the joyous celebrations of the Christmas season, before a short period of Ordinary Time, “devoted to the mystery of Christ in all its aspects.”(General Norms of the Liturgical Year, 1969) As each liturgical season has a different character, the music that we sing at each liturgy can help to accentuate that character, and highlight the changing seasons in our liturgical calendar. This is why at Sts. Anne & Joachim, we typically change our Mass Ordinary (Lord Have Mercy | Glory to God | Holy, Holy, Holy | Mystery of Faith | Amen | Lamb of God) at the change of each liturgical season.
As we move from from Ordinary Time to Lent next week, we will make some customary changes to the music we sing at Mass. The videos below showcase each of the parts of the Belmont Mass (Sunday Liturgies) and the Missa Primitiva (Saturday morning 8:30am Masses) that will be sung in our parish. In addition, there is a video at the bottom for the “Ave Regina Caelorum,” which will be sung as the recessional hymn each week at the Saturday 8:30am Mass.
Belmont Mass - Christopher Walker (Sunday Masses)
Missa Primitiva (Saturday 8:30am Masses)
NB: The “Missa Primitiva Kyrie” contains one performance error – the penultimate (second-to-last) note in the final refrain should be an F-natural, but an F-sharp is incorrectly sung in the recording.
Ave Regina Caelorum (Saturday 8:30am Masses)
Ave Regina coelorum,
Ave Domina Angelorum:
Salve radix, salve porta,
Ex qua mundo lux est orta:
Gaude Virgo gloriosa,
Super omnes speciosa,
Vale, o valde decora,
Et pro nobis Christum exora.
Hail, Queen of Heaven.
Hail, Lady of Angels
Hail, root, hail, gate
From whom unto the world a light has arisen:
Rejoice, glorious Virgin,
Lovely beyond all others,
Farewell, most beautiful maiden,
And pray for us to Christ.
The Ave Regina Caelorum is one of 4 Marian Antiphons that the Catholic Church sings throughout the liturgical year, most commonly associated with Night Prayer (Compline) from the Liturgy of the Hours. Like many of the ancient hymns of the Church, its exact origin is unknown, but likely dates back to the 12th-century, and has been a part of Compline since the 13th century. It is traditionally recited from the Feast of the Presentation (Feb 2) until Wednesday of Holy Week, making it a fitting choice to be sung during Lent.
