St. Peter Damian, Bishop, Doctor, Cardinal of Ostia

St. Peter Damian by Andrea Barbiani

St. Peter Damian (1001-1072 AD) was a Benedictine monk, Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia, Doctor of the Church, and brilliant reformer.

St. Peter Damian lived during a troubled time in the life of the Church; corruption of morals, notably among the clergy, cried out for a reform.  That reform would come under the leadership of pontiffs like St. Leo IX, Nicholas II, and, of course, St. Gregory VII, whose name was used to describe them: the Gregorian Reform.

In the midst of this difficult reform, St. Peter Damian was exemplary for the service he lent to these popes, and to the Church itself.  He was unflinching in his condemnation of sin and corruption, tireless in his defense of the rights of the Church, and, importantly, earnestly interested in the conversion, and not the destruction, of those who would harm the Church and themselves.

He served as Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia from 1058-1072AD.  This office of Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia is, today, that of the Cardinal-Dean of the College of Cardinals; the first-among-equals who presides over a papal conclave, should that Cardinal be able to participate in the election.  Notably, Pope Benedict XVI was Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia when he was elected in the 2005 conclave.

Pope Benedict XVI actually discussed the life of St. Peter Damian in a Wednesday audience: Pope Benedict XVI: Wednesday Audience, 9 Sept 2009.


A copy of his works, published in 1743.

One of the more notable moral notable works of St. Peter Damian is the gritty Book of Gomorrah, which is an honest exposition of the issue of ecclesiastical moral corruption, especially involving homosexual activity among the clergy.  St. Peter calls out the sin for what it is, and notes that there are some crimes which should exclude one from the clerical state; but more than that, his work is a pleading call to his fellow Churchmen to repent, so as to save their souls.  That work has been republished in a new translation, available here: Ite ad Thomam Books and Media: Book of Gomorrah

Here are a couple samples from the hard-hitting text:

He begins in book I: "The cancer of sodomitic impurity is thus creeping through the clerical order, and indeed is raging like a cruel beast within the sheepfold of Christ with the audacity of such liberty, that for many it would have been much more salutary to be oppressed by the yoke of worldly duties than to be surrender so freely to the iron rule of diabolical tyranny under the pretense of religion. It would have been better to perish alone in secular dress than, having changed one's clothes but not one's heart, to also drag others to destruction, as the Truth testifies, saying: 'He that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it is expedient for him that a millstone be hanged about his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.' And unless the force of the Apostolic See opposes it as quickly as possible, there is no doubt that when it finally wishes for the unbridled evil to be restrained, it may not be able to halt the fury of its advance."

In Book III, he warns of the dangers of not removing from Holy Orders those who commit *any* homosexual acts with others:
"Obviously, the carnal man of any order fears more to be despised in the sight of men than to be condemned according to the determination of the Supreme Judge, and for this reason he would prefer any penance, however severe and extended it might be, to being subject to the endangerment of his grade. Moreover, while he does not fear losing his honorable state by his indiscreet discretion, he is also inclined to take up new vices and to remain longer in those he has taken up with impunity, so that, so to speak, as long as he is not stuck where it hurts more severely, he lies serenely in that pigsty of filthy obscenity in which he first fell."

For St. Peter Damian, it is evident, the salvation of souls is the supreme law.

He was made a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XII in 1828.

His feast was traditionally on 23 February, and moved to 21 February in the revised calendar of 1970.

May our Bishops today have the moral integrity, zealous energy, personal sanctity, and concern for the salvation of souls of St. Peter Damian!

For more about this great saint and doctor, you might note:

Catholic Saints info: St. Peter Damian

Old Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Peter Damian

Catholic Hierarchy: St. Pietro Cardinal Damiano

Live well!

Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

The Throne of St. Peter, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City.

Today is the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter.

Originally, there were two such observances, one on 18 January commemorating the chair of Peter at Rome, and this one on 22 February focused on his chair in Antioch.  In the twentieth century, the two were merged and celebrated on this day, as of the 1962 calendar.

On this day we celebrate "the office of supreme pastor conferred by Christ upon St. Peter and continued in unbroken succession to the present" in the Bishops of Rome, the popes. 

For more on the history of the feast, you should note: Old Catholic Encyclopedia: Chair of Peter

Today is a particular feast of note for members of the Confraternity of St. Peter: Confraternity of St. Peter

The picture above, from St. Peter's basilica, shows the splendid monument of the Chair of Peter by the master artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, completed in 1666AD for Pope Alexander VII.  The chair is held aloft by four doctors of the Church: two Greeks, St. Athanasius & St. John Chrysostom, and two Latins, St. Ambrose & St. Augustine.  Cf., Vatican City State Site: Interior of the Basilica

Pope Benedict XVI, during a Wednesday audience in 2006, observed:
"Celebrating the "Chair" of Peter, therefore, as we are doing today, means attributing a strong spiritual significance to it and recognizing it as a privileged sign of the love of God, the eternal Good Shepherd, who wanted to gather his whole Church and lead her on the path of salvation.

Among the numerous testimonies of the Fathers, I would like to quote St Jerome's. It is an extract from one of his letters, addressed to the Bishop of Rome. It is especially interesting precisely because it makes an explicit reference to the "Chair" of Peter, presenting it as a safe harbour of truth and peace.

This is what Jerome wrote:  "I decided to consult the Chair of Peter, where that faith is found exalted by the lips of an Apostle; I now come to ask for nourishment for my soul there, where once I received the garment of Christ. I follow no leader save Christ, so I enter into communion with your beatitude, that is, with the Chair of Peter, for this I know is the rock upon which the Church is built" (cf. Le lettere I, 15, 1-2).

Dear brothers and sisters, in the apse of St Peter's Basilica, as you know, is the monument to the Chair of the Apostle, a mature work of Bernini. It is in the form of a great bronze throne supported by the statues of four Doctors of the Church:  two from the West, St Augustine and St Ambrose, and two from the East:  St John Chrysostom and St Athanasius." (Cf., Benedict XVI: Wednesday Audience, 22 February 2006)


Further, the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes of the Pope:
"880 When Christ instituted the Twelve, 'he constituted [them] in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter, chosen from among them.'³⁹⁸ Just as 'by the Lord's institution, St. Peter and the rest of the apostles constitute a single apostolic college, so in like fashion the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, and the bishops, the successors of the apostles, are related with and united to one another.'³⁹⁹
881 The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the 'rock' of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock.⁴⁰⁰ 'The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head.'⁴⁰¹ This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.

882 The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's successor, 'is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful.'⁴⁰² 'For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.'⁴⁰³" [cf., Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 880-882. 398 Lumen Gentium 19, Lk 6:13; Jn 21:15-17. 399 LG 22; cf. CIC, can. 330. 400 Cf. Mt 16:18-19; Jn 21:15-17. 401 LG 22 § 2. 402 LG 23. 403 LG 22; cf. CD 2,9.]

It is worth noting, on this occasion, the nature and scope of that papal charism of infallibility.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting Vatican I, states:
"891 "The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful - who confirms his brethren in the faith [-] he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals. . . . The infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter's successor, they exercise the supreme Magisterium," above all in an Ecumenical Council.⁴¹⁸ When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine "for belief as being divinely revealed,"⁴¹⁹ and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions "must be adhered to with the obedience of faith."⁴²⁰ This infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself.⁴²¹" [Cf., Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 891.  418 LG 25; cf. Vatican Council I:DS 3074. 419 DV 10 § 2.  420 LG 25 § 2. 421 Cf. LG 25.]


Not every statement or action of the pope, then, has the protection of infallibility, even if he is discussing a matter of faith and morals.  Not how specific this charism is, as the pope only, "enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful...he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals."  We need not feel compelled to defend every statement of a pope, or expect that every homily, interview, or decision will be the best it could be, or even free from error or scandal.

Pope Benedict XVI expressed the limits and purpose of the papal office rather well during the process of his inauguration as Roman pontiff: "The power of teaching in the Church involves a commitment to the service of obedience to the faith. The Pope is not an absolute monarch whose thoughts and desires are law. On the contrary: the Pope's ministry is a guarantee of obedience to Christ and to his Word. He must not proclaim his own ideas, but rather constantly bind himself and the Church to obedience to God's Word, in the face of every attempt to adapt it or water it down, and every form of opportunism."  Homily on 7 May 2005 taking possession of the Chair of Peter at the Lateran.

Let us pray, then, for the current occupant of the chair, that he might be that source of unity for the Church, that he might preach the truth of Christ with clarity, and live the faith with love.

Live well!

Washington's Birthday

George Washington, by Gilbert Stuart, +1828AD.

Today is the holiday of Washington's Birthday, in honor of George Washington of Virginia (22 February 1732 [N.S.]; 11 February 1731 [O.S.]* -14 December 1799AD), first President of the United States.

Credited as the "father of his country," he was pivotal in the independence movement and revolution of the colonies that formed the United States, not only in his role as military commander, but as the President who set all of the precedents. His approach was one of prudence and steadiness, and his contributions are most certainly a great part of the longevity and stability of this Republic.

*-N.S.: New Style, or Gregorian date; O.S.: Old Style, or Julian date

President Washington would received high praise, indeed, when a century later Pope Leo XIII wrote to the American Church, in his letter Longinqua of 1895: "Precisely at the epoch when the American colonies, having, with Catholic aid, achieved liberty and independence, coalesced into a constitutional Republic the ecclesiastical hierarchy was happily established amongst you; and at the very time when the popular suffrage placed the great Washington at the helm of the Republic, the first bishop was set by apostolic authority over the American Church. The well-known friendship and familiar intercourse which subsisted between these two men seems to be an evidence that the United States ought to be conjoined in concord and amity with the Catholic Church. And not without cause; for without morality the State cannot endure-a truth which that illustrious citizen of yours, whom We have just mentioned, with a keenness of insight worthy of his genius and statesmanship perceived and proclaimed. "  Pope Leo XIII, Longinqua, 1895


George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, at what is now a National Park Service site: George Washington Birthplace National Monument

His home at Mount Vernon in Fairfax County, Virginia, near Washington, DC is worth visiting if you find yourself in the area -- it is here that he is buried: Mount Vernon Official Site
Interestingly, his home was named in honor of British Admiral Vernon, under whom Washington's older brother, Lawrence, had served during the War of Jenkins' Ear and at the Battle of Cartegena.

As a side note, George Washington DID say this: "A free people ought not only to be armed but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well digested plan is requisite: And their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories, as tend to render them independent on others, for essential, particularly for military supplies." That in his first address to Congress, on 8 January 1790. cf., Yale Avalon Project: First Address to Congress. Spurious versions of this statement are prevalent about now!

We can leave aside, on this day to honor him, a discussion of his slaveholding, Freemasonry, church attendance habits, and his role in a revolution against his sovereign.

Undoubtedly, folks will refer to today as "Presidents' Day," which it might be in some places, but not in the home state of this blogger, Georgia.

In the Governor's proclamation of state holidays for the State of Georgia, we find that today, 21 February, is listed as "Washington's Birthday."  Georgia State Holidays, 2022.
Interestingly, the actual observance of the day by state offices comes on 23 December this year.

In Washington's own home state of Virginia, the day is celebrated as "George Washington Day."

Even in United States Code, this day is known as "Washington's Birthday" -- with no hint of "Presidents' Day" in the title.  Here is the US Code itself:

"The following are legal public holidays:
...
Washington’s Birthday, the third Monday in February."
cf., US Code at Cornell Law

So, no Presidents' Day in Georgia or Virginia, and even looking to the code of this Federal Republic!

Is it actually Presidents' Day in your state?

Live well!

Septuagesima Sunday & Season

This image references the Magnificat antiphon of First Vespers for the Sundays of this "season."

Today is Septuagesima Sunday and a reminder that the penitential season of Lent is not long from now!  Indeed, in this Year of Our Lord, 2022, Ash Wednesday falls on 2 March, and the great Feast of Easter on 17 April.

The name "Septuagesima" is from the Latin meaning Seventy days, this being a figurative measurement of our number of days until Easter.  The next several Sundays have similar names: Sexagesima (Sixty), and Quinquagesima (Fifty), before the start of the actual forty days of Quadragesima (Lent).  These names, then, are more tied to the approach of the Quadragesima than an actual measure of days, as a week has fewer than ten days!

During these three weeks, traditionally the Alleluia and Gloria were omitted from the Mass, violet vestments were worn, and a degree of penance, though not as rigorous, were practiced.  These weeks are, indeed, a splendid time to prepare for the coming of Lent, and to ever grow in virtue and love of God -- the keys to living, and so dying, well!

For more details about Septuagesima, you might note the following links:
Old Catholic Encyclopedia: Septuagesima

Customs (Fisheaters) of Septuagesima


Here is an excellent text on the season of Septuagesima, and the customs associated with it, from Dom Gueranger and his work the Liturgical Year:

"The season upon which we are now entering is expressive of several profound mysteries. But these mysteries belong not only to the three weeks which are preparatory to Lent: they continue throughout the whole period of time which separates us from the great feast of Easter.

The number seven is the basis of all these mysteries. We have already seen how the holy Church came to introduce the season of Septuagesima into her calendar. Let us now meditate on the doctrine hidden under the symbols of her liturgy. And first, let us listen to St. Augustine, who thus gives is the clue to the whole of our season's mysteries. 'There are two times,' says the holy Doctor: 'one which is now, and is spent in the temptations and tribulations of this life; the other which shall by then, and shall be spent in eternal security and joy. In figure of these, we celebrate two periods: the time before Easter, and the time after Easter. That which is before Easter signifies the sorrow of this present life; that which is after Easter, the blessedness of our future state... Hence it is that we spend the first in fasting and prayer; and in the second we give up our fasting, and give ourselves to praise.'

The Church, the interpreter of the sacred Scriptures, often speaks to us of two places, which correspond with these two times of St. Augustine. These two places are Babylon and Jerusalem. Babylon is the image of this world of sin, in the midst whereof the Christian has to spend his years of probation; Jerusalem is the heavenly country, where he is to repose after all his trials. The people of Israel, whose whole history is but one great type of the human race, was banished from Jerusalem and kept in bondage in Babylon.

Now, this captivity, which kept the Israelites exiles from Sion, lasted seventy years; and it is to express this mystery, as Alcuin, Amalarius, Ivo of Chartres, and all the great liturgists tell us, that the Church fixed the number of seventy for the days of expiation. It is true, there are but sixty-three days between Septuagesima and Easter; but the Church, according to the style so continually used in the sacred Scriptures, uses the round number instead of the literal and precise one.

The duration of the world itself, according to the ancient Christian tradition, is divided into seven ages. The human race must pass through the seven ages before the dawning of the day of eternal life. The first age included the time from the creation of Adam to Noah; the second begins with Noah and the renovation of the earth by the deluge, and ends with this the vocation of Abraham; the third opens with this first formation of God's chosen people, and continues as far as Moses, through whom God gave the Law; the fourth consists of the period between Moses and David, in whom the house of Juda received the kingly power; the fifth is formed of the years which passed between David's reign and the captivity of Babylon, inclusively; the sixth dates from the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, and takes us on as far as the birth of our Saviour. Then, finally, comes the seventh age; it starts with the rising of this merciful Redeemer, the Sun of justice, and is to continue till the dread coming of the Judge of the living and the dead. These are the seven great divisions of time; after which, eternity.

In order to console us in the midst of the combats, which so thickly beset our path, the Church, like a beacon shining amidst the darkness of this our earthly abode, shows us another seven, which is to succeed the one we are now preparing to pass through. After the Septuagesima of mourning, we shall have the bright Easter with its seven weeks of gladness, foreshadowing the happiness and bliss of heaven. After having fasted with our Jesus, and suffered with Him, the day will come when we shall rise together with Him, and our hearts shall follow Him to the highest heavens; and then after a brief interval, we shall feel the Holy Ghost descending upon us, with His seven Gifts. The celebration of all these wondrous joys will take us seven weeks, as the great liturgists observe in their interpretation of the rites of the Church. The seven joyous weeks from Easter to Pentecost will not be too long for the future glad mysteries, which, after all, will be but figures of a still gladder future, the future of eternity.

Having heard these sweet whisperings of hope, let us now bravely face the realities brought before us by our dear mother the Church. We are sojourners upon this earth; we are exiles and captives in Babylon, that city which plots our ruin. If we love our country, if we long to return to it, we must be proof against the lying allurements of this strange land, and refuse the cup she proffers us, and with which she maddens so many of our fellow captives. She invites us to join in her feasts and her songs; but we must unstring our harps, and hang them on the willows that grow on her river's bank, till the signal be given for our return to Jerusalem. She will ask us to sing to her the melodies of our dear Sion: but how shall we, who are so far from home, have heart to 'sing the song of the Lord in a strange land'? No, there must be no sign that we are content to be in bondage, or we shall deserve to be slaves forever.

These are the sentiments wherewith the Church would inspire us during the penitential season which we are now beginning. She wishes us to reflect on the dangers that beset us; dangers which arise from ourselves and from creatures. During the rest of the year she loves to hear us chant the song of heaven, the sweet Alleluia; but now, she bids us close our lips to this word of joy, because we are in Babylon. We are pilgrims absent from our Lord, let us keep our glad hymn for the day of His return. We are sinners, and have but too often held fellowship with the world of God's enemies; let us become purified by repentance, for it is written that 'praise is unseemly in the mouth of a sinner.'

The leading feature, then, of Septuagesima, is the total suspension of the Alleluia, which is not to again be heard upon the earth until the arrival of that happy day, when having suffered death with our Jesus, and having been buried together with Him, we shall rise again with Him to a new life.

The sweet hymn of the angels, Gloria in excelsis Deo, which we have sung every Sunday since the birth of our Saviour in Bethlehem, is also taken from us; it is only on the feasts of the saints which may by kept during the week that we shall be allowed to repeat it. The night Office of the Sunday is to lose also, from now till Easter, its magnificent Ambrosian hymn, the Te Deum; and at the end of the holy Sacrifice, the deacon will no longer dismiss the faithful with his solemn Ite, Missa est, but will simply invite them to continue their prayers in silence, and bless the Lord, the God of mercy, who bears with us, notwithstanding all our sins.

After the Gradual of the Mass, instead of the thrice repeated Alleluia, which prepared our hearts to listen to the voice of God in the holy Gospel, we shall hear but a mournful and protracted chant, called, on that account, the Tract.

That the eye, too, may teach us that the season we are entering on is one of mourning, the Church will vest her ministers (both on Sundays and on the days during the week which are not feasts of Saints) in the somber purple. Until Ash Wednesday, however, she permits the deacon to wear his dalmatic, and the subdeacon his tunic; but from that day forward, they must lay aside these vestments of joy, for Lent will then have begun and our holy mother will inspire us with the deep spirit of penance, but suppressing everything of that glad pomp, which she loves at other seasons, to bring into the sanctuary of her God."

[cf., Fisheaters: Septuagesima]

Live well!

Candlemas: The Purification & Presentation

An icon of the Meeting of the Lord from Belarus, AD1731.

Today, standing some forty days after Christmas day, we have the Feast of Candlemas -- the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple, and the Purification of Our Lady.

This feast is considered one of the more ancient of Our Lady, though in more recent times has emphasized the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple.  Of course, this is a commemoration of what we read in the Gospel of St. Luke, 2:22-38:
"22 And when the time had come for purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him before the Lord there. 23 It is written in God’s law, that whatever male offspring opens the womb is to be reckoned sacred to the Lord;[4]24 and so they must offer in sacrifice for him, as God’s law commanded, a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons.[5] 25 At this time there was a man named Simeon living in Jerusalem, an upright man of careful observance, who waited patiently for comfort to be brought to Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him; 26 and by the Holy Spirit it had been revealed to him that he was not to meet death, until he had seen that Christ whom the Lord had anointed. 27 He now came, led by the Spirit, into the temple; and when the child Jesus was brought in by his parents, to perform the custom which the law enjoined concerning him, 28 Simeon too was able to take him in his arms. And he said, blessing God: 29 Ruler of all, now dost thou let thy servant go in peace, according to thy word; 30 for my own eyes have seen that saving power of thine 31 which thou hast prepared in the sight of all nations. 32 This is the light which shall give revelation to the Gentiles, this is the glory of thy people Israel.33 The father and mother of the child were still wondering over all that was said of him, 34 when Simeon blessed them, and said to his mother Mary, Behold, this child is destined to bring about the fall of many and the rise of many in Israel; to be a sign which men will refuse to acknowledge; 35 and so the thoughts of many hearts shall be made manifest; as for thy own soul, it shall have a sword to pierce it. 36 There was besides a prophetess named Anna, daughter to one Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser (a woman greatly advanced in age, since she had lived with a husband for seven years after her maidenhood,37 and had now been eighty-four years a widow) who abode continually in the temple night and day, serving God with fasting and prayer. 38 She too, at that very hour, came near to give God thanks, and spoke of the child to all that patiently waited for the deliverance of Israel."

The meeting of Our Lord with the aged and just Simeon, his magnificent Nunc Dimittis which we say every night at Compline, and the prophecy to Our Lady of the sword that shall piece her heart, and the prophetess Anna are all notable and memorable.  How striking, too, that she who was without sin submits to be purified according to the Mosaic Law!  May our humility and obedience ever reflect that we see in the characters present at this great Presentation and Purification.

It is also fitting that we, in the Northern Hemisphere, observe this Feast when we do: the light that came into the world at Christmas in the stable of Bethlehem, at the time of the darkness of the Winter Solstice, is now growing brighter and more public with this presentation in the Temple of Jerusalem.  The nights remain longer than the days, but the light grows yet stronger, and brighter, and we know that the chill of February will soon give way to the warmth of Spring.

Dom Gueranger notes in his Litugical Year: "The mystery of today's ceremony has frequently been explained by liturgists, dating from the 7th century. According to Ivo of Chartres, the wax, which is formed from the juice of flowers by the bee, always considered as the emblem of virginity, signifies the virginal flesh of the Divine Infant, who diminished not, either by His conception or His birth, the spotless purity of His Blessed Mother. The same holy bishop would have us see, in the flame of our Candle, a symbol of Jesus who came to enlighten our darkness. St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, speaking on the same mystery, bids us consider three things in the blessed Candle: the wax, the wick, and the flame. The wax, he says, which is the production of the virginal bee, is the Flesh of our Lord; the wick, which is within, is His Soul; the flame, which burns on top, is His divinity."

Today candles are traditionally blessed and an integral part of the liturgies of the day -- hence the name of Candlemas.

Lumen ad revelationem gentium: et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.  A light to the revelation of the Gentiles: and for the glory of Thy people Israel.  (Luke 2:32)

Today we process with that light, which we know will, in the end, overcome the darkness.

For more, here are a couple splendid sources, the first concerned more with the history, and the second with the customs of this beautiful feast:
Old Catholic Encyclopedia: Candlemas

Customs of Candlemas (Fisheaters)

Today, too is the last day when it is customary to sing the Marian Antiphon, Alma Redemptoris Mater. Indeed, tonight it is customary to begin the use of the Ave Regina Caelorum  So, I close with a farewell setting of the Alma by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina:


Live well!