The Procession of the Dead Christ.

The Burial of the Body of Christ – The Office of Compline

The vigil before the sepulcher continues throughout the night.

(Above and below) New Vestments – the folded chasubles courtesy of the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny

(Above and below) The singing of the Passion

THE ANNUNCIATION AND PASSION.
by John Donne

TAMELY, frail body, abstain to-day ; to-day
My soul eats twice, Christ hither and away.
She sees Him man, so like God made in this,
That of them both a circle emblem is,
Whose first and last concur ; this doubtful day
Of feast or fast, Christ came, and went away ;
She sees Him nothing, twice at once, who’s all ;
She sees a cedar plant itself, and fall ;
Her Maker put to making, and the head
Of life at once not yet alive, yet dead ;
She sees at once the Virgin Mother stay
Reclused at home, public at Golgotha ;
Sad and rejoiced she’s seen at once, and seen
At almost fifty, and at scarce fifteen ;
At once a son is promised her, and gone ;
Gabriell gives Christ to her, He her to John ;
Not fully a mother, she’s in orbity ;
At once receiver and the legacy.
All this, and all between, this day hath shown,
Th’ abridgement of Christ’s story, which makes one—
As in plain maps, the furthest west is east—
Of th’ angels Ave, and Consummatum est.
How well the Church, God’s Court of Faculties,
Deals, in sometimes, and seldom joining these.
As by the self-fix’d Pole we never do
Direct our course, but the next star thereto,
Which shows where th’other is, and which we say
—Because it strays not far—doth never stray,
So God by His Church, nearest to him, we know,
And stand firm, if we by her motion go.
His Spirit, as His fiery pillar, doth
Lead, and His Church, as cloud ; to one end both.
This Church by letting those days join, hath shown
Death and conception in mankind is one ;
Or ’twas in Him the same humility,
That He would be a man, and leave to be ;
Or as creation He hath made, as God,
With the last judgment but one period,
His imitating spouse would join in one
Manhood’s extremes ; He shall come, He is gone ;
Or as though one blood drop, which thence did fall,
Accepted, would have served, He yet shed all,
So though the least of His pains, deeds, or words,
Would busy a life, she all this day affords.
This treasure then, in gross, my soul, uplay,
And in my life retail it every day.

(in 1608, as in 2016, the Annunciation and Good Friday fell on the same day)

(Above) Flectamus Genua

(2 above and 2 below) Ecce Lignum Crucis

(Above) the Adoration of the Holy Cross

(Above) Vexilla Regis prodeunt

The Mass

(above) Ringing of bells at the Gloria.

The Procession

The Altar of Repose

The Stripping of the Altar

At St. Mary, Norwalk, with new Gammarelli vestments.

The blessing of the chalk. Photo courtesy of Diana Yuan Yuan

Today at St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk, after the 9:30 Solemn Mass, Fr. Cipolla blesses the Christmas coffee hour

carolling

Some photographs of the Christmas Midnight mass of St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk, CT. Fr. Richard Cipolla was the celebrant. (Above) The church was filled near to capacity for the occasion.

Praying the rosary before the creche led by Fr. Cipolla.

Fr. Jeffrey Keyes chanted the proclamation of the birth of Christ.

(Above and Below) The procession with the image of the Christ Child.

(Above and below) Mr. David Hughes led the assembled musical forces. For a description of the music performed on this night see our post HERE.

It was almost deserted on Greenwich Avenue at 6:30  this morning, but the lights were on in many of the stores as employees readied things for a busy Christmas  shopping day.  Inside St. Mary’s  a different kind of preparation was taking place, where many people knelt in the quiet, candlelit church waiting for the Rorate Mass to begin.  Father Cyprian La Pastina was the celebrant of this solemn Mass.  A large group of young men assisted as acolytes.  The propers and ordinaries were sung in Gregorian chant.  As the mass progressed the light of dawn began to show through the windows.

From the parish website:  “This is a special Mass celebrated in honor of Our Lady on Saturdays in Advent. The title comes from the Introit (Entrance) of the Mass which translated means, “Drop down ye heavens from above” reminding us that the Lord came down from heaven and was born of the Virgin. What makes this Mass so unusual is that it is celebrated in the early morning by candlelight. The celebration is timed so that the sun begins to rise by the time of the consecration of the bread and wine to remind us of the constant coming of Christ into this world each time Holy Mass is celebrated.”

Last night Regina Pacis Academy, an independent Catholic school in Norwalk Connecticut, put on its annual Christmas pageant featuring a play “A House for Elves,” written for the occasion by teacher Molly Lloyd.

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe was observed this evening at St. Mary’s Church Norwalk with an outdoor procession with mariachi band and a banquet.