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Thanks to TAN Press and the graphic design of Sam Fernholtz, we have a 2024 Liturgical Calendar just in time for Advent/Christmas shopping!

The new-and-improved, unique 10.5″ x 10.5″, spiral-bound calendar contains some of the greatest and most recognizable images from Western culture. Just as each day of the week has a Votive Mass (Monday: the Holy Angels; Tuesday: the Apostles, etc.), each month has a dedication:

• January: the Holy Name
• February: the Passion of Our Lord
• March: St. Joseph

Here are some images:

N.B. Last year’s calendar had weak page strength, so we’ve increased the paper weight, so the corners won’t curl.

Each day has indications for the liturgical calendar in both Usus Antiquior (old calendar feast days) and the Usus Recentior (new calendar feast days), as well as abstinence or fast symbols.  Note that under each day of the week there is a theme which is traditionally observed.

There’s an entire page on spiritual fasting and the symbols that each day indicate.

Like last year, we even added when local TLMs were going to be on special occasions:

Proceeds benefit Una Voce Des Moines and the continued promotion of the usus antiquior.

Be sure to share with your friends and family, but order quickly as Christmas is in a few weeks and we have a limited supply!

Calendar costs:

1 calendar – $20

6 calendar – $100

(Additional cost for shipping TBD)

For more information, email Bryan @ info@unavocedsm.org or call/text 812.686.6102.

Taken from: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14506a.htm

Tenebræ is the name given to the service of Matins and Lauds belonging to the last three days of Holy Week. This service, as the “Cæremoniale episcoporum” expressly directs, is to be anticipated and it should be sung shortly after Compline “about the twenty-first hour”, i.e. about three p.m. on the eve of the day to which it belongs. “On the three days before Easter“, says Benedict XIV (Institut., 24), “Lauds follow immediately on Matins, which in this occasion terminate with the close of day, in order to signify the setting of the Sun of Justice and the darkness of the Jewish people who knew not our Lord and condemned Him to the gibbet of the cross.” Originally Matins on these days, like Matins at all other seasons of the year, were sung shortly after midnight, and consequently if the lights were extinguished the darkness was complete. That this putting out of lights dates from the fifth century, so far at least as regards the night Office, is highly probable. Both in the first Ordo Romanus and in the Ordo of St. Amand published by Duchesne a great point is made of the gradual extinction of the lights during the Friday Matins; though it would seem that in this earliest period the Matins and Lauds of the Thursday were sung throughout with the church brightly illuminated (ecclesia omni lumine decoretur). On Friday the candles and lamps were gradually extinguished during the three Nocturns, while on Saturday the church was in darkness from beginning to end, save that a single candle was kept near the lectern to read by.

All this suggests, as Kutschker has remarked, that the Office of these three days was treated as a sort of funeral service, or dirge, commemorating the death of Jesus Christ. It is natural also that, since Christ by convention was regarded as having lain three days and three nights in the tomb, these obsequies should have come in the end to be celebrated on each of the three separate occasions with the same demonstrations of mourning. There can be no reasonable doubt that it was from the extinguishing of lights that the service came to be known as Tenebræ, though the name itself seems to have arisen somewhat later. The liturgist de Vert has suggested an utilitarian explanation of the putting out of the candles one by one, contending that the gradual approach of the dawn rendered the same number of lights unnecessary, and that the number was consequently diminished as the service drew to a close. This view seems sufficiently refuted by the fact that this method of gradual extinction is mentioned by the first Ordo Romanus on the Friday only. On the Saturday we are explicitly told that the lights were not lit. Moreover, as pointed out under HOLY WEEK, the tone of the whole Office, which seems hardly to have varied in any respect from that now heard in our churches, is most noticeably mournful–the lessons taken from the Lamentations of Jeremias, the omission of the Gloria Patri, of the Te Deum, and of blessings etc., all suggest a service cognate to the Vigiliæ Mortuorum, just as the brilliant illumination of the Easter eve spoke of triumph and of joy, so the darkness of the preceding night’s services seems to have been designedly chosen to mark the Church’s desolation. In any case it is to be noticed that the Office of these three days has been treated by liturgical reformers throughout the ages with scrupulous respect. The lessons from Jeremias in the first Nocturn, from the Commentaries of St. Augustine upon the Psalms in the second, and from the Epistles of St. Paul in the third remain now as when we first hear of them in the eighth century.

The Benedictine Order, who normally have their own arrangement of psalms and nocturns, differing from the Roman, on these three days conform to the ordinary Roman practice. Even the shifting of the hour from midnight to the previous afternoon, when no real darkness can be secured, seems to have been prompted by the desire to render these sublime Offices more accessible to clergy and laity. Already in the thirteenth century it seems probable that at Rome Tenebræ began at four or five o’clock on the Wednesday (see Ord. Rom., xiv, 82, and Ord. Rom., xv, 62). Despite the general uniformity of this service throughout the Western Church, there was also a certain diversity of usage in some details, more particularly, in the number of candles which stood in the Tenebræ hearse, and in some accretions which, especially in the Sarum Use, marked the termination of the service. With regard to the candles Durandus speaks of as many as seventy-two being used in some churches and as few as nine or seven in others. In England the Sarum Ordinal prescribed twenty-four, and this was the general number in this country, variously explained as symbolizing the twenty-four hours of the day, or the twelve Apostles with the twelve Prophets. A twenty-fifth candle was allowed to remain lighted and hidden, as is done at the present day, behind the altar, when all the others had been gradually extinguished. At present, the rubrics of the “Ceremoniale,” etc., prescribe the use of fifteen candles. The noise made at the end of Tenebræ undoubtedly had its origin in the signal given by the master of ceremonies for the return of the ministers to the sacristy. A number of the earlier Ceremoniales and Ordines are explicit on this point. But at a later date others lent their aid in making this knocking. For example Patricius Piccolomini says: “The prayer being ended the master of ceremonies begins to beat with his hand upon the altar step or upon some bench, and all to some extent make a noise and clatter.” This was afterwards symbolically interpreted to represent the convulsion of nature which followed the death of Jesus Christ.

 Appeal for prayers and penances

for the Liberty of the Traditional Mass in Lent

From Una Voce International and others Una Voce International and other organizations, groups and individuals concerned with the Traditional Latin Mass would like to appeal to all Catholics of good will to offer prayers and penances during the season of Lent, particularly for the intention: the liberty of the Traditional Mass.

We do not know how credible rumors of further documents from the Holy See on this subject may be, but the rumor themselves point to a situation of doubt, conflict, and apprehension, which is severely harmful to the mission of the Church. We appeal to our Lord, through His Blessed Mother, to restore to all Catholics the right and opportunity to worship according to the Church’s own venerable liturgical traditions, in perfect unity with the Holy Father and the bishops of the whole Church.

Taken from: http://www.fiuv.org/2023/02/pray-for-tlm-this-lent.html

Throughout the year, the Church prays different Marian Antiphons based on the proper liturgical season.  We’ll post the current Antiphon throughout the year:

Advent/Christmas:  Alma Redemptoris Mater
Lent:  Ave Regina Caelorum
Easter: Regina Caeli
Pentecost:  Salve Regina

Here’s a great article about the different seasons, highlighting the Ave Regina Caelorum, which is sung from February 2nd (Purification/Candlemas) until the Easter Vigil.

The four Marian Antiphons have traditionally been sung at the end of Compline – each one during a particular season of the Church Year.   Ave, Regina Caelorum is the antiphon sung from Purification/Candlemas (February 2) until the Easter Vigil.

Here’s a video of the antiphon sung to the Simple Tone by the Benedictine Monks of the Abbey at Ganagobie. Chant score from the Liber Usualis (1961), p. 278.  (English translation below.)

Here’s the chant score of the Simple Tone version, from the Liber Usualis:

This translation was done for our monastery by Dr. Rudolph Masciantonio, president of the Philadelphia Latin Liturgy Association:

Hail, queen of heaven, hail lady of the angels. Hail, root, hail the door through which the Light of the world is risen. Rejoice, glorious Virgin, beautiful above all. Hail, O very fair one, and plead for us to Christ.

St. Augustin’s is pleased to announce a yearly bulk subscription for the TLM community to the new Benedictus monthly companion
booklets.

Using this group method, your 12 monthly booklets will be
labeled and made available to you each month before Mass in the
hallway.

In addition, the small discount given by Sophia Press will
benefit the church needs for the TLM.

To learn about Benedictus, visit https://praybenedictus.com

We plan to process new yearly orders submitted by the 15th of January,
April, July, and October to begin each quarter.

Giving Site: https://giving.parishsoft.com/App/Giving/staugustin

Once at the giving site, simply select TLM Benedictus Subscription field, $60 in the Amount field, and click Add Donation (see the screenshot below – full year orders

required)

Contact Richard Chamberlin, rjdchaim@gmail.com, with any questions.

For the first time in years — we’re not sure how long! — a Rorate Caeli Mass will be celebrated on the 1st Saturday of Advent, December 3, 2022 at 8am.

St. Augustin Catholic Church
545 42nd St
Des Moines, IA 50312

This will truly be an extraordinary opportunity to witness a beautiful traditional liturgical devotion to Our Lady during a special preparatory period before we commemorate the birth of our Lord.

For more on what a Rorate Mass is, be sure to read here.

And share with your friends and family this unique Advent devotion!

The Rorate Mass or (Rorate Caeli Mass) is a traditional Advent devotion in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Rorate Mass is lit only by candlelight. Because it is a votive Mass in Mary’s honor, white vestments are worn instead of Advent violet.

On a Saturday during the Advent season, the faithful gather — typically before sunrise (hence the necessity for candles) — for a special Mass.

Taken from Isaiah 45:8, which is the introit for the mass:

“Rorate, caeli, desuper, et nubes pluant justum, aperiatur terra, et germinet Salvatorem.”

“Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened and bud forth a Saviour.”

From the FSSP website:

…priests and faithful prepare to honor the Light of the world, Who is soon to be born, and offer praise to God for the gift of Our Lady. As the Mass proceeds and sunrise approaches, the church becomes progressively brighter, illumined by the sun as our Faith is illumined by Christ.

The readings and prayers of the Mass foretell the prophecy of the Virgin who would bear a Son called Emmanuel, and call on all to raise the gates of their hearts and their societies to let Christ the King enter; asking for the grace to receive eternal life by the merits of the Incarnation and saving Resurrection of Our Lord.

For some stunning photos of previous Rorate Masses around the world, check this out.