THE 13TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST AND THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE HEART: Grace Notes: Why we sing what we sing

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and Sunday, August 22nd was the feast of the same name. It is a second-class feast, and so the Sunday takes precedence in the Liturgy. Thus, the propers we sang were for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost.

We sang Stella Coeli Extirpavit before the processional. As the processional, we sang Immaculate Mary. There are two versions of this hymn in the hymnal. The verses are identical between the two; All that changes is the refrain, one of which is commonly sung in processions at Fatima, and the other more commonly sung at Lourdes. On this day, we sang the Lourdes refrain.

We did something a little different for the offertory. Of course, we sang the offertory antiphon for the Sunday, but following that, instead of a hymn, per se, we sang the offertory antiphon from the fourth Sunday of Advent, the words of which happen to be the Ave Maria.

At the communion, we gave homage to Our Lord, as is fitting, but we also made an oblique reference to Our Lady by singing Cor Arca. This is the Lauds hymn for the Feast of the Sacred Heart, and thus we honored the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but also the Immaculate Heart of Mary, because it is so closely united to the Sacred Heart.

For the recessional, we looked back to the feasts of St. Philomena and St. Clare, and sang O Crown of Virgin Choirs, Vespers and Lauds hymn for feasts of Virgins. [as an aside, it is worth noting that when the Church speaks of Virgins, she means women who have consecrated their virginity to God. In most cases, this means as nuns.]

After Mass, as a brief meditative piece, in honor of the Queenship of Mary, we sang Ave Regina Caelorum (Hail, Queen of Heaven).

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