After all the fanfare Sunday, Monday, one of the greatest feasts throughout the year, was rather anticlimactic. Of course, All Saints Day is a Holy Day of Obligation, but we live in a post-Christian and anti-Catholic world and the world does not care about our Holy Days, so, today was a workday, and thus, attendance was somewhat reduced for this Mass. We were also shorthanded musically, having only two singers and not having an organist. Rather subdued, it was.
You will have noticed that we did not have a processional hymn, as such. Why not? The Asperges is only sung on Sundays, and it is sung before the Introit is chanted. Thus, on Sundays, the processional hymn comes before the Asperges and before the Introit. During the week, since there is no Asperges, it is desirable to sing the Introit as the processional.
Once again, we are celebrating a solemn feast and so once again, we sang Mass II and Credo III. At the Offertory, we sang our customary Stella Caeli Extirpavit.
At the Communion, we sang the Magnificat, and preceded that with the Antiphon proper to the feast of All Saints. We should also have sung it afterwards as well, but ran out of time! We concluded with the Gloria Patri of the Magnificat.
As Our Lady is Queen of All Saints, we concluded with Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above as the recessional.