This was another Green Sunday, a second-class feast, and so we sang Mass IV, and Credo IV.
We are still in the month of the Immaculate Heart and so we again sang Immaculate Mary at the processional (Fatima refrain this time).
For Our Lady, at the Offertory, we sang Tota Pulchra Es in honor of her purity and beauty.
There are only two persons whose conceptions are celebrated in the liturgy, and that is owing to their complete sinlessness even at conception. On March 25th, we celebrate the feast of the Annunciation when Our Lord was conceived, and on December 8th, we celebrate Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception.
There are only three persons whose births are celebrated in the liturgy, and that is owing to their complete sinlessness at birth. Our Lord, of course, was born on December 25th. Our Lady was born on September 8th. And St John the Baptist, who was conceived in original sin, but sanctified in the womb, was born sinless on June 24th.
St. John the Baptist is unique in this regard and so we celebrate both his birth and his death. He died, of course, by being beheaded by Salome (see the picture, below). We celebrate that event on August 29th, which was this past Sunday. In his honor, at the communion, we sang Ut Queant Laxis, the hymn from Second Vespers on the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. And then, we sang Ave Verum Corpus in honor of Our Lord. Normally, we would sing the hymn for Our Lord first, but, since St. John was the precursor…, well, you get it.
You will recall the following from Grace Notes for the Nativity of St. John the Baptist:
Musically, Ut Queant Laxis is particularly interesting. The hymn was composed using a six-note scale called a hexachord. The first syllable of each phrase starts successively on each of the notes of that hexachord. Here is the first verse, with each first syllable and the corresponding note highlighted. It is shown with Guido d’Arezzo, who is credited with having worked all this out:
(See the pictures, below.)
Let’s have a look at those syllables all together: Ut Re Mi Fa Sol La. Hmmmm…..
Somewhere along the way, Ut got changed to Do, and thus, we have the familiar Do Re Mi Fa Sol La.
As music evolved to the modern scale, a seventh note was added and the note name was based on the initial letters of the last phrase: Sancte Iohannes, Si, which is still used in many places, whereas other places replaced Si with Ti. And so we have Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do. And there you have it!
Wait! This gets better! In Latin, the range of a scale is referred to as the gamma. The range of the hexachord came to be referred to as the gamma Ut. That evolved into gamut, meaning the entire range of something, the whole gamut!
At the recessional, we sang Hail Holy Queen, again in honor of Our Lady’s coronation, which took place as she was assumed into heaven, which feast we celebrated on August 15th.
And finally, we concluded with Stella Coeli Extirpavit after the recessional.