The great
Solemnity of the Nativity concludes each year at the Cathedral of the Madeleine with the Office of Vespers. Coming exactly twenty-five hours after the celebration began with the 400 PM Christmas Carol Service on Christmas Eve, Vespers sung by the choir is a quiet, more reflective service of worship without the huge crowds. The sung Psalms and Canticles consider the coming of the Savior in the midst of darkness:
Before the dawn of light on earth, I have begotten you and
My soul is longing for the Lord more than watchmen for daybreak.
This year marked twenty years of Christmas Vespers – it was inaugurated after the reopening of the cathedral in 1993 – and I noticed something remarkable: 17 of the 21 members of the Choir are alumni of the Cathedral’s Choir School, many of whom were returned from University studies to assist with the Choir on this night. Additionally, the priest who served as celebrant at Vespers – Fr. Christopher Gray – is also an alumnus!
At Vespers, the choir offered the Cristobal de Morales setting of the venerable Christmas text, O magnum mysterium. The Spanish Renaissance composer Morales was born in Seville around 1500 and served for a time in Rome as a musician with the papal choir. The text celebrates the odd manner in which the Lord comes among us – taking flesh of a humble young woman of no account in a setting where lowly animals recognize the greatness of this event.
Here is a link to a live recording of the
Morales O magnum mysterium from Christmas Vespers 2013 at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.
O great mystery,
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the new-born Lord,
lying in a manger!
Blessed is the Virgin whose womb
was worthy to bear
Christ the Lord.
O Lord, I heard your voice and I was afraid.
I observed your work and trembled, in the midst of two animals.
Thanks to our seventeen incredible alumni who returned to assist with the singing of Christmas Day Vespers:
Camille Barker - West High School
Nicolas Chuaqui - Dartmouth College
Lucy Colosimo - College of Saint Benedict/St. John's University
Gillian Eshleman - San Francisco Conservatory
Emily Graham - West High School
Andrew Maughan - Indiana University
Cadie Payne - University of Utah
CaiLi Pleshe - Judge Memorial Catholic High School
Emerson Pratt - University of Utah
Olivia Pratt - Judge Memorial Catholic High School
Brielle Richardson - Judge Memorial Catholic High School
Cynthia Sandoval - Judge Memorial Catholic High School
Joseph Savastano - University of Utah
Jaclyn Tani - West High School
Kendall Thorsen - Judge Memorial Catholic High School
Antona Yost - University of Southern California
Matthew Yost - The Catholic University of America
2 comments:
What an honor to be a part of it! I like to consider myself an honorary alumni.
It's hard to beleive, I know, but Emerson is now also a college man (U of U).
Your aging friend, Tim P.
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