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Views from the Choir Loft

Daily martyrology

Veronica Brandt · August 16, 2014

St Andrew Kim and companions 103 Korean martyrs (St. Andrew Kim, First Korean Catholic priest) HE MOST PRESSING NEWS lately has been the rise of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, wiping out some of the oldest Christian communities in the world. Each day brings news of fresh horrors, complete with photographs. The mind recoils, the heart grows heavy, how can we even hear it?

And yet, this is nothing new. This is the way of the Cross which Christians have followed from the beginning.

Some versions of the Divine Office make time for reading the Martyrology each day. Every day brings ancient reminders of the transience of our time on earth. Each brief account reinforces St Paul’s teaching: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us.”

The Roman Martyrology for tomorrow, the seventeenth of August.

THE Octave of St. Lawrence, martyr. At Cracow, in Poland, St. Hyacinth, confessor, of the Order of Preachers, who slept in the Lord on the 16th of this month. At Carthage, in Africa, the holy martyrs Liberatus, abbot, Boniface, deacon, Servus and Kusticus, subdeacons, Rogatus and Septimus, monks, and Maximus, a young child. In the persecution of the Vandals, under king Hunneric, they were subjected to various unheard-of torments for the confession of the Catholic faith and the defense of one baptism. Finally, being nailed to the wood wherewith they were to be burned, as the fire was always put out miraculously whenever kindled, they were struck with iron bars by order of the tyrant until their brains were dashed out. Thus they terminated the glorious series of their combats, and were crowned by our Lord. At Caesarea, in Cappadocia, the birthday of St. Mamas, martyr, who, from childhood to old age, endured a long martyrdom, and at length ended it happily in the reign of Aurelian, under the governor Alexander. He has been highly praised by the holy fathers Basil and Gregory Nazianzen. In Achaia, St. Myron, priest and martyr, who was beheaded at Cyzicum, after undergoing many torments, in the time of the emperor Decius and the governor Antipater. At Nicomedia, the holy martyrs Straton, Philip and Eutychian, who were condemned to the beasts, but being uninjured by them, ended their martyrdom by fire. At Teramo, St. Anastasius, bishop and confessor. At Ptolemais, in Palestine, the holy martyrs Paul, and his sister Juliana, who suffered under Valerian.

From the Roman Martyrology 1916.

There is nothing new!

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Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The authority of the Pope is not unlimited. It is at the service of Sacred Tradition. Still less is any kind of general ‘freedom’ of manufacture, degenerating into spontaneous improvisation, compatible with the essence of faith and liturgy. The greatness of the liturgy depends—we shall have to repeat this frequently—on its lack of spontaneity.”

— Josef Cardinal Ratzinger (2000)

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