OMETHING WE HAVE tried to avoid on this blog is constant complaining about the way our government (and our Church) has reacted to Covid-19. The reason for this is simple: Complaining doesn’t solve anything. That being said, there is no question that Covid-19 has turned what’s already a difficult vocation into something even more precarious and arduous. Here in California, we’ve basically been ‘locked down’ since March. The Covid-19 restrictions have constantly been modified, sometimes on a weekly basis. For Christmas this year, our parish will have five Masses (whereas on Sundays, we have six Masses).
I am fearful to release our “musical program” for Midnight Mass; it’s rough with ugly formatting … but here goes:
* PDF Download • MUSICAL PLAN (Midnight Mass)
—Rough document showing musical selections, with ancient manuscripts.
A friend of mine thought readers would enjoy seeing it, because I placed ancient manuscripts next to each piece, along with rehearsal videos.
Sacred Scripture is full of mysteries. Father Michael Irwin, FSSP, reminded us that the Bible says angels “sang” at the birth of Christ—but what precisely does that mean? Angels have no voices. According to Father Irwin, there is much we don’t understand about the Bible. Indeed, the Catholic Church Herself has never explained some of what is contained in the Book of Revelation. A very great fault—perhaps the greatest fault—of today’s theologians is an inability to say three words: “We don’t know.” In any event, God made known the Birth of Christ to shepherds; why shepherds? Precisely because shepherds were looked down upon; they were considered so “worthless” that the testimony of a shepherd was not accepted in court:
A Dutch manuscript from the 1400s shows the Nativity of Christ:
