Holidays In Community

[laetitia crucis]

I just received this from the St. Joseph Province of Dominican Friars and thought it definitely worth sharing here:

[url="http://www.op-stjoseph.org/blog/the_riches_of_a_dominican_holy_week_holy_thursday/"]The Riches of a Dominican Holy Week: Holy Thursday[/url] by Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P. on April 01, 2010

[quote]

Holy Thursday marks the beginning of the great Paschal Triduum, and one immediately notices the changes it brings to the rhythm of life of a Dominican Priory. There is no morning Mass - and when one is accustomed to the consoling graces of the Eucharist to start the day, this is a very significant change. Also, the white Dominican habit will, from this evening until the Gloria sounds at the Easter Vigil, be shrouded in the Order's distinctive black cappa.

The concelebrated evening Mass of the Lord's Supper, beautiful and solemn, has in our life a special significance - it is the commemoration of the institution of the Eucharist and also of the Priesthood. Because our communities are composed principally of priests, the common celebration of our priesthood affords us - as communities - the opportunity to give thanks for this incomparable gift.

Holy Thursday's Mass, according to the current Dominican propers for Holy Week, is largely the same as that in the current [i]Missale Romanum[/i]. Outside of Mass, however, the Dominican [i]Proprium[/i] has retained a number of our distinctive Holy Week customs. For example, we have the option to recite in common the Seven Penitential Psalms. More poignant for Holy Thursday, we meditate on the [i]Sermo Domini[/i], the Lord's farewell discourse to his disciples (John's Gospel, chapters 13-17), which is read in its entirety during our evening meal in the Refectory. When the [i]Sermo [/i]is read in such a way, it is as if the Lord himself were consoling us as we approach the mystery of his passion. Still more meaningful for our common life is the private celebration of the Washing of the Feet, the [i]Mandatum [/i](from which Maundy Thursday gets its name), when the Prior washes the feet of the brethren. I will not soon forget how moving it was for me the first time I experienced this as a novice at St. Gertrude Priory. There is something about having one's feet washed that is at the same time both humbling and enobling - all the more so when it is done by one's religious superior.

How moved must the apostles have been when the Lord himself paid such reverence to them! Here we encounter the mystery of His self-emptying love, a love that pays no heed to the humiliation He suffers. How great is the love for us that He shows in these days. Would that we would open our hearts to it![/quote]

[dominicansoul]

[quote name='laetitia crucis' date='02 April 2010 - 10:41 AM' timestamp='1270219262' post='2085521']
I just received this from the St. Joseph Province of Dominican Friars and thought it definitely worth sharing here:

[url="http://www.op-stjoseph.org/blog/the_riches_of_a_dominican_holy_week_holy_thursday/"]The Riches of a Dominican Holy Week: Holy Thursday[/url] by Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P. on April 01, 2010




[/quote]

well, it's good to know he didn't share community traditions...just what's the norm...

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='dominicansoul' date='02 April 2010 - 11:49 AM' timestamp='1270219763' post='2085528']
well, it's good to know he didn't share community traditions...just what's the norm...
[/quote]

Does [i]each[/i] Dominican community have it's own distinctive traditions, or are these traditions of the "Dominican Code" universal amongst all Dominican communities?

I remember asking a few things about the Dominican Holy Week while in England... perhaps some of "The Code" was leaked to me.

[dominicansoul]

[quote name='laetitia crucis' date='02 April 2010 - 11:01 AM' timestamp='1270220486' post='2085536']
Does [i]each[/i] Dominican community have it's own distinctive traditions, or are these traditions of the "Dominican Code" universal amongst all Dominican communities?

I remember asking a few things about the Dominican Holy Week while in England... perhaps some of "The Code" was leaked to me.
[/quote]

each community, has it's own distinctive traditions. What the Ann Arbor dominicans do is quite different from the Nashies...and they are both quite different from the traditions of the Summit Dominicans, etc. etc. etc.

Then, there are universal traditions...which I'm sure everybody figures out...like what Father just blogged about...

it's okay to talk about our personal experiences...to an extent...but back in the convent, we used to be hauled into Mother's office if we spoke to the postulants about our traditions ahead of time...Mother was always chiding us to stick to the code, because we would spoil it for those who had never experienced our community's traditions...

that's why I am always reminding others about the code...because it really isn't fair to those who will enter...they will know everything ahead of time, and where's the fun in that??? It's great to keep it within the family...and only the family...because no one should know absolutely everything that happens in a community....

[Lilllabettt]

[quote name='CherieMadame' date='31 March 2010 - 12:28 PM' timestamp='1270049304' post='2084037']

We always had a nice meal planned, sometimes something specific for a special day. Like the meals during the Easter Triduum (especially Holy Thursday) always had the same parts, and we always looked forward to them each year. Or if it was a Sister's feast day, we'd try to find out her favorite dessert, or favorite meal, and the kitchen Sisters would make it for her Feast day.

[/quote]


Ahhhh I remember, they made me mashed potatoes (home made!!!)
And the brownie sundae ... yum, best birthday ever.

... uh oh, getting hungry. i think its time for one of my "small" Good Friday meals. Wish I had some of those hot cross buns of old

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='dominicansoul' date='02 April 2010 - 12:07 PM' timestamp='1270220823' post='2085538']
each community, has it's own distinctive traditions. What the Ann Arbor dominicans do is quite different from the Nashies...and they are both quite different from the traditions of the Summit Dominicans, etc. etc. etc.

Then, there are universal traditions...which I'm sure everybody figures out...like what Father just blogged about...

it's okay to talk about our personal experiences...to an extent...but back in the convent, we used to be hauled into Mother's office if we spoke to the postulants about our traditions ahead of time...Mother was always chiding us to stick to the code, because we would spoil it for those who had never experienced our community's traditions...

that's why I am always reminding others about the code...because it really isn't fair to those who will enter...they will know everything ahead of time, and where's the fun in that??? It's great to keep it within the family...and only the family...because no one should know absolutely everything that happens in a community....
[/quote]

Ooooh -- thank you for that clarification, dominicansoul! Very good to know!

Also, (forgive me) when reading the above posts I had initially thought that you were being somewhat facetious about the "Dominican Code".

After reading your response, my first thought was, "Oooh -- so it IS real!" me =



Thank you also for that last paragraph. Great advice!

[Cherie]

[quote name='Lilllabettt' date='02 April 2010 - 11:23 AM' timestamp='1270221782' post='2085547']
Wish I had some of those hot cross buns of old
[/quote]

I totally looked up a recipe for them and am going to make it a tradition for my family!!

This year I'm a bit lucky ... not allowed to fast, so I didn't make them this year because, well, my husband doesn't like candied orange peel or raisins anyway, and I had to eat regularly anyway ... but next year I'm definitely trying them!

I missed my last feast day meal - it was going to be split pea soup I think I'm the only one who wanted it ... so I hope the other Sisters weren't too disappointed!

[laetitia crucis]

[url="http://www.op-stjoseph.org/blog/the_riches_of_a_dominican_holy_week_adoring_the_cross_on_good_friday/"]The Riches of Dominican Holy Week: Adoring the Cross on Good Friday[/url] by Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.

[quote]Silent. Bare. Empty. For a Dominican friar accustomed to entering the priory chapel throughout the day, every day, the change is striking. Our Lord has been taken from us, seized, as it were, from the garden. The Bridegroom's friends fast on this day.

If you arrive in choir early, you can watch the friars as the enter and go to their choir stalls. Some begin to genuflect, and then remember that today we only bow.

The office is muted. We sing quietly. There is no opening invocation, no blessing. Even our prayer is stripped bare. We depart in silence.

At three in the afternoon, the friars gather for the solemn liturgy of the Lord's Passion. Our Order has retained here a central feature of the ancient Dominican Rite for this day - our unique Adoration of the Cross. (For a video guide to Mass in the ancient Dominican Rite, see here.)

The Dominican Order has always treasured the cross. Fra Angelico's most famous portrait of St. Dominic (see the accompanying image) shows him embracing the cross, his face lined with emotion. St. Thomas Aquinas commended us to meditate on the cross, since "the cross exemplifies every virtue." St. Catherine of Siena, St. Catherine de Ricci, and many other of the greatest Dominican saints had a profound devotion to Christ crucified. The unique Dominican ceremony for the Adoration of the Cross on Good Friday in the current Dominican Sacramentary, filled with triple genuflections of adoration, expresses precisely this deep reverence for the cross that typifies the Dominican spirit.

In the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion, during the singing of the Good Friday prayers, two priests and two deacons (or two additional friars, if deacons are in short supply) go to the sacristy and vest in albs and red stoles. At the conclusion of the prayers, the presiding priest removes his chasuble, and the two vested priests bring a veiled crucifix from the sacristy to the altar steps on the right (Epistle) side. The two vested deacons stand in the presbyterium, facing the altar. The two priests turn towards the people, holding the cross between them, and sing the first of the reproaches:

"Popule meus, quid feci tibi, aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi. Quia eduxi te de terra Aegypti, parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo."

Then the two deacons respond by singing in Greek: "Agios o Theos, Agios ischyros, Agios athanatos, eleison imas" ("Holy God, Holy Strong One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us"), genuflecting three times at the word "Agios."

All of the brethren in choir then repeat this response, but this time in Latin: "Sanctus Deus, Sanctus Fortis, Sanctus Immortalis, miserere nobis," genuflecting at each "Sanctus."

The two priests holding the cross then move halfway towards the center of the altar and sing the second reproach, to which the deacons and the friars reply as before. After moving to the center of the altar, the priests sing the third reproach, and the deacons and friars reply a third time, with a third set of triple genuflections.

Now it is time for the individual friars to adore the cross one by one. All remove their shoes. The two priests hold the cross between them at the steps to the presbyterium. Then the presiding priest, followed by the rest of the friars, line up single-file at the back of the choir. As each friar approaches, he makes three complete prostrations: first at the back of the choir, then at the center of the choir, and finally at the foot of the cross, which he then kisses.

This procession to the cross, filled with profound gestures of humility and adoration, is deeply moving. It makes visible what should be our deepest spiritual longings on this most solemn day. To be sure, we are all unworthy to approach this mystery, but God in His goodness transforms us through the cross so that, washed free of sin, we can adore the King who reigns from that glorious tree.[/quote]

*sigh* Now [i]that[/i] is how I want to venerate the Cross!

Man, I am all about triple prostratations ANY DAY! Just beautiful!!!

<-- happy tears.

[laetitia crucis]

Continuation...

[url="http://www.op-stjoseph.org/blog/the_richness_of_a_dominican_holy_week_the_preces/"]The Riches of Dominican Holy Week: The Preces of Good Friday and Holy Saturday[/url] -- by Br. Peter Totleben, O.P. on April 03, 2010

[quote]

[img]http://www.op-stjoseph.org/images/pic/cache/Preces_Large-550x215.JPG[/img]

The rhythm of life in a Dominican priory changes dramatically during the Paschal Triduum. And how could it not? The richness of the Great Mystery which we are reliving together adorns all that we do. Consequently, these days are not simply business as usual. Reliving the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Christ the Head necessarily transforms the prayer of His members.

Usually, the Morning Office concludes with petitions, or preces, by which we consecrate the day and its work to God. But on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, the day and its work are different. The usual round of academic schedules and apostolic commitments ceases. The "work" of these days is in the liturgical celebrations of the Mystery (or in their many preparations!) and our meditation on it. So, the normal preces of the Liturgy of the Hours are dropped, and replaced with a special form of intercession, imploring mercy from the Lord whom we have crucified.

The Triduum preces are an elaborate type of responsory prayer. Two friars stand at the altar steps, while two friars stand in the middle of the choir. These two pairs of friars sing responsively with the rest of the choir, reflecting on the significance of the Crucifixion of Christ.


[u]The [i]Preces [/i]at Lauds On Good Friday[/u]

[b]Ante Gradus[/b] (before the step): Lord, have mercy

[b]Chorus[/b]: Lord, have mercy

[b]Ante Gradus[/b]: Lord, have mercy

[b]In Medio Chori[/b] (in the middle of choir): Have mercy, Lord.

[b]Chorus[/b]: Christ the Lord became obedient unto death.

[b]Ante Gradus[/b]: The meek Lamb to whom the wolf gave treacherous kisses

[b]Chorus[/b]: Christ have mercy

[b]Ante Gradus[/b]: Life dies upon the tree; hell and death, mourning, are robbed of their prey.

[b]Chorus[/b]: Christ have mercy.

[b]Ante Gradus[/b]: You who willed to be fettered and have set us free from the bonds of death.

[b]Chorus[/b]: Christ have mercy.

[b]In Medio Chori[/b]: Have mercy, Lord.

[b]Chorus[/b]: Christ the Lord became obedient unto death
[b]Ante Gradus[/b]: Lord have mercy

[b]Chorus[/b]: Lord, have mercy.

[b]Ante Gradus[/b]: Lord, have mercy.

[b]In Medio Chori[/b]: Have mercy, Lord.

[b]Chorus[/b]: Christ the Lord became obedient unto death

[b]Ante Gradus[/b]: Even death on a cross!

========

[u]The [i]Preces [/i]at Lauds On Holy Saturday[/u]

[b]Ante Gradus[/b]: Lord, have mercy

[b]Chorus[/b]: Lord, have mercy

[b]Ante Gradus[/b]: Lord, have mercy

[b]In Medio Chori[/b]: Have mercy, Lord.

[b]Chorus[/b]: Christ the Lord became obedient unto death.

[b]Ante Gradus[/b]: You who came to suffer for us

[b]Chorus[/b]: Christ have mercy

[b]Ante Gradus[/b]: You who with arms outstretched upon the cross have drawn us all to yourself

[b]Chorus[/b]: Christ have mercy.

[b]Ante Gradus[/b]: You who said in prophecy: O death where are your plagues?

[b]Chorus[/b]: Christ have mercy.

[b]In Medio Chori[/b]: Have mercy, Lord.

[b]Chorus[/b]: Christ the Lord became obedient unto death

[b]Ante Gradus[/b]: Lord have mercy

[b]Chorus[/b]: Lord, have mercy.

[b]Ante Gradus[/b]: Lord, have mercy.

[b]In Medio Chori[/b]: Have mercy, Lord.

[b]Chorus[/b]: Christ the Lord became obedient unto death

[b]Ante Gradus[/b]: Even death on a cross!
[/quote]

[laetitia crucis]

[url="http://www.op-stjoseph.org/blog/the_riches_of_a_dominican_holy_week_the_silence_of_holy_saturday/"]The Riches of Dominican Holy Week: The Silence of Holy Saturday[/url] by Br. Peter Martyr Joseph Yungwirth, O.P. on April 03, 2010

[quote]
[center][img]http://www.op-stjoseph.org/images/pic/cache/Angelico_-_Christ_in_Limbo_small-220x248.JPG[/img][/center]

"[i]Something strange is happening - there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.[/i]" - From an ancient homily on Holy Saturday

These words about silence begin the second lesson of today's Office of Readings, and they offer a profound insight into what occurs througout the world on this solemn day. In the life of a Dominican particularly, this day is truly one filled with silence.

This silence began with the traditional ceasing of the melodies of the organ and the ringing of the bell after the Gloria on Holy Thursday evening. The silence continued into the Divine Office as we commemorated the crucifixion and death of our Savior on Good Friday. Through the Office's being stripped down to its bare bones just as Christ was stripped of His garments, we put aside any devotional additions to the Office. Something that a Dominican will particularly notice is the absence of the [i]O Sacrum Convivium[/i] with which we normally begin the Office. This antiphon, written by our brother St. Thomas, is omitted when the Office is not prayed in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Thus, since our Lord has been taken away just as He was first taken away in the Garden of Gethsemani and then taken away after His death, so too is there no Blessed Sacramentto adore. And thus, there is no[i] O Sacrum[/i].

Yet, this silence isn't what is most noticeable in a Dominican priory celebrating the Triduum. It helps, of course, and it important. But what is most noticeable is the silence that pervades the interior of the brothers' hearts. Thus does the silence within the liturgy manifest itself in the life of the community. The brothers, recollecting the sacred moments of our Lord's passion and death, show forth this interior silence in a most beautiful exterior way - through their disposition. Just as the world waits in silence on this day as our Lord sleeps, so too do the brothers keep an interior vigil awaiting the Great Vigil of the night. For when the Gloria is sung again and the brothers shed their cappas as the lights brighten the chapel, when the organ's trumpets once again blare forth their melodious sounds and the ringing of bells joyously returns, it is in this moment that we see just how profound the silence of Holy Saturday has really been. It is then - as the Eater Vigil beginning in darkness and moving forward guided by the Light of Christ - that we see that the silent wait of Holy Saturday has fruitfully prepared us for the great and glorious celebration of the Lord's victory over death.

So let us wait in silence as the Lord sleeps this day. And let our hearts turn toward Him in patient expectation as He silently works to free the captives from the gates of death, so that we too may be freed from sin and death on this great night of His resurrection.[/quote]