December 18: 4th Sunday of Advent

4 PM at the Cathedral.

Introit: Rorate coeli (S/A)

Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei (no Gloria): Mass XVII

Credo III (mp3)

Offertory: Ave Maria (T/B), Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming (S, A, T, B)

Communio: Ecce virgo concipiet, Rorate Coeli (note: video is not/not the Shenk version with SATB on the refrain, but it has all the verses)

Recessional: Veni, Veni Emmanuel/O Come, O Come Emmanuel (SMH: mark pages properly and include our ending)

Meanwhile in Sweden...

Do you have friends and family Back East who can't comprehend the size of Nevada? It's a shorter drive from Washington, DC to Boston than it is from Las Vegas to Reno, and Nevada can hold Maryland 10 times over. The Old Line State, however, has more than twice Nevada's population.

You can therefore appreciate the situation for Sweden's 150,000 Catholics spread all over this huge--and extremely secular--Scandinavian country, marked in dark brown above. Stockholm parish organist Alexander Kegel points out that when Pope Francis said Mass on November 1st in the southern city of Malmö, he could have doubled the distance he had traveled from Rome and just about reached a convent in a northern Swedish village.

Despite Sweden's miniscule Catholic contingent in a country of nearly 10 million people, Kegel says the presence of chant and polyphony is strong, and propers both in Latin and Swedish are slowly catching on. Polyphony and even some chant were present at the Papal Mass, thanks in part to Kegel's influence. Pope Francis, not one given much to chant or polyphony, was reportedly impressed.

Read Kegel's whole guest article from Corpus Christi Watershed.

Dec. 4: 2nd Sunday of Advent

4 PM at the Cathedral.

Introit: Populus Sion

Kyrie (no Gloria), Sanctus, Agnus Dei: Mass XVII

Credo III (mp3)

Offertory: Deus tu convertens, On Jordan's Bank (SMH)

Communio: Jerusalem surge, Conditor Alme Siderum

Recessional: Savior of the Nations, Come (S, A, T, B; SMH)

Nov. 20: Solemnity, Christ The King

4 PM at the Cathedral. Bring the SMH. With a block and tackle if necessary.

Introit: Dignus est agnus

Kyrie, Gloria (mp3), Sanctus, Agnus Dei: Mass VIII

Credo III

Offertory: Postula a me, Be Thou My Vision

Communio: Sedebit, Holy Art Thou (Handel) O Sacred Feast (Willan)

Recessional: Crown Him With Many Crowns

And for those who want to practice for Christmas:
Hodie Christus Natus Est (midi file; click on the yellow speaker icon)

"About Half"

Alabama coaching legend Paul "Bear" Bryant is said to have answered a reporter who asked him in preseason how many players he had on his roster, "About half." Sometimes that's the answer I want to give when I'm asked how many singers are in Regina Pacis Cantorum.

So far this season we have been hit with quite a few unexcused absences. I guess this bears (as it were) repeating, but Kathy needs to know when you are not going to be at a rehearsal or a Mass, and she needs to know as soon as YOU know. She understands that Life Happens, but she still has a choir to run and plan for. Call or email her!

And not just this choir, as Phyllis Young points out:

Kathy is the director of FOUR choirs:

• Two Mission choirs - Regular Sundays (small group), and a larger group that sings High Mass once a month;
• First Friday choir; and 
• RPC.

This involves:

• programming the music, which needs to match the correct Sunday;
• gathering and printing the music;
• printing the schedules with choir member names;
• putting the music packets together; and
• contacting churches to schedule our singing. [And more.]

All of this takes time and energy. Please help her by emailing her AS SOON as you know your schedule conflicts, esp. if it is an important service, i.e. Christmas, Easter, [or Corpus Christi.]

Remember, Kathy does NOT have an administrative assistant, although I'm sure she'd accept some volunteer help!