Sunday, March 27, 2005
Easter Sunday arrives!
Happy Easter, everyone! I just came back from Easter Vigil at my parish, and it was (as usual) so cool.
Y'know, usually I don't pay much attention to one of the most important parts of the vigil: the second part, when the elect and chatecumens become full members of the Church. I think it stems from the fact that back when I used to alter serve at Sts. Peter and Paul, all that would happen in the back at the font. Only the candle bearers actually went down there, so the rest of us servers were left on our own up in front at the alter. With al l the people in the way, we literally had the worst seat in town.
I'm no longer a server, and no longer at good old SPP, but lately I haven't been paying much attention to the second part of the Vigil anyway. Tonight, however, seeing those elect get baptized really hit home to me how cool it was to be Catholic, and how cool the sacrements were in general. There they were, recieving an indelible mark on their souls, and you couldn't even tell it. I kept wanting explosions to happen or something.
One other part that I enjoyed of the Vigil was the Exsultet, the Easter proclaimation. It's such an amazing poem, and sung on top of it:
"This is the night when first you saved our fathers:
you freed the people of Israel from their slavery
and led them dry-shod through the sea.
This is the night when the pillar of fire
destroyed the darkness of sin!
This is the night when Christians everywhere,
washed clean of sin
and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness."
I like the alliteration. There's one other stanza that I also like:
"O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer!"
The seemingly contdradictory phrases "happy fault" and "necissary sin" are so darn cool! God bless that deacon that decided to improvise one Easter vigil mass so long ago, thereby giving us one very cool poem (no really, it was improv)!
Anyway, everyone have a wonderful and holy Easter! I'm off to sleep, because I'm tired as heck!
Text for the Exsultet found at Catholic Culture
Y'know, usually I don't pay much attention to one of the most important parts of the vigil: the second part, when the elect and chatecumens become full members of the Church. I think it stems from the fact that back when I used to alter serve at Sts. Peter and Paul, all that would happen in the back at the font. Only the candle bearers actually went down there, so the rest of us servers were left on our own up in front at the alter. With al l the people in the way, we literally had the worst seat in town.
I'm no longer a server, and no longer at good old SPP, but lately I haven't been paying much attention to the second part of the Vigil anyway. Tonight, however, seeing those elect get baptized really hit home to me how cool it was to be Catholic, and how cool the sacrements were in general. There they were, recieving an indelible mark on their souls, and you couldn't even tell it. I kept wanting explosions to happen or something.
One other part that I enjoyed of the Vigil was the Exsultet, the Easter proclaimation. It's such an amazing poem, and sung on top of it:
"This is the night when first you saved our fathers:
you freed the people of Israel from their slavery
and led them dry-shod through the sea.
This is the night when the pillar of fire
destroyed the darkness of sin!
This is the night when Christians everywhere,
washed clean of sin
and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness."
I like the alliteration. There's one other stanza that I also like:
"O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer!"
The seemingly contdradictory phrases "happy fault" and "necissary sin" are so darn cool! God bless that deacon that decided to improvise one Easter vigil mass so long ago, thereby giving us one very cool poem (no really, it was improv)!
Anyway, everyone have a wonderful and holy Easter! I'm off to sleep, because I'm tired as heck!
Text for the Exsultet found at Catholic Culture
Friday, March 25, 2005
Good Friday/Easter Triduum
V/. Popule meus, quid feci tibi? aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.
V/. Quia eduxi te de terra
Aegypti, parasti crucem Salvatori tuo.
C/. Agios o Theos!
Sanctus Deus!
Agios ischyros!
Sanctus fortis!
Agios athanatos, eleison ymas.
Sanctus immortalis, miserere nobis.
V/. Quia eduxi te per desertum quadraginta annis, et manna cibavi te, et introduxi te in terram satis bonam: parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo. C/. Agios o Theos!
V/. Quid ultra debui facere tibi, et non feci? Ego quidem plantavi te vineam meam speciosissimam: et tu facta es mihi nimis amara: aceto namque sitim meam potasti: et lancea perforasti latus Salvatori tuo. C/. Agios o Theos!
V/. Ego propter te flagellavi Aegyptum cum primogenitus suis: et tu me flagellatum tradidisti.
R/. Popule meus, quid feci tibi? aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.
V/. Ego eduxi te de Aegypto, demerso Pharaone in Mare Rubrum: et tu me tradidisti principibus sacerdotum. R/. Popule meus.
V/. Ego ante te aperui mare: et tu aperuisti lancea latus meum. R/. Popule meus.
V/. Ego ante te praeivi in columna nubis: et tu me duxisti ad praetorium Pilati. R/. Popule meus.
V/. Ego te pavi manna per desertum: et tu me cecidisti alapis et flagellis. R/. Popule meus.
V/. Ego te potavi aqua salutis de petra: et tu me potasti felle, et aceto. R/. Popule meus.
V/. Ego propter te Chananaeorum reges percussi: et tu percussisti arundine caput meum. R/. Popule meus.
V/. Ego dedi tibi sceptrum regale: et tu dedisti capiti meo spineam coronam. R/. Popule meus.
V/. Ego te exaltavi magna virtute: et tu me suspendisti in patibulo Crucis. R/. Popule meus.
-----
V/. O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.
V/. Because I led thee out of the land of Egypt, thou hast prepared a cross for thy Savior.
C/. O holy God!
O holy God!
O holy strong One!
O holy strong One!
O holy immortal one, have mercy on us.
O holy immortal one, have mercy on us.
V/. Because I led thee out through the desert forty years: and fed thee with manna, and brought thee into a land exceeding good, thou hast prepared a Cross for thy Savior. C/. O holy God!...
V/. What more ought I have done for thee, that I have not done? I planted thee, indeed, My most beautiful vineyard: and thou hast become exceeding bitter to Me: for in My thirst thou gavest Me vinegar to drink: and with a lance thou hast pierced the side of thy Savior. C/. O holy God!...
V/. For thy sake I scourged Egypt with its first-born: and thou hast scourged Me and delivered Me up.
R/. O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.
V/. I led thee out of Egypt having drowned Pharao in the Red Sea: and thou hast delivered Me to the chief priests. R/. O my people...
V/. I opened the sea before thee: and thou with a spear hast opened My side. R/. O my people...
V/. I went before thee in a pillar of cloud: and thou hast led Me to the judgement hall of Pilate. R/. O my people...
V/. I fed thee with manna in the desert; and thou hast beaten Me with whips and scourges. R/. O my people...
V/. I gave thee the water of salvation from the rock to drink: and thou hast given Me gall and vinegar. R/. O my people...
V/. For thy sake I struck the kings of the Chanaanites: and thou hast struck My head with a reed. R/. O my people...
V/. I gave thee a royal sceptre: and thou hast given to My head a crown of thorns. R/. O my people...
V/. I exalted thee with great strength: and thou hast hanged Me on the gibbet of the Cross. R/. O my people...
Text for The Reproaches taken from Confessions of a Recovering Choir Director and Shrine of the Holy Whapping
Monday, March 21, 2005
"Palm Sunday Compromise"
Saturday, March 19, 2005
That's right! 8 am is *early* for me!
The opera, basicly, was cool as heck. The sets were amazing, the voices were amazing... the whole thing was pretty darn cool. I looked at the schedule that the Lyric Opera was doing, and sometime later they're putting on an opera even I've heard of: The Marriage of Figaro. You know: "Figaro Figaro Figaro!..." The music is done my Mozart, too. I'm definately going to the next one.
Sitting in front of us were a bunch of Rockhurst students. Rather than make fun of them for going to a Jesuit college (didn't seem appropriate at the time), I made some small talk and discovered one of them knew a high school friend of mine, Aubrey Thorburn. It's a small world, ain't it?
On another note, spring/Easter Break started on Thursday for me. Aah, the freedom of sleeping in forever, instead of having to go to an 8 am almost every day of the week. Muaa.
Sitting in front of us were a bunch of Rockhurst students. Rather than make fun of them for going to a Jesuit college (didn't seem appropriate at the time), I made some small talk and discovered one of them knew a high school friend of mine, Aubrey Thorburn. It's a small world, ain't it?
On another note, spring/Easter Break started on Thursday for me. Aah, the freedom of sleeping in forever, instead of having to go to an 8 am almost every day of the week. Muaa.
Monday, March 14, 2005
To the Opera!
I've decided to shirk my scholarly duties tonight (aka homework) and go to the opera instead. The Masked Ball is being shown in some Kansas City opera complex thingy. That I've never heard of the thing isn't important; what is important is that through some finanglings of the Student Activities Board, the event is free for BC students. A free opera? Why the heck not. Plus, there's this tradition of going to Waffle House afterwards. Mmmm Waffle House.
I'll tell you all what the generic-sounding opera was like tomorrow, after I've had time to digest it as well as my fried egg sandwitch.
I'll tell you all what the generic-sounding opera was like tomorrow, after I've had time to digest it as well as my fried egg sandwitch.
More like March and lots of February
*Dusts off blog*
Okay, now that it's been more than a month, I think it's time to update my blog! Hi everyone! Long time no post, huh?
So yes, now begins the Chronology of March. A lot happens in 31 days, so I'll see what I can remember:
Chapter One of the Chronology of March: Oklahoma!
Skutt's drama and music departments put on their annual collaberation earlier this month. Deciding to continue their trend of picking rediculously impossible-sounding musicals, this year Oklahoma! was picked. Actually, it was pretty good. My sister, having stole all the acting talent in our family long ago, of course did perfect as one of the leads, Aunt Ellar. The aging makup looked funny on her; of course, aging makup makes pretty much anyone look kinda goofy, so it makes sense.
Chapter Two of the Chronology of March: Little Siblings Weekend
Chapters are short in the Chronolgy of March. Anyway, Little Siblings was a few weeks ago here at BC, and so my family came up to hang out with me. It was a lot of fun! There were parties, jugglers, movies, late night dougnuts- all kinds of stuff! It was great.
The other great part of the weekend was getting to meet my friends' siblings; it was kinda funny how the family resemblance was so obvious with them! I mean, yeah, that's expected, but it was still really wierd.
Chapter Three of the Chronology of March: BC Musical
I feel like I'm skipping stuff here, but this is all I can remember. Right, so the Benedictine musical was this weekend. Chuck chose "Once upon a matress" this year; I decided not to audition because I can't sing, as well as actually wanting some free time for once.
Originally I was just going to go with a bunch of people on like Sunday, but then Sarah expressed intrest in seeing it. So, sure enough, Sarah, Peter, and my friend Joe all came down last Saturday to see the musical. The plan was to see the play Saturday night, go to mass the next morning, eat brunch, and see them off (Joe's mom's birthday was on Sunday, so he wanted to leave at like 11 am).
The Plan was followed pretty closely (plus some movie watching and late-night doughnut run), and on Sunday Sarah and company got back in Joe's car and drove off. They all said they had a lot of fun, and I did, too; the musical was a riot, and my siblings and friend greatly enjoyed the company of my friends here at BC. All in all, it was a great weekend.
So there you are. March, in real big summary. I did some other things (visted Janet and Truman, watched a hockey game in Omaha) but I can't remember if they were in March or not...
Okay, now that it's been more than a month, I think it's time to update my blog! Hi everyone! Long time no post, huh?
So yes, now begins the Chronology of March. A lot happens in 31 days, so I'll see what I can remember:
Chapter One of the Chronology of March: Oklahoma!
Skutt's drama and music departments put on their annual collaberation earlier this month. Deciding to continue their trend of picking rediculously impossible-sounding musicals, this year Oklahoma! was picked. Actually, it was pretty good. My sister, having stole all the acting talent in our family long ago, of course did perfect as one of the leads, Aunt Ellar. The aging makup looked funny on her; of course, aging makup makes pretty much anyone look kinda goofy, so it makes sense.
Chapter Two of the Chronology of March: Little Siblings Weekend
Chapters are short in the Chronolgy of March. Anyway, Little Siblings was a few weeks ago here at BC, and so my family came up to hang out with me. It was a lot of fun! There were parties, jugglers, movies, late night dougnuts- all kinds of stuff! It was great.
The other great part of the weekend was getting to meet my friends' siblings; it was kinda funny how the family resemblance was so obvious with them! I mean, yeah, that's expected, but it was still really wierd.
Chapter Three of the Chronology of March: BC Musical
I feel like I'm skipping stuff here, but this is all I can remember. Right, so the Benedictine musical was this weekend. Chuck chose "Once upon a matress" this year; I decided not to audition because I can't sing, as well as actually wanting some free time for once.
Originally I was just going to go with a bunch of people on like Sunday, but then Sarah expressed intrest in seeing it. So, sure enough, Sarah, Peter, and my friend Joe all came down last Saturday to see the musical. The plan was to see the play Saturday night, go to mass the next morning, eat brunch, and see them off (Joe's mom's birthday was on Sunday, so he wanted to leave at like 11 am).
The Plan was followed pretty closely (plus some movie watching and late-night doughnut run), and on Sunday Sarah and company got back in Joe's car and drove off. They all said they had a lot of fun, and I did, too; the musical was a riot, and my siblings and friend greatly enjoyed the company of my friends here at BC. All in all, it was a great weekend.
So there you are. March, in real big summary. I did some other things (visted Janet and Truman, watched a hockey game in Omaha) but I can't remember if they were in March or not...
