A Glorious Celebration of the Assumption
By Charles Bellarmin, III
September 7, 2006
Since the election of Pope Benedict XVI, there has been a growing interest in the rediscovery and reestablishment of true and worthy sacred music. Sacred music, an integral part of the Sacred Liturgy, helps us to offer worthy worship to almighty God, and it assists us to lift our hearts and minds to Him. Just such beautiful worship of God took place on Tuesday, August 15, 2006, the feast of the Assumption, at Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Camden, NJ. The cathedral was filled to capacity. People from across the Delaware Valley and as far away as New York City converged on the mother church of southern New Jersey to praise God and honor our Lady on this great feast.
This event was the sixth annual Solemn High Mass of Thanksgiving (1962 Missal) offered at the Cathedral. It is sponsored and run by Mater Ecclesiae Chapel, Berlin NJ. Mater Ecclesiae is a very special place. This mission church of the Diocese of Camden occupies the property that was once called Holy Family Monastery. Holy Family Monastery was founded by Brother Joseph Natale in 1968. It was an independent chapel that functioned outside the Church and had a very loyal following. Brother Natale died in 1995 and after a dispute over the property, a lay group, the oblates of Saint Jude, obtained the property. They petitioned, then Bishop James McHugh, to open a chapel under the Ecclesia Dei Indult and it was granted. Bishop McHugh was succeeded by Bishop Nicholas Di Marzio. In the Jubilee year 2000, Bishop Di Marzio raised the chapel to the canonical status of a Mission of Saint Edward Parish, Pine Hill, NJ. It is quite possible that Mater Ecclesiae is one of the first, if not the first, exclusively traditional Latin Mass site owned by a diocese and run exclusively by a diocesan priest. Even though it is a canonical mission, it functions autonomously and on a practical level it functions like a regular parish. All the sacraments and all the functions of a parish are available. The Rev. Robert C. Pasley, KHS, a priest of the Diocese of Camden, was appointed Rector and still serves in this capacity. Father Pasley is also a member of the Church Music Association of America and a former Vice President of the CMAA. Through the influence and example of Monsignor Richard Schuler, Pastor emeritus of St. Agnes, St. Paul, Minnesota and Father Robert Skeris, KCHS, former president of the CMAA, Father Pasley received an in depth appreciation for the principles of sacred music and its implementation. One day after Mater Ecclesiae was founded, Father Pasley and then music director, Dr. Timothy McDonnell, were lamenting the fact that the parish church was too small to do some of the great musical works of our liturgical heritage. Dr. McDonnell suggested that we might use the Cathedral for a particular feast. Thus was born the annual Mass of thanksgiving on the feast of the Assumption. It is a Mass of thanksgiving to Almighty God for the establishment of this wonderful mission. It is a Mass of thanksgiving to Our Lady as well as a time of petition for continued protection. It is a sign of Mater Ecclesiae’s total doctrinal, spiritual, liturgical and disciplinary union with the Church and the Diocese. And it is a yearly chance to use the grand, legitimate, approved liturgical works of the Catholic musical treasury. This tradition has continued with the blessing of the present Bishop of Camden, His Excellency, the Most Reverend Joseph Galante.
From the very beginning, this great festival in honor of Our Lady has also had the support of the people of Mater Ecclesiae. Each year the people donate, outside the normal operating expense of the parish, enough money to offer just compensation to professional musicians. They are true patrons of the art of sacred music. This offering is a joyful payment from the congregation to the musicians for the assistance of their God-given talent. The Mass on Tuesday, August 15th began with orchestra and organ and the singing of the O Sanctissima. In the procession were a host of altar boys and men, the young ladies of the Blessed Imelda Lambertini Society, members of the society for Tradition, Family and Property (The TFP ), the Knights of Columbus, The Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre, Seminarians and Priests, Father John Zuhlsdorf, the preacher for the Mass, Mr. Edward Heffernan, FSSP, a parishioner, who acted as Sub deacon, Father James Barteloma, Parochial Vicar of Our Lady of Lourdes, Glassboro, NJ who was the Deacon of the Mass, and Father Pasley, the celebrant. Dr. Timothy McDonnell was the music director and conductor and Mr. Nicholas Beck, the present music director of Mater Ecclesiae, directed the singing of the Gregorian chant schola.
Dr. McDonnell chose the music for the Mass. The centerpiece for the Mass was the Missa Dolorosa, by Antonio Caldara (1670 – 1736). The instrumental works also dated from the baroque era; the Sonata da Chiesa, Op.1, NoIV & Op.1, XII, by Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) and the Two Trumpet Concerto in C by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741). These musical rarities were balanced by the works of some perennial heroes of Catholic Music; Palestrina (1525-1594), O Bone Jesu, William Byrd (1543-1623), Assumpta Est, and during the 250 anniversary of Mozart’s birth, the Alma Dei Creatoris.
According to Dr. McDonnell “the most exciting works on the program are perhaps the works composed in this the 21st century. Written in 2002, Harold Boatrite’s Ave Maria is redolent of late medieval and renaissance polyphony, yet it’s harmonic language and key relationships are formed with reference to the fully chromatic palette of tones available to the modern composer.” Dr. Boatrite is an American composer whose works have been performed by the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra and is a parishioner of Mater Ecclesiae. His Ave Maria can be heard on the opening page of the parish website (www.materecclesiae.org). The offertory was a world premiere of Philadelphia composer Paul Schaefer’s Sarabande. This work is a stately 21st century treatment of the baroque form of the same name. It is scored for two trumpets and strings. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf described it as a mystical, spellbinding and ethereal piece that was perfect for the offertory of the Mass. Finally, the Mass ended with Dr. McDonnell’s triumphant arrangement, for organ, strings and brass, of the Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above. This selection of these new arrangements, along with the great classics can be explained in Dr. McDonnell’s own words, “These contemporary works are an object lesson in musical tradition. Although they speak in the musical language of our times, they do not represent a break with tradition. Rather, they achieve their aim by refashioning the older forms to ring with a fresh voice – they testify to a sense of continuity, not dissimilar to the continuity so valued in the traditional Latin mass itself.”
The sermon was delivered by the Reverend John Zuhlsdorf, the author of, “What Does the Prayer Really Say,” a column that appears each week in The Wanderer. Father spoke eloquently about the song of praise of Our Lady, the Magnificat, and applied this to our participation at Mass. The Blessed Virgin Mary, because of the joyful announcement of the Archangel Gabriel and her “interior understanding, conviction, and faith” burst into song. Fr. Zuhlsdorf continued, “Mary was the immeasurably favored singer of God’s praise; she was in full the recipient of His graces; she was conscious of being a privileged participant in the history of salvation, even as a new Eve. As a singer, recipient and participant, Mary is our perfect model, instructing us in every facet of our ordinary lives. Her song, her reception and her participation are also examples of how we are to sing, receive and participate properly in the commemoration of God’s deed of final salvation.” That salvation is brought to us in the summit of our Christian worship; the Mass. Father then explained the true meaning of “full, conscious and active participation” in the Liturgy. Active participation, with Our Lady as the perfect model, is best described as “active receptivity.” He continued by illustrating that the use of Gregorian chant, polyphony, the pipe organ and sacred orchestral works, such as the music done at the Assumption Mass, do not inhibit participation. Participation does not mean doing, singing and saying everything. Instead, we participate interiorly. We join with the musicians in heart and mind, and sometimes with voice. Being receptive, therefore, is truly active. Our Lady was receptive to God and the message of His angel. Precisely because of this interior participation and receptivity, she brought forth the Savior of the world. The Savior she exults in her song of praise, the Magnificat.
There is so much that can be said about this Mass. It meticulously met the Church’s requirements for true Sacred Music. The music was “holy, and… excluded all profanity not only in itself, but in the manner in which it is presented by those who executed it. [It was] true art, …[for it] exercised on the minds of those who listened to it that efficacy which the Church aims at obtaining in admitting into her liturgy the art of musical sounds. [And finally, it was} universal, in the sense that while every nation is permitted to admit into its ecclesiastical compositions those special forms which may be said to constitute its native music, still these forms must be subordinated in such a manner to the general characteristics of sacred music that nobody of any nation may receive an impression other than good on hearing them.” (Tra Le Sollecitudini, Chap I, #2.) It was an event that showed the work of a vibrant community of faith. Forty volunteers helped pack vestments, vessels, candles, kneelers, flowers, coolers of drink and food, booklets, and everything under the sun that was needed. Sixty donors raised over $6000.00 for the music and various costs. A magnificent program booklet, filled with encouraging ads and a great amount of important information, was available. Parish ushers and volunteer policemen gave needed help. The young ladies of the Blessed Imelda society sent forth a message of sweetness, devotion and true spiritual beauty. The altar boys and men served with perfection and attention. They did not just do a required job; they enjoyed being part of a breathtaking moment of Liturgical prayer. The congregation participated with the utmost attention. Everyone in that Church prayed the Liturgy. The active participation was internal and external. They responded and received. They bowed their heads in reverent silence and raised the roof of the cathedral singing Credo III, the responses and the Hail Holy Queen.
On the CMAA blog, Musicasacra.com, a blogger by the name of Ekkehard VI describes the scene, “The ceremonial actions of this Mass were … extremely well-planned … Surely it must have been impossible to witness the opening procession with a dry eye, and all of the dignified and beautiful liturgical gestures were carried out with reverence, so much so that one might think of King David dancing in front of the tabernacle of the Lord. The clergy and all who assisted in the sanctuary wore beautiful vestments, and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and the Knights of Columbus brought even more grandeur to the Mass, as did the Blessed Imelda Society. Watching all of this sacred drama unfold from my seat on the extreme left of the choir loft, as I sometimes strained to get a view between the cathedral's columns and arches, was like catching a glimpse of Paradise itself.”
You could not come away from this event without having been touched to the depths of your soul. Our Lord and our Lady have truly smiled upon Mater Ecclesiae. What a blessing to the Church of Camden. What a testimony of unity and diversity in the Church. What a wonderful, concrete implementation of the teachings of the Church and the writings of Pope Benedict XVI on Sacred Music. And all of this accomplished by a parish of only 500 families. A prayer composed by Father Pasley, printed in the Assumption Booklet, sums up this beautiful experience. “O Mary, our Mother, most beautiful work of God’s creation, we offer to God the beauty of our worship. In our weakness and distress, we call out to thee. On this feast of your Assumption, may our lives be filled with a spiritual beauty, a beauty that reflects the splendor of this Solemn Mass. May the harmonious chords of a holy life bring us to the courts of our Eternal King. Amen.
