Saturday, March 27, 2010

"Hosanna Filio David!" (Palm Sunday in the Extraordinary Form in Photos)


Palm Sunday 2009 in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite at Assumption Grotto in Detroit.


Mass at 9:30am will be in the Extraordinary Form at Assumption Grotto - a Solemn High Mass, with chant and sacred polyphony.

For several years now, I have been wanting to take a break from photographing some of the liturgical events at Assumption Grotto in order to more fully participate in them.  Having captured several years worth of Holy Week photos, including two years of it in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (aka usus antiquior), I will not be taking photographs this coming week.  I also happen to have a very full plate at the moment and the time spent editing and uploading photos, especially for Holy Week, can take days. 

I captured Palm Sunday well last year, including details like the changing of the antependium, which covers the front of the altar, from red to violet.  The vestments are also changed from red to violet, as you will note. 

The Mass is preceded by the blessing of palms, and a procession takes place around the Church.  You will notice in some of the photos, that during distribution of palms, the celebrant, deacon and subdeacon remain in the sanctuary as ushers come up to get them.  When they do this, they kiss the hand of the celebrant in what is called a litiurgical kiss or the solita oscula.  In the slideshow below,  you will also see the deacon of the Mass kiss the hand of the celebrant, and the object (and sequence depends on whether one is receiving or giving).  I explain the solita oscula in this post in greater detail.

From Passion Sunday to Holy Saturday, the Gloria Patri with the Judica me Deus (Psalm 42) is omitted.  In his book, The Holy Sacrifice Of The Mass Dogmatically, Liturgically And Ascetically Explained by Nicholas Gihr, he explains:

The reason for it's omission is justly founded on the contents of the Psalm, and on the character of the Masses. For this Psalm seeks to banish sorrow and sadness from teh soul (quare tristis es, anima mea, et quare conturbas me?), to awaken a joyful mood in him who prays; therefore, it is proper to omit the Psalm at a time when the heart should be penetrated with profound sorrow, painful sadness and intense compassion, as is suppose to prevail...in the Masses of Passiontide
With these explanations, you can watch through the slide show (it is defaulted to medium speed and I would recommend setting it to fast as there are many).  You can view pictures individually at the gallery for Palm Sunday 2009.



Noteworthy:


Te Deum Laudamus! Home

The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!