Week II - Friday

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Tomorrow evening, the Church begins using the lovely Marian hymn Alma Redemptoris Mater.  Be sure to catch Vespers from St. Peter's with Pope Benedict tomorrow at noon (repeat at 6pm) on EWTN (program in Latin/Italian/English HERE - fascinating!)

"Become a saint!"
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Week II - Thursday

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Penultimate evening of "Ordinary Time."

Week II - Wednesday

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This is one of several videos lately that has refused to upload via the "Insert a video" button for no apparent reason.  It seems that using the "Insert image" button allows you to upload a video, too, via a different process.  Seems to work.

Week II - Tuesday

Week II - Monday

Christ the King - Evening Prayer II

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Sorry, folks - not been able to keep up this past week.  Unfortunately, the battery went dead shortly into this recording.  I re-recorded the propers myself and patched in the ordinary from last week.  A bit of a patchwork mess - but at least y'all get to hear some of Ericka's lovely voice.  God bless.
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St. Cecilia

In honor of my beloved friends, the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville.  Sorry for the (even) poor(er) singing - could barely get a sound out without coughing today.

Week I - Wednesday

Though today is actually the memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I have sung the regular office for Wednesday of Week I.  The hymn, O Sanctisima, is my tribute today to the Blessed Mother.

Week I - Tuesday

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Sorry this is so late, Folks.  The video absolutely refused to upload last night.  God Bless.

"Become a saint!"
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Week I - Monday

33rd Sunday - Evening Prayer II

A little treat - I asked a few of my Knoxville Latin Mass Schola colleagues, Ericka & Seminarian Joseph, to stay after Mass & sing Vespers with me.  Honestly, we aren't very used to singing chant in English, & we threw this together at the last second, so please pardon our missteps.  I have to admit, I love the organ with the Salve Regina.  Perhaps we will try this again soon.  God bless.

"Become a saint!"

33rd Sunday - Evening Prayer I

I had some problems with the recording toward the end - had to re-record later & splice it in.  My apologies for any distraction.

"Become a saint!"

Week IV - Friday

Week IV - Thursday

Week IV - Wednesday

Week IV - Tuesday

Introduction

Praised be Jesus Christ & his virgin Mother!

On this site, I will post recordings of sung Vespers, according to the USCCB-approved version of the Liturgy of the Hours (single volume).  I'm sure I will also post other information about LOH as it comes along & almost certainly a few thoughts of my own about this most ancient form of Christian prayer.

I will post links to the recordings in some ordered & hopefully easy-to-navigate way in the side bar. I will try to stick to the basic 4 week cycle, and not post any recordings of saints days or other options (though I might), but I certainly will for solemnities & other major feasts.  I will also include the seasonal variants for Advent, Christmastide, Lent, etc. as best as I am able.

I use the St. Meinrad Psalm tones, nos. 2, 1, & 6, in that order for the Psalmody.  I generally use standard psalm tones for the antiphons, though occassionally I will write/make up a new one.  Ditto for the Intercession response.  I may occasionally sing the invocation & the Magnificat in Latin.  I will almost always sing the Lord's Prayer in Latin.  If you're Catholic, you're supposed to know this.

Note that these are "live" recordings, so there is quite a bit of improvisation required & not everything goes smoothly.  Further, I am not a professional singer by any stretch, so missed notes & stumbles of awkwardly-worded Psalm verses are the norm.  I don't always know or like the recommended hymn for a particular day, so I take a lot of liberty in my choice of hymns.  I will add notes of subtitles of what I'm singing as I'm able.

I first discussed having sung Vespers with my pastor at my parish of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Lenoir City, Tennessee about 2 years ago.  At the time, I was trying to keep alive a fledgling chant group; & my hope was that this group would sing evening prayer regularly.  As it turned out, the group dissolved & I began singing Vespers myself shortly after Easter in 2010.  It has been quite an experience, & I have no intention to stop.  The published times are Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday from 5:30 to 5:45pm, if you wish to join.

Hopefully, this will be of use to some of you, particularly if you are new to the Liturgy of the Hours or to singing chant.  You may also find the site divineoffice.org very useful, though what they post may not always match what I sing, due to all kinds of permitted variations.  You are free to comment or make suggestions about the format or content.  

"Become a saint!"