St. Philip on Worthy Reception

Today is the great Feast of Corpus Christi. 

Coincidentally, the Maxims and Sayings of St. Philip Neri list the following quote for today, June 8:

"To feel any displeasure because we are refused the Communion, is a sign of hardiness, pride, and a want of mortification."

In our time, humble Christian princes are substituted with defiant elected officials who receive our Lord every Sunday despite supporting the slaughter of innocents and moral corruption. Saints who speak of fear and trembling when approaching the Sacrament are ignored to make room for "radical inclusion" and supposed non-politicization of the Eucharistic table. 

The Eucharist is no casual affair! May stubborn rulers, both secular and ecclesiastical, remember the words of St. Paul in the Epistle of Corpus Christi, and the words of Good St. Philip for this calendar day. Do not harden your heart if you know yourself to be unworthy to receive the Lord, and make penance for your misdeeds as soon as possible.

+I.D.S.P.N.

Concluding Philiptide

Frater David serving at Low Mass on St. Philip's Day (5/26/2023)

Today on Ember Friday in the Octave of Pentecost is the Octave Day of St. Philip Neri. While Philipmas was not impeded this year by the precedence of Whitsun Week, the Phillpmas Octave's remaining seven days all occurred between Whitsun Eve and the Friday of Whitsun Week. 

St. Philip statuette at Our Lady of the Rosary gift shop

Father Joseph Illo of San Francisco's Star of the Sea parish has included his Homily on St. Philip from 2015 on his blog, celebrating the Good Saint's spiritual fatherhood over many in the city of Rome. New Liturgical Movement has also republished an excellent article on Pippo Buono's position as a patron for Traditionalists among the other great Counter-Reformation saints.

As a final piece to commemorate Philiptide, above we have posted a recording from 2013 of the Brothers singing "True Sons of Philip," a joyful hymn recalling the patronage and example of our spiritual father. The hymn is an acrostic sung to the German Marian hymn tune Wunderschön prächtige, with the lyrics modified between each Oratory to spell out the location. For example, the intials of the original hymn's verses read "The Little Oratory in London," while the Cardiff Oratory's variant reads "The Little Oratory, Caerdydd," using the Welsh name for Cardiff. In all cases, the refrain spells "S.P.N.," the initials of St. Philip Neri. 

St. Philip Neri, pray for us!

Courtesy: Fratellino & Jon T

Easter & Whitsun at JPCatholic

Students from John Paul the Great Catholic University in Escondido, CA celebrated the Feast of Pentecost with sung lay Vespers and Compline, the recitation of the Holy Rosary, and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Two students who sing with Chorus Breviarii run the school's Divine Office Ministry, a group who's activities include nightly Compline and the occasional Vespers service. Last year, the Divine Office Ministry invited the Brothers and Chorus Breviarii to celebrate Vespers of the 5th Sunday after Easter. 

Easter Vespers at JPCatholic (May 22, 2022)

The JPCatholic Divine Office Ministry has provided a solid group for young Catholic students to celebrate the Church's Canonical Hours in a well-structured manner, opting for the older Divine Office arrangement and its chants over the modern Liturgy of the Hours. At the end of their most recent Fall quarter, the group celebrated the end of exams with dinner, dessert, and Sunday Compline in Advent. One Chorus Breviarii member in attendance also instructed the group in how to chant the Angelus. 

Fr. Sarfraz Alam, O.S.A., the current chaplain to JPCatholic, attended Compline with us and completed the Sunday Exposition period with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Hopefully we may be able to celebrate full liturgical Vespers with these students again soon! We pray that the Holy Ghost will enlighten these students' minds as they prepare for their final exams and papers this week.

Courtesy: visionaryarts100

Philipmas and the Holy Ghost

This year, Philipmas' occurence on the Friday before Pentecost creates a sort of Triduum of the Holy Ghost composed of Philipmas, Whitsun Eve, and Whit Sunday. The next time this Triduum will occur will be in 2034. 

While St. Philip was in prayer asking for the gifts of the Holy Ghost, there appeared a globe of fire which entered his mouth and lodged itself in his chest, enlarging his heart and breaking his ribs. With the physical enlargement of his heart and its miraculous palpitation and warmth also came St. Philip's charity and joyful spirit excited by those gifts of the Holy Ghost that he had received. We ask today that St. Philip will pray for us to God that our hearts may be prepared to receive the Holy Ghost on Pentecost and be inflamed with love and joy like his.

Tenebrae Conclusion 2023

From Fratellino:

After Tenebrae of Holy Saturday, 2023, sung at St. Anne's, San Diego. So many young faces this year; the future of Catholic Tradition is bright indeed! Laus Deo!!

We had 18 men in choir at Holy Saturday Tenebrae, including students from JP Catholic University in Escondido, choirboys and altar boys from St. Anne, and singers and servers from Ordinariate and TLM communities stretching from the South Bay to Riverside. We were once again joined by Fr. Jesus Valenzuela, F.S.S.P., and Mr. Ricardo Ascensio, F.S.S.P., and the service lasted from about 5:15 to 7:15.

Good Friday post-Tenebrae

Two of the members in choir only informed us the afternoon before of their desire to sing the Office with us, after having been moved by Tenebrae on Good Friday. Our total count of 18 men was 10 more than last year's count of 8 for Holy Saturday. We pray that next year will be even more successful than this year! We will post more photos and videos as they come by.

Photos from Good Friday Tenebrae 2023

The Brothers and Chorus Breviarii members from San Diego and Murrieta sang Good Friday Tenebrae at St. Anne Catholic Church from 5:15 to 7:45 in the morning. We were joined by Fr. Jesus Valenzuela, FSSP, one of the parish's assistant priests, as well as by Mr. Ricardo Ascensio, FSSP, a seminarian from San Diego. Mr. Ascensio chanted his lesson, the third one from the Lamentations of Jeremiah, according to the Mozarabic tone, which we had never heard before.

We were also joined by two youths at St. Anne who both serve at Mass and sing in the parish's the choristers group. In total, we had 22 men in choir.

[Link to Bert's photo album]