On 11th December 2022 Cantores Matris Dei sang Solemn II Vespers and Benediction for Gaudete Sunday at St Brigid’s Toryglen. Despite singers calling off, one with a flat tyre (who also had the rose cope!), those who attended found the liturgy to be an opportunity to retreat from the hustle and bustle of December- an opportunity for Advent meditation.
We are fortunate to work with Fr Gerard Byrne who studied music as an undergraduate at Glasgow and the sacred liturgy at Sant Anselmo in Rome during which time he sang in the choir at St Peter’s Basilica.
The Second Vatican Council called for wider recitation of the Divine Office in churches, one of its largely unrealised aims. The council also stipulated that Latin have pride of place and that Gregorian Chant be retained as the authentic music of the Latin Rite. In fidelity to these teachings, we sang Vespers according to the Antiphonale Romanum with the readings and intercessions in the vernacular, as is done at St Peter’s Basilica. FP