Hello, and welcome to the rehearsal site for the liturgy of First Vespers of the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple. In the traditional calendar, the feast of the Presentation was also known as Candlemas,
This liturgy will take place at 5:30 PM, on Sunday, February 1st, 2015, at St. Sebastian Church in Greenbrae, California. The celebrant will be Fr. Mark Taheny and the Choirmaster will be Fr. Samuel Weber. If you wish to sing for this liturgy and have not already signed up, please contact me at: robertjohnson6211@sbcglobal.net , and I will send you a packet of music and more info.
The program for this Vespers is as follows:
1. To begin the program we will have the blessing of the candles ceremony, which would normally be held prior to Mass on the actual feat day. This will include an antiphon and it's verses, and a hymn. These parts will be sung in Latin by a group familiar with Gregorian Chant.
2. Next is Vespers proper, sung in English Chant tones as contained in this video.
3. We will end the service with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, including all of the traditional hymns sung for this liturgy, although we may substitute another hymn or motet for the O Salutaris Hostia, but that is TBD.
After the service will be a reception, with refreshments and a buffet supper.
At the end of this practice video is a Gregorian hymn called "Ave Maris Stella". We may sing this prior to the blessing of the candles, as a meditation.
You will notice that not all of the Psalms are chanted completely. For some we have provided only the first two verses, as this should be sufficient to learn the tones. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at the above address.
All of this information is repeated in written form on the title page of this video.
Thank You
Robert Johnson
