Feria Sexta in Parasceve, Good Friday...

Christus factus est pro nobis obédiens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis.

Ante Completorium. The Good Friday actio, the Mass of the Presanctified as it has been called (there is no Mass celebrated in the orbis catholicus on Good Friday) because the Host consumed by the priest was consecrated last night at the Mass in Coena Domini, went quite well. Father A. needs a deacon-- he sang the entire Passion himself, attempting each of traditional parts (Our Lord's bass etc; 'etc' because I cannot recall otherwise which voices go with which parts)-- as well as the great bidding prayers and all the orations. And I had forgotten how long it takes for a single priest to distribute Holy Communion to a full house. The Mass ended with Compline, apparently an ordinary feature of the liturgical life at Saint Stephen's. My attempt to begin observation of the old custom of reciting all the Psalms today was a dismal failure-- I reached the lamentable total of 13 (there are 150, as I hope everyone, even in this decadent barbarian society, knows), plus the psalmody of the Hours of the Office of course; if I were at home I expect I would have done rather better. 

Just before bed, I discovered (will confess to checking in on Facebook, which I hadn't been planning on doing today) an hour-long concert of the ensemble Jerycho. The descriptive paragraph accompanying the video is infra. In the third song, it is Maestro Izbicki singing and playing the accordion-like instrument, which I reckon is called a 'portative organ', portatywie. But I must go to bed.

During Easter, we also remember the musical tradition that has accompanied these holidays for centuries. Jerycho, which for years, under the leadership of Bartosz Izbicki, has taken us on an unusual musical journey, revives Polish and European musical traditions, allowing listeners to touch the still living history. Meeting the band's music-- the wealth of voices and sounds of old instruments-- was a great adventure for us. We hope you will be happy to embark on this journey with us! We invite you to a one-of-a-kind concert, recorded in the Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Brochów, the place where Fryderyk Chopin was baptized.

The final paragraphs of Blessed Ildefonso's essay for Good Friday. 

In the Middle Ages the Pope, besides the usual cursus of the Office-- which in the three last days of Holy Week still preserves unaltered the primitive type of the Roman Office, without the Deus in adjutorium, without the hymns, and without any responsorial doxology-- recited in private on this day the entire Psalter. This custom was followed by many of the laity, and is still observed in some of the religious orders. The Ordines Romani prescribe that cooked food should not be served today in the papal palace, but only bread, herbs and water. Jesus died for me. He loved me with so great a love that he sacrificed his life for me, and, that I should not forget his love, he instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which, commemorating that of Calvary, applies all its merits to my soul. For this reason the Church celebrates daily the death of Christ, because, as Eve came forth from the side of Adam as he slept, so the Church came forth today from the adorable Heart of Jesus on the cross. This is the hidden mystery of today’s liturgy. Christ dies, and the Church is born. He expires, stripped and bleeding, that the Church may be clothed in the robe of immortality and filled with the joy of eternal youth. In order that we may correspond with this excess of love-- as the Gospel calls it-- on the part of Jesus, we must strive to increase our devotion to the holy sacrifice and to the crucified Saviour, the sight of whose face should ever fill us with tender love and heartfelt gratitude. St Gertrude tells us that, whenever we ask our heavenly Father to look upon the face of Jesus on the cross, he is moved with pity towards us sinners and his anger is turned away from us. We take the following antiphon from the Byzantine Liturgy.

Thy life-giving heart, O Christ, as another fountain springing forth from Eden, waters Thy Church like a spiritual garden. From this fountain-head the stream divides into four Gospels, irrigating the earth, filling all creatures with joy, and teaching the nations to adore Thy power.

 

It is also the feast of Saint Francesco (16th century), of Saint John (16th century), and of Saint Peter (17th century).

V. Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum. R. Deo grátias.

LDVM