Saturday, June 24, 2006
Celebratio Nativitatis S. Ioannis Baptistae - Celebration of the birth of John the Baptist
Today (or rather yesterday, as it is 1:30 AM) marked the feast day of John the Baptist for Catholics. John's feast day is somewhat unusual, insofar as it marks his birth, rather than his death, as most feast days do. It was a special day for me and the other students in Reggie's class because we went into the chapel of Reggie's monastery for a Latin mass. It was a beautiful mass, without exception the best that I (a Protestant, but one who regularly attends mass as an employee at a Catholic school) have ever attended.
It was the only time I've ever seen Reggie wearing something other than his standard uniform, which is a blue button-down shirt, steel blue pants, and black work shoes. (As I post more pictures, you will see that this is all he ever wears.) It was almost shocking to see him wearing his monks' habit and priestly vestments (which he refused to wear even when the Pope's visit to his department in the Vatican required it; instead, he chose on that day to stay home - "I was 'indisposed,'" as he put it).
It was an all-Latin mass, including the homily, which was excellent. In his homily, Reggie urged us as teachers to follow the example of John the Baptist, whose purpose was to prepare the way for Christ and then to fade into the background as Jesus took "center stage." According to the Book of John, John the Baptist said of himself and Jesus: "As he grows greater, I must grow less." Reggie equated this sentiment with the proper aim of teachers: our job is to prepare the way for our students, to do our part to help them grow, to assume the center stage. Meanwhile, Reggie urged us to remember that we do not, or rather should not, do this for ourselves or for any sense of self-importance. He urged us to be humble and giving and selfless as our students grow greater, while we grow less.
Listening to Reggie's homily was one of the best experiences with Latin I've yet had. Incredibly, I understood the entire homily. Finally...slowly...I am becoming better able to comprehend spoken Latin. As I listened, I was moved by Reggie's words, and I hoped that someday some of my own students would be able to enjoy similar Latin experiences, that they might someday hear or read something in Latin that speaks in a significant way to them.
At the end of the mass, we sang a Gregorian chant (which we are learning to do in class), the Vespers hymn for the Feast of St. John the Baptist, Ut Queant Laxis. There are a couple of interesting things having to do with this hymn.
It was written by Paulo Diacono (Paul the Deacon) in the 8th century. In the 11th century, Guido d'Arezzo, a Benedictine monk, used the hymn to formulate a system of using syllables to represent the tones of the Scale. This system, called the Guido System, is the famous do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti. Here's how it worked:
The hymn begins with these words:
Ut queant laxis resonare fibris
Mira gestorum famuli tuorum,
Solve polluti labii reatum,
Sancte Joannes
Guido used the first syllables of the words that corresponded with the notes of the scale (here capitalized) to represent those notes:
UT queant laxis REsonare fibris
MIra gestorum FAmuli tuorum
SOLve polluti LAbii reatum
Sancte Joannes
Originally it was ut-re-mi-fa-sol-la. Later ut was replaced by do (although I think ut may still be used in Germany), sol was shortened to so, and ti was added as the final note of the scale.
This was a wretched explanation. If you are so inclined, a better explanation can be found HERE.
The second interesting thing is that the Catholic Church, sometime in the seventies, changed some of the words of the hymn. Specifically, they changed "Nuntius celso veniens Olympo" (a messenger coming from high Olympus) to "Nuntius caelo veniens supremo" (a messenger coming from high in the sky). This, according to Reggie, was done "because celso...Olympo sounded a little too 'pagan-like.'" On the sheets that Reggie gave us, "caelo...supremo" had been whited out and "celso...Olympo" restored. Reggie thinks the whole fuss was a bunch of ridiculous nonsense. That's Reggie.
After mass, we crossed the street and had a great dinner, during which Reggie told a bunch of really funny stories about his job in the Vatican. He told us about when some of the Vatican "higher-ups" tried to get him to put some furniture in his office, which only had (and still only has) a simple desk and chair. "I don't want any furniture." "We'll get you some furniture." "I don't want any furniture." "We'll get you some furniture." "I don't NEED any furniture!" "Come on now, Foster, you don't want us to be like a bunch of Poor Franciscans here, do you?" "It wouldn't be such a bad idea!" Reggie's great!
It was the only time I've ever seen Reggie wearing something other than his standard uniform, which is a blue button-down shirt, steel blue pants, and black work shoes. (As I post more pictures, you will see that this is all he ever wears.) It was almost shocking to see him wearing his monks' habit and priestly vestments (which he refused to wear even when the Pope's visit to his department in the Vatican required it; instead, he chose on that day to stay home - "I was 'indisposed,'" as he put it).
It was an all-Latin mass, including the homily, which was excellent. In his homily, Reggie urged us as teachers to follow the example of John the Baptist, whose purpose was to prepare the way for Christ and then to fade into the background as Jesus took "center stage." According to the Book of John, John the Baptist said of himself and Jesus: "As he grows greater, I must grow less." Reggie equated this sentiment with the proper aim of teachers: our job is to prepare the way for our students, to do our part to help them grow, to assume the center stage. Meanwhile, Reggie urged us to remember that we do not, or rather should not, do this for ourselves or for any sense of self-importance. He urged us to be humble and giving and selfless as our students grow greater, while we grow less.
Listening to Reggie's homily was one of the best experiences with Latin I've yet had. Incredibly, I understood the entire homily. Finally...slowly...I am becoming better able to comprehend spoken Latin. As I listened, I was moved by Reggie's words, and I hoped that someday some of my own students would be able to enjoy similar Latin experiences, that they might someday hear or read something in Latin that speaks in a significant way to them.
At the end of the mass, we sang a Gregorian chant (which we are learning to do in class), the Vespers hymn for the Feast of St. John the Baptist, Ut Queant Laxis. There are a couple of interesting things having to do with this hymn.
It was written by Paulo Diacono (Paul the Deacon) in the 8th century. In the 11th century, Guido d'Arezzo, a Benedictine monk, used the hymn to formulate a system of using syllables to represent the tones of the Scale. This system, called the Guido System, is the famous do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti. Here's how it worked:
The hymn begins with these words:
Ut queant laxis resonare fibris
Mira gestorum famuli tuorum,
Solve polluti labii reatum,
Sancte Joannes
Guido used the first syllables of the words that corresponded with the notes of the scale (here capitalized) to represent those notes:
UT queant laxis REsonare fibris
MIra gestorum FAmuli tuorum
SOLve polluti LAbii reatum
Sancte Joannes
Originally it was ut-re-mi-fa-sol-la. Later ut was replaced by do (although I think ut may still be used in Germany), sol was shortened to so, and ti was added as the final note of the scale.
This was a wretched explanation. If you are so inclined, a better explanation can be found HERE.
The second interesting thing is that the Catholic Church, sometime in the seventies, changed some of the words of the hymn. Specifically, they changed "Nuntius celso veniens Olympo" (a messenger coming from high Olympus) to "Nuntius caelo veniens supremo" (a messenger coming from high in the sky). This, according to Reggie, was done "because celso...Olympo sounded a little too 'pagan-like.'" On the sheets that Reggie gave us, "caelo...supremo" had been whited out and "celso...Olympo" restored. Reggie thinks the whole fuss was a bunch of ridiculous nonsense. That's Reggie.
After mass, we crossed the street and had a great dinner, during which Reggie told a bunch of really funny stories about his job in the Vatican. He told us about when some of the Vatican "higher-ups" tried to get him to put some furniture in his office, which only had (and still only has) a simple desk and chair. "I don't want any furniture." "We'll get you some furniture." "I don't want any furniture." "We'll get you some furniture." "I don't NEED any furniture!" "Come on now, Foster, you don't want us to be like a bunch of Poor Franciscans here, do you?" "It wouldn't be such a bad idea!" Reggie's great!
# posted by srpaterson @ 4:24 PM 
