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Editor's Corner
Saint Sylvester, the Last Saint of the Year
On this last day of the calendar year, we celebrate in muted tones the mysterious and shadowy Pope Saint Sylvester I, who reigned from 314, the year after Constantine made Christianity legal after his...
Nota in Brevis
The Very First ‘Merry Christmas’
In one of those many ironies of history, it came as news to me that the first recorded use of the greeting 'Merry Christmas' was from Bishop John Fisher to Thomas Cromwell. Of course,...
Nota in Brevis
Christmas Hymns
A fine compilation of Christmas hymnody, done in wonderful harmony. Enjoy on this day of great joy! Christus natus est, alleluia!
https://youtu.be/zIQBBNIo1Hc
Featured Highlights
A Christmas Carol: Thoughts, and an Audio Book
Charles Dickens' novella A Christmas Carol was first published on this December 19 back in 1843, and it has been a much beloved classic ever since. It is really is an Advent story, as...
Reviews
Bach’s Cantata for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
J.S. Bach composed Cantatas for many Sundays and feasts (over 200!)- in the Lutheran liturgical calendar, to be sure, but one which remained close to its Catholic origins. Here is the one for the...
Articles
Musical Offering: The Alma Redemptoris Mater, in Three Versions
There are various antiphons sung in honour of Our Lady at the close of Compline, for each liturgical season - the Salve Regina for 'Ordinary Time'; the Ave Regina Coelorum for Lent, the Regina...
Reviews
Handel’s Miraculous Messiah
On this Second Sunday of Advent, when we read of Saint John the Baptist's preparing the way, it is fitting to immerse oneself in at least the first part of Handel's Messiah.
First performed...
Nota in Brevis
Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty
Forty years ago today, on December 14, 1985, Catherine de Hueck Doherty's vagarious life came to its end in a cabin in the remote town of Combermere, Ontario. Born in Russia, and living through...
