Dear parishioners of St. John’s Cathedral, Happy Easter!

In an immediate change of the liturgical tone, solo music for organ and piano is now back, and you are invited to prepare yourselves spiritually for Mass with the help of the prelude music, and to experience moments of meditation without the use of the voice, or text, at the end of Holy Communion and other appropriate moments.

Looking back at the celebration of Easter Sunday, you may have been curious about one chant sung right after the second reading and before the Alleluia. This chant is called a Sequence, and is an important element of the Easter Day Mass. It is only mandatory twice a year where it serves as a kind of a “frame” of the Easter Season: the first mandatory sequence is sung on Easter Sunday and through the Octave of Easter, and the second one – on the feast of Pentecost that ends the Season. About one thousand years ago, when poems called sequences were first written and widely disseminated, there were hundreds of them created by liturgical poets and musicians, all in Latin. Later at the Council of Trent, (1545–1563), a decision was made that left only several of them for liturgical use. Below you can hear a magnificent rendition of the Easter Sequence Victimae Paschali Laudes (Christians, to the Paschal Victim) from the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris (you may find the full text in English in your missals): https://youtu.be/zlSK8vn55ZA?si=hRXqBF3TxdkD_5hU

Besides the recurring theme of the Resurrection (you will hear the words “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” all the way though the Season, even though “today” was a few weeks back), the Season of Easter is defined by a specific Marian song. In fact, each season of the church year has its own poem dedicated to Our Blessed Mother, and the poem of Easter is Regina Caeli, and here is its text in English: “Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia. The Son whom you merited to bear, alleluia, has risen as he said, alleluia. Pray for us to God, alleluia.” (From the USCCB website, https://www.usccb.org/prayers/regina-caeli). You can hear it as a simple Latin Gregorian chant with light organ accompaniment, or as the hymn-style setting Be Joyful Mary, Heavenly Queen with an English version of the text. Here I would like to offer to you a reminder of the wonderful choir version of Antonio Lotti (1667-1740), that our Cathedral Choir sang on Easter Day: https://youtu.be/CLnt2ynyrEw?si=aIVUEilfcXJST2j_

And finally, I would like to leave you with one of the best known “victorious” tunes by the great George Friedrich Handel, "See here the conqu'ring hero comes." It was written to celebrate a political victory of his day (year 1756) in the “disguise” of telling the story of Judas Maccabaeus. It was later transformed into a church hymn with the text “Thine Is (or Thine Be) the Glory” by the Swiss hymn writer Edmond Louis Budry, translated into English by Richard Birch Hoyle in the early 1900s. May the reminder of the third verse of the hymn be with us throughout the remaining days of Easter as we listen to the music here https://youtu.be/gZz5fO2e1Cc?si=L-0QgG7USIrRIqFI

No more we doubt Thee, glorious Prince of life!
Life is naught without Thee; aid us in our strife; make us more than conqu'rors, through Thy deathless love; bring us safe through Jordan to Thy home above.

Christ Is Risen!

Music Throughout the Mass 

Entrance Hymn:
Marks the beginning of the Mass and sets the tone for the liturgy.

Responsorial Psalm: 
A musical response to the Scripture reading, sung during the Liturgy of the Word. 

Gospel Acclamation: 
A sung response to the reading of the Gospel. 

Offertory Hymn: 
Sung during the preparation of the gifts for the Eucharistic prayer. 

Communion Hymn: 
Sung during the distribution of Holy Communion. 

Recessional Hymn: 
Sung as the congregation departs after the Mass. 

"Holy, Holy, Holy" and "Lamb of God": 
Specific parts of the Mass Ordinary that are sung by the choir or congregation.