Last night in the Oratory we held a vigil before the Blessed Sacrament followed with mass for the new year, to celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and to pray for peace and for the future. It was a very well attended and we had drinks afterwards.
But for members of the choir, it is a case of no rest for the wicked. I had to be up promptly in time for the choir rehearsal for the solemn high mass the next day: just like Christmas midnight mass followed by the morning high mass immediately afterwards. Jackie Parkes took these photos of the morning mass:
But for members of the choir, it is a case of no rest for the wicked. I had to be up promptly in time for the choir rehearsal for the solemn high mass the next day: just like Christmas midnight mass followed by the morning high mass immediately afterwards. Jackie Parkes took these photos of the morning mass:
As we only had a schola of 5 men, we sang the Mass of St. Francis de Sales by William Sewell, the Oratory organist and director of music 100 years ago. While I think it is a very nice little unison mass, some people turned up their noses at it as awful slush, wishing we could have had a full Mozart mass! You just can't please everyone all the time, particularly when we're short of forces and very tired from the previous evening...
