Today is the feast of St. Cecilia, patroness of Church musicians, who continues to answer our prayers.

Prayer to Saint Cecilia

Dear Saint Cecilia, one thing we know for certain about you is that you became a heroic martyr in fidelity to your divine Bridegroom. We do not know that you were a musician but we are told that you heard Angels sing. Inspire musicians to gladden the hearts of people by filling the air with God's gift of music and reminding them of the divine Musician who created all beauty. Amen.

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Somehow it has all taken us by surprise: the sudden appearance of Christ the King and then Advent and then Christmas. We spent last night's rehearsal freshening up pieces we haven't looked at in a year: Christus Vincit, Conditor Alme, Rorate Caeli, plus advent hymns and motets. The liturgies grow ever more complex and demanding in this season. Every year we hope for more progress toward the goal of integrating more of the normative form from the Graduale but we instead find that we are fortunate to be barely able to stay on top of the existing structure.

The Sweelink piece Gaudete is complete--well, all but a few measures. It now sounds natural and familiar but still not easy. It is scheduled for December 11: three months of work compressed into 4 to 5 minutes. It may or may not work. Choirs are volatile and the St. Cecilia Schola is not an exception. All we can do is put our hearts and souls into it and proclaim the Glory of God. We must depend on the prayers of our patroness.

Here are the programs for Christ the King and the First Sunday of Advent. Composers are not marked but the Salve Regina is DiLasso, the Jesu Rex is Palestrina as is the Agnus Dei (II from the Missa Brevis), and the O Sacrum is M. Lawrence, among others.

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