THE PARISH OF ST. VINCENT FERRER AND ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA

The Very Reverend Walter C. Wagner, O.P., Pastor

James D. Wetzel, Director of Music and Organist

SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

Sunday, May 30, 2021

12 NOON Solemn Mass

First Mass of Thanksgiving of Fr. Frassati Davis, O.P.

The setting of the Mass Ordinary is Missa Papae Marcelli by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594).

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Fr. Frassati Davis, O.P. was baptized at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California. He moved around the United States and Japan with his family throughout his childhood, attending 12 different schools by the age of 18. Before beginning programs in philosophy and theology in the seminary, Fr. Frassati studied East Asian Linguistics. He worked jobs as a swim instructor and youth minister while running college cross country and singing in a vocal jazz ensemble. Father joined the Dominicans as a novice in 2015, eventually making solemn vows and diaconate in the Spring in 2020. He was ordained a priest in Washington, D.C. on May 22, 2021.

Fr. Frassati has three other siblings: Lindsey, a llama farmer, Sr. Kara, a Daughter of Charity, and Fr. Tony, a priest for the Archdiocese of Denver. His parents, Tony and Mary, are from Chattanooga but now reside in Omaha, Nebraska where Tony works as a contractor for the Air Force and Mary teaches English at Ss. Pedro y Pablo Catholic School.

PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS

Blessed Jordan of Saxony, worthy successor of St. Dominic, in the early days of the Order, your example and zeal prompted many men and women to follow Christ in the white habit of our Holy Father. As patron of Dominican vocations, continue to stimulate talented and devoted men and women to consecrate their lives to God.

Through your intercession, lead to the Order of Preachers generous and sacrificing persons, willing to give themselves fervently to the apostolate of Truth. Help them to prepare themselves to be worthy of the grace of a Dominican vocation. Inspire their hearts to become learned of God, that with firm determination they might aspire to be champions of the Faith and true lights of the world.

COLLECT OF ST. DOMINIC

O God, who was pleased to enlighten your Church with the merits and teaching of blessed Dominic, your confessor and our father, grant, at his intercession, that she may not be wanting in temporal help, and may always increase in spiritual growth. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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PRELUDE Johann Sebastian Bach CLAVIER-ÜBUNG, PART III (1685-1750)

Prelude in E Flat Major, BWV 552a, ‘St. Anne’

INTRODUCTORY RITES

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON (OFFICIUM) Tobias 12:6 Chant, mode viii

SIGN OF THE CROSS AND GREETING

PENITENTIAL ACT

KYRIE AND GLORIA

COLLECT

God our Father, who by sending into the world the Word of truth and the Spirit of sanctification made known to the human race your wondrous mystery, grant us, we pray, that in professing the true faith, we may acknowledge the Trinity of eternal glory and adore your Unity, powerful in majesty. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Benedicta sit sancta Trinitas, atque indivisa Unitas: confitebimur ei, quia fecit nobiscum misericordiam suam.

V. Benedicamus Patrem et Filium cum Sancto Spiritu.

Blessed be the Holy Trinity and undivided Unity. We will praise him, because he has shown his mercy to us.

V. Let us bless the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit.

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LITURGY OF THE WORD

FIRST READING Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40

Moses said to the people: “Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live? Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the Lord, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other. You must keep his statutes and commandments that I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you forever.

GRADUAL (RESPONSORIUM) Daniel 3:55-56; Tobit 12:6 Chant, mode v

SECOND READING Romans 8:14-17

Brothers and sisters: For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Benedictus es, Domine, qui intueris abyssos, et sedes super Cherubim.

V. Benedicite Deum caeli, quia fecit vobiscum misericordiam suam.

Blessed are you, O Lord, who behold the depths, and sit upon the cherubim.

V. Bless the God of heaven, because he has shown his mercy to you.

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ALLELUIA Daniel 3:52 Chant, mode viii

GOSPEL Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. Benedictus es Domine Deus partum nostorum: et laudabilis in saecula.

Alleluia.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. Blessed are you, O Lord God of our fathers, and worthy of praise forever.

Alleluia.

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CREDO Chant, mode iv

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Benedicamus Patrem et Filium cum Sancto Spiritu. Laudemus et super exaltemus eum in saecula. Benedictus es, Domine, in firmamento caeli, et laudabilis et gloriosus in saecula.

Let us bless the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit. We praise and exalt him above all forever. Blessed are you, O Lord, in the firmament of heaven, and worthy of praise and glory forever.

UNIVERSAL PRAYER

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Tobias 12:6 Chant, mode iii

OFFERTORY MOTET Daniel 3:57; Tobit 12:6 Andrea Rota (1553-1597)

PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS

Sanctify by the invocation of your name, we pray, O Lord our God, this oblation of our service, and by it make of us an eternal offering to you. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Benedictus sit Deus Pater, unigenitusque Dei Filius, Sanctus quoque Spiritus: quia fecit nobiscum misericordiam suam.

Blessed be God the Father, and the only-begotten Son of God, and also the Holy Spirit; because he has shown his mercy to us.

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PREFACE

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.

For with your Only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit you are one God, one Lord: not in the unity of a single person, but in a Trinity of one substance.

For what you have revealed to us of your glory we believe equally of your Son and of the Holy Spirit, so that, in the confessing of the true and eternal Godhead, you might be adored in what is proper to each Person, their unity in substance, and their equality in majesty.

For this is praised by Angels and Archangels, Cherubim, too, and Seraphim, who never cease to cry out each day, as with one voice they acclaim:

SANCTUS

MYSTERY OF FAITH

AMEN

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COMMUNION RITE

PATER NOSTER

SIGN OF PEACE

AGNUS DEI

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COMMUNION ANTIPHON Tobias 12:6 Chant, mode iv

POST-COMMUNION PRAYER

May receiving this Sacrament, O Lord our God, bring us health of body and soul, as we confess your eternal holy Trinity and undivided Unity. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

CONCLUDING RITES

SOLEMN BLESSING

DISMISSAL

Benedicimus Deum caeli, et coram omnibus viventibus confitebimur ei: quia fecit nobiscum misericordiam suam.

We bless the God of heaven, and before all the living we will praise him, because he has shown his mercy to us.

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TE DEUM chant, mode iv

Sung in alternatum between the Schola (odd verses) and the organ (even verses).

Te Deum laudamus: te Dominum confitemur.

Te aeternum Patrem, omnis terra veneratur.

Tibi omnes angeli, tibi caeli et universae potestates,

tibi Cherubim et Seraphim incessabili voce proclamant:

Sanctus,

Sanctus,

Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth.

Pleni sunt caeli et terra majestatis gloriae tuae.

Te gloriosus apostolorum chorus, te prophetarum laudabilis numerus,

te martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus.

Te per orbem terrarum sancta confitetur Ecclesia,

Patrem immensae majestatis,

venerandum tuum verum et unicum Filium,

Sanctum quoque Paraclitum Spiritum.

Tu rex gloriae, Christe.

Tu Patris sempiternus es Filius.

Tu, ad liberandum suscepturus hominem, non horruisti Virginis uterum.

We praise you, O God: we acknowledge you to be the Lord.

All the earth worships you, eternal Father.

To you all the angels, to you the heavens and all the powers therein,

to you the Cherubim and Seraphim proclaim with unceasing voice:

Holy,

Holy,

Holy Lord God of hosts.

Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of your glory.

The glorious company of the Apostles, the laudable fellowship of the prophets,

the spotless army of martyrs praise you.

The holy Church throughout the world does acknowledge you,

Father of infinite majesty,

your venerable, true, and only Son,

also the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.

You are the King of glory, O Christ.

You are the everlasting Son of the Father.

You, when you become man to deliver man, did not abhor the Virgin’s womb.

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POSTLUDE Johann Sebastian Bach CLAVIER-ÜBUNG, PART III

Fugue in E Flat Major, BWV 552b, ‘St. Anne’

Fr. Frassati will offer his first priestly blessing at the Altar Rail in front of the Rosary Altar after Mass.

Tu, devicto mortis aculeo, aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum.

Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, in gloria Patris.

Judex crederis esse venturus.

Te ergo, quaesumus, tuis famulis subveni, quos pretioso sanguine redemisti.

Aeterna fac cum sanctis tuis in gloria numerari.

Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine, et benedic hereditati tuae.

Et rege eos, et extolle illos usque in aeternum.

Per singulos dies benedicimus te.

Et laudamus nomen tuum in saeculum, et in saeculum saeculi.

Dignare, Domine, die isto sine peccato nos custodire.

Miserere nostri, Domine, miserere nostri.

Fiat misericordia tua, Domine, super nos, quemadmodum speravimus in te.

In te, Domine, speravi: non confundar in aeternum.

You, having overcome the sting of death, opened to all believers the kingdom of heaven.

You sit at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father.

We believe that you will come to be the Judge.

We beseech you, therefore, to help your servants, whom you have redeemed by your precious blood.

Make them to be numbered with your Saints in glory everlasting.

Save your people, O Lord, and bless your inheritance.

And govern them and extol them for ever.

Day by day we bless you.

And we praise your name for ever and ever.

Vouchsafe, O Lord, this day to keep us without sin.

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, as we have hoped in you.

In you, O Lord, have I hoped: let me never be confounded.

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CORPUS CHRISTI SUNDAY

Sunday, June 6 is the Solemnity of Corpus Christi – the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. For the 12 NOON Solemn Mass, the Schola Cantorum will sing Francisco Guerrero’s Missa Ecce sacerdos and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s Sacerdotes Domino. After the Solemn Mass at St. Vincent Ferrer, there will be a Eucharistic Procession with brass quartet through the streets to St. Catherine of Siena where there will be Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Eucharistic Adoration will then continue at St. Catherine of Siena until Benediction at 4:45 PM. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy will be prayed at 3 PM and the Rosary recited at 4 PM.

MUSIC NOTES

Today, the Schola Cantorum offers what is perhaps the most famous setting of the Mass in music history. Palestrina’s six-voice Missa Papae Marcelli was composed in 1562 in honor of Pope Marcellus II, who reigned only for 22 days in April, 1555. The Mass is notable for its clarity of declamation and homorythmic style which sets is apart from much of Renaissance polyphony where the individual voices have more ‘vertical’ independence. The primary musical motive of a rising perfect forth followed by a stepwise descending line does not make use of any known pre-existing theme, as do many Renaissance Masses.

A legend has surrounded this Mass since soon after its composition. The final session of the Council of Trent (from which the Tridentine Mass takes its name) was held in 1562-1563 in which the music of the Church was a topic of debate. According to composer Agostino Agazzari, writing in 1607, the Council very nearly banned polyphony entirely, claiming that the intricacy of textual declamation was not conducive to devotion. To avert this prohibition, Palestrina became the ‘savior of polyphony’ by writing a Mass so pure and understandable in style that Cardinal Carlo Borromeo declared it too beautiful to ban. Whatever the legitimate origins of the Mass, the fascination with Palestrina, his Missa Papae Marcelli, and the musical intrigues of the Council continues into modern times; in 1917, German composer Hans Pfitzner wrote Palestrina, an opera based on the legendary account.

The Te Deum is a 4th century hymn of Thanksgiving to the Holy Trinity. Its authorship was traditionally attributed to Milanese St. Ambrose (thus, its sobriquet, ‘Ambrosian Hymn’) or St. Augustine, and more recently to St. Niketas, bishop of Remesiana or St. Hilary of Poitiers. A canticle of the Divine Office, the Te Deum is sung at the conclusion of Matins on all days when the Gloria is sung at Mass. A solemn Te Deum is traditionally sung at the conclusion of the High Mass on the Solemnities of the Holy Trinity and of the Church’s Dedication, and on festive occasions.

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There is much Trinitarian symbolism throughout Bach’s ‘St. Anne’ Prelude and Fugue. The Prelude has three stylistically distinct themes, representing the Father (French ouverture), the Son (Italian concerto), and the Holy Ghost (German fugue). The reprises of the ‘Father’ theme do not change in length, while those of the ‘Son’ theme become shorter and those of the ‘Spirit’ theme expand in length and complexity. In the Fugue, “the same theme recurs in three connected fugues, but each time with another personality. The first fugue is calm and majestic (in the stille antico), with an absolutely uniform movement throughout; in the second, the theme seems to be disguised, and is only occasionally recognizable in its true shape, as if to suggest the divine assumption of an earthly form; in the third, it is transformed into rushing sixteenth notes as if a Pentacostal wind were roaring from heaven.” (Albert Schweitzer, Jean-Sebastien Bach, le musicien-poète, 1905) With Bach’s interest in numerology, this piece in E Flat Major has three flats in the key signature and the three sections of the fugue have 36, 45, and 36 measures respectively – all multiples of 3x3.

THE PARISH OF ST. VINCENT FERRER AND ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA

www.svsc.info (212) 744-2080

The Church of St. Vincent Ferrer 869 Lexington Avenue at 66th Street

The Church of St. Catherine of Siena 411 East 68th Street