The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the center of the liturgical life of Transfiguration of Our Lord Church. We are blessed to have priests who celebrate Sunday and Daily Masses according to both the Roman Missal of 1962 (the usus antiquior or Traditional Latin Mass) and the Roman Missal of 1970, the Third Typical Edition of which was promulgated in 2002 and revised in 2008 (the usus recentior or Novus Ordo Mass). Masses are celebrated reverently with love for our Lord Jesus Christ, attention to the Tradition of the Church, the ad orientem posture of the Priest Celebrant and members of the congregation, and the chanting of the propers.
All Masses at Transfiguration of Our Lord Church, whether according to the older or newer Roman Rite, are celebrated ad orientem. Ad orientem is a Latin phrase simply meaning “to the east,” but in a liturgical setting it takes on a greater significance. Offering Mass ad orientem entails the Priest Celebrant offering Mass facing Liturgical East, either towards the geographic east as in the case of our church building with its main altar on the eastern wall, or else symbolically when the main altar of a church is not oritented to face geographical east. The reason that the Priest Celebrant, along with the congregation, faces Liturgical East within the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is to anticipate the coming of Christ and to assume his proper role as the leader of prayer of the gathered Catholic faithful.
“Then he led me to the gate facing east, and there was the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east!" (Ezekiel 43:1-2)
Christian symbolism historically has connected the east with the coming of Christ. The image of the rising sun recalls the Resurrection occurring at dawn (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1) and Christ as the light shining in the darkness (John 1:5). As Jesus says, “For just as lightning comes from the east and is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be." (Matthew 24:27)
At Transfiguration of Our Lord Church, all sung Masses include the proper chants—the Introit (Entrance), Gradual, Alleluia or Tract, Offertory, and Communion antiphons—and other selections from the Church's treasury of sacred music. Gregorian chant or polyphonic settings of the propers are sung during the Traditional Latin Mass. The Entrance, Offertory, and Communion antiphons are chanted in either English or Latin during usus recentior (Novus Ordo) Masses.
See more about Sacred Music here
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