Jan 2025 Praenotanda

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Dear friends and colleagues,

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

I hope that your celebrations of the Nativity of the Lord were wonderful and joy-filled. THANK YOU to all who serve our Church at prayer during this solemn season as liturgical ministers; you help to show Christ’s abiding presence in our midst to a world desperately in need of hope. As we soon conclude our Christmas season with the Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord and transition into a stretch of Ordinary Time, may we be ever more aware of Christ’s manifold presence in our liturgical and sacramental ministry.

In this month’s Praenotanda, you’ll find information about celebrating the Sunday of the Word of God, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the Rite of Election, the Jubilee Year, and more. There is also a reminder about how and when to celebrate the patron of a Family of Parishes on Sunday.

I hope you can join us for a workshop in March for all those involved in Christian Initiation of adults, to be offered both in Cincinnati and in Dayton, featuring Fr. Paul Turner. More details below and full registration available in the coming weeks.

As always, if there’s anything that Matthew, Gloria Ann, or I can do to assist you in your worship and sacramental ministries, please let us know.

Jeremy Helmes
ODWS Director

FROM THE MUSIC DIRECTOR

The first Sunday in February (February 2nd) is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. This feast replaces what would normally be the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time. This feast of the Presentation was earlier known by other titles: The Purification of the Blessed Virgin, Candlemas, and in the Greek Church, Hypapante, meaning "meeting," which is alluded to in the Roman Rite in the Greeting the celebrant uses before blessing the candles.

The commemoration of this event can be traced back as far as the fourth century, where the ritually important fortieth day after Christ's birth was celebrated with a procession and Mass. Candles are traditionally blessed before Mass in a place apart from the nave, recalling the Gospel text of Simeon's canticle: "A light for revelation to the Gentiles." A solemn procession then enters the church, all bearing candles, as the "Light of Christ" comes to his temple.

Music plays a vital role in this blessing and procession. Look for settings of the antiphons, or adapt known music to fit the proper texts given above. The procession should be accompanied by the Nunc dimittis with its antiphon, perhaps extended with verses of Psalms 24, 27 and 48. A festive Gloria should ring out in the church (perhaps even the same used for Christmastide), and other music, choral and congregational, should explore the themes of light, splendor and glory.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Matthew J. Geerlings
Music Director

Policy Reminder: Ad Orientem Worship

In 2022, Archbishop Schnurr issued a decree promulgating a new policy on ad orientem worship in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. This policy is particular law for the archdiocese. It establishes that Mass facing the people is “desirable wherever possible” and that this should be the regular practice in the churches, chapels, and oratories of the archdiocese. It also requires advance notification of the inclusion of regularly-scheduled parish Masses celebrated ad orientem, and permission from the archbishop for any exceptions to the policy

Q. May baptism be celebrated during Lent?

A. Yes. In fact, Lent is a season focused not only on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, but also on baptism: both the preparation of those to be initiated at the Easter Vigil, and also the preparation of all the faithful to renew our own baptismal promises at Easter. This is why the Church forbids the emptying of baptismal fonts and holy water stoups during Lent (only during the Triduum).

Baptism is not prohibited, and in fact, delaying baptism for 6 weeks may be pastorally undesirable. That being said, it would best respect the nature of the Lenten Sunday liturgies to celebrate baptism outside of Mass rather than during in this season.