Here's an interesting post, from last week at MusicaSacra: The Sunday which heads the Lenten season takes its theme from the paradigm of all Christian fasting: Jesus’ forty-day fast in the desert and his temptation by the devil there. In tempting Jesus to show his divinity by casting himself down ...

Litanies are a very old form of prayer in worship: The word litany comes from the Latin litania, from the Greek λιτή (litê), meaning "prayer" or "supplication"....The frequent repetition of the Kyrie was probably the original form of the Litany, and was in use in Asia and in Rome at a very earl...

From Speaking to the Soul: Come, true light.Come, life eternal.Come, hidden mystery.Come, treasure without name.Come, reality beyond all words.Come, person beyond all understanding.Come, rejoicing without end.Come, light that knows no evening.Come, unfailing expectation of the saved.Come, raising of...

In the New York Times today, by David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch: IN politics, as in marriage, moments come along when sensitive compromise can avert a major conflict down the road. The two of us believe that the issue of same-sex marriage has reached such a point now. We take very different pos...

Last week, I signed up for "Google Alerts" on the topic of "Gregorian Chant" - I really did! - and believe it or not, this was in my Inbox today: "It's a Still Life That Runs Deep," a piece written about the Baroque painter Francisco de Zurbarán - by the contemporary American composer Morten Laurid...

I'm starting to get quite a few of the usual seasonal hits for this wonderful Lenten responsory that I first heard sung in procession at St. Thomas Fifth Avenue; according to TPL, it's a Mozarabic hymn from the 10th century. Unfortunately, it seems that the video I posted last year has been removed ...

Not the tired old honey-oatmeal bread, risen by the heat of the fire this time: no, it's the scandalous and edgy molasses-oatmeal bread, risen in the sun. (Same link; substitute ingredient.) The dough in the sun: Half-risen: Fully-risen: Shaped loaves: Risen loaves: Bread! Sliced: As you can see, mo...

Fun for all ages! Participate in a real research project! Be an ornithology nerd! The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, fro...

I'm nuts for singing Orthodox (and Orthodox-ish) music these days. The melodies (and harmonies) are almost always pretty simple; it's the dynamics that give these songs their impact - and working on dynamics like this is really good for breathing, which is so key in singing everything. We sang Bogor...

It's going to be in the 50s here this weekend - perhaps even in the 60s! - and not a moment too soon. I have a serious - close to fatal, I'm certain - case of Cabin Fever at this point, and so do we all around here. Lately I've been going to bed around dinnertime; well, actually eating my dinner in ...