Christmas at SMM!

“O come, let us adore him…”

This Christmas, like many things in 2020, the way we come together to adore the Christ child at the manger will be different from what most of are used to.

Though we won’t be able to gather in person, our services for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be offered online on our YouTube channel.

As the links for these services become available, we’ll add them below.

We hope you’ll tune in as we gather, each in our own homes, to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the light that shines in the darkness and illumines every heart.

Christmas Eve
4.00 pm A short service of Christmas lessons & carols
Officiant: Fr. Andrew MacDonald
Lessons & Carols Leaflet

11.00 pm Traditional language Midnight Mass
Celebrant: Mtr. Johanna Pak
Preacher: Fr. Andrew MacDonald
Midnight Mass Leaflet

Christmas Day
10.00 am Modern language Christmas Day mass
Celebrant: Fr. Andrew MacDonald
Preacher: Mtr. Johanna Pak
Christmas Day Leaflet

Advent IV - 20 December 2020

We celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent with two livestreamed Sung Masses.

9.00 am Sung Mass (modern language)

Find the service link HERE. (The link will go active Sunday morning.)

Find the leaflet HERE.

11.15 am Sung Mass (traditional language)

Find the service link HERE. (The link will go active Sunday morning.)

Find the leaflet HERE.

An organ recital in progress: part 62

Dear SMM Community,
 

The next part of my online organ recital is here, and I hope that you enjoy it. I offer up these musical meditations as part of our parish efforts to find ways to keep you connected at this time. Recorded on my house organ, the instrument is a musical facsimile of the great 'Father' Willis organ at Salisbury Cathedral.

Today, I present Sverre Eftestøl's Englar kveda.


Englar kveda (Angels sing) is one of the Seven allegorical pictures based upon the Norwegian folk tune Kling no, klokka by Sverre Eftestøl (born 1952). The set is dedicated to the concert organist Christopher Herrick, and was published in 2000. Eftestøl studied piano and organ in Kristiansand and Oslo, and composition with George Crumb and Mauricio Kagel in Salzburg. The Norwegian folk tune Kling no, klokka (Sound the bell) comes from the Oppdal region, though a variant of the tune can be traced back to Halle from 1705 or 1708.



With best wishes,
Andrew Adair
Director of Music

An Advent Meditation on the O Antiphons

Andrew Adair, Director of Music, and the Choirs of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene offer a meditation built around the O antiphons, with complimentary carols and readings for the season of Advent. Each set features a textual mediation by Mtr. Johanna Pak, accessible in the leaflet linked below, unlocking the meaning of each O antiphon.

The meditation link can be found HERE, and will premiere at 4.30pm on Sunday 13 December. It will be available to view anytime after the premiere so that you can enjoy the meditation for the rest of the Advent season.

The leaflet link can be found HERE.

We look forward to presenting what we hope will be a meaningful part of your Advent season.

Advent III "Joy" for Children & Youth

It's the Third Sunday of Advent, and the theme is "Joy"! (There's a fancy Latin word in there, too.) Mother Johanna uses some balloons to explain the difference between joy and happiness.

An organ recital in progress: part 61

Dear SMM Community,
 

The next part of my online organ recital is here, and I hope that you enjoy it. I offer up these musical meditations as part of our parish efforts to find ways to keep you connected at this time. Recorded on my house organ, the instrument is a musical facsimile of the great 'Father' Willis organ at Salisbury Cathedral.

Today, I present Everett Titcomb's Advent.


American composer and organist Howard Everett Titcomb (1884-1968) was Organist and Choirmaster at Boston’s Church of St. John the Evangelist from 1910 to 1959. In his work Advent, we hear various Gregorian chant melodies, including the O antiphons and Veni Emmanuel.



With best wishes,
Andrew Adair
Director of Music