A Wonderful Addition
to Christmas and Epiphany Celebrations
Traditional Proclamations—Now Available for Download!
The announcement known as “The Nativity of Our Jesus Christ” (or the “Christmas Proclamation”) from the Roman Martyrology is specified in The Roman Missal to be sung during the Liturgy of the Hours on Christmas Eve. More commonly, it can be sung before the Christmas Mass during the Night (Midnight Mass). Its use could also be extended to non-liturgical settings, such as a lessons and carols service or another Christmas celebration.
*****
The text of “The Announcement of Easter and the Moveable Feasts” is set to a traditional chant formula, similar to that of the Exsultet or the Prefaces of the Eucharistic Prayer in the Roman Rite. In a pre-paper or electronic calendar age, the proclamation alerted the community to some of the most important days in the liturgical year. Listeners today are more apt to hear it as a proclamation of Christ’s saving presence in their lives throughout the upcoming year.
In The Roman Missal, it is prescribed that the announcement be sung on the Solemnity of the Epiphany after the Gospel, from the ambo (pulpit) by an ordained or lay minister. Other traditions and circumstances may find additional use for this ancient custom of announcing the principal feasts of the Church.
Recent Comments