The Durandus Institute for Sacred Liturgy & Music

07/28/2026

A reporter for Our Sunday Visitor came to our 1776 Vespers and interviewed our team members afterward. You can read all about it here.

The time machine to Catholic evening prayer in late 18th-century America began just outside the church with Father Pasley, six fellow priests, fife and drum players and historians wearing clothing reminiscent of Revolutionary War times.

07/27/2026

Photos from the solemn Vespers & Te Deum on the feast of St. James, and in thanksgiving for the Semiquincentennial (250th anniversary) of the founding of the United States, organized by The Durandus Institute for Sacred Liturgy & Music. The event took place at St. Augustine Church in old city Philadelphia, near Independence Hall.

The music for Vespers was drawn chiefly from "A Compilation of the Litanies and Vespers Hymns and Anthems as They Are Sung in the Catholic Church" by John Aitken. Published in Philadelphia in 1787, it is the oldest book of Catholic music published in the United States. With the choir supported by a small portatif organ and violin, worshippers experienced Vespers as it was heard in 1776, and as described by John Adams during a visit to Vespers at Old St. Mary's, Philadelphia.

The liturgy was preceded by a ceremonial reading of the Declaration of Independence outside the church, and the singing of hymns from the Revolutionary War ("Let tyrants shake their iron rod" and "God save our thirteen states"), with the support of the 3rd New Jersey Regiment (the "Jersey Greys") and the New Jersey Fifes and Drums.

We concluded with the singing of Te Deum, as was experienced by members of the Continental Congress when they visited Old St. Mary's on the Fourth of July, 1779, to attend a Te Deum service in the third year of independence and to celebrate the Franco-American alliance.

Photo credit: Peter Tulay

07/23/2026

Our hosting church, St. Augustine's in Philadelphia, actually has a sister bell to the Liberty Bell. The bell at St. Augustine's was originally cast at the Whitechapel Foundry in London as a replacement for the bell at the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall), as it had cracked shortly after arrival. However, the people of Philadelphia grew found of the original bell's sound despite the flaw, so the "Sister Bell" rang at the State House together with its more famous counterpart for decades until the Augustinians finally acquired it.

Come visit us for the Semiquincentennial Vespers on Saturday, and take a look at the "sister bell" at the back of the church!

07/22/2026

The people of New Jersey have truly stepped up to make our upcoming Vespers worthy of 250 years! In addition to the New Jersey Fifes and Drums, a few members of the 3rd New Jersey Regiment--the Jersey Greys--will be present to form an honor guard, and interact with visitors before and after the liturgy.

A member of their ranks will also carry out the service of the ceremonial reading of the Declaration of Independence outside the church, before the start of the liturgy.

07/21/2026

We're pleased to announce that several members of the New Jersey Fifes and Drums will be assisting us by playing music outside of St. Augustine Church during the hour before the start of our Semiquincentennial Vespers. Come early, find parking (which will likely be challenging), and enjoy music of the Revolutionary War period starting at 5pm on Saturday!

(Members of this group are often--understandably--confused for representing the "redcoats" of the British Army. In reality, their uniforms are in the reverse colors of their regiment's combatant uniforms. This helped to identify musicians on the battlefield as non-combatants.)

07/20/2026

In our event description for this coming Saturday's Vespers celebrating America's Semiquincentennial, we quoted a small excerpt from John Adams's letter to his wife Abigail, where he recounted his experience of attending Vespers at Old St. Mary's Catholic Church in Philadelphia. Here is a fuller excerpt below. It's a certainly a back-handed compliment in some parts, but we reproduce it here for your amusement (and/or consternation).

John Adams, to Abigail Adams, October 9, 1774:
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This afternoon, led by Curiosity and good Company I strolled away to [illegible] Mother Church, or rather Grandmother Church, I mean the Romish Chappell. Heard a good, short, moral Essay upon the Duty of Parents to their Children, founded in justice and Charity, to take care of their Interests temporal and spiritual.

This Afternoons Entertainment was to me, most awfull and affecting. The poor Wretches, fi*****ng their Beads, chanting Latin, not a Word of which they understood, their Pater Nosters and Ave Maria's. Their holy Water-their Crossing themselves perpetually-their Bowing to the Name of Jesus, their wherever they hear it-their Bowings, and Kneelings, and Genuflections before the Altar. The Dress of the Priest was rich with Lace-his Pulpit was Velvet and Gold. The Altar Piece was very rich-little Images and Crucifixes about-Wax Candles lighted up. But how shall I describe the Picture of our Saviour in a Frame of Marble over the Altar at full Length upon the Cross, in the Agonies, and the Blood dropping and streaming from his Wounds.

The Musick consisting of an organ, and a Choir of singers, went all the Afternoon, excepting sermon Time, and the Assembly chanted-most sweetly and exquisitely.

Here is every Thing which can lay hold of the Sight Eye, Ear, and Imagination. Every Thing which can charm and bewitch the simple and ignorant. I wonder how Luther ever broke the spell.

Adieu.
John Adams

07/17/2026

Our preacher for the solemn Vespers commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States this coming July 25 is Father Alan Bridges. A priest of the Diocese of Trenton, Fr. Bridges was once an employee of Fort Ticonderoga Museum, and remains involved with the 3rd New Jersey Greys (a Revolutionary War living history organization).

Fr. Bridges recently portrayed a young Fr. John Carroll in a video produced by Fort Ticonderoga. We recommend you check it out!

07/15/2026

As we prepare for the Vespers commemorating the Semiquincentennial of America on July 25, we share with you some images from a copy of the first Catholic hymnal printed in the US: "A Compilation of the Litanies and Vespers Hymns and Anthems as They are Sung in the Catholic Church". Our executive director visited the Catholic Historical Research Center in northeast Philly to study this book, which will be used extensively at our Vespers event.

This volume was printed in 1787 in Philadelphia by John Aitken. Aitken, although apparently not a Catholic himself (he is buried in the churchyard of Christ Church Episcopal), nonetheless participated in the life of Old St. Mary's (including renting a pew there) and clearly saw a need for the publication of this work. As you can see in the third image, it was approved by Fr. John Carroll, who would soon become the first Catholic bishop for the new United States.

Students of chant will also notice how the chant here is engraved with modern notation, as was common in this era before the revival of square notation via the efforts of the monks of Solesmes.

07/05/2026

During this weekend of the 250th anniversary of American independence, Durandus sends its blessings to all our supporters! Our executive director, James Griffin, was present for the Mass at the conclusion of a national Eucharistic pilgrimage which converged at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter & Paul, Philadelphia earlier today. The Holy Father Pope Leo XIV made a video address to those in attendance, with his own commemoration of the 250th at the city where independence was first declared (and, of course, where the Holy Father himself went to university).

Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing more information about the upcoming Vespers for the Semiquincentennial of America on July 25 at St. Augustine Church, Philadelphia. Keep following our page for more updates!

06/25/2026

Join us as we commemorate the Semiquincentennial (250th anniversary) of the founding of the United States, with a celebration of Vespers as it would have been experienced in 1776 in a Catholic chapel of the Thirteen Colonies. It will take place at St. Augustine Church, in walking distance of Independence Hall, on the feast of St. James: Saturday, July 25 at 6pm.

It was Vespers that John Adams experienced during a visit to Old St. Mary's, Philadelphia in 1774. He wrote to his wife Abigail: "The Musick consisting of an organ, and a Choir of singers, went all the Afternoon, excepting sermon Time, and the Assembly chanted-most sweetly and exquisitely." Much of the music for this event has been taken from "A Compilation of Litanies and Vespers, Hymns and Anthems as they are sung in the Catholic Church". Printed in 1787 in Philadelphia by John Aitken, this was the first Catholic hymnal ever published in the new United States.

A sermon will be preached by Fr. Alan Bridges. We will conclude with the singing of Te Deum, as was experienced by George Washington and members of the Continental Congress when they attended the first celebration of Independence Day in a Catholic church, on July 4, 1779, again at Old St. Mary's, Philadelphia.

Please come, and invite your friends!