What are the opening hours?

Saturday 4:15pm - 4:45pm Sunday 9am - 6:45pm

Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral

Home
United States
New York, NY
Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral

The Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral has served the community for almost 200 years St. Patrick's Old Cathedral became a parish church on May 25,1879.
(536)

Patrick's Old Cathedral is located at the corner of Prince Street and Mott Street in the SoHo / Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan. The corner stone of St Patrick's Old Cathedral, the city's first Cathedral Church, was laid on June 8,1809. It was dedicated on May 14, 1815, and on that day the New York Gazette described the cathedral as "a grand and beautiful church, which may justly be conside

red one of the greatest ornaments of our city." Patrick's Old Cathedral was the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York until the current Saint Patrick's Cathedral located on 5th Avenue and 50th Street opened in 1879. Both cathedral churches share the same Board of Trustees, overseen by Archbishop Timothy Dolan. In 1966, St. Patrick's Old Cathedral was one of the first sites to be named a New York City landmark by the New York City Landmarks Commission. Access the weekly bulletin: https://oldcathedral.org/bulletins

----------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday Evening Vigil Mass:
5:30 pm English

Sunday Mass Times:
9:00 am (Spanish)
10:30 am (English)
7:00 pm (English)

Weekday Mass Times:
Mon-Fri: 8 am (Spanish) & 12:10 pm (English)
Sat: 8:00 am (Spanish)

to make a tax-deductible contribution visit: https://oldcathedral.org/support-the-basilica

06/06/2026

About the music: This Sunday is our final choral Mass of the season: the splendid Solemnity of Corpus Christi (pictured: curtains in front of the facade ready for June 11 unveiling; photo: JL). One of the few liturgies that retains its Sequence, the Schola chants "Lauda Sion," written by St. Thomas Aquinas around 1264, before the Gospel. At Offertory, we sing a new one for the Schola, a setting of the Blessed Sacrament motet "Panis angelicus" by Henry du Mont (1610–1684), who was an abbot, but also Master of the Chapel to King Louis XIV, organist of Saint-Paul and to the Duke of Anjou, and Music Master to the Queen. This work comes from a collection published in 1652 by Robert Ballard ("Cantica Sacra"); its success led to a reprint in 1662. This work has a basso continuo and instrumental parts, a first in French sacred music. The repeated stanzas suggest performance by a quartet (or soloist/instrument), then all; indeed, this is flexible music, as Du Mont himself says in his introduction to the collection.
The Communion motet, "Ave verum," was written by Saint-Saëns; a beautiful setting of the text, it was first composed around 1860 and published in 1865--it certainly fits in with the Erben's sonorities and the Basilica's acoustic. Camille Saint-Saëns was a gifted polymath whose extraordinary gifts were carefully honed. Hailed as the “new Mozart” following his first public appearance as a pianist in May 1846 in the Paris Salle Pleyel, where he played, amongst other works, Mozart’s piano concerto in B-flat major, K. 450, and Beethoven’s piano concerto no. 3 in C minor, op. 3, he entered the Paris Conservatoire. He worked as an organist until 1877, after which he dedicated himself to composition.
The Schola sings a polyphonic Kyrie by Joan Brudieu, an influential French-Catalan Renaissance composer and priest known for his Requiem and madrigals. Born in Limoges, he spent most of his life in Catalonia, serving for decades as the choirmaster at the Cathedral of la Seu d'Urgell. The Agnus Dei was written by André Campra, who was the son of Giovanni Francesco Campra, a surgeon and violinist from Graglia, Italy. His father served as his first music teacher. Campra was a leading French opera composer between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau, and served as "maître de musique" at Notre-Dame de Paris.
The prelude is a Romantic piece for Communion by the world-renowned virtuoso organist and composer Alexandre Guilmant. In 1871, Guilmant (age 34) was appointed organist at La Trinité in Paris where he remained for 31 years. Among his famous students were Louis Vierne, Charles Tournemire, Joseph Bonnet, Nadia Boulanger, and Marcel Dupré; he also co-founded the Guilmant Organ School in NYC. The postlude comes from Thomas Arne's Concerto No. 1 for organ. Arne was a popular 18th-century English composer of stage works. Used as entertainments in England’s pleasure gardens, Arne’s concerti show an Italianate influence (inspired by Handel) that later came to America: at St. Patrick’s (Old) Cathedral at the benefit Oratorio for St. Mother Anne Seton’s orphanage in 1826, an overture by Arne was played on the organ (Hall & Erben), so I thought I would include it this historic week with the unveiling of the organ!

05/30/2026

About the music: The last of the Erben's pipes are in (see above; video: )! This Sunday, the first after Pentecost, celebrates the Holy Trinity; the feast day became widely celebrated in Western Europe by the 10th century, and Pope John XXII officially approved it for the universal Western Church in 1334. The feast was particularly popular in England due to its association with St. Thomas Becket, who was consecrated bishop on that day (1162). Unlike other feasts, it did not have an octave, signifying the Unity of the Godhead.
At Offertory, we turn to a famous English anthem by C. Kenneth Turner, "O Trinity, most blessed light" based on the classic 6th-century Latin evening hymn (O Lux Beata Trinitas), which contemplates the setting sun against the eternal spiritual light of the Triune God. Turner was an English organist, music teacher, and composer, who completed his early studies at the Merchant Taylors' School in Liverpool, before studying at the Guildhall School of Music in London. He also studied privately under the prominent English organist and composer Dr. Harold Darke. At Communion, I selected the motet "Benedicta sit sancta Trinitas" by Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer Giaches de Wert. The text from Tobias (from which the Introit, Offertory, and Communion antiphons come) is set to imitative polyphony in five voices, and was first published in his 1581 collection, Il secondo libro de motetti a cinque voci. Wert went to Italy early on, and stayed there, working for the Gonzaga family; by 1565, he became maestro di capella at the court in Mantua at the chapel of Santa Barbara. Known for his 10 books of madrigals, he influenced many composers, including Claudio Monteverdi, who worked in Mantua from 1589-1596. Madrigalisms abound in this motet, with its pleasant mode (Ionian, occasionally shifted to mixolydian to paint the text), and word painting--cadences overlap forming various groupings of three throughout the piece. The word "benedicta" receives special treatment, at "atque indivisa Unitas" (undivided unity) the voices are homophonic, and the piece ends with a definitive plagal Amen! This motet was likely performed with instruments, as was the practice in the Chapel of Santa Barbara. Music continues in the comments.

05/23/2026

About the music: This Sunday is Pentecost, one of the greatest Solemnities alongside Christmas and Easter (illuminated letter S of "Spiritus domini" from the Sherbrooke Missal, National Library of Wales, ca. 1310). It marks the descent of the Holy Spirit at the end of the Easter season. It is the end of the festival of weeks: a week of weeks (7x7), +1 for Easter = 50 days (pentekoste for 50th day in Greek; in Judaism it is known as Shavuot, the fiftieth day after Passover). The nine days that precede from Ascension were the first "novena." The liturgy includes the "Golden Sequence" as well as a double alleluia as at Easter. Clichtoveus, in his "Elucidatorium," considers the Golden Sequence "above all praise because of its wondrous sweetness, clarity of style, pleasant brevity combined with wealth of thought."
The celebratory setting of the Offertory text from Psalm 68, Confirma hoc Deus, was written by Antonio Salieri in 1809 for Pentecost; for context, 1809 is also the year construction began on our Cathedral! Originally for orchestra and choir, it is representative of the elegant sacred music he wrote as the Austrian imperial Kapellmeister from 1788 to 1824; he was responsible for music at the court chapel and attached school.
Our Communion motet was written by the Venetian master Andrea Gabrieli and published in Venice by Gardano in 1576. This four-voice motet sets the Pentecost Vespers antiphon for the Magnificat, Hodie completi sunt ("Today the days of Pentecost are fulfilled"). Andrea traveled to Munich in 1562, and traded compositional ideas with Lassus and others; the influence of that experience can be heard in the music, fit for the grand setting of St. Mark's in Venice, where Andrea was organist and choirmaster until his death in 1585. Andrea was the teacher of his nephew Giovanni, Hans Leo Hassler, and other prominent musicians in Italy and Germany.
A second Communion motet is Peter Hurford's well-loved "Litany to the Holy Spirit," featuring the famous text by Robert Herrick, the influential 17th-century English poet. Hurford was one of the great British organists, known for his performing, recording, and for establishing the St. Albans International Organ Festival.
The Communion hymn is the Office hymn for Vespers of Pentecost. This sublime melody has inspired composers throughout the centuries (hear postlude) and is attributed to Rabanus Maurus, a 9th-century German monk, teacher, and archbishop.
The Kyrie and Agnus Dei are from Ludovico da Viadana's Missa "Sine nomine" (which of course is its name). The name actually signals that it was not based on a motet or incorporating a cantus firmus. Viadana spanned the late Renaissance and early Baroque, evidenced in the Mass's clean lines and largely homophonic texture.
The prelude, based on Veni Creator, was written by Jehan Titelouze in 1623, as part of his collection Hymnes de l'Eglise. He was a Catholic priest, composer, and organist, and was a canon and organist at Rouen Cathedral. His settings hymns and Magnificats are the earliest known published French organ collections, and he is regarded as the first composer of the French organ school. He also acted as organ consultant and helped with the installation and repair of important instruments, and in 1600, collaborated with Crespin Carlier to build its organ, which defined the French classical organ. Titelouze was also a friend of Marin Mersenne, the important French music theorist, mathematician, philosopher and theologian. The postlude is a lively Toccata on Veni Creator by Jeanne Demessieux (1921-1968), which creatively incorporates the hymn's melody in various ways! Demessieux was one of the greatest organists of the 20th century, and titular organist of the Madeleine in Paris.

05/16/2026

About the music: Easter 7 falls between the Feast of the Ascension and Pentecost, and the nine days between Ascension and Pentecost form the first "novena" (and previously there was an octave for Ascension too!). Pictured: Ascension, 6th century Mesopotamia, Rabula Gospels, image: Dsmdgold). Easter continues with music from the quill of English baroque master Henry Purcell, "O God, the King of Glory." One of his earliest extant choral works, it was composed when he was approximately 18-20 years old. Generally homophonic, it draws on music by John Blow, his teacher. However, Purcell's own style emerges in the piece's chromaticism and word painting as found in "leave us not comfortless." The text comes from a collect for Ascension that is based on the antiphon O Rex Gloriae.
The Communion motet sets Psalm 109, Dixit Dominus, a triumphal psalm with many allusions to kingship that fit the Ascension theme. This beautiful setting was composed in Mexico by Ignacio de Jerusalem y Stella. Jerusalem was born in Lecce, the beautiful baroque gem of a city in Puglia, Italy. His father was chapelmaster there, and Jerusalem studied violin; he moved to Cádiz, Spain and performed in the theater. A port city, the administrator of the Royal Hospital of Indigenous Citizens in Mexico City arrived in Cádiz looking to recruit talent for the Coliseo de México, a theatre whose proceeds supported the hospital. Jerusalem and other artists found their way to Mexico City; Jerusalem directed the music at the Coliseo, but also had commissions from the Catedral de México and taught at the Colegio de Infantes. By 1750, he was the maestro de capilla, and remained there until the end of his life. He composed in the fashionable Italian galant style, and improved all aspects of music-making, enlarging the ensembles and modernizing notation. His music spread throughout Nueva Espana, Guatemala, and the California missions.
For organ music, we begin with Messiaen's L'Ascension, No. 4--the prayer of Christ ascending to the Father. Originally scored for orchestra, he adapted it for organ. I can't think of a piece that better captures the effortless verticality of the action. One of the greatest composers of the 20th century, Messiaen was a gifted organist, improviser, and teacher, and also a theologian and avid ornithologist. He was appointed organist at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité in Paris in 1931, a post held until his death. He taught at the Schola Cantorum de Paris during the 1930s, and his students included Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. The postlude is the gravity-defying fugue from Bach's Fantasia and Fugue BWV 537 from his second Weimar period. The subject has four notes in a row, but a relentless chromatic climb occurs over the fugue's 130 bars, instigated by the half-step in the subject. Elgar orchestrated this fugue (Strauss was supposed to orchestrate the Fantasia), and then the Fantasia, performing it for the 1922 Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester. It is a remarkable work of illusion and levitation.

05/09/2026

About the music: It has been a busy week in the organ loft, with the Erben making a cameo appearance in a film--and this Sunday, for the first time, we greet the new Archbishop of New York at the 7PM Mass! As the Archbishop comes through the tall front doors, we sing Elgar's Ecce sacerdos magnus, originally composed for the visit of the Bishop of Birmingham to St George’s Roman Catholic Church in Worcester (where Elgar was organist). It is partly based on a theme found in Haydn's Harmoniemesse; this week, the Gloria and Agnus Dei come from Joseph Haydn, but his earliest work, a Mass completed around 1750 when he was still a choirboy in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna (pictured, a detail of the tympanum of 13th-century Giant's Gate or Riesentor of the Stefansdom); photo Uoaei1). Towards the end of his life, Haydn revisited the work, providing wind parts. Its accessible melodies and vital violin parts form a wonderful example of the Viennese Missa brevis. At Offertory, fitting the festivities and propers of this weekend, the Schola sings one of its favorites: Mozart's Laudate Dominum from his Solemn Vespers. Unlike other movements that aim to synthesize the past, this setting of the Bible's shortest psalm—in which all nations praise the Lord—looks to Italian opera and the future. At Communion, the first piece is a lush, expressive setting of the Song of Solomon set by Healey Willan. English by birth, Willan became a Canadian and was a great champion of chant and Renaissance church music in North America. Among his 800 works spanning symphonies to choral music, this piece is the fifth of ten Liturgical Motets he composed between 1928 and 1937. In four parts, it has an occasional soprano divisi. The Song of Solomon is often associated with Easter, spring, and rebirth--a theme picked up in the Communion hymn, Now the Green Blade Riseth. A French carol or "noel"--a term derived from the Latin natalis (birth)--it is often sung to "Sing we now of Christmas," but this text uses imagery of the risen Lord.
Since this is a celebration, we sing Exsultate Justi by Ludovico da Viadana. Born in Mantua, he was a chorister in various musically progressive northern Italian Cathedrals. He joined the Franciscan order, and studied in Rome, and served a number of musical establishments while ushering in the baroque period with the development of figured bass notation, and the use of up to 16 choirs! This concise motet sets Psalm 33, and creates a joyful atmosphere through the use of echo effects, alternate meters, and other flourishes.
Being the month of Mary, and Mothers' Day, I've included Saint-Saëns' lovely Ave Maria. This lovely late setting comes from 1914, towards the end of his career. Saint-Saëns was a gifted polymath whose extraordinary gifts were carefully nurtured; he was hailed as the “new Mozart” following his first public appearance as a pianist in May 1846 in the Paris Salle Pleyel, where he played, amongst other works, Mozart’s piano concerto in B-flat major, K. 450. He worked as an organist until 1877, after which he dedicated himself to composition. This particular work was first published in 1916 as his Opus 145, a period when he returned to his sacred music and the organ.
The prelude music includes a rich, melodic gem for French horn by Saint-Saens, accompanied by the Erben. Since we might need some additional music, I programmed a piece for violin and continuo by Domenico Zipoli, who was born in Prato, Italy, and studied with Casini in Florence, Scarlatti in Naples, and Pasquini in Rome. He became a Jesuit in order to work in the Reductions of Paraguay, where he taught music among the Guaraní people; he died in Córdoba (now Argentina). The organ postlude comes from Mendelssohn's Sonata No. 1 from his famous Opus 65, which blazed a new path for the pipe organ in the 19th century. Improvisational and toccata-like, the virtuosic movement is infused with Romantic lyricism. This works well not only as a fine finale to a Sonata, but also as a wonderful voluntary on its own (which was the goal of the English publisher's original commission: a set of voluntaries).

05/02/2026

About the music: The Fifth Sunday of Easter season begins the Farewell Discourse at the Last Supper from the Gospel of John, and themes of Easter joy and glory continue in the proper texts too (i.e., Cantate Domino, Jubilate Deo). At Offertory, we sing the first verse of the appointed psalm in "O be joyful" by Maurice Greene, an accomplished English composer and organist of the Georgian period. Born in London, he began as a choirboy at St Paul's Cathedral, later becoming organist there and at the Chapel Royal. Greene had always admired Handel; in Greene’s early days at St. Paul’s, he invited Handel to play the great organ there, which Handel did with great verve. Alas, Greene and Handel had a falling out. Greene was also a professor of music at Cambridge, and by 1735 was Master of the King's Musick. His influential compilation, Cathedral Music, was completed by his student and successor as Master of the King's Musick, William Boyce.
At Communion, the Schola has two works. The first is a favorite, which quotes the Gospel of John this week: "Peace I leave with you" by Amy Beach. A brilliant New England composer and pianist, she was the first successful American female composer, acclaimed not only for her compositions (which included the first symphony composed and published by an American woman), but also as a performer. Her prodigious talent at a very early age was evident, and though she never studied in Europe, she was thoroughly versed in contemporary treatises and practices. This particular piece, published in 1891, comes from her Opus 8, a collection of three late-Romantic choral pieces. This was subsequently followed by her Mass in Eb (first performed by by the Handel and Haydn Society orchestra) and her Gaelic Symphony (premiered by the BSO in 1896), which earned her a place among the "Boston Six". Since this is the first weekend in the Marian month of May, we'll sing another Schola favorite, Gregor Aichinger's Regina Caeli. Gregor Aichinger studied under Lasso, was one of the German composers who went to Venice to study with Giovanni Gabrieli, which likely resulted in his conversion to the Catholic Church; by 1598 he was ordained a priest in Rome. The immensely prosperous Fugger family financed his trips to Venice, and employed him as organist of the Abbey of Sts. Ulrich and Afra (pictured, c. 1627; uncredited illustration), as well as court composer and director of his chamber-music. Finally, the Schola also sings the beloved hymn "The Call", based on the writing of poet and parliamentarian George Herbert (1593-1633), which recalls this week's Gospel.
For organ music, we have a prelude by Brahms, from his great Opus 122 collection of chorale preludes, mostly written at the end of his life. This is the only chorale that doesn't relate to the Passion of Christ, and is based on a carol that Clara Schumann liked. He penned it in his youth, but decided to include it in this collection: "My heart ever rejoices, when God, with fullest measure, renews the world benign." The postlude is "Grande Fantaisie pour Offertoire Solennel (ou Inauguration d'Orgue)" by the Alsatian composer Théophile Stern, who was was born in Strasbourg and spent his entire career as an organist and composer. He was organist at Temple Neuf, where Joseph Merklin built a new organ in 1877. Théophile Stern lived in Karlsruhe for three years, where he dealt intensively with German organ music and German organ building, and his compositions for organ show the influence of Mendelssohn, Rinck, and others. It is a real character study for an organ like the Erben, and certainly apropos on its reinstallation...

04/25/2026

About the music: The fourth Sunday of Easter is known as Good Shepherd Sunday; this is also the first Sunday with the Erben's mixtures installed on the Great division of the organ (pictured; photo: ). Each mixture is made from several ranks of pipes that add sparkle and brilliance to the organ, just in time for the celebratory Easter season. At Offertory, we sing a very finely crafted setting of the Easter text "Surrexit pastor bonus" (The good shepherd has arisen), written by Michael Haller, a German composer of the Caecilian school. He received his musical instruction at Metten monastery, and later became a priest in Regensburg. He taught at the famous church music school in Regensburg and was, for a time, cathedral kapellmeister. His refined music, modeled after the polyphonic masters, is also infused with the vocabulary of the Romantic era.
Schubert's serene and nuanced setting of Psalm 23 (Gott ist mein Hirt), arranged for mixed choir, is this week's Communion motet. Composed in December 1820 using Moses Mendelssohn's German translation of the psalm, it was presented at a soirée in Vienna hosted by four musical sisters. It later became an examination piece at the Vienna Conservatory (one of the sisters taught there) and a favorite concert piece; Diabelli published it posthumously in 1832. The close harmonies and time signature contribute to its pastoral feeling. Our Communion hymn is "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need," the American folk tune first published in Pittsburgh in 1828 in "Beauties of Harmony." The text, from 18th-century hymnodist Isaac Watts, is based on Psalm 23 and John 10:11-15.
The Kyrie and Agnus Dei comes from Théodore Dubois, the prominent French composer and organist. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, winning the Prix de Rome in 1861; in 1868 he became choirmaster at the Church of the Madeleine, then he took over from César Franck as choirmaster at the Basilica of Sainte-Clotilde. In 1877, he succeeded Camille Saint-Saëns as organist at the Madeleine. He also taught at the Paris Conservatoire and was its Director from 1871 until 1905 (and was succeeded by Fauré).
On the Erben, to celebrate the re-installation of the Great mixtures we have two pieces: a Pastorale by Vincenzo Antonio Petrali (1830-1889), a virtuoso organist whose compositions exploited the sounds and drama of the Italian Romantic organs of his time. He also had a diverse career as a conductor, composer, and teacher. In 1862, he wrote an important organ method with the Italian organ (Serassi in particular) in mind. This work is a pastorale from a liturgical Mass, for the elevation of the host. The postlude is the virtuosic prelude from Bach's Prelude and Fugue in G Major, BWV 541. A constant flow of sixteenth notes, based on the opening triad, runs through the entire piece, passing through hands and feet. First written around 1712 in Weimar, and heavily influenced by fashionable Italian style, he returned to it later in life. His son, Wilhelm Friedemann, used it as an audition piece for a post at the Sophienkirche in Dresden, where he remained for 12 years; it is a tour de force that energetically tests both the organ and the organist!

04/18/2026

About the music: This joyful Eastertide continues on the third Sunday of Easter with the Introit "Jubilate Deo" (O be joyful) from Psalm 66. For the festive season, the Schola chants the first Alleluias, which replace the graduals; this week's is "Cognoverunt discipuli." From Luke, this text recounts when the disciples recognized the Lord Jesus at the breaking of the bread. Taking that up at Communion, the Schola sings a lovely new addition to our repertoire: an Ave verum Corpus by Robert Lucas Pearsall. Known for his famous setting of the German/Latin Christmas carol "In Dulci Jubilo," his madrigals and vocal works hearken back to Renaissance polyphony, while often employing Classical forms. In 1826, he left Bristol, England with his family and moved to Germany; he studied German literature and authored scholarly works on the early music in the Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions. Part of the Romantic movement, he lived out his life in a Swiss castle (pictured, Schloss Wartensee on Lake Constance) and followed his interests in history, heraldry, and genealogy.
At Offertory, the Schola sings the Easter responsory "Congratulámini mihi omnes" in a setting by the prolific high-Renaissance composer Clemens non Papa (c. 1510—1555). This motet likely dates from the 1540 (first published in Antwerp in 1547), when he was succentor at Bruges Cathedral and then at the court of Charles V. The flowing and celebratory polyphony, of the Franco-Flemish school, ends in a flurry of rhythmic alleluias.
On the Erben organ, the prelude is a setting of Christ ist erstanden ("Christ is risen") by J. K. F. Fischer, a composer whose work Bach and Handel knew and borrowed from. Not many manuscripts survive, but Fischer was known to be of Bohemian origin and was instrumental in bringing new French styles to Germany. The Baroque organs of southern Germany were humble (short pedal boards and two manuals) compared to the large and grand north German organs of the period. The chorale melody is based on the Easter sequence “Victimæ paschali laudes." The postlude this weekend is from Rheinberger's breathtaking Sonata No. 2 in A-Flat Major, Op. 65--a grand, symphonic statement from 1871. It comes from his collection of 20 sonatas composed over the course of decades; the chorale it quotes comes from "Jesus Christ, My Sure Defence". Rheinberger was born in Liechtenstein, and by the age of seven, was already the organist of his parish church. Five years after graduating from the Munich Conservatory, he became its professor of music theory and organ. He held other posts as conductor of both the Munich Oratorio Society and the royal chapel. Organist John White, who was the Director of Music at our St. Patrick's (Old) Cathedral, went to Munich to study with him.

04/11/2026

About the music: Divine Mercy Sunday is on the "Octave" of Easter, the eighth day after the week of Easters that follows Easter Sunday, a practice derived from the Jewish custom of celebrating eight day feasts, and certainly a musical consonance! Before the Gospel, the Schola continues to chant the Easter sequence, a hymn of praise and thanksgiving for the Resurrection; it is a venerable option throughout the entire octave. Traditionally known as Low Sunday (versus Easter Sunday) or "Quasi modo" Sunday (after the Introit), in 2000, Pope John Paul II named it Divine Mercy Sunday: "O God, your mercy knows no bounds and the treasure of your goodness is infinite..." (photo: Hubble Ultra Deep Field image; Hubble Ultra Deep Field in Fornax, 2003-2004/NASA by Space Telescope Science Institute).
In place of the Penitential Rite at the beginning of Mass, this Sunday we have the Rite of Sprinkling.; the chant to accompany this rite during Eastertide is "Vidi aquam" (in Ordinary time, the chant is "Asperges me"). This rite, reminding us of baptism, has special significance in the mystagogical season of Easter.
At Offertory, the motet by Felice Anerio has an Easter text from 1 Corinthians 15:20—21, "Alleluia! Christus surrexit." It echoes the greeting of the angel to Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, as they arrived at the sepulchre to anoint the body of Jesus (the same theme at the proper of this week, Angelus autem Domini). The ascending diatonic alleluias are a portrayal of weightlessness; the homophonic verses are solidly triumphant. Felice Anerio was a composer of the Roman School who bridged the late Renaissance and the early baroque. Felice and his younger brother Francesco were both choirboys in the Ca****la Giulia in St. Peter's under Palestrina; Felice succeeded Palestrina as composer to the Papal Chapel.
At Communion, the Easter motet is "Dum transisstet Sabbatum" (And when the sabbath was past) by Christian Erbach. The text recounts the story of how Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome had bought sweet spices so that they might come and anoint Jesus. Christian Erbach was a German organist and composer; though his early history is lost, for most of his professional life he was organist or chief organist in the city of Augsburg. He was deeply influenced by the Venetian school of composers via Hans Leo Hassler, who studied with the Gabrielis. Bridging the Renaissance and baroque, the piece was first published 1627 in "Promptuarii musici concentus ecclesiasticos, Pars Tertia, no. 65."
Given the Erbach piece's connection to the Venetian style, the Schola also performs the Gloria and Agnus Dei from Andrea Gabrieli's grand, festive Missa brevis in F. Although only four voices are used, this work exhibits the stylistic traits (homophony, voice pairing, rhythmic vitality) of Gabrieli's larger polychoral works for San Marco in Venezia.
Again we will be playing the Erben; this week the prelude music is from a collection of Elevations by Dom Paul Benoit, a Benedictine monk, organist, and composer. On the advice of his spiritual director, Benoit used his personal prayer time in his monastic cell for composing, as this kept him close to God. Benoit never performed a public concert. Benoit liked to take walks in the forest to admire the wetlands and watch animals, and I like to think of that when interpreting the impressionistic harmonies he creates around the Gregorian themes in his organ music. The postlude is a Toccata written by French organ virtuoso and composer Michelle Leclerc. She studied with Langlais at the Schola Cantorum, and improvisation with Pierre Cochereau; she was titular organist at the Cathedral of Sens, and taught at the Schola Cantorum and the National Conservatory of Orléans.

04/04/2026

About the music: The Easter Vigil is the "Mother of All Vigils," the climax of the liturgical year. This year, the 1868 Erben Organ will be heard in public for the first time after its two-year restoration at Brunner & Associates in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Over Lent (and pre-Lent), the organ came back piece-by-piece, and the huge windchests, reservoirs, pipes, and other components were lifted by crane back up to the loft (pictured, interior of Erben looking towards Cross above altar). Of course, not all of the 2500 pipes are in yet, and there are ranks of pipes yet to be tuned and voiced, but there is enough to make a joyful sound for Easter: "Let all that have breath praise the Lord."
This liturgy begins in darkness; the fire in the courtyard is lit and passed one by one to everyone's candle, breaking the darkness. The silence of Good Friday is broken by the the simple chant "Lumen Christi", followed by the extraordinary Exsultet, with its vivid prose (praise of bees and honey from the comb, used in candles) and hopeful promise of resurrection. Then the Old Law texts are read, each with varied musical responses from the Schola. Finally, it is time for the Gloria--at which point the organ will roar back to life! The Schola will sing for the first time with the restored organ for the first time, singing the piece performed at Easter 1869. It is from Mozart's Twelfth Mass, a favorite 19th-century Mass that was immensely popular at the time. It was performed under the direction of Gustavus Schmitz and his brother, Henry, the principal hornist of the New York Philharmonic. The New York Herald said that a choir of 60 sang it and the other parts of the Mass. The Mass was originally attributed to Mozart, but that was probably for the publisher Novello's marketing; somewhat like early Rossini, it was written by Wenzel Müller, an Austrian composer who wrote 166 operas--more than any other composer.
At Offertory we will hear a work by Mozart that (I posit) perhaps served as an inspiration to Müller. It is the second movement of the glorious Mozart cantata Davide Penitente K. 469. Commissioned by the Wiener Tonkünstler-Societät for a benefit concert supporting the pension fund for widows and orphans of professional musicians, it premiered on 13 March 1785, at the Vienna Burgtheater. Sections of this cantata come from his unfinished Great Mass in C minor, K. 427 (1782–83); this movement is taken directly from the "Gloria in excelsis Deo" section. One may hear echoes of Handel in this piece, owing to Mozart's study of Baron von Swieten's Bach and Handel scores. The Italian text was once purported to be by Lorenzo Da Ponte, but is now attributed to Saverio Mattei.
Following the Gloria, we sing the great Triple Alleluia, which rises a whole step each time we sing it, mirroring the Behold the Wood of the Cross from Good Friday. After the renewal of baptismal promises, this year we sing Victoria's Vidi aquam, a wonderful setting based directly on the chant itself. During the confirmations, we will sing a Schola favorite, Tallis' esteemed Tudor verse anthem "If Ye Love Me" and the antiphon "Spiritus Sanctus vivificans" by 12th century Abbess Hildegard von Bingen, now St. Hildegard, the German writer, composer, Christian mystic, Benedictine abbess, and polymath. Her music is characterized by soaring Gothic melodies, often well outside of the normal range of chant at the time.
At Communion, after the antiphon, we will sing the rollicking Dona nobis pacem from "Mozart's Twelfth Mass"; by the end, we transition to the English words which end with a hearty Alleluia, Amen!! We then come again to the placid waters of Palestrina in our annual singing of his most perfect motet "Sicut cervus." There is lots more to hear, and of course, at the end, despite the unfinished nature of the Erben, the return of the Widor Toccata--ora pro nobis!

Address

263 Mulberry Street
New York, NY
10012

Opening Hours

Saturday	4:15pm - 4:45pm
Sunday	9am - 6:45pm

Telephone

+12122268075

Website

http://www.oldcathedral.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Place Of Worship

Send a message to Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral:

Shortcuts

Address
Telephone
Opening Hours
Alerts
Contact The Place Of Worship
Claim ownership or report listing

Want your place of worship to be the top-listed Place Of Worship in New York?