Celebrating Feast Days
During Lent, simplicity and severity adorn the Mass. Flowers are removed from the church, and processional and recessional music disappear. Music becomes simpler, and in the Tridentine Mass this means only chant with no polyphony. The trappings of the church remind us of the penitential aspects of this season. However, in the Tridentine Mass, this sparse manner gives way when a feast day takes precedence. On Tuesday, March 7, we celebrated the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, a favorite Saint of ours, and a patron of the Institute of Christ the King. Because of the nature of this Feast, our church was filled with flowers again, we heard organ music accompany the processions, and we even sang the Gloria, normally forbidden during Lent. After the sparseness of Lent, the joy of the flowers, music, and Gloria burst forth like a joyous shout. I'm not certain a Feast day has ever had quite that impact on me before.
In addition to attending Mass to celebrate the Angelic Doctor, we also received the opportunity to receive a plenary indulgence. Indulgences are probably one of the least understood sacramentals of the Church, and much maligned due to abuses back in the 1500's. Catholic Encyclopedia has a excellent article about indulgences that does a much better job explaining them than I could. Given this wonderful way to receive the graces of Jesus, how could anyone be anything but grateful?