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Sara, I loved this. I have only listened to James' chant of the O Sapientia but so enjoyed being able to follow along with the Latin as he voiced the notes. I listen to Margaret Rizza and her group's work often in the evening before bed (of course it's lots of voices!) but this singular, brave sound of your husband's was perfect.

Thank you!

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Thank you, Jody! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. James really loved getting to do these recordings, and it’s so lovely to hear that others are appreciating them.

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What a great resource! My almost 4 year old is really into singing/repeating after us in prayer right now. He’s loved the St. Andrew novena which he calls the “repeat after me prayer” and he has been singing lullabies of his own composition to baby Jesus and the rest of the family. So definitely want to try the antiphons on him!

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THE REPEAT AFTER ME PRAYER I love kids that’s amazing. It’s incredible how much they’re able to pick up based solely on hearing and repetition, isn’t it?

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He loves it. And hearing his little voice say “vouchsafe” gets me every time. And they are sponges-I wish my brain still absorbed that much!

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"audi-O"... HA!! that got me!

This is pretty amazing. I have much to learn about what the O Antiphons are but your explanation to Haley was very helpful. That being said... you all are inspiring as a family. Kudos to James for his tenacity in figuring out how to read this music and recording for us. And... as far as singing goes... you all are better than you believe, but I'll also say this:

Some things are objectively beautiful. It seems that these songs, based on scripture and dedicated to God, fall into that category. So it seems to me that just about anyone could sing these in communion with other believers and the result would be beautiful. I say that because, listening to them, I am pretty amazed at what I'm hearing.

Also... I need to learn Latin!

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“Some things are objectively beautiful” you’ve hit the nail on the head here, brother! I won’t go into all of the church politics and drama (ofc there’s politics and drama lol) but the second Vatican council’s document on sacred music (pretty sure) stated that Gregorian Chant (this type of singing) has such a weight of beauty and tradition that it should always have pride of place within the Catholic Mass, assuming the parish has singers who can do it well. This isn’t always known or implemented (ofc) but i think your comment points out a huge part of why that is--they’re just objectively beautiful and they glorify God (and, arguably, render the singer somewhat irrelevant/obsolete--humble) just by being what they are.

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These recordings are beautiful! I love everything about this post! Also, I know your voices were not the point, but for what it’s worth I think y’all sound great!

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The fact that no one has commented yet about how absolutely adorable it is that you and your husband study and sing Chant together. Like, forget Instagram couple goals, that has to be one of the most Catholic and amazing marriage goals ever.

Okay, Chantalic fangirling aside—actually no, not aside yet. You both have such beautiful voices and did absolutely amazing with these chants. The O Antiphons are no cakewalk; my voice professor and I joked that they make you work for your Christmas, because they're just. so. hard. Especially O Emmanuel.... Thank you for posting these; I'm going to use them to learn the remaining Antiphons that I don't know and the Marian hymn for Advent.

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Ahhhhahhaa Chantal I wish we lived closer you’re such a doll. Although, don’t tell college Sara about this--she still has lots of healing to do and won’t be ready for it. In all seriousness, the learning has been all James and I’m just along for the ride and greatly enjoying it. It’s been a tremendous grace for us to be able to pray in this way together. Glad you’re finding them useful!

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It would be amazing to live near you guys. I would totally tag along with you to Rorate Masses each year, and I'd beg to have playdates with your adorable daughters as often as you were comfortable with. If you're ever in the New England area, please definitely let me know, because it would be awesome to meet up (in Catholic homeschooler fashion, not like a creepy internet stalker...hopefully I don't sound like one haha).

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I’ve already threatened to get together with the Cantus and Kristin and Scoot and the Petty brothers so definitely not creepy stalker 😂

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Cantus sounds like the name of some Latin choir ngl

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"plenty has been written about what the O Antiphons are" -- I'm showing my Christian tradition here because I quite literally had no idea what anything in this post was about. hahahha. But now I'm curious.

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Omg! Yay! I wish I’d had space to go into all the depth but I was way over the email length limit already 😭 Basically, monks and nuns and priests around the world have, for centuries, prayed the psalms--sometimes all 150 in one week, sometimes all 150 in one month--and as time passed and the tradition developed, they started adding in extra prayers, scripture readings, and things like that. So every evening at Vespers (usually said around 6:00 I think?) they’ll sing the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55, so titled because the first word is Magnificat--it (my soul) praises). But there’s always a short verse that gets sung before and after. Sometimes it’ll be drawn from the Gospel of the day, sometimes from the life of the saint of the day, sometimes it just seems random (although I’m sure it isn’t, it’s just that I don’t know where it comes from). During the week leading up to Christmas, that verse-before-and-after is one of these “O” antiphons! I can’t tag here in the comments but my husband James or Nathaniel Marshall would be a great resource for a more deep dive into that. And ofc there will be a bunch of super interesting and varied resources in Signs + Seasons next week!

I hope that answers your questions?

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Yes, thanks! How wonderful is that.

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I’m with you! This was all new to me.

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Same! hahaha

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audi-O! LOL This is great! Thank you for putting it together!

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I couldn’t resist 😂😂

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This is amazing! So helpful to have these all put together in one place. Thank you!

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Also, saving this so I can pray these on the appropriate days.

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These are truly beautiful. Thank you!

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Thank you!

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This is great...I have a horrible voice...like it once made one of my newborns cry when I tried to sing to him 🫠🫠🫠

So this is definitely motivating me

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omg hahahaha

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Awesome! Fantastic resources in one place! Thank you! 😇

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