The Vatican was paying attention as Cardinal Burke pronounced the sermon in the Pontifical Mass celebrated by Archbishop Cordileone, of San Francisco, on August 5th in the shrine so carefully cherished by him, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
“The beauty and solemnity of our worship is especially enhanced by the presence of the Most Reverent Salvatore J. Cordileone, archbishop of San Franciso who is offering the holy sacrifice of the Mass, and by the singing of the Mass of the Americas, the first composition commissioned by the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship.
The Benedict XVI Institute was founded by Archbishop Cordileone in 2018 to draw men to God, the fount of all Beauty, through the employment of what is artistically most beautiful in teaching divine truth and love, and above all in offering divine worship.
The esteemed composer of the Mass of the Americas, Frank La Rocca, has drawn upon the rich tradition of sacred music, beginning with Gregorian chant and including sacred polyphony and traditional popular carols and hymns to assist us in lifting up our minds and hearts to Our Lord, who through the Eucharistic sacrifice unites heaven with earth.
The beauty of the Mass of the Americas helps us to recognize Our Lord descending from His place in glory in the right hand of God the Father to renew sacramentally for us His sacrifice on Calvary, and to nourish us with the incomparable fruit of his sacrifice, his True Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
God the son who united our human nature to His divine nature in the womb of Mary continues to accomplish the salvation He won for us in Calvary through our life in Him, in His holy Church especially through our union of heart with His glorious pierced heart in the holy sacrifice of the Mass.”
The video of the Mass is available here:
