This month, we'll be celebrating the Memorial for the Guardian Angels. We'll be praying at Holy Angels Church with the beautiful murals behind the altar. Our reading talks about the incense brought to the altar by angels:
"An angel came in holding a censor of gold. He took his place at the altar of incense and was given large amounts of incense to deposit on the altar of gold in front of the throne, together with the prayers of all God's holy ones. From the angel's hand the smoke of the incense went up before God, and with it the prayers of God's people."
Revelation 8:3-4
We hope that our prayers will rise with the incense too.
Our hymn is called "The Guardians of Our Race, Our Angel Guides We Hail." It was originally written in Latin in the early 1600s but has been translated into English by Fr. Samuel Weber, OSB. The music is traditional too. It is in Mode 3, which has been described as having a feeling that is "intense, vehement, emotional, stormy, and distressed." This feeling fits the text, which speaks of the "traitor angel," aka the devil. A recording of the hymn is found here.
The last note of the entire piece -- the "final" -- is the key to giving this piece its "stormy" feel. In the "do re mi" system, that note is "mi." It is found accompanying the words, "forth," "throw," and "foe" in the first verse.
The rest of the prayer will use modes that are brighter and that are sometimes called, "angelic." Come, pray with us and experience the beauty of simple chant.