Throughout history, the Church has kept Advent as a season of great solemnity – a time in which to meditate upon the ultimate issues of death, judgement and heaven. Advent, though, was also a time of great rejoicing. For Christ would come, not only as Judge, but also as Saviour. Advent, therefore, provided a vivid preparation for Christmas.
 
The Advent Procession aims to recapture something of the longing and hope of Advent. It begins in darkness. As the service unfolds, the Light is carried to other parts of the Pro-Cathedral as the procession moves from west to east.
 
The Cathedral Girls’ Choir has sung a selection of Advent carols and seasonal music at this special service for the last few years. This year they will be joined by the Gentlemen of the Palestrina Choir for the first time.
 
This is a particularly special way to start Advent. We hope that many of you will join us on Advent Sunday, 27th November at 8pm for Darkness to Light, the Advent Procession.

The first trip the Palestrina Choir has taken since the outbreak of the coronavirus and it's a double whammy to Tallinn, Estonia and Helsinki, Finland! It wouldn't be a Palestrina Choir tour if we didn't have to wake up obscenely early and this trip is no different...with a 5AM start for us all. The boys arrived in their choir blue at 7AM, all of them on cloud-nine.

Nothing is more wonderful to the choir than meeting past choristers. Over the years, we've held various events for Palestrina Choir Alumni, most notably in 2019 (pictured below). 
Last Friday, former chorister Christy Costello and his wife and daughter made the journey all the way from Cork to Dublin to hear the Boys sing at the final Vespers in Lent. He was a member of the choir back in the early 1950s under, the then Organist and Choir Director; Oliver O'Brien, whom he remembers very fondly. His daughter, Ann Costello trekked all the way up the stairs after Vespers to present the Choir with a photo of Christy from a trip the choir took to Rome to sing for Pope Pius XII. At age 85, Christy is still as sharp as a tack and we look forward to meeting him again in the near future!

Please join us this Sunday at 13:15 for the first in our Lenten Concert Series. The St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral Girls' Choir brings us a wonderful array of upper-voice lenten motets.
Admission is FREE!
​See full concert programme below:

We are very pleased to announce these forth-coming choral concerts at the Pro-Cathedral:
LENTEN LUNCHTIME CONCERT SERIES featuring Pro-Cathedral Girls' Choir, Continuum Youth Choir and the Palestrina Choir - all singing programmes of varied lenten motets. Admission is free and all are welcome.
And the Dublin Bach Singers will be back at the Pro-Cathedral once again in
GERMAN BAROQUE LENTEN MASTERPIECES - works by composers J S Bach and Johann Adolf Hasse - BWV 196 Der Herr denket an uns, BWV 150 Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich and Hasse Miserere in C Minor.  Soloists: Aisling Kenny, Pierce Cullen and Nathan Phipps-O'Neill. Tickets for this are available at www.eventbrite.ie/e/german-baroque-lenten-masterpieces-tickets-275120732517

Before 11am Mass this morning Fr Kieran McDermott, Adm., formally welcomed Aleksandr Nisse as the newly-appointed Titular Organist of the Pro-Cathedral. Aleksandr is an internationally recognised organist and is particularly noted for his exceptional skill at improvisation. We all wish him well in this new position as Titular Organist and we all look forward immensely to working with him. 

GIRLS' CHOIR NEWS!
St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral Girls’ Choir continues its commitment to promoting works by female composers. On Tuesday at 6pm at the Pro-Cathedral, join us in celebrating female creativity on International Women’s Day, when the Girls’ Choir will give a short presentation of works by Cecile Chaminade, Rhona Clarke, Rebecca Clarke, Hildegard von Bingen and Roxanna Panufnik.
ALL WELCOME

After quite a long hiatus, the boys are back singing Vespers! There was a great excitement amongst the boys as for most of them it was there first time singing at Vespers. It's a very peaceful and intimate service which the choir has partaken in for several decades. Unfortunately, it is only planned to take place during Lent so we implore you to come join us and make a meaningful committment during Lent.

Sung Evening Prayer (Vespers) will resume on Fridays at 5.30pm at the Pro-Cathedral with music sung by the Boys of the Palestrina Choir.
Evening Prayer is part of the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office in which the Church fulfills Jesus' command to "pray always" (Luke 18:1; see also 1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Evening Prayer gives thanks for the day just past and makes an evening sacrifice of praise to God.
Attendance at Evening Prayer would be a meaningful commitment during Lent.
All are most welcome at this short but beautiful service.