Extraordinary Day

The day after the First Solemn Mass of our new diocesan priest (the second Solemn High Mass to be celebrated in our county in roughly half a century), I am thoroughly exhausted. The Mass was heaven on earth- as the Extraordinary Form is commonly described. Anything but ordinary. In fact, the Mass was so incredibly beautiful, so majestic, that fortunately we planned an elegant reception fitting for such a grand occasion.

Despite the bodily aches from an intense week of greenery-cutting, bucket-lugging, ladder-hauling and floor-mopping, the glory of the day transforms the pain into rejoicing. We have another Latin Mass priest in our diocese- Deo gratias!

I will follow this up with a series of posts but here are the beginnings. All of these flowers were very generously donated by our local flower farm: 130 yellow tulips, 72 lilies, and dozens of yellow and purple irises. The greenery was cut at various locations.

Some of the greenery: heather, hebe, acacia and camellia.

The donation along with some acacia tree cuttings.

Next, read Extra-ordinary Day Prep here.

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Christ the King: Altar Flowers

Altar flowers for the feast of Christ the King! The challenge with these arrangements was to incorporate the traditional colors of white, gold and red with the request from a dear friend to provide flowers for the church upon the celebration of her son's nuptial Mass. The bride selected autumn colors for her bridal bouquet: burnt orange, dark red and rose. I thought it would be best to select flowers that could be used for both the wedding (on the feast of St. Raphael Archangel) and the feast of Christ the King. Let me know what you think! Entry table arrangement Side altar arrangement Another entry table arrangement Main altar arrangement Roses and lilies with acacia, eucalyptus and blueberry greens. Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat!

Hydrangeas, Roses & Holly: Altar Flowers for Christmas

Unfortunately, this is the best picture I could get of the arrangements for the Latin Mass on Christmas Day. However, it may serve as inspiration for what can be done in the most unlikely of spaces. The architecture of the church is typical postmodern, with no vestiges of the past. The crucifix was added and the tabernacle put in its rightful place only within the last d ecade. Who would have thought that the Latin Mass would be making its debut here in our isolated, rural community when there are a handful of beautiful, century-old churches perfectly designed for the purpose not far away! The proliferation of fake poinsettias already present in the church set me in motion to find other examples of possibilities for the traditional altar. My search led me to the liturgy guy's post Does this 1944 Christmas Eve Mass Look Anything Like Yours? I was inspired by the Solemn High Mass featured in the movie Christmas Holiday and later horrified a

Altar Flowers for Marian Feasts

For the feast of the Annunciation, we will have no Traditional Latin Mass. Much the same as last year, yet different. At the large brass doors of the church I left two small flower offerings for our good curé to place on the altar for his private Mass. His Roman vestments were trimmed in sky blue. Looking round the garden, forget-me-nots seemed appropos. One year later, the forget-me-nots are back, but now the private Latin Masses are being canceled in the Vatican. Supernatural hope prevails. Our Lady breaks through the spiritual darkness and the Lenten flower fast with her fiat at the Annunciation. For altar flowers, perfectly white roses would be my ideal choice. Where white roses aren't available, alstroemeria, carnations and liles are good substitutes. Daffodils, or "Mary's Star", would also add a beautiful touch of gold. For information on flowers traditionally associated with Our Lady, check out Fleurs de Marie-Jacqueline's blog. Here are some arr

Introibo- with Flowers

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