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“Te Lucis Ante Terminum”

Jonathan Weiss on May 27, 2026

Sacred Music

“Te Lucis Ante Terminum”

Catholic Sacred Music Project (Partner), Michael Garrepy (Composer), Sir James MacMillan (Composition Mentor), Timothy McDonnell D.M.A. (Conductor)

Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land, Washington D.C. (2023)

The Catholic Sacred Music Project (CSMP) held a Composition Institute on May 27, 2023. Co-sponsored by the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship, the event featured world premieres of eight new sacred choral works led by composer Sir James MacMillan and performed by the CSMP Choir, Dr. Timothy McDonnell conducting, at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, Washington, DC.

 

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“Fantasy on Pange Lingua”

benedict16 on May 27, 2026

Sacred Music

“Fantasy on Pange Lingua”

Catholic Sacred Music Project (Partner), Sir James MacMillan (Composition Mentor), Timothy McDonnell D.M.A. (Conductor), William Fritz (Composer)

Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land, Washington D.C. (2023)

The Catholic Sacred Music Project (CSMP) held a Composition Institute on May 27, 2023. Co-sponsored by the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship, the event featured world premieres of eight new sacred choral works led by composer Sir James MacMillan and performed by the CSMP Choir, Dr. Timothy McDonnell conducting, at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, Washington, DC.

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“Requiem for the Forgotten”

Jonathan Weiss on May 26, 2026

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone commissioned “Requiem for the Forgotten” for the repose of the souls of people on the margins: the homeless, the refugees escaping war and political or religious persecution, the martyrs of totalitarianism in all its forms.

“Missa Sancti Juniperi Serra”

Jonathan Weiss on May 26, 2026

Missa Sancti Juniperi Serra

Composed by Frank La Rocca (2024)

In the fall of 2020, as statues of St. Junipero were being defaced and his history was being rewritten, Archbishop Cordileone commissioned a new Mass by Benedict XVI Institute’s composer-in-residence Frank La Rocca to honor St. Junipero Serra.

The Mass integrates both the likely chanted Ordinaries in the missions at the time (Missa Orbis Factor) and St. Junipero Serra’s favorite Marian hymn (the lesser-known Salve Virgin Pura, a vernacular hymn to the Virgin Mary), using the simple instruments available to the Native Americans and Franciscan friars in California. It is composed for the traditional Latin rite as St. Junipero Serra would have prayed.

First celebrated at the Mission Dolores in San Francisco, the Mass will be celebrated again in 2026 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mission Dolores and the founding of San Francisco by St. Junipero Serra and his Franciscan brother.

This Mass is a gift of Terry Caster in honor of his late, beloved wife, Barbara Caster. Please pray for the repose of Barbara Caster’s soul.

“Shortly after beginning work on the Mass, I was diagnosed with colon cancer. Let me hasten to add it was caught early and I am cancer-free, Deo gratias. I composed this Mass during the weeks and months of uncertainty about the outcome, and so I felt very, very close to God. Indeed, working on the Mass was a profound comfort to me, reminding me of my dependence on grace not just for my health, but for musical inspiration. I did pray to St. Junipero, asking for his blessing on the work and to intercede for a good outcome to my illness.”

Frank La Rocca, Composer
St. Junipero Serra Painting_By Bernadette Carstensen
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Serra Mass 2_Kara Kacvinsky
Serra Mass 6_Kara Kacvinsky
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Serra Mass 7_Kara Kacvinsky

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“Messe Des Malades: Honoring Our Lady of Lourdes”

Jonathan Weiss on May 26, 2026

Messe Des Malades: Honoring Our Lady of Lourdes Composed by Frank La Rocca (2023) “To my understanding and my ear, this Mass stands shoulder to shoulder with the great masterworks of the Renaissance.”  Martin Rokeach, Sacred Music Journal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgUhY4QPUXchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWpN2QGN0tw Archbishop Cordileone commissioned this new healing Mass from Frank La Rocca in the aftermath of COVID. …

Evenings for Artists and Art Lovers

benedict16 on May 19, 2026

Spaces for artists and art lovers to gather together to pray, to reflect on their high calling, to find fellowship with other Catholic artists, and to deepen our theological understanding of the role of beauty in the spiritual life. These take the form of an annual weekend-long retreat at St. Patrick’s Seminary in June and shorter “Evenings for artists and art lovers” at cities across the country. In community there is inspiration and the power to create more and better works of art for the greater glory of God.

Martyrs of Communism Project

benedict16 on May 19, 2026

The Martyrs of Communism project is an innovative 5-year project using new liturgy, hymns, history, journalism, documentaries, short videos, poetry, plays, painting and educational materials to remember the heroic witness of those who suffered and died rather than give in to the totalitarian demands of Marxist and neo-Marxist dictators.

Christmas and Advent Carols

benedict16 on May 19, 2026

Each year, the Benedict XVI Institute sponsors a Very Marian Advent Prayer Service: singing, praying and reflecting on the powerful theme of waiting with Mary that last difficult month for the birth of our Lord and Savior. Each year we bring together two great poets and two great composers to commission a new Christmas/Advent carol with a Marian focus: Because Catholics and the culture need some beautiful new Christmas carols.

Celebrating St. Junipero Serra & the Founding of San Francisco

benedict16 on May 19, 2026

As part of our ongoing project to deepen Catholics’ knowledge of our own American history, the Benedict XVI Institute is partnering with the Archdiocese of San Francisco to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of Mission Dolores by St. Junipero Serra and his Franciscan brothers with the help of the Indians they came to serve. Join us for a special celebration Frank La Rocca’s Missa Sancti Juniperi Serra at Mission Dolores and other projects to celebrate the birth of a great American city named for a great saint.

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