The Deacon's Bench
Archbishop Charles Chaput has decided to forgo the customary knock on the cathedral door when he is installed in Philadelphia next month — and other details of the ceremony are also coming to light:
There will be no knocking on the door when Archbishop Charles J. Chaput arrives to the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia on the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The custom of knocking on the cathedral door, which has been done by some U.S. bishops when they were received at a new diocese, is not a practice that the church prescribes for such a ceremony.
Archbishop Chaput has decided to give his first homily as archbishop of Philadelphia from the cathedra rather than from the ambo, according to Father [Denis] Gill, director of worship for the archdiocese.
In giving media the rundown on the ceremony yesterday, the priest also mentioned that Archbishop Chaput had two special song requests for the installation service: “Gift of Finest Wheat” and “O God Beyond All Praising.” Both hymns are being included in the Mass.
Meantime, to get us in the mood, everybody sing!
Anglophiles, of course, know this hymn better as “I Vow to Thee, My Country,” which was a favorite of Princess Diana’s, and performed at her funeral, below. (I remember catching an EWTN mass on President’s Day a few years back and being surprised to hear this rendition of the hymn performed then. How ecumenical of them!)
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In