St. Albert the Great College in the 1960's Part 1 of 2.m4v

In 1960, the Western Dominican Province filmed one of the first "Vocation Videos" for an American religious order. The film was also meant to display to the "outside world" that it meant to live in a a Catholic monastery. The writings of Thomas Merton had already excited interest in the monastic life among Catholics and non-Catholics, and this film showcased the Dominican version of monastic life as it was lived in the 1950s at the House of Studies in California. The narrator is Fr. Finbar Hayes, O.P., who is today a member of the Dominican community at Saint Albert the Great Priory, our House of Studies, in Oakland CA.

The film begins with clips of our House of Studies, still the same today in Oakland CA. Then follows film of the Dominican Rite Solemn Mass, the center of the liturgical day at the House of Studies. As our readers know, the Western Dominican Province is a center for the revival of the Traditional Dominican Rite, where it is celebrated regularly in four of our apostolates. Even today, after our adoption of the Roman Rite in 1970, the sung Mass is the center of the liturgical day. This was a Sunday Mass in Easter time since there are four cantors in the middle of choir as there would only be two on a weekday. You can see the leader of the schola cantorum raising and lowering his book to direct the rhythm of the chant as is still our practice. The film shows the Preface of the Mass, where, as you can see, the ministers are incensed in order, one of the most well know differences of our Rite from the Roman Rite.

The film than moves, very suitably to the class room. Today the course of studies is eight years, not seven. The current course of studies is one year of novitiate, two years of philosophy, a year of pastoral residency, then four years of theology, one of which is normally in another house of studies outside the U.S. (recently in France, Switzerland, Latin America, Africa, or Asia).

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Dominican
• documentary
• western province

[Geremia08]

Do they still do the Dominican Rite at St. Albert's?

[IrishGalinCal]

Beautifully done! It was wonderful to see a glimpse of Father Fabian teaching the students!