Two Little Sisters and two of our Residents, Gene and Barbara, felt patriotically inclined to attend a truly unique event: the Solemn Vespers at St. Augustine Church in Olde City, Philadelphia.
We had read on the parish website that the evening was planned as an immersive historical reconstruction. It was meticulously designed to replicate exactly how a Catholic Vespers service would have been experienced in a chapel of the Thirteen Colonies back in 1776. Organized by the Durandus Institute for Sacred Liturgy & Music, the Solemn Vespers Ceremony was held to commemorate the semiquincentennial (250th anniversary) of the founding of the United States.
The sacred music featured selections from the very first Catholic hymnal published in the U.S., John Aitken’s A Compilation of Litanies and Vespers, Hymns and Anthems (Philadelphia, 1787.)
The service was inspired by a letter that John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, after he had attended a Catholic service. He wrote: “The Musick consisting of an organ, and a Choir of singers, went all the Afternoon, excepting sermon Time, and the Assembly chanted—most sweetly and exquisitely.”
Of course, finding parking in historic Olde City turned out to be quite an adventure! The Sisters dropped off Gene and Barbara, who joined the crowd outside enjoying the music of a Fife and Drum Corps dressed in full colonial uniforms. The Little Sisters rode around looking for a place to park. None could be found! A quick call to a police officer friend of Gene’s worked! He arranged a spot reserved for them at the Police Commissioner’s Office. The only trouble was, it was 1.3 miles away from the church! The long walk back led one Little Sister to joke that we were truly experiencing the event just like they did 250 years ago—back then, everyone would have walked to Vespers! More importantly, we were united in spirit with the founding fathers who actually went to a Catholic church to offer their Te Deum in thanksgiving for our newly-born nation.
Gene and Sr. Kathleen
Inside St Augustine’s
