The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music is proud to announce the fall term of our second Public Lecture and Concert Series.

For our first event, we're delighted to feature a brilliant and engaging young scholar, Dr. Emily Thelen, as she presents from the topic of her recent monograph, A Choirbook for the Seven Sorrows: Royal Library of Belgium MS. 215-16, part of the Leuven Library of Music in Facsimile Series.

Contemplating Our Lady of Sorrows through Sacred Art and Music
Monday, September 11, 2023 - 5:00 p.m. PDT

In the current Roman calendar, the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin is celebrated on September 15. This date is a relatively recent change to a devotion that has its roots in the late Middle Ages. In this talk, we will hear the fascinating story of the origins of the feast and how devotion to the Seven Sorrows grew out of a period of severe economic crisis, civil war, and famine. We will view images of the earliest surviving source of music for this feast—a beautifully illuminated manuscript containing both plainchant and polyphony—and early artistic renderings of the Virgin of Sorrows.

Please join us via Zoom for this first event of our new season; click here to RSVP. The event is free. Space is limited.