Hallowe’en Vespers

The Catholic Artists Society and the Dominican Friars of St. Vincent Ferrer Church will celebrate the ancient and beautiful liturgy of Solemn First Vespers for All Saints, in Manhattan (Lexington Avenue at 66th Street) at 6.30pm on October 31st, 2011. Gregorian chant and polyphonic settings for vespers will be provided by the Schola Cantorum of St. Vincent Ferrer, under the direction of Dr. Mark Bani. Following vespers, Fr. Uwe Michael Lang will give a presentation entitled “Art, Beauty and the Sacred.” A native of Germany, Fr. Lang is a priest of the Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri in London. He holds a doctorate in theology from the University of Oxford, was ordained to the priesthood in 2004, and worked in parish and school ministry until 2007. He has published various articles on Patristics and liturgical studies, including his book Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer, which came out first in German in 2003 with a preface by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and has since been translated into various languages. Recently, he has edited and contributed to the volume The Genius of the Roman Rite: Historical, Theological and Pastoral Perspectives on Catholic Liturgy (Chicago 2010). Fr Lang is a staff member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and Coordinator of the Master’s program in “Architecture, Sacred Art and Liturgy” at the Università Europea di Roma/Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum. In September 2008, he was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as Consultor to the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.