Festal Eucharist

Above: From the woodwork on the kneeler of the Bishop’s Chair in the sanctuary of Saint Thomas Church, the restoration of Peter by Christ, who asks three times if Peter loves him, and three times is told, “feed my sheep.” [from today’s Gospel: John 21:1-19]

Included in this Festal Eucharist are hymns sung by the congregation and choir, additional music sung exclusively by the choir, lessons, prayers, a sermon, and a Rite I Mass. All baptized Christians are welcome to receive Holy Communion. Details of the service may be seen in the leaflet, which will be posted a few days prior to the service at the bottom of this page, where you will also find links to the webcast during and after the service. 

Music notes: Juan Guti√©rrez de Padilla (c. 1590-1664) was born in Spain and was brought up in Andalusia. Clearly a prodigious musician, he had been Maestro de Capilla at Jerez de la Frontera and Cadiz Cathedral by the age of 26. The date of Padilla’s move to New Spain is unsure but he is known to have been a singer at Puebla Cathedral between 1622 and 1629 when he became its Maestro de Capilla (remaining there until his death). It was Padilla’s good fortune to hold the post at Puebla during the tenure of Bishop Palafox y Mendoza, who was a great supporter of the arts and who lavished money on the music of the Cathedral to the extent that its services were regarded as considerably superior to those in Mexico City at the time.¬†

Padilla was a master of polyphony in the prima prattica vein and his sacred choral music is characteristically rhythmic, chromatically colorful and harmonically rich with sonorities that one might imagine well-suited to instruments of the period. The magnificent Missa Ego flos campi is written for double choir and would almost certainly have been accompanied by a group of instrumentalists employed by the authorities in Puebla. Frequent alternations between major and minor modes add a distinctive color to the work.

• Choral Services
• Worship Services