The thing that flashed into my mind while watching the Bishop vesting (or, more accurately, being vested) for the Mass was John 21:18: Amen, amen I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself, and didst walk where thou wouldst. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not.
Another striking moment: at the end of the Mass, when the Bishop left the procession to walk to the Cardinal Emeritus's chair, and took his hand with obvious emotion.
Also, the look of tremendous concentration on the Bishop's face as he said the Mass. He almost looked like a different person -- very intent, very focussed.
It was a great privilege to be able to see the celebrant at the High Altar -- thanks to the cameras which were obviously set up by somebody who knew what was important. We don't often get so close a view of the proceedings.
His homily was beautiful - very plain spoken but at the same time very thought-provoking.
I do want to know why the assistant priest had a Marine Corps "high and tight" haircut!
The choirs were excellent. The children's choir did extremely well, not as well as an Anglican boys' choir but very well indeed. The schola was phenomenal, and the choir had some absolutely wonderful sopranos -- the classic pure choir sound, NO vibrato, just clear tone with exactly the right brightness. And both the deacons who chanted the Epistle and the Gospel (especially the one who chanted the Epistle) had absolutely gorgeous voices.
The inimitable Father Z was providing the commentary and a simultaneous (intermittent) Latin translation. I noticed that he got in his favorite adjective "ineffable" which will make all the fans of his blog smile.
I hope I can record a rerun on EWTN (forgot to set my TV to record it). I was at the Mass and got a different perspective. We didn’t get Fr. Z.’s commentary. I’ll bet you had a better sound of the choir and schola. We could hear them, but the sound was somewhat faint. The music was beautiful, but it is hard to go wrong with Palestrina.
It was the choir from the Shrine. They are very good. I picked up a CD recording of their singing Vespers in the crypt church when Pope Benedict XVI was there. Listening to it now ... wonderful ... Byrd Tavener