The clergy and lay canons at St. Peter's Eastern Hill, in addition to letting me sing in their choir, were also kind enough to let me join them for their private divine office, and I've been joining them every day I've been here in Melbourne. I start the day with Matins and Lauds and end the day with Vespers. It's been surprisingly restorative. For one, it stops me from sleeping in later and later which often happens over time when I travel. I plan to do the same thing when I travel to Edinburgh later in the month.

I also attended some services at the lovely Catholic St. Patrick's Cathedral across the road, although I found their service schedule disappointing compared to Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral. The building itself is beautiful, however:

Also, for completeness' sake I guess, I visited briefly the Anglican St. Paul's Cathedral near Flinders Street Station, but unlike St. Pat's it was quite overrun with tourists. Still much to appreciate in the building itself, however:

I also went to the State Library of Victoria, where in addition to seeing the impressive La Trobe Reading Room I also got to have a look at a few manuscripts that were interesting to me:

The first manuscript pictured above seems to be a chant for the text Levíta Lauréntius, but it doesn't seem to resemble any of the chants from the Solesmes books. I'm not sure where this melody comes from or where it's ended up (if anywhere) in the modern graduals. The next one, in a frame, seems to be a page from a nocturnal or antiphonary, because what starts halfway down the page is Centum quadraginta, an antiphon for the memorial of the Holy Innocents. The third shot, which isn't of a chant book, seems to be a missal of some kind, with a Eucharistic canon on the left and some propers on the right, including the ad te levávi text that immediately signifies the first Sunday of Advent.

Dilexísti iustítiam, et odísti iniquitátem: proptérea unxit te Deus, Deus tuus. Óleo lætítiæ præ consórtibus tuis.

Benedíctus qui venit in nómine Dómini: benedíximus vobis de domo Dómini: Deus Dóminus, et illúxit nobis, allelúia, allelúia.

This Sunday I sang with the choir of St. Peter's Eastern Hill in Melbourne. We sang the Simple Communion Service in F Major by William Harris, for which I can't find a recording online (although the livestream link for St. Peter's isn't bad, and we sang it well). For a motet we sang Marenzio's Tribus miraculis:

Tribus miráculis ornátum, diem sanctum cólimus:	Distinguished by three miracles, this holy day is celebrated:
Hódie stella Magos duxit ad præsépium:	Today the star led the Magi to the manger;
Hódie vinum ex aqua factum est ad núptias:	Today wine was made from water at the wedding;
Hódie in Jordáne a Joánne Christus baptizári vóluit,	Today in the Jordan by John, Christ chose to be baptized
ut salváret nos, Allelúia.	in order to save us, Alleluia.

It was really nice to sing with a choir that was a little more well-resourced, meet some lovely new people, and learn some music that was new to me. I'll be sure to join this choir again whenever I'm in Melbourne!