We wish you a blessed Easter

This window appears in St. Columba Church, Manhattan

it’s the charter schools that are bringing down the Catholic school system!

But even so there’s no need to worry: “The Archdiocese of New York has now regionalized its school system to assure a vibrant future for Catholic education, and has seen dramatic growth in its early childhood programs, adding 2,300 new students in the past year.”

It seems, however, that Orthodox Jews aren’t experiencing the same difficulties as the Catholics: “In another development, enrollment at Jewish schools has surpassed those attending Catholic schools for the first time in the city’s history. A surge in the Orthodox Jewish population has caused the number of students attending yeshivas to soar from 73,254 a decade ago to 94,589 last year.”

We bring to you more photos from Holy Week at the Church of the Holy Innocents, Manhattan, courtesy of Mr. Arrys Ortanez.  For photos of the Easter Vigil see link.

Palm Sunday

Holy Thursday

Good Friday

We call your attention to two recitals taking place this weekend by musicians connected with St. Mary Church in Norwalk, CT.

Friday, 25 April, 7:30 P.M., Judith Malafronte, mezzo-soprano, David Hughes, piano, at St. Mary Church Norwalk.
BOULANGER & CO.: Parisian music of the fin-de-siècle.
Judith Malafronte is a member of the St. Mary’s Schola Cantorum.

Sunday, April 27, 5:oo pm, David Hughes on the organ at the Church of the Assumption, 62 Cliff Street, Ansonia, CT.
“La Resurrection du Christ” Organ works for the Octave of Easter with chants of the season sung by men of the St. Mary’s Choir, Norwalk, including works by Langlais, Tournemire and Messiaen.

This Note comes from John Henry Crosby, founder and director of the Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project (http://hildebrandlegacy.org):

“I write on behalf of Alice “Lily” von Hildebrand to invite you to a special Requiem mass in honor of her husband, Dietrich von Hildebrand.

The Tridentine (or extraordinary) mass, complete with Gregorian chant, will be said on Saturday, April 26^th, at 2:30pm, at Holy Family parish in New Rochelle, New York.

Follow this link for the address and contact information for Holy Family Parish.

All are welcome, and it would mean a great deal to Lily to see many friends and supporters of her husband in attendance.”

The Catholic Artists Society is pleased to invite you to its annual Mass for Artists, Sunday May 4th at 3pm at the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, Manhattan. Members, patrons and friends of the society are invited to attend with their families.

This year’s Mass will mark the 15th anniversary of Bl. John Paul II’s Letter to Artists, published on April 4, 1999. The Mass setting was composed during JPII’s lifetime, the Berliner Messe by the Estonian composer, Arvo Part. Organist Jared Lamenzo will lead a professional choir in this contemplative setting of the Mass.

Mass will be offered according to the Missal of Bl. Pope John XXIII, who will be canonized with Pope JPII the previous Sunday. The celebrant will be Father Brian Taylor of the Church of St. Benedict in the Bronx. He will be assisted by Father Jean Paul Soler, pastor of the Church of St. Denis in Yonkers, NY, and Father Matthew Newcombe, chaplain at Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, NY. Monsignor Donald Sakano, pastor of the basilica of St. Patrick, will offer the homily.

A reception will follow in the Basilica courtyard, weather permitting.

Please RSVP for the reception by May 1st: catholicartistssociety@gmail.com

These photos are courtesy of Fr. Cyprian La Pastina.

Holy Thursday: The Altar of Repose

Easter Sunday

Photos courtesy of Mr. Arrys Ortanez.  More photos of this Mass can be found on http://traditionalcatholicism83.blogspot.com/2014/04/holy-saturday-easter-vigil-2014-holy.html

Let us return to the reality of the “Church of today” after the great joys of Easter. We learn in the New York Times of one more Catholic high school closing its doors – this time Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School in Brooklyn:

A Catholic High School Abruptly Loses Its Fight to Stay Open

As the NYT puts it: “the school had fallen into a familiar category: a New York City Catholic School that couldn’t.” “But enrollment has plummeted to 499 this year from 1347 in 2006, just as the neighborhood was blossoming with condominiums and renovated row houses to house young professionals.” All this just in the pontificates of Benedict and Francis. It is claimed that Bishop Ford High School could not survive competition from improving public schools and charter schools (there seemingly being no other reason to attend a Catholic school instead of these). And, as is so often the case, there are allegations of impropriety in the years leading up to the school’s demise.

Earlier this year, in Manhattan:

Mother Cabrini High School To Close Its Doors After 115 Years

School announcement.

“Vidi Aquam…”

The schola of St. Mary’s performing plainchant (above) and polyphony (below). This Holy Week exhibited the extraordinary depth and variety of the music program of St. Mary’s – all under the direction of Mr. David Hughes. In addition to the professional schola (the St Cecilia Society),  the parish adult choir,  the children’s schola, the clergy, other ministers and congregation  also participated. The music included chant, polyphony (here, on Easter Sunday, the Missa Pascale of La Rue), early baroque, later works by Vierne and Durufle as well as original compositions by Mr. Hughes. I perhaps do not need to mention in regard to this parish that all ceremonies were liturgically complete and correct. It is an amazing accomplishment for a diocesan parish church without a significant musical endowment and, for that matter, one that vastly exceeds the musical level prevailing at most Catholic churches in the now faintly remembered “pre-conciliar” age.

The Paschal Fire

The Exsultet

The Prophecies are sung      

The blessing of the font

The catechumens are baptized

The Confirmations  

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass begins

As the Gloria is sung, statues are uncovered and the church fully lit.

Proclamation of the Gospel  

The Canon

The altar is incensed during the Office of Lauds