Wednesday, December 8th is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a holy day of obligation. The following churches will offer Traditional Masses. Please inform us of any Masses that are not listed.

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, Solemn Mass, 7 pm, Messe de Ste. Hildegarde (Hildegard of Bingen).

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Bridgeport, 7:45 am, 6 pm

St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Parish, Brookfield, CT, low Mass at 8:00PM. Fr. Donald Kloster, celebrant.

St. Emery Church, Fairfield, Solemn Mass 6 pm

St. Pius X, Fairfield, 7 pm

St. Patrick Parish and Oratory, Waterbury, low Mass 8 am, high Mass 6 pm.

St. Stanislaus, New Haven, Low Mass 5:30 pm.

St. Martha Church, Enfield, 7 pm

St. Michael the Archangel Church, Pawcatuck, Solemn High Mass at 6:00pm

New York

Church of the Holy Innocents, New York, NY, 8 am and 6 pm

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, Low Mass 7 am, Low Mass 7:45 am; Missa Cantata 7 pm.

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside (Queens), 7 pm

St. Paul the Apostle, Yonkers, Missa Cantata, 12:15 pm

Annunciation Church, Crestwood, NY (lower church), Missa Cantata 7 pm

Immaculate Conception, Sleepy Hollow, low Mass, 7 pm

St. Rocco, Glen Cove (Long Island), 7 pm.

St. Matthew, Dix Hills (Long Island), 10:30 am

Sacred Heart, Esopus, 11 am

Holy Trinity, Poughkeepsie, Missa Cantata, 7 pm

St. Mary/St. Andrew, Ellenville, 7 pm

New Jersey

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, Missa Cantata, 7 pm, Fr John Perricone, celebrant.

St. Anthony of Padua, West Orange, 9 am and 7 pm.

Our Lady of Fatima, Pequannock, 7 am, 9 am, 12 noon, 7 pm

Corpus Christi Church, South River, Missa Cantata at 7PM

Shrine Church of the Blessed Sacrament, Raritan, Missa Cantata, 7 pm

St. John the Baptist, Allentown, NJ, Solemn Mass, 7 pm

The following churches will offer Rorate Masses. The Rorate Mass is a traditional Advent devotion wherein the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary is offered just before dawn. The interplay of light and darkness speak to the meaning of Advent and the coming of the Light of the World.

Weekday Mornings

Church of the Holy Innocents, New York, NY, 6 am, *Tuesday, December 7 *Thursday, December 9 *Friday, December 10 *Saturday, December 11 *Monday, December 13 *Tuesday, December 14 *Wednesday, December 15 *Thursday, December 16

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside, Queens, 6:35 am, Tuesday Dec. 7; Friday, Dec. 10; Saturday, Dec. 11.

Saturday Dec. 11

St. Emery Church in Fairfield, CT will offer a Solemn Mass at 6 am. The address in 838 Kings Hwy East.

St. Mary of Mount Virgin Church, 190 Sandford St., New Brunswick, NJ, Missa Cantata, 6 am.

Our Lady of Fatima, Pequannock, NJ, Missa Cantata 6:30 am

Saturday, Dec. 18

Annunciation Church (Lower Church), 470 Westchester Ave., Crestwood, NY, Solemn Mass, 6:30 am.

St. Pius X Church, 834 Brookside Drive, Fairfield, CT, Fr. Richard Cipolla, celebrant, 6 am.

St. Patrick’s Parish and Oratory, 50 Charles St., Waterbury, CT, Missa Cantata, 6 am.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 259 Olive St., Newark, NJ, 6 am.

By Father Richard G. Cipolla

It is indeed difficult in these times in the Catholic Church for those of us who love the Tradition of the Catholic Church to have joy at the center of our lives.  The mean-spirited and dishonest attack on Tradition in the publication of the Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes has been followed by statements by the head of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Archbishop Roche, that make it clear that these relics of the 1960s who are now in power in Rome are determined to erase from the Church’s memory the Roman Mass of Catholic Tradition. There are those of us who believe that the crisis of the Church today is no less severe than the crisis the Church faced when the “world woke up to find itself Arian”.  The Arian crisis was overcome not only because of the constant witness of great bishops like St. Athanasius to the Catholic faith but also because of the laity who continued to sing the liturgical hymns at Mass that proclaimed the full divinity of Christ as true God and true man.

I have been blessed in my retirement as a priest to be able to celebrate the Traditional Roman Mass in a number of parish churches both in my diocese and in other dioceses.  This past Sunday, thanks to the true graciousness of the pastor, I celebrated a Missa Cantata in a parish in Bayside, Queens, New York.  I remember the first time I celebrated Mass there over two years ago, perhaps even three years ago (the pandemic has made time fuzzy).  I remember a congregation of perhaps 50 people in a parish church whose ethnic roots are Polish, a small choir, and four altar servers.  This past Sunday the size of the congregation was well over 150 people, the choir had grown as well, and there were 15 altar servers, ages (my guess) from 9 to over 20.  The mix of people in the congregation was truly catholic:  old, middle aged, young, very young; various shades of black, brown and white; some women veiled others not, some men in ties, others in casual dress. 

A priest always knows when he is celebrating Mass whether the people in the congregation are “with him”.  There are times in my priesthood when I was celebrating the Novus Ordo Mass in a parish that despite my facing the people I felt alone, for so many of the people at that Mass were waiting for Mass to end.  Their obligation would be fulfilled, and then on to brunch.  Of course, there were always those at Mass who really believed their response to my “Pray, brethren…” expressed something real in their response: “May this sacrifice…” And a number of those people have since then discovered the Traditional Roman Mass as the embodiment of what that exchange between priest and people really means.  

At Mass this past Sunday there was no doubt that the bond between priest and people in the offering of the Sacrifice was truly there.  There was no sign of “traddie” stiffness or super-piety, just a group of heterogeneous Catholics happily entering into the Sacred Mysteries and coming to Holy Communion with grateful hearts.

I must say one more thing about the altar servers.  Before Mass all fifteen were in the sacristy and the camaraderie among them was inspiring to see.  It is neither reactionary nor misogynist to recognize and take joy in that special relationship that is the bond of male friendship, even at the level of “merely” serving at the altar together.  Of course, I hoped while watching this motley crew serving at the Mass that at least some would become priests.  But even if none of them become priests, because of their sense of that bond between them that comes from participating so closely in the awesomeness of the Mass, they will make good husbands and fathers, and good friends.  

I continue to love the season of Advent with its dark and cold that anticipates the coming of the Light.  But I do not like the darkness and the cold of a Church manufactured in the 1960s that tries to cancel Tradition and has forgotten that the three names of God are Truth, Goodness, and yes,–Beauty.

On Saturday, December 11, St. Emery Church in Fairfield, CT will offer a Solemn Rorate Mass at 6 am. The address in 838 Kings Hwy East.

Preparatory Novena for the feast of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception recited today after the 10:15 Missa Cantata at Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Bridgeport, CT

On Tuesday, December 7, at 6pm, there will be a Solemn Mass for the Feast of St. Ambrose of Milan.

Fr. Robert Turner will be the celebrant, Fr Michael Clark, the deacon. The sacred music for the Mass will be Thomas Tallis’ Mass for 4 voices and setting of texts by St Ambrose following the ordinary and communion propers.

A reception following.

St Augustine Church, 30 Caputo Road, North Branford

This morning Father John Ringley celebrated a Rorate Mass, the Advent Votic Mass of Our Lady, at St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk. Mr. John Pia served as Masters of Ceromony and Charles Weaver led the choir in chant.