Immaculate Conception Church,  414 E. 14th Street, New York,  will be offering a Solemn Mass  for the feast of St. John Bosco, patron saint of youth and educators on January 31 at 7 pm.  A reception will follow in the Parish Center. RSVP iccya@yahoo.com if you are coming to the reception.

On the weekend of Septuagesima Sunday, Fr Hernan Ducci of the Fraternity of Saint Joseph the Guardian will preach a retreat for men based on the Ignatian Exercises, at the Church of Saint John the Baptist, located at 1282 Yardville-Allentown Road, in Allentown, New Jersey. The Spiritual Exercises comprise an ordered series of meditations and contemplations born from the profound spiritual experience St Ignatius, gained from his conversion and his time as the first Superior General of the Society of Jesus. The purpose of these exercises is to help the retreatant discern God’s will for his own life.

The retreat will begin on the early afternoon of Friday, February 7, and finish with lunch on the afternoon of Sunday, February 9. In order to cover the expenses (Fr. Hernan’s travel from France, food, donation to the parish, etc.) we suggest a donation of $60. Also, please bring a sleeping bag. In addition to the meditations, the traditional Mass will be sung each day, as well as parts of the Divine Office; there will also be plenty of opportunities for spiritual direction and Confession. To confirm your attendance please read the following Google doc and fill in the registration form. If you have any questions, please contact hernan.ducci@gmail.com. Feel free to forward this invitation to anyone else you think would be interested.

Beautiful patronal Solemn Mass at Holy Innocents in Neptune for the Feast of the Holy Innocents on December 28.

Above and below:  photos from the Solemn Pontifical Mass of last year’s Lepanto Conference, held at St. Vincent Ferrer Church.

The third annual Lepanto Conference will be held in New York City on Saturday February 15. We are most honored to have as our celebrant and  speaker at our conference His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Zen, Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong.

The event will open with a Solemn Pontifical Mass from the Throne, at St. Vincent Ferrer, 869 Lexington Avenue (at 66th Street), New York, NY at 11 am. There will be about a one hour break for lunch, at which point attendees can disperse, recharge, and reconvene for the talks.  The talks will be held at the school building owned by the Parish of St John Nepomucene, a few blocks from St. Vincents,  from 3-5 PM.  The speakers will be His Eminence Cardinal Zen,  Fr. George Rutler, and Professor Michael Foley.

A  donation of $10 per person  at the entrance to the talks is suggested.  There is no advance registration.  (n.b. Unlike last year’s conference, food will not be provided.)

His Eminence Cardinal Zen

There will be a solemn high Mass for the feast of the Conversion of St Paul at 12 Noon Jan 25 at St Paul the Apostle Church, 602 McLean Ave., Yonkers, NY. The music will be Gregorian chant Missa de Angelis and Credo III. It is the patronal feast day of the parish.  Father Leonard Villa will be the celebrant.  The parking lot is behind the church and school on Lee Avenue.

To see this exhibition on Emperor Maximilian  – his armor and his art – at the Metropolitan Museum:

The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I 

We recently have resumed our series of posts  covering the deeds and relics of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.  Emperor Maximilian I was one of its most extraordinary leaders. Warrior, patron of the arts, far-seeing politician yet upholder of chivalric virtues,  he personified the somewhat fantastic character of the Holy Roman Empire in its last few centuries. Yet Maximilian was was able to accomplish great political achievements – not for himself, but for his descendants. He rescued the Burgundian-Netherlandish state from annihilation by France. He saw his grandson, Charles ascend the thrones of Spain, Burgundy-Netherlands and the Holy Roman Empire – becoming the mightiest European monarch in centuries. He laid the foundations for the union of the Bohemian and Hungarian crowns with the ancestral Habsburg domains, the essence of the future Austrian empire.  Yet he himself often wandered about,  bereft of resources and on the brink of bankruptcy.

In his age he was one of the greatest patrons of the craft of the armorer  and of German art.  A champion of knighthood, he was deeply involved in the development of artillery and infantry. He utilized the new printed media to promote his persona – including the monumental assembly of woodcuts known as the Triumphal Arch. He was a great collector of medieval German literature.

(above) Gauntlets of Maxmilian I

Plate armor was tailor-made for wealthier clients. (Above) Parade armor, commissioned by Maximilian for Charles V as an adolescent. (Below) Armor,  intended for combat use, made for Maximilian I as a young man.

Finally, of course, like every emperor pf the Holy Roman Empire, Maximilian was a religious figure.  We find images of saints and of the Virgin  on various armors in this exhibition. The last work commissioned by him is his own portrait on his deathbed.  Graphically realistic, stripped of all the accoutrements of grandeur, it is a gripping acknowledgment that we shall all return to dust.

The fantastic “Triumphal Arch,”  covering an entire wall and assembled out of prints by many of the leading German artists of  Maximilian’s  day. 

This beautiful relief is in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

This Monday,  January 6th, is the Feast of the Epiphany.   The following churches will offer the traditional Mass:

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT,  8 am  Low Mass, 6 pm Solemn Mass, Fr. Matthew Clark celebrant

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

St. Patrick Parish and Oratory, Waterbury, CT, 8 am low Mass.

St. Francis Church,  New Britain, CT,  6:15 Missa Cantata.

Church of the Most Holy Redeemer,  New York, NY,  6 pm Solemn Mass, Fr. Richard Cipolla celebrant.

Church of the Holy Innocents,  New York, NY,  6 pm Missa Cantata.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel,  New York, NY,  7 pm Solemn Mass.

Brooklyn Carmelite Monastery,  8:30 am Missa Cantata.

St. Josaphat Church,  Bayside (Queens) , NY,  7:30 pm

St. Paul the Apostle Church, Yonkers, NY,  12 noon

Our Lady of the Way Chapel, Culinary Institute of NY,  Hyde Park, NY,  10 am

St. Joseph Church,  Middletown, NY,  7 pm Solemn Mass

Assumption Church, Jersey City,  7 pm Missa Cantata.

Our Lady of Fatima Chapel, Pequannock, NJ,  7 am,  8 am

Stained glass window in the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, New York, NY

Wednesday, January 1, the Circumcision of Our Lord, the Octave of Christmas, is a Holy Day of Obligation.  The following church will offer the traditional Mass.

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT, 9:30 am Solemn Mass.

St. Patrick Church (the Cathedral Parish)  Bridgeport, CT, 12:15 pm, High Mass.

Saints Cyril and Methodius Oratory, Bridgeport, CT,  8:30 am low Mass;  10:15 am high Mass.

St. Stanislaus Church, New Haven, CT,  2 pm

St. Patrick Parish and Oratory, Waterbury, CT,  8:30 am, Low Mass; 10:30 am High Mass.

St. Francis Church, New Britain, CT,  5 pm

St. Martha Church, Enfield, CT,  11 am.

New York

Church of the Holy Innocents, New York, NY,  New Year’s Eve:  11:30 pm, High Mass; New Years Day,  9 am, Low Mass; 10:30 am High Mass

St. Agnes Church, New York, NY,  10:30 am

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 10:30 am Missa Cantata

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside (Queens), NY,  9:30 am.

St. Paul the Apostle Church,  Yonkers, NY,  12 noon.

Annunciation Church, Yonkers (Crestwood), NY,  10 am

Immaculate Conception Church,  Sleepy Hollow, NY,  3 pm

Our Lady of the Way Chapel, Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY,  10 am

Holy Trinity Church, Poughkeepsie, NY, 6 pm, Solemn Mass.

St. Rocco Church, Glen Cove, NY  (Long Island)  11:30 am

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

St. Peter Church, Amagansett, NY  (Long Island),  12 noon

New Jersey

Assumption Church,  344 Pacific Avenue, Jersey City, 12 noon.  Fr. Perricone, celebrant. Convivium after Mass.  Please bring food to share.

Our Lady of Fatima Chapel,(FSSP) 32 West Franklin Ave., Pequannock, NJ (Northern NJ)  7 AM, 9 AM, 11 AM, and 5 PM. (No 7 pm Mass on Tuesday, December 31) Confessions 15 minutes before each Mass.

St. Anthony of Padua Oratory (ICKSP), 1360 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ  (suburbs not far from Newark Basilica via I-280) 9 AM and 11 AM. Confessions heard 30 minutes before each Mass.

Corpus Christi Parish, (near Rutgers New Brunswick) 100 James Street, South River, NJ:  6:15 p.m. Low Mass.

The Church of St. Catherine Laboure, (Raritan Bayshore) 130 Bray Avenue, Middletown, NJ – 9 AM

St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church (western Monmouth County), 1282 Yardville Allentown Rd, Allentown, NJ  11 AM

Mater Ecclesiae, 261 Cross Keys Road, Berlin, NJ: Tuesday, December 31 – 5 pm anticipated Low Mass; Wednesday, January 1, 2020 – 8 am Low Mass, 10:30 am High Mass. Confessions heard half hour before Mass. (Half hour east of Philadelphia)

St. Gianna Beretta Molla Parish, 1421 New Road, Northfield, NJ, 12:30 PM (near Atlantic City)