A Blessed and Holy Christmas to All

Holy Name of Jesus Parish, NY

St. Stephen Parish, NY

Merry Christmas to all our Readers! Our annual schedule of Christmas masses witnesses to the steady progress the Traditional liturgy has made in the “tristate area” in the 4 years since the publication of Summorum Pontificum. in December 2007 9 churches were reported to us as offering the traditional liturgy at Christmas (CT and NY only); in 2010 it was 18 and this year 21 at last count. Moreover, I believe we have not captured every mass in this area. And this number does not tell the whole story. In 2007 we reported no Traditional Midnight Masses; in 2011 there are 5. In 2007 not one solemn high mass was listed; in 2011 four churches are celebrating 5 such liturgies. One church celebrates all three masses for Christmas; another has Christmas vespers. We should be grateful for this renaissance of the Traditional Mass – but we should also recognize that so much more remains to be done. We look forward to the day when every parish celebrates such a mass at this time – and several Traditional parishes are functioning in Manhattan itself!

St. Elisabeth of Hungary Parish, NY