Solemn Mass at St. Vincent Ferrer, New York

Yesterday, at the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend, Solemn High Mass in the Dominican Rite was celebrated at the church of St. Vincent Ferrer in New York City.

The church of St Vincent Ferrer is worth a visit in itself. Bertram Goodhue’s masterpiece is a seemingly inexhaustible treasury of architecture, stained glass, sculpture, painting and metalwork. In nearly every corner of the vast church can be found a special devotional image or an intriguing artistic detail.

Preceding the Mass, Dr. Samuel Schmitt gave a lecture on the musical life of the Elizabethan recusants. Despite the most severe persecution,  they were able (at least in some households) to maintain an astoundingly rich liturgical and musical culture. But their music underwent a transformation: from the grand public liturgical music of pre-reformation times to a more private, interior style. It was a style adapted to the “underground” nature of Elizabethan Catholicism. But this development was also furthered by the influence of the Jesuit order, whose missionaries brought with them new Roman musical ideas and a spiritual culture that, in contrast to pre-reformation times, assumed a largely literate laity.

The great Catholic composers of this era, such as Tallis and Byrd, also composed for the monarch and the established church. In that regard, Dr. Schmitt described the initial musical and liturgical strictures of the bishops and cathedral chapters of the Church of England as the reformation was imposed. All should be simple, clear and in English, only one note for each syllable of the text…. Much of this sounds eerily familiar to those of us who have followed developments in the Church for the last 50 years.

Dr. Schmitt’s talk was supplemented with musical examples. The performers were Charles Weaver (lute), Judith Malafronte (voice), Grant Herreid( bass viol) and Priscilla Herreid(voice).

(Above)The schola sang in front of the right transept.

We are grateful to the pastor of the combined parish of St.Vincent Ferrer and St Catherine of Siena and to the Dominican community for organizing this liturgy. The execution of the ceremonial of the Dominican Rite on this evening was of course exemplary.

Fr. John Sica, OP served as deacon. (Fr. Sica had been ordained to the priesthood at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington on May 21 of this year).

Fr. Innocent Smith, OP celebrated the mass and gave the homily.

(Above) Charles Weaver directed the Schola. David Hughes was organist. (Both are associated with the music program at St. Mary’s parish in Norwalk CT)

(Above and below) Priscilla Herreid, Grant Herreid, Judith Malafronte, Richard Dobbins and James Wetzel sang. The music included works of Fairfax, Tallis,  Taverner and Lambe. It was an  outstanding performance of this often challenging music  – sung in architectural surroundings intended to duplicate  the pre-reformation churches and chapels where these works were first performed.  And these musical masterpieces were of course also being performed in the context of the liturgy for which they were created. For it is the purpose of the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny to integrate the arts in support of the overriding objective of promoting and restoring the Traditional liturgy.

Finally, we were gratified to see that, despite the heat and the upcoming holiday, so many people from all over the area attended the lecture and then assisted at mass. Afterwards, a lovely reception was organized by the hospitality committee of the parish at which everyone could enjoy some conviviality on the feast of St. Bede!