We at the St Hugh of Cluny Society sponsored a Solemn Mass yesterday at the historic church of the Most Precious Blood in New York, for the start of the festival of San Gennaro. Fr Richard Gennaro Cipolla was the celebrant; Fr. Chris Salvatori served as deacon; Will Haffey as subdeacon. Bill Riccio was master of ceremonies snd David Hughes conducted the splendid music. The Sacred Constantinian Military Order of Saint George was present, maintaining their commitment to Italian culture and to the Traditional liturgy. We thank Msgr. Donald Sakano, pastor of Old St. Patrick’s, for his invitation to the shrine church of the Most Precious Blood.
We greeted many old friends of the Society. And as the mass progressed the congregation grew – many who had wandered in from the festival stayed for the mass. By communion it was a full church! It demonstrates what can be done to return a Catholic religious presence to what has become an almost exclusively secular event. (We also note that, further to the north on Mulberry Street, the Russian Catholic chapel of St. Michael also had its doors open to visitors. They too realized the potential for evangelization in this apparently unreligious festival.)
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