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.

 

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 address is 406 East 67th Street.   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

 

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 Thursday, at 6:00 PM, the Society of St Hugh of Cluny will be sponsoring a Solemn High Mass at the church of the Most Holy Redeemer on East 3rd Street in New York. A reception will follow. Music will include the St Nicholas Mass by Haydn. It will also be an opportunity for you to acquaint (or reacquaint) yourself with one of the grandest Catholic churches in Manhattan.

Most Holy Redeemer was the New York home of the Redemptorist order from the 1840’s to this year. The present church was built in the early 1850’s and its size aroused the wonder of contemporaries. It was one of the two churches that served the German population of the city, at that time centered in what later would be called called the East Village. The other church, the nearby archdiocesan parish of St. Nicholas – was razed in 1960 under Cardinal Spellman – only the rectory survives. The exterior and interior of the Most Holy Redeemer, however, obviously reflect extensive subsequent renovations.

Most Holy Redeemer enjoyed great prominence in the 19th century. But after 1900 the city’s German population started to migrate north, to Yorkville. By 1940 this parish was already experiencing challenges.

In this year the Redemptorists left. There was no publicity, no mention in Catholic New York, for the end of a 180-year apostolate. Of the former proprietors all that remains, presumably, are the many deceased Redemptorists buried in this church. The parish is now in Archdiocesan administration.

Most Holy Redeemer’s interior is a stark contrast to the (current) exterior. It is an incredible decorative display of marble, stained glass, paintings sculptures and mosaics. Despite some damage from the elements and ghastly renovations, much remains in relatively good condition.

(Above) Most Holy Redeemer also displays objects, decidedly less successful artistically than the rest of the decor of this church, inherited from the nearby shuttered parish of the Nativity. Most Holy Redeemer is also the successor to that ancient parish – housed after 1970 in perhaps the most undistinguished Catholic church building on the island of Manhattan. A dispute is continuing regarding the use of the Nativity parish site.

(Above and below) Special mention must be made of two of the chapels. Cardinal Spellman in 1966 designated Most Holy Redeemer church as the “pilgrimage shrine” of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. A magnificent chapel surrounds this miraculous image – a special devotion of the Redemptorist order. Regrettably, as readers of our series on New York churches will know, such devotions appear to attract little interest from the laity nowadays. – and don’t save their churches from closure.

(Above) The second spectacular chapel contains over 100 relics – including the entire body of the martyr St. Datian – brought to this church amid scenes of indescribable rejoicing in the 1892. HIs wax effigy lies beneath the altar.

After 1945, Most Holy Redeemer seems to have dropped out of the consciousness of most New York Catholics. Unlike the otherwise similar Jesuit parish of St Francis Xavier, it had no high school still capable of attracting interest beyond its immediate neighborhood. Its parochial school kept going, with diminishing numbers, until 1985. One well known New York priest can still remember nuns – still German! A graduate in 1972 was Ursula Burns, until recently CEO of Xerox. In more recent years the parish has served mainly a “Hispanic” congregation.

So a visit to Most Holy Redeemer is like a journey to the past of Catholic New York. I hope, though, that the Solemn Mass we are sponsoring this Thursday will be the start of a new beginning. There are only three or four other churches in Manhattan that can rival Most Holy Redeemer as a splendid setting for the Traditional Mass. We also hope that Catholics will become more aware of this downtown treasure and join in assisting the clergy and congregation in the recovery of this venerable parish We hope you can make ti!

The Mass for this event is in the Extraordinary Form

Please note that the Masses on this schedule are in the Ordinary Form.

 St. Sylvester—New Year’s Eve Party

December 31 2019 to January 1, 2020

8 pm to 1 am

Dance in the New Year. Eat, Drink, and Make Merry.   The Best Swing, Waltz, & Other Ballroom Music.

Bring all your own food and drink and give us a free will offering for the hall rental and the music.

St. John Paul II Maronite Catholic Church                                                                                at the Immaculate Conception, 199 North Broadway, Sleepy Hollow, NY
                                                                                     

The Roman Forum,11 Carmine St., Apt. 2C,New York, New York 10014

For questions, e-mail: drjcrao@aol.com