Father Richard Cipolla, our Society’s chaplain, will be celebrating his thirty-fifth anniversary as a priest with a Solemn Mass at St. Pius X Church in Fairfield, CT.

Please join us for the Second Annual Lepanto Conference! This year’s conference will begin with a Pontifical High Mass. The Mass and Conference will take place at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer in Manhattan.

The mass and conference will begin at 12 noon on Saturday, February 16th, and will end near 5:00 pm. Following the Mass (which begins promptly at 12), the theme of the conference will be ‘Sacred Liturgy as Key to Mending the Crisis in the Church.”

The Society of Hugh of Cluny is proud to be a co-sponsor of the conference

This is the second annual Lepanto Conference after last year’s  massive success in Waterbury, CT, which was attended by hundreds of college students and young professionals. A donation of $10  is suggested for attending the conference. Further details will follow.

…can you see this wonderful painting at the Pierpont Morgan Gallery, where it is the centerpiece of this exhibition:

Pontormo: Miraculous Encounters

Otherwise you will have to travel to a small town about ten miles outside of Florence to see it again.

Pontormo painted this work in 1529-30 at a key transitional point in Western art, religion and politics. In Italy, an aesthetic reaction was setting in against the seemingly immutable balanced “classicism” that had been achieved in the Renaissance golden age. North of the Alps, the Protestant Reformation had erupted – but the first stirrings of the Counter-Reformation were also already at hand. And Pontormo painted this work while the doomed Republic of Florence was under a devastating siege by the Imperial army.

This Visitation offers a perspective entirely different from that of the art of Pontormo’s immediate predecessors. The figures are elongated and almost float in the air. The colors are startling. But, for me, what is most impressive are the faces of the Virgin and St Ann. The entire painting concentrates on the moving encounter of these two women as they silently gaze at each other’s countenance… We can sense here the beginnings of a rebirth of a more intense, almost ecstatic religious feeling.

For more information see the WEBSITE of the Pierpont Morgan Library

On Friday, December 28, 2018, there will be a Prayer Vigil for Persecuted Christians. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (Latin, 1962 MR-EF) will be offered at 6:00 PM at Holy Innocents Church on West 37th Street and Broadway.

Following Mass, we will meet at the front steps of the Church to prepare the prayer books, banners and candles. At approximately 7:00 PM, we will walk south on Broadway to Herald Square, West 34th Street and Broadway.

At Herald Square, we will pray the Holy Rosary. Following the Holy Rosary, we will walk west on 34th Street and north on 7th Avenue while we pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet and sing Hymns and Christmas carols.

PLENARY INDULGENCE FOR FEAST OF HOLY INNOCENTS A PLENARY INDULGENCE is granted to those who devoutly visit the parochial church on its titular feast, which in the case of the Shrine & Parish Church of the Holy Innocents is on Friday, December 28. In visiting the church IT IS REQUIRED that one Our Father and the Creed be recited as well as the usual conditions of Sacramental Confession, Holy Communion, prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father, and detachment from all sin. Holy Innocents, pray & intercede for us!

You still have time to visit two extraordinary exhibits at the Frick collection – both having a direct relationship with Catholic doctrine and liturgy:

The Charterhouse of Bruges: Jan van Eyck, Petrus Christus, and Jan Vos

(until January 13, 2019)

Luigi Valadier: Splendor in Eighteenth-Century Rome 

(until January 20, 2019)

Centerpiece of the Charterhouse exhibition is The Virgin and Child with St. Barbara, St. Elizabeth, and Jan Vos, by Jan van Eyck and his workshop, which has long been a highlight of the Frick collection. Is paired with The Virgin and Child with St. Barbara and Jan Vos by Petrus Christus (now in Berlin) and displayed in the context of other objects from the Carthusian monasteries. The patron, Jan Vos, was prior of the charterhouse of Bruges. For a period in the 15^thand 16^thcentury the usually hidden Carthusians took a much more active role in affairs outside their monasteries, as writers, patrons and – in England – as martyrs.

The exhibition puts a magnifying glass at the visitor’s disposal – a necessity in viewing these astonishingly detailed works. The “sacred conversation” of The Virgin and Child with St Barbara and St Elizabeth looks out upon a depiction of a medieval town and indeed of the whole world.  Swan float on a river while a boat is rowed by, figures sit on a wagon, men (hunters?) advance through a forest – the incredible detail underlines the universal significance of contemplative figures in the foreground. This painting, moreover, is directly connected with Catholic doctrine on indulgences.

Jan Vos commissioned the Frick panel as a “memorial” displayed in the monastery church. An indulgence forty days could be obtained by anyone who said and Ave Maria in front of it. But as the Frick catalogue helpfully points out:

“The indulgence, meant to call attention to the memorial and increase prayers for Vos’s salvation, was only valid as long as the panel remained in the Carthusian order. Today, on the walls of The Frick Collection, the Virgin has therefore long lost its power of spiritual remission.”

Luigi Valadier: Splendor in Eighteenth-Century Rome deals with a different, yet still Christian, world, some 325 years later.   If Jan van Eyck is representative of the golden age of the art of Christendom, Luigi Valadier (1726–1785) lived shortly before its extinction. Valadier(of French parents ) was a multi-talented man: sculptor, designer, gold and silversmith and worker in semiprecious stone.  He catered to Roman aristocrats, great prelates and wealthy nobles and royalty visiting Rome from all over Europe. His style is transitional between rococo and neoclassicalism.

What interests us here, however, are his sacred works. Silver statues are displayed from the high altar of the cathedral of Cefalu in Sicily (famous for its 12^thcentury mosaics). The expressive quality of these sculptures in precious metal is amazing – the contrast with recent Catholic attempts at figurative sculpture is devastating (for the latter). You will not get to see the Cefalu statues again unless you go to Sicily – and probably never this closeup!  

An Orsini cardinal commissioned from Valadier a full service for the Mass (thirteen silver-gilt items including a chalice, cruets, a ewer, a holy water bucket etc.) – it only has survived because he donated it to a remote southern Italian church. Finally, there is a set of altar cards, very much in the rococo style, made for an altar in Santa Maria Maggiore.  Valadier’s art has transformed objects originally intended for utilitarian use into small masterpieces. 

These works testily to the reverence still accorded in Valadier’s day to objects in sacred use.  For all these works are not just senseless display but fulfill a specific purpose, to serve which nothing could be too fine. These exhibits are  among the last witnesses to an art and a world that were shortly to expire.

(All photographs from the Frick Collection website). For more information on the exhibitions and the Frick Gallery see HERE

 This year St. Anthony of Padua Oratory in West Orange, NJ (Institute of Christ the King) is offering seats on a chartered bus to the March for Life in Washington D.C. on Friday January 18, 2019. Seat will be avaliable on a first come first serve basis. 

The itinerary (to be finalized) is as follows: – January 18, 2019

7:00 am   Low Mass at St. Anthony’s (continental breakfast after Mass)
8:00 am   Departure from St. Anthony’s for Washington, D.C.
1:00 pm   March for Life begins
                  After the March, people may visit the Senate Office Buildings or the House of Representatives to meet their local state officials
4:30 pm  Departure from Washington D.C. to St. Anthony’s

Depending on traffic, our arrival back is expected before 10:30 pm.

For more information and to register, go the the church’s information page.

December 20, 2018 – January 18, 2019 at the Gallery at the Sheen Center (18 Bleecker St, New York)

Last Thursday Oksana Prokopenko opened an exhibit at the Sheen Center of her works in mosaic. On display are mosaics both traditionally Eastern and Western (St. Francis). Mosaics, assembled from hundreds and thousands of small pieces of colored glass and stone, have magical effect all their own. A large depiction of two angels, an icon of the Virgin Mary and Christ – all shimmer in gold and bright colors reflecting the lights of the gallery.

The artist forthrightly acknowledges the spiritual essence of her work:

“The process of creation is a spiritual practice, communion with the divine, a prayer that involves mind, soul and body. My hands that create the work are obedient to the Spirit. I become the proverbial pencil in the hands of God. The Eternal Divine is expressed in the myriad temporal, yet no less divine parts. So is my work composed of tiny bits, which when taken together bring forth the divine spiritual image. That in turn awakens and brings forth the divine in the viewer.” (From the Sheen Center announcement)

In the present wasteland of Christian art, the relatively intact Eastern Tradition is a good starting point for recovery. For the restrictive rules governing images in Eastern ecclesiastical art impose limits on the artist’s unhinged fantasy yet provide him with a clear model to follow. Now Oksana Prokopenko’s images and icons, executed in the difficult and expensive medium of mosaic, confirm both the continued vitality of the Tradition and its ability to accommodate individual creativity.

More on the artist:

“Oksana Prokopenko is a Ukrainian-born artist now living and working in the NYC area. She received university education in both the US at NYU and the Ukraine, at the Kiev Moyla Academy. She creates oil paintings as well as micro-mosaics from tiny pieces of glass. Prokopenko’s works have been acquired into the permanent collections of museums in the USA and Italy. She has been featured on the Russian international TV network, NTV, radio shows, and numerous publications. To quote Margo Grant, the Museum of Russian Art’s director, “The soul of Prokopenko’s work is in her walking that fine line between the transcendent and the ordinary. Prokopenko has achieved sheer brilliance in her deft treatment of the tiny pieces in her micro-mosaics. What’s more is that it is done with a rainbow of majestic colors.” Sue Dymond of The Glass Craftsman describes viewing Oksana’s work as “basking in quiet brilliance” and suggests – “Prepare to be inspired.” Russian NTV network’s Blagonravova states, “Oksana’s work is made not only with thousands of glass pieces, but also out of thousands of prayerful words.” Prokopenko is a rarity in today’s contemporary art scene. Her work process is similar to artists that worked hundreds of years before her with an intense focus on precision, quality and detail. Often described as a colorist, her colors inspire the viewer to spiritual and emotional heights similar to those felt by Prokopenko during her creative process, which has been described as a spiritual practice – a colorist’s communion with the divine.” (From the Sheen Center announcement)

For more information see HERE

At Our Lady of Lourdes Church , Malverne NY (Long Island)

“As a part of our Advent 40 Hours, on Wednesday, December 19 at 7pm our parish will host a special candle-lit Solemn High Latin Mass in honor of our Blessed Mother. 

Fr. Scolaro, the pastor of Notre Dame will celebrate the Mass, assisted by the Canons of Glen Cove. We are grateful for their presence. We hope you can attend this special Mass. Programs with translations and instructions will be available for all. A brief introduction to this Extraordinary Form of the Mass will be offered before Mass begins.”

(The “Canons of Glen Cove” are Augustinian canons associated with the Abbey of Klosterneuburg in Austria. On Long Island they have established the “Canonry of St Leopold” and administer two parishes.) 

SOURCE

Tom Piatak  of Chronicles Magazine (which everyone should read) writes this account of his recent encounter with the  Traditional mass at a parish in Cleveland  on the occasion of a Pontifical High Mass celebrated by Cardinal Burke:

Faith of Our Fathers, Living Still

“What first stood out was the sheer size of the congregation. The church was packed, with every seat in every pew taken and some people standing in the back of the Church throughout the Mass. A friend who works at NASA did the math: there were roughly 750 people sitting in the pews.”

“What next stood out was the fervor and attentiveness of the congregation. The Mass was followed by Benediction and a Eucharistic procession within the church. All told, the service lasted for roughly two and a quarter hours. Throughout, the congregation was silent when it should have been and vocal when it should have been, with the Latin responses given with sincerity and force and the congregation singing loudly and well when they were asked to…”

“What stood out throughout was beauty. Students from the Lyceum, a classical Catholic high school on the east side of Cleveland, sang exquisitely from the entrance procession until the recessional, accompanied by an organist described by my friend who prepared the program as one of the finest in the Diocese of Cleveland. The combination of music, incense, beautiful vestments, and the Gothic architecture and religious art of the church made a powerful aesthetic impression.”

“Hand in hand with beauty went reverence. Although the presence of Cardinal Burke undoubtedly contributed to the size of the congregation, the focus throughout was on the reverence due to God, not on Cardinal Burke. There was nothing Cardinal Burke did to draw attention to himself, and his homily was a wonderful  explication of Marian doctrine, with the only mention of contemporary concerns a brief reference to problems well known to any American Catholic…”

“What also stood out throughout was the great effort it took to create such a memorable religious experience. … The Knights  of Columbus provided a wonderful honor guard, the people of the parish provided a warm reception after the Mass, and all the acolytes and priests gave of their time to give us such a splendid example of Catholic worship. Many of these people bring the same amount of effort every week, for Masses that are far less well attended, including my friend who provides programs with translations of the propers for the Latin Mass throughout the liturgical year. There are far more people than one might at first suspect dedicated to the survival of Christianity throughout the civilization that would not exist apart from Christianity.”

Martin Mosebach, author of Heresy of Formlessness, speaking last night at the Union League Club in New York. A lively discussion on the state the the Church followed.
If you missed it, you have one more opportunity to hear him: tonight at St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk, CT. Solemn Mass of Reparation at 6 pm. Martin Mosebach at 7 pm in the church hall. Discussion and a reception will follow.