The celebration of Corpus Christi at St. Mary’s Norwalk CT. Along with a visit by Monks of Norcia…..

(Above) Since there were only two masses this day, the assembled musical forces of the parish performed – including the student schola.

Three hundred and forty (340) faithful attended the 6PM Solemn Mass and Procession at Holy Innocents Church, New York, for the 8th annual celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi this past Thursday, May 26, 2016. Fr. Leonard Villa was the Celebrant, Fr. Tomasz Szczepanczyk was the Deacon, Fr. Robert Rodriguez was the Subdeacon, and 17 servers served Holy Mass. Photos are courtesy of Michael DeLong.

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!

Solemn High Mass for Corpus Christi was celebrated on Thursday Evening in East Harlem. The shrine statue of the Madonna was resplendent in newly restored robes.

Fr. Marian Wierzchowski SAC, the pastor of Our Lady of Mt Carmel,was celebrant and homilist. Fr. Christopher Salvatori SAC served as deacon; Fr. Charez “Don” B. Gringco, as subdeacon. Mr. Lorenzo Tinio was the master of ceremonies. Also, thanks are due to Mr. Teddy Thongratnachat. Last but not least, The Society of St. Hugh of Cluny sponsored this mass.

Mass was followed by the procession with the Blessed Sacrament through the surrounding streets.

(Above and below) What had started as a devout but modest congregation at the start of the mass had grown to very respectable size when the time came to form the procession. The public display of Catholicism (and one of the specific doctrines of Catholicism)that is of the essence of Corpus Christi seems to find remarkable resonance everywhere. It’s the only effective way to “take back the streets.”

And so the procession went its way as the streets gradually grew darker. Languages heard in addition to Latin and English included Polish, Spanish, Haitian Creole…..

(Above) At times the chants of the procession had to compete with boom boxes; the incense with the aroma of joints. But here and there beautiful floral displays had been set up by residents of the area. (Below) The first altar on the processional path was in a florist’s shop; the second in a convent.

Benediction concluded the procession.

In the EF.

This evening a Solemn Mass was offered at St. Mary Church, Greenwich, in the presence of the incorrupt heart of the Cure of Ars, St. John Vianney.

The church was standing room only.

The incorrupt heart of St. John Vianney in its reliquary on the altar

The schola performed Palestrina’s beautiful Missa Papae Marcelli

Fr. George Rutler was the homilist

This news and photos from Rodger Phillips of Sub Edge Farm in Farmington, CT:

“Father Gregoire Fluet gave the traditional Rogation Day blessing from the Rituale Romanum at Sub Edge Farm in Farmington on April 25. The ritual, invoking God’s protection, dates back to Pope Saint Gregory the Great (590) and has roots in ancient Roman customs. The farm hopes to make this an annual event.”

(Above) A wide angle view of the restored sanctuary.

UPDATE: This post now reflects additional information on the restoration from the pastor of Old St. Patrick’s, Msgr. Sakano.

Let me give you a  brief visual status report on the still-incomplete restoration of old St.Patrick’s cathedral. A picture in the New York Times had raised the specter of a brilliant, whitewashed interior. As you can see below, these fears have not been realized. The interior has been repainted but in a restrained cream or beige color. It is definitely brighter, however, than the olive drab of the prior color scheme. Msgr. Sakano informs us  that this new color scheme is derived from the remains of the original decoration that had been discovered.

(Below) The church prior to restoration.

(Above) The view towards the rear. The magnificent organ still seems to be under repair.

(above) The unrestored sanctuary; (below) as restored. The tabernacle has been returned to the center of the sanctuary and the painting of the Resurrection has disappeared. This resembles the pre-Vatican II condition. See our prior report showing the pre-restoration state of the cathedral including some pictures from pre-conciliar times.

Frank Mason, the noted Catholic artist and champion of art preservation, created the image of the Resurrection in 1970 for the sanctuary when St. Patrick’s was “restored” after the Council. The painting is now deposited  in the crypt where it will be installed permanently.

(Below) The prior location of the tabernacle (which depicts the original appearance of the facade of this church.) off to the side.

(Above) As restored – the crucifix is now suspended above the sanctuary and the painting of the statues has been restored.  When restoration work started it was discovered that the statues’ original paint had been largely preserved under the 1970 – era paint job.  With some touching up, that is what we see today. (Below) the prior condition.

(Above and below) The figures of the reredos as restored to their original colors. Msgr Sakano notes that for some reason there are only 10 apostles….

(above) A window pre-restoration; (below) restored.

(Above) I believe this image of a South American devotion used to reside in a chapel outside the main church; it is now in the sanctuary. (below) If I am not mistaken, some statues have migrated from the ground level of the nave or sanctuary and now, repainted, stand high above on the reredos.

At Holy Innocents parish, New York (Canon Jean -Marie Moreau, ICRSS, celebrant)

Photos from a reception for Manfred Honeck, music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony following his lecture “Faith in Music” at the Catholic Center at NYU. This event was sponsored by the Thomistic Institute and the Catholic Artists Society.