(above and below) Altars and decorations for the Corpus Christi procession of St. Stanislaus church (Polish). SOURCE

(Thanks to Manuel Albino)

On this same beautiful Sunday, several hundred process from the church of St. Catherine of Siena through the streets of New York. The Corpus Christi procession was preceded by mass – Novus Ordo, but employing more Latin and traditional music of all kinds than I ever heard before the early 1980’s and itself preceded by a clear exposition of the nature and advantages of celebration ad orientem.

(Above and below) The first altar is in busy St Catherine’s park – named after the nearby church. 1)

In contrast to Norwalk, the processsion encounters along the way numerous bystanders and motorists – mostly friendly if somewhat mystified. (“Do you do this every Sunday?” someone asks.)

(Above and below) The second altar set up before one of the hospitals of the neighborhood (Sloane Kettering, I believe).

1) For an account of some extraordinary details of this extremely busy park, allegedly borrowed from St. Maria sopra Minerva, see HERE.

Today was a beautiful sunny day for the celebration of the feast of Corpus Christi at St. Mary Church, Nowalk. Solemn Mass featured Palestrina’s “Missa Lauda Sion.” A procession around the neighborhood and Benediction followed. Fr. John Ringley was the celebrant. Parishioners said farewell to him during the festive reception which followed. He will be moving to his new post at rector of the Cathedral of St. Augustine.

Members of the St. Mary’s Church Indian community prepare to decorate one the the three altars of repose.  

 
The altar of repose decorated by Mexicans of the parish, included a lavish pathway strewn with flowers for Our Lord in the Eucharist.  
 
The procession prepares to exit the church after Mass

 
David Hughes leading the children’s Schola Cantorum

 
At the first altar of repose, decorated by Indians of the parish

 
At the second altar of repose, decorated by Filipinos of the parish  

 
At the third altar of repose, decorated by Mexicans of the parish

 
Benediction

 
Parishioners say good-bye to Father Ringley, who will be the new rector at St. Augustine Cathedral.

Some photos of the Missa Cantata for Pentecost at Immaculate Conception in Sleepy Hollow, New York. The Mass was offered by Fr. Richard Munkelt. The MC was Dominic Morlino. There was a reception after Mass to thank the schola for 10 years of service to Our Lord. The schola livened up the reception by taking to the stage to entertain with various musical pieces. Our thanks go to Dennis DeVito for sending this report and the photos.

The rose window of Holy Innocents is very likely the original from 1870 mentioned by John Gilmary Shea.

Yes, there is a unique quality, difficult to capture, that the sensitive visitor experiences in the silent old churches of New York or Brooklyn. A feeling of remoteness from the surrounding city, a somewhat musty atmosphere of a past that here somehow has not disappeared and a mysterious sense of solidarity with the tens, even hundreds, of thousands who have passed through these doors. This is especially so in the old Victorian churches of New York. The few neoclassical buildings, like St. Peter’s, are stark witnesses to us of an earlier age that has vanished. The later magnificent structures of the golden age of the Archdiocese, like Blessed Sacrament or St. Vincent Ferrer, are too artistically complete, too carefully thought out. I find myself constantly returning the structures of the earlier High Victorian age – St Stephen’s especially, but also Holy Innocents, Most Holy Redeemer or the former St. Ann’s. These churches, once grand centers of Catholicism and even of the city itself, now lie off the beaten track, sustained by small devoted congregations. They show all too clearly the ravages of time: water damage, indifferent paint and plaster work, shrines and altars that have been abandoned. Their decor ranges from magnificent windows and altars to kitschy devotions – with every age feeling entitled to add its own new devotion or shrine. Some, like St. Stephen’s are splendid architectural achievements, other like Holy Innocents represent the average parish church of the time. Best of all, by reason of their poverty, they mostly – not entirely – escaped the full ravages of the liturgical renewal.

(Above) Candles (real) are always burning at Holy Innocents, here before an image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. (Below) A Lourdes grotto is furnished with a fountain that has gone dry long ago.

(Above) St. Lucy is of course among the seemingly innumerable statues of Holy Innocents. (Below) Joyce Kilmer also stood before this crucifix many times before his conversion.

What does the threatened loss of a church like Holy Innocents mean to us? First,of course, the loss of a place of secluded refuge, of prayerful spirituality and even, here and there, of real beauty – all set in the midst of one of the most arid wastelands created by a barbarous capitalism.

This window is one of set of 20 from Munich installed as part of a grand refurbishing of the church starting in 1894 which included the new high altar. Other elements of that once magnificent decoration, like the side altars and communion rail, have disappeared.

Then, there is the loss of the devotions that made up so much of the life of old Catholic piety. Our Lady, the Infant of Prague, Christ the King, the great crucifix for an indulgenced prayer before leaving the church – all these and many others are found here. In recent years Holy Innocents also acquired a special new devotional role: as a shrine to its own patron saints in the face of a new massacre – that of abortion. Presumably this devotion is no longer seen as necessary or urgent.

There is also the loss of solidarity with the many who come here daily to pray, to light candles, to attend the masses and devotions. They are generally workers, the poor, even the eccentric and annoying. Those who frequent parishes in the suburbs or off Park Avenue do not come here. It is these ones with little means who are most adversely impacted by the looming changes. But so are they who are deprived of their example of sacrifice.

Above all, of course, Holy Innocents has served since 2007 as a center of the daily celebration of the Traditional mass. How many magnicent liturgies have taken place here in recent years! Moreover, this mass has added significance now that that the Traditional mass at Our Saviour’s across town has been suppressed. All this liturgical progress is the result of grass root initiatives – just like the hundreds of thousands of dollars this parish recently raised to refurbish the grand Brumidi fresco. I would have thought that the Church would want to encourage such initiatives from below. That is, if I didn’t know already through long experience how unlikely that would be! But the cessation of the celebration of the Traditional Mass would be the gravest loss of all. Let us pray – through the intercession of the Holy Innocents – that this fate can somehow be averted.

(Above and below) Mass for Ascension Thursday celebrated by Fr. George Rutler.

Recently Father Richard Cipolla led a group of pilgrims from St. Mary Church, Norwalk on a pilgrimage to Venice and Rome. In this photo, he is celebrating the Traditional Mass at a side altar of the Basilica Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. Thanks to Sharon Levin for sharing this photo.

On Friday, May 9, His Emminence Raymond Cardinal Burke addressed the students, faculty and family of Anchor Academy, an independent Catholic school in Norwalk, CT. Afterwards, he greeted and spoke to each faculty member and family individually. He also celebrated the daily 8 am Novus Ordo Mass at St. Mary’s Church, which was attended by the Anchor families.

Students of Cardinal Newman Academy, the high school connected with Anchor Academy, served the Mass.

David Hughes directed the Anchor Academy Scholae at the Mass

Cardinal Burke addresses students and families of Anchor Academy

Cardinal Burke was introduced to all of the faculty members and families

His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke celebrated a Pontifical Low Mass at St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT on Saturday May 10 at 9 am.  We are indebted to Mr. Duncan Anderson for taking these pictures for us.

A group of pilgrims accompanied Canon Jean Marie Moreau of Oratory of St. Anthony of Padua in West Orange, NY, on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land from April 23 to May 2. We are indebted to Joanne O’Beirne for sending us these beautiful photos.

Mount of Beatitudes

Church of the Condemnation, Jerusalem

Readings at Benedictine Romanesque Church from the Crusades

Via Dolorosa

The Catholic Artists Society succeeded in filling the basilica of St Patrick’s old Cathedral for their annual mass – a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form offered fro the intentions of the members of the Catholic Artists Society and for the salvation of all artists.

Fr. Brian Taylor was the celebrant and the pastor of St. Patrick’s, Msgr Donald Sakano, preached. Msgr Sakano described the refounding of art under the New Covenant which succeeded the banning of graven images in the Old; and the prominent role of the image of the Good Shepherd in early Christian art – this Sunday being Good Shepherd Sunday in the EF.

Jared Lamenzo was organist and choirmaster; Joshua Smith was director. The music included the Berliner Messe of Arvo Part as well as works by Perotin, Alain, Hassler and Distler. Obviously the basilica’s magnificent Henry Erben organ was used to great advantage.