On Sunday, October 27, a Solemn Mass for the Feast of Christ the King inaugurated the new apostolate of the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest in Waterbury, CT. St. Patrick’s is an old parish church in the post-industrial city of Waterbury, an old mill town that is blessed with a disproportionate number of magnificent churches. Completed in 1903, St Patrick’s is noteworthy for its interior decoration, which features windows made in 1906 by a New York studio. Uniquely in the United States, as far as I am aware, the inscriptions of the windows are in the Irish language.

The music for this Mass was partially funded by the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny—your generous donations have helped make this possible.

(Above) David Hughes directed the ensemble “Tolle Lege” in music including the Missa Aeterna Christi Munera by Palestrina.

(Above) The church had a full congregation for this occasion. It seemed to me that some were veteran Traditionalists who had come from elsewhere in the area, some had been part of the long-standing Latin Mass community of Waterbury and others had already been members of the community of St Patrick’s. And maybe a fourth group had attended out of curiosity.

(Above) Canon Matthew Talarico introduced the community to the Institute. (Below) Msgr. R Michael Schmitz gave the sermon. Msgr Schmitz was the celebrant of the liturgy; Canon Talarico was deacon and Canon Joel Estrada ( the new pastor of St. Patrick’s) was subdeacon.

It’s off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush… our coverage of the visit of Bishop Athanasius Schneider to Providence, Rhode Island to ordain a priest for the Fraternity of St Peter today.

After the conclusion of a recent conference in Seoul I had a fortunate if brief opportunity of making a pilgrimage to some of the sites of martyrdom of the Korean saints of the 19th century. The devotion to these saints plays a great role in Korean Catholicism – as does that of the 16th -17th century English martyrs in the Catholic Church in England. And these martyrs are not just known to the Catholic population. Official guides to the city of Seoul prominently feature several pilgrimages to the shrines of the martyrs and they are recognized as national historic sites.

The Catholic church of Korea has the perhaps unique distinction of being founded by laymen and women. They had heard of Christianity from literature coming from China and an active Catholic community was flourishing decades before any regular presence of Catholic priests in the country. Soon, however, fierce official resistance developed. From 1791 till the end of the 19th century, some 10,000 Catholics were martyred in Korea. 103 of these martyrs were canonized in 1984; a further 124 were beatified in 2014.

A lengthy subway ride from the central business areas brings us to the Jeoldusan martyrs shrine. Here some 29 martyrs were beheaded in 1866 (Jeoldusan mens “beheading hill”). As is often the case in Korea, the modern Catholic artwork is of indifferent quality and the church of the martyrs itself is uninspiring. Yet there is a remarkable museum with documents and relics of those days. And the shrine is set in a park conducive to meditation.

(Above) A second site of martyrdom is located not too far from the main railroad station. Subsequent to the time of the martyrdoms, Yakhyeon church, the oldest Catholic church building in Korea, was erected here in 1892. The architect was a French missionary.

Myeong-dong cathedral is located in a downtown shopping district and was the first parish church in Korea. The present building was consecrated in 1898. In 1900 the relics of martyrs killed in the persecutions of 1839 and 1866 were moved here. Like the previous two churches the cathedral is built on a hill.

On Saturday, October 5th, the Most Rev. Kurt Burnette, Bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic, was the main celebrant and homilist of a Divine Liturgy commemorating the fifth anniversary of the beatification of Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich (1901-1927). The Liturgy was celebrated at Blessed Miriam Teresa’s home parish of St. John the Baptist in Bayonne, NJ.

A Solemn Mass was held on Wednesday, October 9 in the Church of St Catherine of Siena in New York in thanksgiving for the upcoming canonization of Cardinal Newman. Our thanks to the parish of St. Vincent Ferrer and St Catherine of Siena and especially to the parish’s music director, James Wetzel, for making this evening possible. For it involved a fortunate last minute change of location.

(Above) Fr. Cipolla preached a memorable sermon, found HERE. David Hughes directed the music (including his own setting of a hymn written by Fr, Hunwicke)

These photos were taken today at the Low Mass at Annunication Church in Yonkers (Crestwood section), Fr. Benedict Andersen OSB, celebrant. Fr. Andersen offers the Low Mass every Sunday at 11:15, Monday through Friday at 6:45 am, and Saturday at 9am. The Mass is in the lower church. Enter on the outside through a door around the corner on the right side.

For further information about this Mass, contact Father at tlm.crestwood@gmail.com

From the Island of Mauritius to Manhattan Island – Canon Jean Marie Moreau of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest returns to Holy Innocents parish Wednesday evening.

After the 9:30 Solemn Mass at St. Mary’s Norwalk yesterday, parishioners bade farewell to four young men and women who are answering God’s call to religious life. Two men are entering Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. Two young ladies will enter religious communities, one to the Abbey of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles in Gower, Missouri, and the other to the Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Fairfield, Pennsylvania. We commend them to your prayers.

Of course, it probably comes as no surprise to our readers, that one parish has had so many vocations—and not just this year. It’s becoming obvious to everyone—bishops excluded: the Traditional Mass nurtures vocations.