• Home
  • About
  • Masses & Events
  • Photos & Reports
  • Reviews & Essays
  • Website Highlights

11 Jun

2019

The Promise and the Peril

Posted by Stuart Chessman  Published in St. Mary's Holy Week 2019
Easter Sunday Mass at St Mary’s Norwalk

On this Pentecost Monday the final joyous Mass of the Chartres pilgrimage has taken place. The weary pilgrims are resting. Depending on what convention you use, we now are at or nearing the end of Paschal tide. In our own New York area this holy season could be called, with some justification, a triumph of Catholic traditionalism. We counted 19 Traditional masses celebrated on the feast day of the Ascension alone; there were more for Holy Week. And the perfection and completeness of these ceremonies continues to increase. You may judge for yourselves by looking at our posts on the Holy Week services at St. Mary’s parish in Norwalk, CT. And this parish now just one of several just in the tri-state area which offer full Holy Week liturgies. More and more parishes and priests join the movement.

Easter Sunday Mass at St. Mary’s Norwalk

Examples abounded in these recent weeks of the spiritual treasures for which we Traditionalists have sacrificed so much over the years.  The Holy Week services at St Mary’s, Norwalk and their music and ceremony were indeed magnificent. But shortly thereafter, on the feast of St Hugh of Cluny (the patron of this society), I had the privilege of being part of a congregation of six at a Low Mass in a private oratory. Yet the aura of the sacred was in no way inferior to that created by St. Mary’s services of many hours. Similarly, the massive Russian Orthodox Easter Vigil services at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow were of the greatest splendor. My mind went back to the 1980’s, though; hadn’t the tiny Russian Catholic chapel of St Michael in New York, with a total of only 50-70 in attendance, achieved the same impression? For it is not the vestments, the church building, the music or the number of ministers and servers that are the essence of the Traditional Mass, but the form of the liturgy itself.

Yet, as we often remarked in recent years, there is bitterness amid the feelings of rejoicing. We are reminded again and again that Traditionalism remains very much under official suspicion – and is subject to the availability and good graces of individual priests. For example, in our region alone one long-term flourishing Traditionalist community, which had maintained a noteworthy musical program and had advertised actively for members, seems to have gotten into a dispute with its host parish on non-liturgical matters. The local ordinary got involved, and the Traditionist community was soon “banished” to an unused convent chapel, totally inadequate for their numbers. which could only be used on Sundays and which had to locked during the services. It was a return to the “catacombs” of the 1980’s! (There are indications recently that this community may be recovering from this low point).

On a more enigmatic note, a developing Traditionalist surge on Long island faced a crisis with the departure for other assignments of a couple of priests who celebrated these liturgies. The bishop of the diocese of Rockville center provided a rather un-Summorum Pontificum – like “parish solution” in which the faithful have to go to designated parishes for the Traditionalist liturgy, as opposed to priests being delegated to serve specific communities. But was this not the clearest official recognition yet of Traditionalism in this diocese? And didn’t Bishop Barres accompany his action with the most ringing public endorsement yet of Traditionalism by one of our local bishops?

“Bishop Barres wants all those who are devoted to the Tridentine Mass in our diocese to know that he is very grateful for the seriousness with which these families, often with young children, practice their Catholic Faith. He is also aware of how many young people from these families participate in events like Quo Vadis, vocation retreats, and other diocesan and parish events across Long Island. Bishop Barres is hopeful that these families can become evangelizers, promoting dramatic missionary growth for the Faith by their witness, and especially by helping to bring back to the fold those who have been separated from it. He also hopes for future vocations from them!”

Beyond the local scene, we have received word today from two sources that the members of the Order of Malta are now prohibited from using the Traditional mass in their functions – putting an end to what had been a nascent movement within the order.  Meanwhile, the disastrous trajectory of the Vatican and the hierarchy continues to unfold day by day. And Pope Francis has recently launched another of his inimitably coarse tirades against (obviously) Traditionalists.

So here we have it: the promise and the peril of 2019. But really hasn’t that always been the situation, to a greater or lesser extent, of Catholics devoted to Tradition since the 1960’s? Let’s “keep our eye on the ball” and always remember that by staying faithful to celebrating the liturgy we have come far in 30 years. In that spirit we surely will accomplish very much more whatever the future may bring!

(For photos of Holy Week see St Mary’s, Holy Week – 2019)

1 comment

21 Apr

2019

The Easter Vigil at St. Mary’s, Part II: The Christening, The Confirmations, The Mass of Easter

Posted by Stuart Chessman  Published in Masses, Photos, St. Mary's Holy Week 2019

Continued from Part I


Once inside the baptistery, the celebrant prays over the font, that the Lord will deign to remake those about to die to their old selves in its waters into His spiritual sons and daughters by the grace of His Spirit. The celebrant breathes on the water three times in the shape of a cross
The celebrant plunges the Paschal Candle into the water thrice.
The acolyte removes some of the baptismal water for the aspersory: the celebrant sparges himself and his ministers with the Easter Water. He circles the church to sprinkle the faithful with Easter Water.
The celebrant changes into white vestments.

The celebrant pours the Oil of Catechumens and the Oil of Sacred Chrism into the baptismal water. The consecrated baptismal water will be retained in the font for the baptisms throughout the year.
The catechumen is baptized.
The newly baptized receives his white garment—a symbol of his baptismal innocence—and his baptismal candle, lit from the Paschal candle. It symbolizes the new light of grace which he received.
The procession returns to the sanctuary.
The Confirmation candidates kneel.

The celebrant anoints each by name on the brow with the Chrism consecrated by the bishop on Spy Wednesday.  He strikes the cheek of each, a sign of the hardships and mockery each will endure as a Christian.
The sacred ministers divest and prostrate themselves at the foot of the altar. After a time, they retreat to the sacristy to change into festive vesture. The Litany of the Saints is chanted by cantors. On this night, the entire invocation is repeated after the cantors, not only the response.
The acolytes prepare the altar for the festive Mass of Easter.
Toward the end of the Litany, the celebrant and ministers return.  The Mass of the Easter Vigil, due to its extreme antiquity, has no Introit, but instead the Litany is concluded with the solemn recitation of the Kyrie.
The celebrant intones the Gloria.  The church bells are sounded throughout, the first time they have been heard since Maundy Thursday, and the images of the church are uncovered.
Acolytes assist in lighting the candles of the faithful from the fire of the Paschal Candle.
The Canon of the Mass.
This year, children of the parish received their First Communion at the Easter Vigil
After Communion, Vespers immediately follows. During the Magnificat the celebrant censes the altar and he, his ministers, the clergy and the faithful are censed as well.
3 comments

21 Apr

2019

The Easter Vigil at St. Mary’s: Part I: The Blessing of the Easter Fire, Procession and Twelve Prophecies

Posted by Stuart Chessman  Published in Masses, Photos, St. Mary's Holy Week 2019

The Easter Vigil at St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk, CT, Part I. (Descriptions courtesy of John Pia)




The celebrant and ministers—vested in penitential violet, the celebrant in cope, the ministers in folded chasubles—approach to sanctify the new fire, in anticipation of the light of Easter Day.


The celebrant blesses five grains of incense. These represent the five wounds of Christ and the scented unguents used to prepare His body for burial.
The fire and grains are sprinkled with holy water and incensed.
A taper is lit from the new fire.
The deacon changes his penitental folded chasuble into the white dalmatic of joy.
A procession is formed.

The deacon takes up the triple-branched reed, whose staff represents the bronze serpent which Moses fashioned on a rod to heal the Israelites in the desert, and whose three candles mystically symbolize the three days in the tomb, as well as the three Marys approaching the tomb on Easter morn.  A procession is formed; the faithful follow the clergy into the church.
Three times along the way the procession stops, and one of the three candles in lighted with the taper lit from the new fire: at each lighting the faithful should genuflect, save the subdeacon who bears the cross.  The deacon sings “The light of Christ” each time on a higher pitch, to which the people respond “Thanks be to God”.
When the sacred ministers reach the sanctuary, the deacon hands the reed over, and seeks a blessing from the celebrant.
The deacon proceeds to consecrate the unlit Paschal candle by the great Easter proclamation, the ancient “Exsultet.”  The deacon and his retinue face towards the North: towards those dark regions that do not yet know the Light of Christ.
The deacon lights the Paschal Candle with the flame taken from the reed, which itself was lighted from the new fire.
The dedication candles and the lamps of the church are now lighted from the Paschal Candle.
Candidates for First Communion, wearing white, and Confirmation. This year over 70 received the sacrament of Confirmation at the Vigil.
The Prophecies:  The Twelve Prophecies of the Vigil are among the oldest cycle of readings known in the Roman Rite, prefiguring our salvation and recounting the duties, trials, and hardships of the Christian, they form the final catechesis for the elect who are to be baptized.  They are sung by a series of lectors to their own tone.

A procession is formed to the baptistery, led by the Paschal Candle. Please continue to Part II.

1 comment

20 Apr

2019

Good Friday at St. Mary’s Norwalk, Part III: The Burial of the Body of Christ and Compline

Posted by Stuart Chessman  Published in Masses, Photos, St. Mary's Holy Week 2019
The bearers of the image of the Dead Christ and women mourners.
The choir chants the psalms of the office of Compline
The priest washes and anoints the wounds of Cristo Muerte
The mourning women process with flowers two-by-two to the image of the Dead Christ.
In conclusion Allegri’s Miserere was sung.
no comment

20 Apr

2019

Good Friday at St. Mary’s Norwalk, Part II: The Procession of the Dead Christ

Posted by Stuart Chessman  Published in Masses, Photos, St. Mary's Holy Week 2019

The procession of Cristo Muerte and Our Lady of Sorrows though the streets of Norwalk, Connecticut on Good Friday evening. This year, the procession was sponsored by the Norwalk parishes of St. Mary and St. Joseph.

The encounter of the Dead Christ and His sorrowful Mother.
1 comment

20 Apr

2019

Good Friday at St. Mary’s Norwalk, Part I: the Mass of the Presanctified and the Veneration of the Cross

Posted by Stuart Chessman  Published in Masses, Photos, St. Mary's Holy Week 2019
The Passion according to St John.

The Sermon of Fr Richard Cipolla – see HERE

Why is the Sacred Host brought into the church in this solemn procession on this Good Friday?   In order for the priest, on the one day that the Sacrifice of the Mass is not celebrated, to hold the Host on high for all to see on this day, to behold the Sacrament of the One who exploded the black hole of sin and death, the God who loved us so much that he gave his only begotten Son to die for us, and it is the priest, the one who offers sacrifice, who then consumes the Sacred Host not to offer the Sacrifice as he usually does at the Mass, but to show us what the absence of the Sacramental presence of Christ would mean, the void without hope.  And with this gesture the priest shows us what this is all about, the will of God to become flesh and die a real death for you and me. He died a real human death, yes, without sin, but real, a death died not in some sort of smug way knowing the outcome, smug because of his Godhead, but rather like you and me, he died in faith that his Father would allow him to smash the terrible power of death and bring him once again to his bosom. He died really for you and me so that the reality of what he died for, the forgiveness of our sins, may become a reality in our space and time, for you and for me. 

Ecce lignum crucis….
After the veneration of the cross, it is placed on the altar and the candles throughout the church are lighted.
The celebrant goes with his ministers to retrieve the Blessed Sacrament.
The Procession of the Blessed Sacrament.
Vexilla Regis prodeunt
The Blessed Sacrament is brought to the altar.
1 comment

19 Apr

2019

Holy Thursday at St. Mary’s Norwalk

Posted by Stuart Chessman  Published in St. Mary's Holy Week 2019
The bells are rung and the organ is played during the Gloria
A clapper is used for the rest of the Mass and the procession
Reception of Holy Communion
The Sacred Host is prepared for reservation in the repository
Procession around the church

The procession moves outside and processes around the church to the lower chapel, entrance on the side

Adoration of the Eucharist at the altar of repose in the St. Patrick’s Chapel
The deacon closes the door of the repository
While adoration continues in the chapel (all night), the choir chants vespers upstairs.

The stripping of the altars
1 comment

18 Apr

2019

Tenebrae at St. Mary’s Norwalk

Posted by Stuart Chessman  Published in Photos, St. Mary's Holy Week 2019

Yesterday evening, the Office of Tenebrae for Maundy Thursday was chanted at St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk, CT. The Viri Galilaei, augemented by many priests and seminarians, chanted in choir, while the St. Mary’s Schola Cantorum sang polyphonic settings in the choir loft.

We also include a beautiful photo of Tenebrae last night at the Church of the Holy Innoncents in New York. Photo submitted by Diana Calvario.
no comment

14 Apr

2019

Palm Sunday At St.Mary’s, Norwalk Part II

Posted by Stuart Chessman  Published in Photos, St. Mary's Holy Week 2019

Coverage of Palm Sunday at St. Mary’s Norwalk continued from Part I

After circling the church, the Palm Sunday procession returns to the church door
Above and below: Cantors from within the church sing the hymn to Christ the King (“Gloria, laus et honor”). After each verse, the faithful outside respond with a refrain, and the cantors become progressively louder.
After the final repetition of the refrain, the subdeacon bangs three times on the doors with the foot of the cross. The doors of the church open are flung open and all enter.
The entry into the church.
The beginning of the Mass of the Passion: the prayers at the foot of the altar.
The passion according to St. Matthew. The Gospel is sung by three cantors: the Christus, who sings the words of our Lord, the Chronista, who acts as the narrator, and the Synagoga who sings the words of the individuals.

For the Gospel, the choir in the choir loft provides the polyphonic responses of the crowd, the Turba.
The deacon goes in procession with the subdeacon to conclude the Passion
Above and below: the Roman canon
no comment

14 Apr

2019

Palm Sunday at St Mary’s Norwalk, 2019 – Part I

Posted by Stuart Chessman  Published in Photos, St. Mary's Holy Week 2019

Mass of the Palms and the Procession

The full rite for the blessing of palms takes the form of a “Missa Sicca” (dry Mass) and follows the schema of the Mass, save that the blessing of palms replaces the consecration fo the Eucharist.

The Asperges
The Missa Sicca: The Epistle


The Gospel
The blessing of the palms
The distribution of the palms.
The start of the procession.


Around the block in Norwalk…

Continue to Part II

no comment

Contact us

    contact@sthughofcluny.org

Register

    Registration is easy: send an e-mail to contact@sthughofcluny.org.
    In addition to your e-mail address, you
    may include your mailing addresss
    and telephone number. We will add you
    to the Society's contact list.

Search

Categories

  • 2011 Conference on Summorum Pontifcum (5)
  • Book Reviews (68)
  • Catholic Traditionalism in the United States (18)
  • Essays (157)
  • Events (584)
  • Film Review (4)
  • Making all Things New (36)
  • Martin Mosebach (33)
  • Masses (1,193)
  • Mr. Screwtape (46)
  • Obituaries (13)
  • On the Trail of the Holy Roman Empire (17)
  • Photos (314)
  • Pilgrimage Summorum Pontificum 2021 (7)
  • Pilgrimage Summorum Pontificum 2022 (6)
  • Sermons (73)
  • St. Mary's Holy Week 2019 (10)
  • St. Mary's Holy Week 2022 (7)
  • The Churches of New York (165)
  • Traditionis Custodes (27)
  • Uncategorized (1,299)
  • Website Highlights (15)

Churches of New York



Holy Roman Empire



Website Highlights



Archives



Links

  • Canons Regular of St. John Cantius
  • Holy Innocents
  • O L of Fatima Chapel
  • St. Anthony of Padua
  • St. Anthony of Padua (Jersey City)
  • St. Gregory Society
  • St. John Cantius Church
  • St. Mary Church, Norwalk
  • The Remnant
  • Una Voce Hartford
  • Una Voce Westchester



    Support the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny

                 



[powr-hit-counter label="2775648"]