St. Fidelis Church offers the Traditional Mass every first and third Friday of the month at 7 am.  The next Masses are Friday August 5 and 19.  The church’s address is 123-06 14th Avenue, College Point, NY.

This Saturday, July 16, at 9:00 am, the regularly scheduled Extraordinary Form Mass at St. Mary’s Norwalk will be a Missa Cantata in honor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

Saint Agnes Church in Manhattan will offer a Solemn High Mass in the extraordinary form at 11 o’clock this Sunday, June 12th for Pentecost. Fr. Robert Boyd, F.S.S.P. is celebrant and preacher. The Schola Cantorum will sing Haydn’s Little Organ Mass and Mozart’s Veni Sancte Spiritus with chamber orchestra.

Juventutem USA is preparing to travel to Spain for World Youth Day. They will leaving from Washington, DC –  places are still available.  Fr. Armand de Malleray, FSSP will serve as the spiritual director and Matthieu Bonnin, choir master at the cathedral of Blois, France, will serve as choir master for the Juventutem events.  For more information see the website of Juventutem.

A woman, in her fourth month of pregnancy, visited the hospital of St. Vincent in Lille, France, for a normal procedure. The hospital is part of the CATHOLIC University of Lille. Another woman, in the room adjacent to hers, was due to have an abortion. The staff confused the two women and the the wrong baby was aborted…

See HERE and HERE (in French)

The Vatican has announced that the long awaited instructions to Summorum Pontificum will be published Friday, May 13.

http://press.catholica.va/news_services/bulletin/news/27401.php?index=27401&lang=ge

By Fr. Greg Markey (pastor of St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk)

On Wednesday, March 30, I was blessed to attend a private ceremony at Bishop Lori’s residence in Trumbull for the Institution of Acolyte.   Bill Riccio, a parishioner here at St. Mary Church, had the unique distinction of receiving the Ministry of Acolyte from the hands of Bishop William E. Lori at a simple 7:30 A.M. Mass in the bishop’s private chapel.  What a blessing for the whole Church.

            I am proud to say that Bill Riccio has been a friend of mine for over ten years.  I first met Bill in 2000 when I was deepening my understanding of the Church’s liturgical traditions and I recognized immediately that he was a tremendous resource.  Although not formally trained, Bill has a vast knowledge of liturgical traditions.

            Bill learned much of what he knows today as an altar boy, by simply paying attention to the good priests of his home parish, St. Anthony Church in New Haven, which was then run by the Scalabrini Fathers.  These devoted Italian priests ran the school and parish, and organized elaborate liturgies which inspired Bill. When many of these traditions were no longer practiced after the Second Vatican Council, Bill still sought opportunities to keep these beautiful liturgies alive.  He continued to read and study liturgy as a mere hobby, and the Holy Spirit eventually brought his private devotion to fruition. 

            When Pope John Paul II promulgated the papal indult Quattuor abhinc annos on October 3, 1984 to promote the local celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, Bill became one of the founding members of The Saint Gregory Society.  The St. Gregory Society is a non-profit lay association in New Haven founded to help promote the Traditional Latin Mass.  Over the years Bill emceed weekly Latin Masses in New Haven and even around the country, and developed a reputation for having a tremendous knowledge of the liturgy along with an easy-going temperament. 

            In 1992, when Cardinal Alfons Maria Stickler was invited to the United States to offer a Pontifical Solemn High Mass at St. Agnes Church in Manhattan, questions arose as to who could put together this elaborate liturgy.  Even though he was not a priest, Bill Riccio was called down to New York to organize and emcee the Mass.  It was the first Mass of this kind here in the United States since the Second Vatican Council (1965) and this beautiful Mass is still fondly remembered by many today.  It is a safe to say that Bill Riccio was one of the key people who kept the Latin Mass alive in the State of Connecticut and even around the country during the past 40 years, and now with Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 motu propio, Summorum Pontificum, his gifts are truly being recognized.

            It may sound strange but Bill Riccio, a layman, taught many priests, including Fr. Cipolla, Fr. Check, Fr. John Ringley and myself, all how to say the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Since the advent of Summorum Pontificum, Bill continues to give lessons on the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite to priests, and to emcee Masses in the tri-state area. 

            With the institution of acolyte by Bishop Lori, Bill is now able to act as sub-deacon in the 9:30 A.M. Sunday Mass (Bill is also our Sunday 8:00 A.M. Mass organist and cantor).  As an acolyte, he is also permitted to act as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion in the Ordinary Form of the Mass, giving out the Eucharist with the official approval of the bishop.  Bill’s institution as acolyte is a rare occurrence because this is normally only given to seminarians, so I am especially grateful to Bishop Lori for allowing this exception to someone who has devoted so much of his life to the Church’s liturgy.  May the Lord continue to bless Bill with many more fruitful years of service to the Catholic Church.

(We apologize for the belated publication of this news; Bill Riccio acted as Subdeacon throughout Holy Week at St. Mary’s parish)

Anchor Academy, an independent elementary school in the Catholic tradition in Norwalk, CT, has announced that it will add a ninth grade, in effect starting a new branch to the school, which will be called Cardinal Newman High School.    The idea for the school arose from the desire among parents to provide a high school program for the graduates of Anchor Academy and to any students who are interested in receiving a solid Catholic, academic education.  There are plans to add a new grade each year until the school is complete.  The above photo is a classroom scene in Anchor Academy.   Anyone who is interested can direct inquiries to Kristjana Underhill, 203-536-3800 or krinkasig@hotmail.com.

For more information about Anchor Academy please visit the website: http://www.anchoracademy.org/index.html

A scene from Anchor Academy’s recent production of The Odyssey.

Quite a few facts have gotten garbled in transmission, but this article does attempt to cover the musical accomplishments of two leading exponents of Tradition in Connecticut: The St. Gregory Society in New Haven and the parish of St. Mary in Norwalk.

Article

It’s welcome publicity for the musicians who are enjoying a well-deserved rest after the immense labors of Holy Week.

The Catholic Artists Society is hosting the first Mass for Artists.

The mass will be offered at the Church of Our Saviour in Manhattan at 5pm on Sunday, May 15th. Fr. George Rutler, pastor of Our Saviour’s, will offer a Solemn High Mass in the extraordinary form, with choral music by the choir of St. Mary’s Norwalk. The organist will be Hervé Duteil. Afterwards, there will be a reception and a lecture by Fr. Joseph Koterski, SJ, from the Fordham philosophy department. Fr. Koterski will speak on Ignatian spirituality and the work of the artist.

The Catholic Artists Society looks forward to bringing together members of the many groups of Catholic artists and media professionals doing wonderful work in New York City and beyond.