The New York Purgatorial Society will hold its annual Solemn Requiem Mass on Thursday, November 5th, 2009, at 6:15pm at Saint Agnes Church in Manhattan. The Saint Agnes Choir will sing the Missa pro defunctis a 4 of Tomas Luis de Victoria.

St Mary’s parish is embarking upon a vast undertaking; the restoration of the sanctuary and eventually the entire church to its original splendor. One of the first steps in this direction was the installation last Sunday of the new Sedilia. It is a generous donation of Vinnie and Joe DiMauro in memory of their mother Sofia Valenti DiMauro. The sedilia adds a splendid new accent to the sanctuary. Much more will follow – we hope to provide more details soon.

Flowers also provided by Vinnie DiMauro.

The blessing of the sedilia.

Benediction at the conclusion of the mass for the Feast of Christ the King.

The following churches are offering the Traditional Mass on All Souls Day, Monday, November 2. If any readers know of any other Masses, please send us an email and we will add it to our list.

St. Mary Church, Nowalk, Ct, Solemn Requiem Mass, 5:30 pm. The St. Mary Schola Cantorum will perform Missa pro defunctis (Juan Vasquez, c.1500-c.1560),Offertorium: Domine Jesu Christe (Vasquez),Motet at the Communion: Sana me, Domine (Vasquez),at the absolution: Libera me, Domine (plainsong, mode i).

St. Margaret Church, Waterbury CT, Missa Cantata, 7 pm. Fr. Villa now has a traditional Latin Mass (low) every Saturday morning at 9 am at St. Margaret’s.

St. Bridget of Kildare, Moodus, CT (new church), Missa Cantata, 7 pm.

Immaculate Conception Church, 199 N Broadway, Sleepy Hollow,NY, 7PM Requiem Low Mass.

Holy Innocents Church, Manhattan, Solemn Pontifical Requiem Mass, 6:30 pm. We have posted more information about this Mass below. Link

St Joseph Church, Troy, NY, 7 pm.

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf (“Fr. Z”) will celebrate a Solemn Requiem Mass for the First Friday in November, November 6th, at 6:30 PM at the Church of the Guardian Angel in Manhattan (at 21st St. and 10th Ave.).

Fr. Gerald Murray, Pastor of the Church of St. Vincent de Paul will be his deacon. Brian Graebe, seminarian for the Archdiocese, will assist as subdeacon.

After Mass, there will be a convivium at which Fr. Zuhlsdorf and Fr. Murray have agreed to make some brief remarks and then answer questions about some of the stories in the Catholic headlines recently.

There will be a Latin Mass on October 28th at 7pm (the feast of St. Jude) at the Church of St. Athanasius in Brooklyn, N.Y. The church is located on Bay Parkway and 61st Street. Father James Miara will be the celebrant.

For All Souls Day, November 2nd, there will be a Solemn Pontifical Requiem Mass at 6:30 PM at the Church of the Holy Innocents in Manhattan (37th St. and Broadway). His excellency, James C. Timlin, Bishop Emeritus of Scranton will celebrate the Mass from the Faldstool. The Rite of Absolution with catafalque will follow the Mass.

The schola will sing the Ordinary of the Mass from Victoria’s Requiem Mass setting and chant the Propers of the Mass (including the sequence, “Dies Irae”).

You may enroll the names of the faithful departed to be included in the intention of this Mass at the Parish Office of the Church of the Holy Innocents.

Please note that those who devoutly visit a church or an oratory on All Souls Day and recite there the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed may gain a plenary indulgence but only for a soul in purgatory. (Handbook on Indulgences, pg. 48).

If you have questions about this Mass, please call (212) 569-1252.

The tomb of Christopher Columbus, Seville Cathedral.

Fr. Markey, during his homily on the Votive Mass to the Blessed Virgin Mary on Columbus Day at St. Mary Church, Norwalk:

“It is popular to critique Christopher Columbus today. Like many great men in history he had his faults. Yet the settling of the New World by Spain has two stories: one story is the story of the sword, and the other is the story of the cross. The conquistadors came with the sword and may have won the native’s obedience, but the priests came with the cross, and they won the native’s hearts.
In the end the cross was victorious over the sword. The proof of this is that the last Spanish flag has long since been hauled down, but the Catholic Faith reigns in the hearts of the people from Santo Domingo and Mexico, to the Southern tip of Argentina. This is why we celebrate Columbus Day: because he brought a love of Our Lady and the Catholic Faith for the good of the salvation of souls.”

Miss Veronica Harris, 8th Grade All Saints School. Winner of the 2009 Christopher Columbus Essay Contest: “Why is Chrisopher Columbus important for us as Catholics?”

Christopher Columbus’ wonderful, courageous voyage is one of the greatest events in man’s history. It’s amazing that not only the discovery of America but another important result was bringing Catholicism to the new world.
To show Columbus’ own dedication and love of Catholicism, we have to look at history, records of his voyages, the notes he took and how he lived. All Americans as well as Catholic Americans should be thankful that this hero of explorers brought us Christianity and for us Catholics, the beauty of our religious faith.
Christopher Columbus was an active devoted strong Roman Catholic. Queen Isabel recognized his goodness and honesty and gave him her support. All during his voyages, Columbus kept a log of his journeys often ending “with the help of Our Lord”. He believed he was chosen by God to bring the Gospel and convert the people he found on the islands. He thought that was his main purpose and wrote about it in his log book written on Nov. 6 when he explored Cuba.
The American Indians also benefited from Columbus’ discovery. The traditions of human sacrifices and even cannibalism were ended and many Indians converted. When the Franciscans came in 1500, thousands more turned to the religion of Jesus before the end of the century.
Christopher Columbus was a Franciscan Tertiary who followed St. Francis’ idea that the world should be converted to Christianity by prayer, preaching and peaceful means.
In Columbus’ journal from Aug. 3rd to Oct. 12th 1492, day after day he calls on Jesus for divine help. He asked Our Lord for the knowledge and endurance he would need to know what God wanted him to do. He accomplished the mission of bringing the love of Jesus and Mary to all the people who had not heard of them and the salvation now given to them.
Christopher Columbus has done lots of great things for our country because he not only discovered the continent of North America but brought his faith with him and converted many people.

(See photos of this event below)

On this pleasant, chilly Columbus Day, parishioners of St. Mary Norwalk processed down West Avenue to the staute of Christopher Columbus in Thomas C. O’Connor park, praying the rosary, in thanksgiving for Columbus’s bringing the Catholic faith to the New World.

The day began with a Solemn Votive Mass to the Blessed Virgin Mary.


Fittingly the Knights of Columbus were part of the procession





Fr. Markey addresses the crowd at Thomas O’Connor Park.


The Handmaids of Mary, a girls’ soldality in the parish, displayed the banners they had created for the procession.

Choirmaster David Hughes conducts the children’s Schola Cantorum.

The winner of Fr. Markey’s essay contest, a student at All Saints School, reads her essay on Christopher Columbus.

The procession ends with a blessing, back at the church.

A plentiful reception follows

See an excerpt from Fr. Markey’s Sermon and the entire winning essay on Columbus: link

Fr. Richard Cipolla will be presenting a six week Latin course at St. Mary Church in Norwalk. It will begin on Monday, October 26 at 7:45 pm and will continue to November 30. This course in NOT intended to be a high powered course in Latin grammar and translation. It has as its aim to make Catholics familiar with the language that is still the official language of the Catholic Church and of the Liturgy.
The course will include some instruction in the Latin language itself, looking at the Ordinary parts of the Mass, examining some of the Collects, refreshing our memories for basic prayers in the Latin like the Hail Mary, and importantly, looking at the translations in English and comparing them to what the Latin actually says.
This course is not for experts; it is for the ordinary Catholic who wants to deepen his or her understanding of the faith through the language that lies at the very heart of Catholic worship and culture.

There will be a Missa Cantata (Extraordinary Form) for the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary this Wednesday, October 7th at 6:15 pm at Church of the Holy Innocents, 128 W 37thStreet, New York, NY 10018, Fr. Thomas Kallumady, Pastor.