In time for the Feast of the Pentecost, magnificent peonies are blooming at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. In Germany peonies are  called suitably  Pfingstrosen or “Pentecost Roses.”

Students of Regina Pacis Academy, Norwalk, CT gathered today for a May crowning at Villa Maria Guadalupe in Stamford. Villa Maria is the retreat center of the Sisters of Life.

Father Massa was the celebrant of the Solemn Mass on April 12 for Low Sunday at Holy Name of Jesus Church.  Photos are courtesy of Arrys Ortanez

Pope Francis has appointed the Very Reverend James Massa as auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn.   Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, made the announcement public today in Washington, D.C.   Father Massa will be ordained  bishop by the Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn, at a Mass of Episcopal Ordination to be celebrated at the Co-Cathedral of Saint Joseph on July 20, 2015 at 2 p.m.

Father Massa has celebrated Mass according to the 1962 Missal at Holy Name of Jesus Church, where he is in residence.

More information about the announcement: link

Today, His Excellency, Bishop Frank Caggiano, bishop of Bridgeport, celebrated the Mass for the Feast of the Ascension for Regina Pacis Academy, an independent Catholic school in Norwalk, CT.

The following churches will offer the traditional Mass for the Feast of the Ascension (a holy day of obligation), tomorrow, May 14

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT, Solemn Mass, 5:30 pm

St.Stanislaus, New Haven, CT,  5:30 pm

Church of the Holy Innocents, 128 W. 37th St. NY, Low Mass at 8 am,  Solemn Mass at 6 pm

St. Anthony’s Church, The Bronx, Low Mass, 10 am

Immaculate Conception Church, Sleepy Hollow, NY, low mass, 5 pm

St. Matthew Church, 35 North Service Road, (LIE-495), Dix Hills (Long Island), 10:30 AM

St. Anthony of Padua Church, Jersey City, NJ, 5:30 pm

Our Lady of Fatima Chapel, Pequannock, NJ, 7 am, 8 am, 12 noon, 7 pm

St. Anthony of Padua Oratory, West Orange, NJ, 9 am, 7 pm

The stained glass window appears in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, Georgia

Cardinal Dolan has sent a letter to parishioners of St. Thomas More and Our Lady of Good Counsel concerning the merger of the two parishes.  The Cardinal’s letter is below.

May 08, 2015

Dear People of St. Thomas More Parish,

You have been very patient in awaiting my decision on the future of your parish. Thank You!

Thank you even more for your obviously deep love for St Thomas More Parish. So many of you shared your observations on the proposal made to you last November, the majority of you in a very helpful, courteous manner. Many of you participated in the Making All Things New process, taking me seriously when I assured you that I would not, could not, make a decision until I got your input.

The recommendation from your cluster is that Saint Thomas More Church remains open.

I accept your recommendation.

However, I have decided that there will be a new structure. On August 1, 2015, Saint Thomas More Parish and Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish will merge: the two churches will both remain open, with Our Lady of Good Counsel Church as the main parish church. The two will now be considered one parish, to share priests, with one pastor – – who will live at Our Lady of Good Counsel – – one parish staff, one parish council, one set of sacramental records, one financial account, one group of trustees , and a developing process of working more closely together in common apostolates, activities and organizations.

The goal of Making All Things New is simple: to ensure that all of our parishes are active, vibrant communities of faith. Now, you will be part of a new community of faith, joining with the faithful of the Parish of Our Lady of Good Counsel in becoming a new spiritual family.

While I trust you were pleased with the first and most important decision – – that your church will remain open – – I acknowledge that you might not be as pleased with the second one, the new structure.

I ask you to look at it this way: the church you love you still have. Your Masses, devotions, traditions, activities, groups and organizations will all still go on, now in a collaborative way as one parish.

You will have many questions about the implementation of this merger over the days, weeks, and months to come, such as, will there be a new name? Will there be a new pastor? Will the schedules change? To help your parish answer these and other questions, we will have a transition team working very closely with you and your pastor to ensure that your new parish is formed in the fairest and most effective way.

My hope is that you can accept this as a fair and logical resolution (as has been the case in dozens of other parishes): your beloved church remains open; yet, resources, priests, staff, and buildings can be more effectively used. That’s pastoral planning.

Renewed gratitude for your patience, and for your hopeful acceptance and understanding.

With prayerful best wishes for a blessed Easter season, I am,

Faithfully in Christ,
Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan
Archbishop of New York

Church of St. Thomas More, 65 E. 89th Street, more photos

Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel, 230 E. 90th Street, more photos

Every two years in Vicenza, Italy. There are “conciliar” vestments, statues and objects of all kinds. It’s a fashion show reminiscent of the incredible scene in Fellini’s Roma.

Also on display are electric wax candles with an LED instead of a wick. The candles can be timed and one ecclesiastical tradesman indicated that parishioners of his parish would get 20 seconds time for their donation.

For much more see the complete article by Max Paradiso on magazine of the BBC.  (Photographs by Andrea Pasquali)

At St. Mary Church, Greenwich, CT, on Monday May 18 at 7:30 pm, there will be exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Rosary, Litany of Our Lady and special music in honor of Blessed Virgin for the Month of May. We will conclude with Solemn Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

On Tuesday, May 26th at 7:30 pm we will celebrate the Feast of Saint Philip Neri with a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite

Statue of St. George in Ulm Cathedral, Germany

This coming Thursday, April 23rd, the 6 pm Traditional Mass  Holy Innocents Church in Manhattan will be a sung mass for the Feast of St. George.  Many Knights of the Constantinian Order of St. George will be in attendance.   Msgr. Joseph Ambrosio will be the celebrant of this sung mass and he will bring a relic of St. George for veneration at the end.

In Muchich, the statue of the famous 16th century composer Orlando di Lasso. He was a native of what is today Belgium, but lived and worked almost 40 years until his death in 1594 in Munich. Since 2009 his statue has served as a constantly renewed shrine to Michael Jackson.