Some photos of the Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in East Harlem on July18, courtesy of Mr. Brendan Young. He reports that “the bishop was overjoyed and there were about 200-250 faithful.”

Due to travel we regettably could not be present at the Traditional pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in East Harlem last Saturday. We have covered this pilgrimage since its inception in 2012. For the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel had become dear to CatholicTraditionalists. Did they somehow sense that Pope Francis would promulgate Traditionis Custodes – aiming at their destruction – on that feast in 2021?

I heard a favorable report from someone present, even though publicity for the pilgrimage (see the flyer resproduced above) had been limited. Let me add a few details. Members of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George helped to organize the event. And the Society of St Hugh of Cluny funded the excellent music, which included:

Byrd’s Mass for Three Voices.

Offertory Motet Quam pulchra es by John Dunstaple (Song of Songs 7).

Communion Motet Flos florum by Guillaume Dufay

Charles Weaver ( the music director of St. Mary’s, Norwalk) led the music.

(Above) An engraving of a censer by Martin Schongauer (15th century).

A most unusual exhibition can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until July 19th. It displays medieval and early renaissance designs for works of Gothic architecture and art. Many of these architectural drawings are actual working documents for the creators of the Gothic cathedrals.  Some of them are of considerable size. The condition of the drawings is astoundingly good, the penmanship incredibly precise. 

What is noteworthy is the unity in Gothic art of aesthetics, mathematics and engineering. In the age of the Gothic there was no separation of these elements. There was no contrast, as in modernity, between the “decorative” and the “structural,”  between the “symbolic” and the “functional.”  And of course, each Gothic cathedral also “preached” in a mystic, liturgical and symbolic language – sophisticated, but nevertheless accessible to those who shared the religion and culture of  that time .   

But the genius of the Gothic was not confined solely to ecclesiastical architecture. This exhibition displays drawings of secular buildings, outdoor shrines, tabernacles and liturgical vessels. And in addition to drawings, we see examples of early engravings produced by artists in collaboration with the artisans and cathedral builders. In all these cases the same design principles governed. 

The overwhelming majority of the exhibits comes from the German world, as it was then organized in the Holy Roman Empire. There are also major objects on display from France, England and the Low Countries. The relative  lack of examples for these regions has to do, I would guess, with losses due to centralized destructive campaigns  as in case of   the English reformation or the French Revolution. In the more diffuse political and religious environment of the Holy Roman Empire much more survived. 

(Above) Drawing of a crozier by Hans Holbem the Elder – perhaps in collaboration with a goldsmith..

For starting from Strasbourg, Cologne and Mainz in the West  to Freiburg, Ulm, Regensburg and on to Vienna the various lodges of masons within the Empire exchanged ideas and developed creative “solutions” (as we would say today)to the design challenges of their projects. For the construction of a Gothic cathedral proceeded for generations, even centuries. So, we can see in the exhibition early versions of such masterpieces as the facade of Strasbourg cathedral or the tower of the minster of Freiburg-im-Breisgau. Inevitably, much remained unrealized. 

(Above) Design for a since-destroyed outdoor shrine in Ulm.

I can only give this exhibition my highest recommendation!

(Description of the Exhibition – with many photographs)

CHANT CAMP
August 2026 • St. Mary’s, Norwalk

Monday, August 10–Friday, August 14
9:15 a.m.–1:15 p.m.

Learn to read and sing Gregorian chant and great sacred polyphony • Enjoy fun and fellowship • Lift your voice to the glory of God!

The Chant Camp scholars will sing a Missa cantata daily at 12:10 p.m., starting on Tuesday and ending with Mass for the Vigil of the Assumption on Friday.

Led by Charles Weaver and Elizabeth Weaver (St. Mary’s)
and Nicholas Botkins (St. John’s Basilica, Stamford)

Age range: 8–18 years 
(Both high and low voices welcome)
Camp fee: $50 per participant

Open to participants from any school or parish

Register at: stmarynorwalk.net/chantcamp

Fr. Joseph Marie Falciano, FSSP, celebrated a traditional Solemn Mass last evening at St. Mary’s Church in Norwalk. Having been ordained to the priesthood on May 28, Fr. Falciano was celebrating his first Mass in his former parish. After Mass he offered his first priestly blessing to each of the faithful. This Mass and the music was sponsored by our Society.

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, is giving to the Church two new priests this year.

Fr. Joseph Marie Falciano, FSSP, was ordained to the priesthood at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha on May 28.   He will be celebrating at Solemn Mass at St. Mary’s on Tuesday, June 9 at 7 pm. He will be giving first priestly blessings after Mass. A reception will follow.

Deacon Juan Colon will be ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Bridgeport on Saturday June 13 at 11 am in St. Augustine Cathedral.   He will be celebrating his First Mass at St. Mary’s  on Sunday June 14 at 12 noon (Spanish Mass). 

Please keep both of these young men in your prayers.

Fr. Falciano will be celebrating traditional Masses at the following churches in the area:

Tuesday June 9, St. Mary Church, Norwalk, 7 pm Solemn Mass, reception to follow

Wednesday, June 10, St. Josaphat Oratory, Bayside, Queens, 7 pm, Solemn Mass, reception to follow

Friday, June 12, St. Vincent Ferrer, New York, NY, 9:30 am, Solemn Mass for Feast of the Sacred Heart, Missa Pange Lingua by Josquin des Prez.

Saturday, June 13. St. Margaret of Cortona, Bronx, NY, 10 am, Solemn Mass

Sunday, June 14, Annunciation Church, Crestwood, NY, 2 pm, Solemn Mass, reception to follow

Father Jon Tveit will celebrate the following Traditional Masses to mark his 10th anniversary of ordination:

Sunday, May 24: Annunciation Church in Crestwood, NY, Solemn Mass, 2 pm, convivium to follow

Saturday, May 30, Church of the Blessed Sacrament, New Rochelle, NY, 12 noon, Ember Saturday Solemn Mass

This Thursday, May 14, is Ascension Thursday, a Holy Day of Obligation. The following churches will offer the Traditional Mass.

If you know of a Mass that is not on our schedule, please contact us so that we can add it.

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, low Mass 8 am; Solemn Mass 7 pm

Georgetown Oratory of the Most Sacred Heart, Redding, Missa Cantata, 6 pm

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Oratory, Bridgeport, low Mass 7:45 am; high Mass, 6 pm

St. Patrick Oratory, Waterbury, low Mass 8 am; high Mass 6 pm preceded by Benediction

St. Martha Church, Enfield, 7 pm

New York

Church of the Holy Innocents, New York, NY Low Mass 8 am; High Mass 6 pm

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 7 pm

St. Josaphat Oratory, Bayside, Queens, 7 am Low Mass (Confession after Mass); 6 pm Eucharistic Holy Hour (Confession will be heard during adoration); 7 pm High Mass

St. Rocco Church, Glen Cove, Long Island, 7 pm

St. Matthew Church, Dix Hills, Long Island, 10:30 am

St. Paul the Apostle, Yonkers, 12 noon

Annunciation Church, Crestwood, Missa Cantata 7 pm

Immaculate Conception, Sleepy Hollow, low Mass, 5 pm

Sacred Heart, Esopus, 11:30 am

St. Mary and St. Andrew, Ellenville, 7 pm

St Joseph’s, Troy, 5:30 pm. Carmelite Rite.

New Jersey

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, High Mass, 7 pm

Holy Trinity Church, Hackensack, Missa Cantata, 7 pm

Our Lady of Fatima Chapel, Pequannock, 7 am, 9 am, 12 noon, 7 pm

St. Anthony of Padua Oratory, West Orange, Low Mass 9 am; HIgh Mass 7 pm

Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, Raritan, 7 pm

St. John the Baptist, Allentown, High Mass 7 pm