We read in the Brooklyn Tablet that another Catholic parish in the New York area is in danger of closing. 1) Transfiguration church (by now in a combined parish with St. Stanislaus Kostka) was a Lithuanian national parish in Maspeth, Queens. Time has not been kind to the Lithuanian presence in New York – remember the old parish of Our Lady of Vilna in Manhattan. We read that nowadays only one mass a month is offered in Lithuanian at Transfiguration. In 2024 a congregation of, on the average, five people attended this mass. Total attendance for the three “weekend”  masses is around 150. Massive repairs to the church and rectory are also needed. 

This parish was of some interest to us because in the not too distant past a traditional mass was regularly celebrated there. 2) I do not read any more about that in the current discussions within the parish on how to rescue the church. Quite the contrary! –  ideas suggested to keep the church open include “seeking landmark status, applying for grants to pay for repairs and reaching out to underserved communities.” Adds one parishioner: “one of those underserved groups is working people.”

We cannot say that Transfiguration church is a masterpiece of architecture. The current parish church from 1962 reflects the uneasy transition, typical of that time, from traditional architecture to modernity (or at least what passed for modernity in the Catholic Church)

The diocese of Brooklyn has not yet made a final decision whether to keep Transfiguration church open.

1. Katinas, Paula, “Transfiguration Church in Danger of Closing: Pastor,” The Tablet at 10 (March 29,2025).
2. The Society of St. Hugh of Cluny, “New Sunday Traditional Mass in Queens,” (September 23, 2019); “Traditionalism in Brooklyn and Queens,” (February 21, 2021)

Meditation at Mass for the Monday after the Third Sunday of Lent

by Fr. Richard G. Cipolla

The Gospel for this Mass is Jesus’ first visit to his home town of Nazareth after the
beginning of his preaching and teaching ministry. He has already preached in the
region of Galilee, but now he has come to the synagogue in Nazareth on Saturday
and is asked to do the reading, which happens to be from the prophet Isaiah
predicting the coming of the Messiah. And then he preaches to the people. The
reaction of the people is that they like what he is saying and also how he is saying
it. And they say to themselves: Isn’t this Joseph’s son? We know his whole
family. And so they are happy that a home town boy has made good. They did not
listen to the words of Isaiah except as a reading from one of the prophets. They
were religious Jews attending the service in the synagogue, part of what they did as
Jews. And because they did this, they thought of themselves as good God-fearing
people and were pleased that this hometown man had the gift of giving a good
sermon, good because it made them feel good about themselves. They had heard
about Jesus as a preacher, teacher and healer in the surrounding towns, and now
they hoped that he would perform some miracles for them.
And then Jesus takes on the role of the prophet, and he points out that the great
prophets like Elijah and Elisha performed their greatest miracles of healing and
compassion for non-Jews, for these prophets could not find Jews who really
believed. And in effect, what Jesus was telling these people: “You came here to
hear me read well and to speak well, but you will not believe who I really am,
because you use religion to comfort yourselves that you are the chosen people and
therefore you have an automatic “in” with God, and there is nothing to worry about
as to how you live your lives.” This makes the congregation very angry, and they threaten to throw Jesus over a cliff near the synagogue. But Jesus escapes through the crowd.

What does this have to do with us here this evening? We have come to this Mass,
which is what Catholics do. Some are here because the Mass is offered in the
Traditional Form. And we come here in the season of Lent. This may be part of
your Lenten rule. So many Catholics treat Lent as the pre-Easter season when we
are asked to do acts of penance, like giving up certain foods, not eating meat on
Fridays, maybe do some Bible reading, or remember people who are ill and
perhaps visiting them. And all this is good, but it can be merely following the
religious rules, which expire once Easter comes. It has nothing to do with really changing one’s life. More and more Catholics go to Mass to hear a good sermon and then to receive Holy Communion. Even if the sermon is not good, at least you get something out of Mass, you get Holy Communion. What would it take to shock people in the congregation who think they have their faith all figured out and will automatically go to heaven when they die because they are practicing Catholics? Who would dare to tell them that that might not be true? That person might be thrown off a cliff– or even crucified.

From the Assam Kirche in Munich

The Wednesday, March 19, is the Feast of St. Joseph. The following churches will have traditional Masses.

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT, 9:15 am Solemn Mass (organized by Regina Pacis Academy)

Sacred Heart Oratory, Redding, CT, 6 pm

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

St. Patrick Oratory, Waterbury, CT, 10 am -12 noon Eucharistic Adoration; 12 noon, High Mass for all volunteers and workers of St. Patrick’s parish.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, Low Masses at 7am and 7:45am; Missa Cantata at 7pm followed by the blessing of Saint Joseph’s table.

Holy Innocents Church, New York, NY, 6 pm

St. Margaret of Cortona, Riverdale, Bronx, NY, Solemn Mass, 6:30 pm, reception to follow

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside, Queens, NY, 7 pm

St. Paul’s Church, Yonkers, NY, 12 noon.

St. Patrick Church, Huntington, NY (Long Island), 7:30 pm Missa Cantata.

Sacred Heart, Esopus NY, 11:30 am, Low Mass

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Newark, NJ, Missa Cantata 7pm

Oratory of Saint Anthony of Padua, West Orange NJ, 9 am low Mass, 12 noon low Mass, 7 pm Solemn Mass

Our Lady of Fatima, Pequannock, NJ, 7 pm high Mass.

Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, Raritan, NJ, Missa Cantata, 7 pm

Corpus Christi, South River, NJ, Missa Cantata, 7 pm, procession and veneration of the cloak of St. Joseph relic, blessing with St. Joseph oil from shrine in Montreal, St. Joseph table with pasteries in parish hall after Mass.

When the Sea Recedes: The Tragedy of the Church in the 21st Century

By Jean-Pierre Maugendre

(Éditions Contretemps 2024)

When the Sea (or Tide) Recedes is a major new addition to the traditionalist library. It’s a selection of essays that chronicles life in the Catholic Church and in Western Europe between 2005 and 2023. 

I do have to warn the American reader. This is a very French book. It is Maurrassian, rightist, political and traditionalist – all anathema to mainstream Catholics (to the extent they still exist) in both France and the United States. Jean-Pierre Maugendre tells his story with intensity, panache and personal commitment. His speech is clear, decisive yet controlled. His positions are unambiguous – but hysteria, eccentricity and fanaticism are absent. Although some of his views – such those regarding the French abandonment of Algeria – may send “middle-of-the-road” Catholics into uncontrolled rage.

A further warning to the American reader relates to the subtitle of this book. Much of the book in fact deals not with the Church but with French politics and society. Indeed, it presupposes some knowledge of what has happened in France over the last 20 years. But again, this is very characteristic of the French right, which acknowledges and affirms the political dimension of the Catholic faith. The side-by-side narrative of When the Sea Recedes, covering events both political and religious, makes clear the unavoidable interaction between the Catholic faith and politics. 

And this link with the political world cuts both ways. The French right engages in politics on the basis of its faith. On the other side of the coin, as the ruling culture of Western civil society becomes ever more anti-Christian and totalitarian, those same tendencies become manifest as well in the “establishment” Catholic Church under Pope Francis. For although the Catholic mainstream and progressives rage against the political commitment of the French Catholic right, this is only because (a) they reject the right’s political positions; and (b) they themselves are infinitely more political than the right ever has been. Anyone who reads the National Catholic Reporter, the official media of the Catholic churches of France and Germany or has followed the actions of Pope Francis and the Jesuit order can verify this. The politics of the progressives, however, is a pale copy of that of the secular establishment. In contrast, what Maugendre calls, quoting sociologist Yann Raison du Cleuziou, “observant” Catholicism: “sets as its top priority the integral transmission of the Catholic faith and does not give up enriching civil society by the values of the Gospel.” (p.398)

I have to admire the author and the French right for their indomitable spirit. On the French political front, they suffer defeat after defeat on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. Despite the grave failings of Macron over the last three years,  the French political establishment continues to be able to exclude the rightist party from any role in the French government. And despite intermittent widespread public outrage over uncontrolled immigration, gay marriage and disastrous economic policies, the French right never is able to capture a majority of the electorate.  Yet, there’s never any slacking off of the intensity of the right’s engagement. 

The same can be said in relation to the Church. In the first ten years covered by this book the Catholic traditionalists received unprecedented recognition from Rome, if far less so on the national level. Since the accession of Francis, of course, all this has been reversed, and the Vatican has undertaken a new campaign against Catholic tradition. And while these struggles convulse the Church, Maugendre reminds us again and again of the relentless, drastic collapse of the Faith, as evidenced in the statistics of declining baptisms, marriages, and vocations in France – things that don’t seem to perturb the hierarchs of the Church. More recently, the cause of the French Catholic traditionalists has experienced fresh defeats in Pope Francis’s all-out war against Catholic tradition, such as the deposition of Bishop Dominique Rey. To continue Maugendre’s metaphor – is the sea still retreating? 

….

The sea of faith

Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore

Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl’d;

But now I only hear

Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, 

Retreating to the breath

Of the night-wind down the vast edges drear

And naked shingles of the world.

Ah, love, let us be true

To one another! for the world, which seems 

To lie before us like a land of dreams,

So various, so beautiful, so new,

Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,

Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;

And we are here as on a darkling plain 

Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,

Where ignorant armies clash by night.

“Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold (1822–1888)

Yet Maugendre rejects such a mood of resignation. In all the trials he describes he finds much about which to rejoice.  Such as the recent overwhelming turnout for the traditionalist pilgrimage from Paris to Chartres. (We just now hear that the French episcopate – and the Vatican – have backed off from ideas of closing Chartres cathedral to the pilgrims in 2025.)  Or in his retelling the stories of those who, in one way or another, had fought the good fight in politics or in the Church. Maugendre celebrates in this book the legacy of such varied personalities as Benedict XVI, Helie Denoix de Saint Marc and Jean Madiran.  And although it undoubtedly took place after the work on this book closed,  I’m sure Maugendre has welcomed the “miracle” of Donald Trump which has unleashed a counter-woke wave throughout the world. Maugendre was fighting the same struggle years ago. For example, in June 2010 Maugendre already anticipated J.D. Vance in stating the obvious truth of the “hierarchy of charity.” (p.121). 

As Maugendre tell us, such events and people confirm that situations are never hopeless.  “Because that which seems inevitable never is, it’s never in vain to resist it.” That’s especially true in religion where the ultimate triumph of the truth is assured.  “It isn’t the hope of victory, but the necessity of struggle that makes the Christian warrior.” (p.21)

We know the sea of faith will return again!

The association of Notre-Dame de Chrétienté states that the bishop of Chartres, Msgr. Philippe Christory, has confirmed that the final mass of the pilgrimage will take place in the cathedral. Moreover, he intends to preach at this mass. This is after “rumors” – and a very public discussion – about intervention by the Vatican to prohibit this mass in the cathedral. See:

“Communiqué Notre Dame de Chrétienté” (in French) Le Forum Catholique (3/9/2025)

“No prohibition of the old Mass on the Traditionalist Pilgrimage after all” (in German), katholisch.de (3/10/2025)

Apparently there still will be no mass in Notre Dame de Paris at the start of the pilgrimage. And the many issues raised by the Vatican potentially intervening in such a pilgrimage remain unaddressed.