In January 2015 (above) and December 26, 2017 (below) – after a restoration of the sanctuary directed by Fr. La Pastina, the pastor of St. Mary’s.

January 1st, Octave of Christmas Schedule of Traditional Masses

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT, 9 am.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Oratory, Bridgeport, CT,  Low Mass at 8:30 and a High Mass at 10:15 am.

St. Stanislaus Church, New Haven, low Mass, 2 pm.

Church of the Holy Innocents, New York, 
Sunday, December 31 – New Year’s Eve, 9AM low Mass, 10:30 AM high Mass
Traditional Vespers: 2:30PM, preceded by the Rosary
After the 4PM until 11PM – Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
11PM – Singing of the Te Deum followed by Benediction
11:30PM – Mass of Reparation (Traditional High Mass)

Monday, January 1, 2018,   9AM – (Low Mass), 10:30AM – ( High Mass)

Church of St. Agnes, New York, Missa Cantata, 10:30 am followed by the singing of Veni Creator Spiritus.

Pontifical Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, NY, Missa Cantata, 10:25 am

Immaculate Conception Church, Sleepy Hollow, NY, 3 pm low Mass.

St. Patrick Church, Newburgh, NY, 3 pm.

Stained glass window in  Notre Dame Cathedral, Chartres.

We would like to post pictures of Traditional Christmas Masses. Please send us your photos.

We begin with these photos of the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in New York, sent to us by Diana Yuan. The fine vestments are original to the church.

The Rorate Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Dec. 9)

Above and below: Midnight Mass at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Oratory in Bridgeport, now in the care of the Institute of Christ the King.

Holy Innocents Church, New York, courtesy of Fr. Salvatori.

St. John the Baptist Church, Allentown, NJ (courtesy of John Teague)

Midnight Mass in Rome at Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, the FSSP church. (courtesy of Selina Fang)

A Blessed and Holy Christmas to all!

(Window in church of St Elizabeth, Washington Heights, New York)

Midnight Mass at St Mary’s Norwalk, 2017.

Leading the rosary before the start of the service.

Singing of Carols before the mass.

Processing with the image of the Christ Child.

Did the prophetic St Bridget of Sweden – as described by Johannes Jorgensen – also foresee the “field hospital” of a certain Supreme Pontiff?

“Bridget’s Christianity is not only a religion of mercy, the ambulance which follows the army and gathers up the wounded, the Samaritan who looks after the victims of the robber. It is that which has in later times been called social Christianity – the kingdom of God is to come also on the earth. Bridget by no means denies that God is merciful, on the contrary, she points it out again and again. But – and it is a great but – He is merciful only to those who repent. With Bridget there is no such thing as ‘sinning in relying on grace’ – each and everyone gets that which is due to him…”

Jorgensen, Johannes, Saint Bridget of Sweden Vol I at 73-74(Translator, Ingeborg Lund; Longmans Green and Co, London, 1954)

A medal, struck by Pope Clement XIV, commemorating his suppression of the Jesuit order in 1773. So relevant today in so many respects – I wonder what Stephen Walford thinks of it?

NOTE: Some sources claim this is a clever imitation of a papal medal issued in 1773 (in Germany? the Low Countries?) by the more rabid enemies of the Jesuits. The insulting inscription does seem extreme – even if Clement XIV did imprison the leadership of the Jesuit order (causing several deaths). I also have found that “Father Zed” and Fr Hunwicke have also devoted some attention to this medal earlier this year.

(Above) An image of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Immaculate Conception church.

Yesterday a large congregation was present for the festive celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, organized by the Society of St Hugh of Cluny and made possible by the generosity of the late Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro. How inspiring to experience the return of the traditional liturgy to the “upper church” after an absence of so many decades! We have to thank this parish and in particular the indefatigable Manny Albino (who also served as subdeacon) for making this evening possible. Bill Riccio, who served as MC along with Eddy Toribio, did his accustomed magnificent work in surmounting all kinds of difficulties, major and minor, to assure the smooth and polished execution of the ceremonial. Two young priests, Fr. Robert Rodriguez (New York) and Fr. Joseph Zwosta (Brooklyn) served as celebrant and deacon, respectively – Fr. Rodriguez preached in English and Spanish. I’d also like to thank the servers, from several different parishes, who contributed their time.

Integral to this liturgy was the performance of rare music from 18th century Mexico composed by Ignacio de Jerusalem. We understand his Masses were heard, not just in Mexico City, but in the missions of California! This unusual repertoire had been graciously made available to us by a leading scholar of the music of de Jerusalem, Prof. Craig Russell. Charles Weaver did an incredible job in organizing the music for the mass and assembling the instrumentalists – and also performing himself. James Wetzel, music director at St. Vincent Ferrer, led the singers and orchestral forces with his customary professionalism and skill.

Finally, we have to thank the members of Immaculate Conception parish for organizing the festive reception after the mass. It was an appropriate conclusion to this memorable evening!

(Above) The remarkable if little known church of the Immaculate Conception (once the Episcopalian “Grace chapel”) as seen earlier that afternoon.