On Saturday October 26, pilgrims to the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage in Rome processed to St. Peter’s Basilica led by his Excellency Marian Eleganti, bishop emeritus of Chur, Switzerland.

All Saints Day, Friday Nov. 1

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, 8 am and 12:10 pm low Masses; Solemn Mass 7 pm

Sacred Heart Oratory, Redding, 6 pm

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

St. Patrick Oratory, Waterbury, 8 am low Mass; 6 pm High Mass

St. Martha Church, Enfield, 7 pm

New York

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

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 7 am and 7:45 am, low Masses; 7 pm Missa Cantata.

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside, Queens, 7 pm

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

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

St. Paul the Apostle, Yonkers, 12 noon

Annunciation Church, Crestwood, 7 pm Missa Cantata

Immaculate Conception, Sleepy Hollow, 5 pm Low Mass.

Church of the Holy Trinity, Poughkeepsie, 7 pm

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

New Jersey

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, 5 pm

Our Lady of Victory, Harrington Park, 5:30 pm

St. Anthony of Padua Oratory, West Orange, 9 am low Mass; 7 pm high Mass

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

Corpus Christi, South River, 7 pm, Missa Cantata. Confessions at 6 pm.

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

All Souls Day, Saturday Nov. 2

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, Solemn Requiem Mass, 9 am

St. Mary Church, Greenwich, Missa Cantata, 8 am. ( In the lower chapel, accessed from the outside entrance to the left of the main entrance.)

Sacred Heart Oratory, Redding, 6 pm Solemn Requiem Mass

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Bridgeport, 8:30 am and 9:10 am low Masses, 10:15 am high Masses

St. Patrick Oratory, Waterbury, 8 am and 9 am low Masses; 10 am High Mass

St. Martha Church, Enfield, 9 am

New York

Holy Innocents, New York, NY, 11 am and 11:30 am, low Masses; 1:30 High Mass

St. Vincent Ferrer Church, New York, NY, 9:30 am, Requiem Mass in Dominican Rite. Mozart Requiem.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 7 am, low Mass; 9 am Sung Requiem Mass and absolution at the catafalque

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside, Queens, 10 am Sung Requiem Mass. Gabriel Faure’s Requiem in D Minor.

St. Margaret of Cortona, Bronx, 12 noon, Solemn Requiem Mass.

St. Rocco Church, Glen Cove, Long Island, 10 am Missa Cantata

St. Paul the Apostle, Yonkers, 12 noon

Annunciation Church, Crestwood, 2 pm Missa Cantata

Church of the Holy Trinity, Poughkeepsie, 11 am, Sung Requiem Mass

St. Joseph Church, Middletown, 11 am

New Jersey

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, 11 am. The Ordinary of the Mass will be the Jommelli Requiem with choir and orchestra

St. Anthony of Padua Oratory, West Orange, 9 am Requiem Low Mass; 11 am Requiem High Mass

Our Lady of Fatima, Pequannock, 7 am, 9 am

Corpus Christis, South River, 12 noon, sung Mass. Confessions and Rosary at 11 am

Shrine Chapel of the Blesses Sacrament, Raritan, 10 am Solemn Requiem Mass with choir, strings and pipe organ singing Requiem in D Minor by Gabriel Faure.

Other Scheduled Requiem Masses

Tuesday Nov. 5th: St. Mary of Mt. Virgin, New Brunswick, NJ, Sung Requiem Mass, 7 pm

Wednesday, Nov. 6th: St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT, Solemn Requiem Mass 1:15 pm. Missa pro Defunctis by Claudio Casiolini.

Thursday, Nov. 7th, Carmelite Monastery, 189 Madison Ave. Morristown, NJ, 7 pm the Purgatorial Society of Andrew Avellino 4th Requiem Mass of the 2024 year

Wednesday, Nov. 13: Annunciation Church, Crestwood, NY, Annual Requiem Mass for Deceased Priests and Religious of the Archdiocese, 7 pm Upper Church

Last weekend for the Feast of Christ the King, Catholics from around the world gathered in Rome for the Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage to demonstrate their devotion to the Traditional Liturgy of the Church.

On Friday Evening, October 25, Solemn Vespers of the Blessed Virgin Mary were celebrated in the Pantheon, Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs, in Rome. The celebrant was Bishop Marian Eleganti O.S.B., auxiliary bishop emeritus of Chur, Switzerland.

Catholic Church suspends operations at Connelly Theater in flap over controversial plays….

After the New York archdiocese prevented the production of “Becoming Eve” at the church-owned Connelly theater, the general manager resigned in prostest. The theater itself announced that it is ceasing operations with no sign when, or if, it will reopen.

This came after the archdiocese, which owns the Connelly Theater, prevented New York Theatre Workshop from putting on the play “Becoming Eve,” which tells the story of a transgender woman within the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. 1)

Well, since 1993 this building has housed the “Cornelia Connelly Center,” an initiative of the Sisters of the Holy Child aimed at “disadvantaged” girls. The name is that of the foundress of the Holy Child schools. The Catholic faith is still present on East 4th Street today, but cannot be said to feature prominently in the school’s publicity. And how long will the school remain here? From the strategic plan of the Cornelia Connelly Center:

 Continue to utilize and maintain the building at 220 East 4th Street.
 Explore options for alternate locations once our lease expires. 2)

The theater in the school building has been leased out for years to various off-broadway productions.

Now it is welcome news that the archdiocese is finally paying attention to what takes place on its properties. But is what was proposed to be shown at Connelly that different in spirit from a recent event at St. Patrick’s cathedral itself?3)

1. Blum, Gillian, “Catholic Church suspends operations at Connelly Theater in flap over controversial plays“ The Spirit (10/28/2024)
2. Cornelia Connelly Center, “Strategic Plan 2021-2026.” About the school see connellycenter.org
3. See “Rosary Rally Organized as Act of Reparation for Sacrilege at St. Patrick’s Cathedral,” The Society of St Hugh of Cluny (2/23/2024)

We recently attended Saturday afternoon mass at the Priory of the Annunciation in Charles Town, West Virginia together with some other pilgrims who had participated in the National Latin Mass Pilgrimage in Washington. This was the (only?) opportunity to attend a traditional mass that afternoon in the greater Washington area. (Charles Town is more than an hour’s drive from Arlington, Virginia, where the pilgrimage commenced.)

Mass was celebrated by a priest of the Augustinian Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem. Since our last visit in 2014, the canons have accomplished remarkable things in restoration of their priory. The sumptuously decorated chancel (sanctuary ) and side altars are reminiscent now of medieval England, now of a Byzantine church. This is Catholic art as it should be: overflowing and superabundant.

(Above) The priory today; (below) in 2014.

Website of the Priory.

By Peter A. Kwasniewski

273 pages

TAN Books (Gastonia, NC, 2024)

Turned Around is Peter Kwasniewski’s latest contribution to the literature on the traditional Latin mass. (henceforward, the “TLM”) It is a kind of Summa of what he and others have written in recent years. The book is organized around commonly raised questions regarding this liturgy. The list of the chapters illustrates this practical approach:

Why we worship facing east;

Why the priest is separated from the people;

Why the traditional mass is kingly and courtly;

Why we follow inherited rituals and strict rubrics;

Why we repeat ourselves in traditional worship;

Why we use a one-year lectionary of readings;

Why we pray in Latin;

Why it is better not to understand everything immediately;

Why we kneel for communion and receive on the tongue; and, finally, 

The Mass is the faith and the faith is the mass. “Why are you people always going on about ‘the TLM this’ and ‘the TLM that’?”

Like most of Dr. Kwasniewski‘s works, Turned Around is passionately argued. The author summarizes much recent literature, including his own! But Turned Around permits the opponents of the traditional Latin mass – liturgists, publicists, Pope Francis, even the supposedly sacrosanct texts of the Second Vatican Council – to speak as well. This is absolutely foreign to the modus operandi of the Catholic establishment and Catholic media. But this openness to the “other side” actually furthers the arguments of the book. Because for the perceptive reader, the language of these contrasting views – superficial, platitudinous or pompous – only serves as a self-indictment.

Dr. Kwasniewski is not afraid to argue for the unique excellence of the TLM, and,  in contrast, to point out the many deleterious effects of the Novus Ordo liturgy. This book does not at all make a plea for toleration, on the desirability of respecting the attachments of a minority in the Church. Rather, as did Mosebach’s Heresy of Formlessness 20 years ago, Turned Around leads the reader to the inevitable conclusion that the TLM should be restored as a matter of principle for the entire Church. 

Dr. Kwasniewski dares to say that there was no need or advantage to the liturgical changes made in the 1950s and 60s. There was a need to purge sloppiness and carelessness in the execution of the liturgy and to combat utilitarian and minimalist practices of celebrating it. The Solemn High Mass and sung liturgy in general, needed to be restored to its central position in Catholic liturgical life. But this could have been handled through a reform similar to what was suggested in the very early days of the liturgical movement. Indeed, Dr. Kwasniewski makes a number of suggestions regarding improvements to the TLM which could be made while remaining within tradition. By the way, those pre-Conciliar abuses of the past are even more widespread in the celebration of the Novus Ordo today.  

 Dr. Kwasniewski takes head on the objection that the TLM reflects an earlier, monarchical age and is thus inconsistent with our cultural sensitivity today. He celebrates the fact that the TLM – especially the Solemn High Mass – is courtly and kingly. He denounces a mass that has been “deroyalized and decelestialized” (!) (p.67), For, after all,  the mass is the worship due to a Divine King. The contrary arguments, on the other hand, reveal all too clearly the secular political factors underlying  the liturgical changes in the 1960s.

It is notable that Dr. Kwasniewski does not address the (non-substantive) argument most frequently cited by Pope Francis and his acolytes in favor of the Novus Ordo and against the TLM: that God ordered the current regime, that Vatican II and the popes ( at least John XXIII, Paul VI and Francis) are acting at the immediate behest of the Holy Spirit. Of course this makes moot any rational analysis of the liturgy whatsoever. Dr. Kwasniewski does consider this position indirectly, for he points out the inconsistencies between some of the conciliar texts and their later implementation as well as citing  papal utterances since Vatican II which support the underlying arguments for the TLM

Dr. Kwasniewski draws on a wide variety of sources: theological, liturgical, historical, and practical. In this, he is aided by the vast explosion of works on the liturgy, not just by traditionalists, that have appeared in recent years. The chapter “What Next?” and the bibliography very conveniently summarize these resources. He also makes numerous references to the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern tradition. But Dr. Kwasniewski also draws on his concrete experience of the TLM.

I myself have been attending the old Latin Mass for over thirty years, and the sense of wonder , the regimented peace, the freedom of prayer, the desire wakened again and again for God, the joy(and frankly the relief) of never seeing any human being as the center of attention – all of this hasn’t “worn off.” The old rite is ever-new and ever-renewing.(p. 210)

I can only support Dr. Kwasniewski’s conclusions by reference to what I personally have seen of  both the TLM and the Novus Ordo, including at events where they could be compared side-by-side. The former rite is a unified ceremonial of gestures, readings music and movements, the latter – regardless of other trappings – a succession of texts read facing the people. Those of us who experience how the TLM is celebrated today in numerous parishes can testify that such engaged and committed congregations have previously hardly ever been seen (or heard). Is this not active participation?

In 2002, Martin Mosebach gave us the Heresy of Formlessness, the first handbook defending the traditional liturgy based on objective liturgical principles. Now, Peter Kwasniewski has given us a new guide to the TLM. Its content has been enriched by the experiences of the last quarter century, which saw the unanticipated expansion and flowering of the traditional mass and then the all-out war by the Pope and the Vatican to suppress it. But, as always, out of such conflicts, a new synthesis, a deeper understanding has emerged. Turned Around is for anyone who wants to understand why traditionalists fight for the TLM – as well as being a tool for those who need to defend it.

Post Scriptum:  I feel compelled to comment on the “Publisher’s Note” affixed to Turned Around by TAN books. It states:

 “TAN books, in its loyalty to the Church’s, teaching, has taken measures to ensure that what is opinion and what is dogma are clearly distinguished. The author herein published is, and intends to be, in all of his works, acts, and writing, a loyal son of the Church, and writes as such. The author holds, as to all Catholics, that the Novus Ordo is a valid mass, in which the Body and Blood of Christ are confected “ (ix)

This note is reminiscent of Fr. Joseph Fessio’s introduction to the original English language version of the above-mentioned Heresy of Formlessness. Turned around, if I am not mistaken, does not even discuss this issue of validity.  The Publisher’s Note, which in effect offers a partial apology for the book it introduces, reveals only the continued obsession of a significant part of the conservative and traditionalist community with issues of authority and validity.

An Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (now through January 26, 2025)

This new exhibition covers artworks created in a relatively short time span – mostly between 1300 and 1350. It was a period when Siena advanced to share leadership in Italian art with Florence. Sienese art is more “conservative, ” preserving strong links with the Byzantine tradition. Yet, at the same time it displayed innovations that were points of departure for the future of Western art. Siena, as a major trading center, was well situated to foster the fruitful interaction of these influences. It maintained contact with Constantinople as well as with Rome. At the same time art from the Gothic world north of the Alps made its way to the city. The exhibition includes examples of works from these other traditions that influenced Siena. For example, there are samples of fabrics with elaborate designs – some imported from Asia – that are reproduced in the 14th century paintings.

Sienese art maintained many Byzantine artistic conventions – most notably, the gold background on most of the paintings. The lighting of this exhibition is very precise and subdued, yet it cannot capture the magic effect that candlelight one had on this art. In addition, the paintings continue to reflect traditional Byzantine compositions. Yet in no way could these works of Duccio, the Lorenzetti brothers, Simone Martini and others be confused with the Byzantine originals. Architectural frameworks with incipient three-dimensional effects appear. New compositions are developed, now more emotional, realistic and even monumental, now more elegant in the Gothic tradition. And finally there is a developing awareness among these artists of the desirability of capturing, not just a timeless image, but a specific moment in time. The visitor has the opportunity to study these paintings up close and to marvel at the glowing colors, the innumerable details and the extraordinarily refined brushstrokes. The contrast with the modern, cartoon-like “Eastern” art in favor in certain Catholic ecclesiastical circles – and among some of the Orthodox as well – could not be greater.

Sienese art is of course intensely religious. In this age of Christendom, the Church, the state and various private associations offered major commissions for public display. This exhibition includes one large altarpiece and some panels from Duccio’s incredibly complex Maesta for the high altar of Siena cathedral. Indeed, some of the multipanel artworks have been reunited here for the first time in ages.

Yet much of what we see are smaller scale works intended for private devotion. For in Siena, as elsewhere in 14th century Europe, there was a growing receptivity to individual devotion, to mysticism. Later, in the second half of that same century, was not Siena the home of one of the greatest mystics of all, Saint Catherine? But we must not exaggerate a contrast between public and private devotion. St. Catherine of Siena herself hardly lived withdrawn from the presssing issues of her day! She might have seen with her own eyes a number of the works currently on display in this exhibition.

All in all, this exhibition testifies to the power and refinement of Christian art in an age when Christendom itself was at the summit of its creative power. A creativity, that, in the case of Siena, was associated with respect for tradition. Sienese art demonstrates that cultivating tradition is no hindrance to originality and innovation.

Overview of the Exhibition

(Above) In the exhibition are public works commisioned for secular buildings and churches – one panel of an altarpiece for the Palazzo Pubblico (town hall) of Siena by Simone Martini (ca. 1326- 30) (Below) Yet a large part of the exhibits are smaller paintings intended for private devotion. Lippo Memmi, Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels ( ca. 1350).

We had last reported on Holy Rosary Parish on East 119th Street in 2015. The parish was closed in that year. 1) It is reported that in August of this year the church was sold to a developer for $5 million.

Church sales are seemingly popping up more often in New York as the developers seek sites for housing and religious organizations try to shore up their financial spreadsheets. 2)

Now it seems that plans have been filed and demolition might be imminent. 3)

(I am grateful for the suggestions received from our readers. My apologies if I do not acknowledge you – but some want to remain anonymous. I have not had the chance recently to personally visit the churches of East Harlem; I hope to provide a fuller report later. )

1. The Churches of New York LXX: “A Mighty Fortress….” The Society of St Hugh of Cluny (1/10/2015); The Churches of New York LXXV Losses 10, The Society of St. Hugh of Cluny, (7/20/2015)
2. TRD Staff, Kahen Properties buying dilapidated East Harlem church, The Real Deal (8/27/2024); Khalifeh, Ramsey, Archdiocese of NY plans to sell 124-year-old East Harlem church to property developer, Gothamist.com (8/25/2024) (with pictures of the interior!).
3. Cuba, Julianne, Historic Harlem church slated for the bulldozer, Craine’s New York Business (10/9/2024)

(All of above acccessed on 10/17/2024)