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.

Solemn Mass was celebrated for the Second Sunday of Advent at Immaculate Conception Church in Astoria, Queens, NY. The celebrant was Fr. Joseph Zwosta and the Deacon was Fr. Tomasz Szczepanczyk/
Photos courtesy of Arrys Ortanez.

Two churches in Connecticut will have Rorate Masses in honor of Our Lady early next Saturday morning, December 16.

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, 6:30 am

St. Mary Church, Greenwich, 6:30 am.

This notice in the St. Mary Norwalk bulletin explains what a Rorate Mass is:

“Rorate” comes from the Introit of the day: “Drop down ye heavens from above…” This is a Mass celebrated in honor of our Lady on a Saturday in Advent. This Mass is always done in darkness with only candlelight. Ideally the sun should begin to rise at the Consecration. This year sunrise is at 7:14 am, so that starting the Mass at 6:30, the dawn will indeed begin to show her roseate face when the Body of Christ is lifted up to be adored.

There are also Rorate Masses scheduled this week at the Church of the Holy Innocents in New York: see https://sthughofcluny.org/2017/11/rorate-masses-at-church-of-holy-innocents.html

Rorate Mass St. Mary Norwalk 2016

Rorate Mass at St. Mary Church, Greenwich, 2015