What is it? See HERE.

As many of you know, Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro, who has served this past year at St. Mary Church, Norwalk, is seriously ill.  We offer to you this letter from Father Boquet, the Director of Human Life International, the organization that Msgr. Barreiro served for many years:
“Dear HLI Family,

I need to ask you something. Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro, who faithfully served Human Life International for over twenty-one years, is in need of our prayers.

Monsignor, who has been courageously battling cancer for over five years, is seriously ill and may be reaching the end of his earthly journey. He is receiving great care from a religious congregation of Sisters dedicated to the care of the sick and dying.

In our last conversation, I assured Monsignor of our prayers. He said in response, “What is important for me is to prepare myself to meet Jesus and prayers are particularly needed to be properly disposed.”

Please join me during these solemn days of Holy Week in prayer for Monsignor and for all who are ill and dying.

Thank you and God bless you,

Father Boquet”

At St. Paul the Apostle church, New York. Note the folded chasubles and the large boys’ choir (for which the sanctuary was specifically designed).

(From The Church of St. Paul the Apostle, New York by Joseph I. Malloy, CSP (1939?))

Palm Sunday at St. Mary’s, Norwalk: the Mass of the Palms

Distribution of the blessed palms.

The procession begins.

(Below) The entry into the church.

Continue to Part II

Continued from Part I

The Mass of the Passion. (Below) The reading of the Passion according to St. Matthew.

(Above and below) The reading of the Passion.

See Part I

Pontifical Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Harlem, New York, Fr. Christopher Salvatori, Celebrant (courtesy of Father Salvatori)

St. Michael’s Russian Catholic Chapel, New York (courtesy of St. Michael’s)

St. Anthony of Padua Church, Jersey City (courtesy of Juventutem Jersey City)

Above and below: April 7, Solemn Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows at Most Precious Blood Church, New York, Msgr. Joseph Ambrosio, celebrant, Fr. Christopher Salvatori, deacon (courtesy of Diana Yuan)

(Above) Stained glass window from the original Maronite parish church of St. Joseph in the chapel of St Joseph.

We have previously covered the story of St. Joseph’s: a nondescript modern chapel but heir to a long Arab-American tradition in this neighborhood as well as being the Archdiocesan “Catholic Memorial at Ground Zero.”

We now learn from the New York Post that the chapel (part of the parish of St. Peter) is in fact required to pay substantial rent for the space it occupies – a cost apparently borne by the Archdiocese – and, after recent massive rent increases, may close.

In the New York Post article there is not one word about the chapel’s alleged status as the Archdiocesan 9/11 shrine. Rather, resistance seems to be coming mainly from Arab-American groups concerned about the fate of what many years ago had been a Maronite church. So as the Roman Catholic presence in this neighborhood totters on the brink of extinction, not too far away the splendid new Greek Orthodox church of St Nicholas inches towards completion…

St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk will be having a full traditional Holy Week schedule—the traditional liturgy every day on the week.  If you have never been to St. Mary’s for Holy Week, we urge you to consider attending this year.

To give you a taste for it, we offer to you a video of photos from Holy Week last year. ( The musical setting is the Agnus Dei from William Rasar’s mass “Christe Jesu” recorded by the St. Mary’s Schola Cantorum and due to be released in a CD in a few weeks.)

Video:  Holy Week at St. Mary’s Norwalk

St. Mary’s Holy Week Schedule posted here:  link

Video courtesy of Elizabeth Weaver.

Yesterday evening, April 5, the parish of St Vincent Ferrer and St. Catherine of Siena, New York,  celebrated the patronal feast of St. Vincent Ferrer with a Solemn Mass in the Dominican Rite.

The setting for the Mass ordinary was John Taverner’s Missa Sancti Wilhelmi devotio, directed by James Wetzel.

“Fear the Lord and give him honor”  Revelations 14.7, from the Epistle reading for the feast day, was the topic of the sermon.  The words are  inscribed on the wall next to St. Vincent Ferrer’s shrine.

The shrine of St. Vincent Ferrer decorated for his feast day.

The rose window (above) depicts various Dominican saints (below, details)

(Above) A scene from one of the (outdoor) stations of the cross in Bamberg, Germany. Dating to 1503, these are the oldest preserved stations of the cross in Germany.

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT

Palm Sunday, Solemn Mass with Procession, 9:30 am
Monday in Holy Week, Latin Mass 8 am
Tuesday in Holy Week, Latin Mass, 8 am
Wednesday in Holy Week, 8 am Latin Mass, 7 pm Tenebrae of Maundy Thursday
Holy Thursday, 7 pm Solemn Mass of the Last Supper; 8:30 pm Vespers and Stripping of altars; 9 pm, pilgrimage to the seven churches of Norwalk; all night vigil of the Blessed Sacrament in repose until noon
Good Friday: 8 am, Matins and Lauds of Good Friday; 3 pm Good Friday Liturgy; 7 pm outdoor Good Friday procession and burial with Compline,  followed by all-night vigil (9 pm-noon)
Holy Saturday, 8:00 am Matins and Lauds; 7 pm Easter Vigil Mass; 10 pm Festive Reception
Easter Sunday, 9:30 am Solemn Mass

St. Stanislaus Church, New Haven

Palm Sunday, Missa Cantata, 2pm
Good Friday, noon
Easter Sunday, Missa Cantata, 2 pm

St. Martha, Enfield, CT
Palm Sunday, 12 noon
Easter Sunday, 12 noon

Holy Apostles College, Cromwell, CT

Palm Sunday, low Mass, 12:15
Easter Sunday, Missa Cantata, noon
Low Sunday (April 23), 8 am

Holy Innocents Church, New York

Palm Sunday (April 9):Low Mass: 9am, Solemn Mass (blessing & Procession of palms): 12:30pm, Sung Vespers & Benediction at 2:30, Confessions: 9:45-10:30am & 12noon-1:30pm

Monday in Holy Week: Low Mass: 8am and 6pm,  Confessions: 7:30-8:30am; 12noon-1:30pm; & 3:00-9:00pm

Tuesday in Holy Week, Low Mass: 8am and 6pm,  Confessions: 7:30-8:30am; 12noon-1:30pm; & 5:15-5:35pm

Spy Wednesday,  Low Mass: 8am and 6pm,  Office of Tenebræ: 7:30pm,  Confessions: 7:30-8:30am; 12noon-1:30pm; & 5:15-5:35pm

Holy “Maundy” Thursday,  Solemn Mass: 6pm with procession to the Altar of Repose, followed by all night adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament at the Repository, Confessions: 7:30-8:30am; 12noon-1:30pm; & 5:15-5:35pm

Good Friday,  Stations of the Cross: 11:15am and 5:15pm,  Three Hours Agony Devotions: 7 Last Words of Christ preached by the Rev. Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas at 12 noon,   Solemn Mass of the Pre-Sanctified: 3pm, Confessions: 7:30-8:30am; 12noon-1:30pm; & 5:15-5:35pm

Holy Saturday,  Church will open at 9am for veneration of the Cross and visits to the Lord’s Tomb,  Confessions: 12noon-1:30pm & 3:00-4:00pm, Solemn Easter Vigil Mass: 6pm.  A very festive reception will take place after the Mass in the parish hall.

Easter Sunday,  Low Mass: 9am,   Solemn Mass: 10:30am,  Sung Vespers & Benediction: 2:30pm,  Confessions: 9:45-10:30am & 12noon-1:30pm

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Pontifical Shrine, New York

Sunday, April 9, 2017 – Palm Sunday , 10:20 AM – Blessing & Distribution of Palms, Procession and High Mass
Easter Sunday, 10:20 AM – High Mass

St. Agnes Church, New York

Palm Sunday, Missa Cantata, 11 am
Easter Sunday, Solemn Mass, 11 am

Immaculate Conception Church, Sleepy Hollow, NY

Palm Sunday, 3 pm, Missa Cantata, includes blessing, procession and chanting of the Passion of the Lord
Easter Sunday, 1:30 pm (please note earlier time), Missa Cantata

St. Anthony of Padua, Jersey City

Palm Sunday Missa Cantata, 9 am
Spy Wednesday, 7:30 pm, Office of Tenebrae
Holy Thursday  5:30 pm, Missa Vespertina in Cena Domini, Solemn Eucharistic Procession to the Alter of Repose
Good Friday, 5 pm, Commemoration of the Passion and Death of the Lord
Easter Vigil and Mass, April 15, 10 pm
Easter Sunday, Low Mass 9am

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Newark

Holy Thursday, Missa Cantata, 7 pm, followed by a holy hour. The church will remain open until 12 midnight.