Upcoming Latin Masses at Saint Mary in Greenwich, CT

Feast of the Vigil of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist
Tuesday, June 23rd at 7:30 PM

Feast of Our Lady of Mt Carmel
Thursday, July 16th at 7:30 PM

Newly-ordained Fr. Simon Zurita, a priest of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, will celebrate a Solemn Mass tonight at 6 pm at the Church of the Holy Innocents. It will not be his very first Mass, but his first Mass in New York City

The Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving will take place at 6PM followed by a reception.

We are grateful to the FSSP for allowing him to serve at our Church numerous times.There will be an opportunity to receive a first blessing from him.

Fr. Zurita is pictured here during his FSSP ordination.

Yesterday, the Sacra Liturgia Conference ended with a splendid Solemn Mass of the Feast of Corpus Christi at St. Catherine of Siena Church. Most Reverend Joseph Perry, Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago was celebrant, and Most Reverend John J. O’Hara, Auxiliary Bishop of New York was homilist. David Hughes directed a choir combined of the Schola Dominicana of the Church of St. Catherine of Siena and the Schola Cantorum of St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT.

After Mass, there was a eucharistic procession in the streets, first to the Church of St. John Nepomucene on First Avenue and 66th Street and then to the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer on Lexington and 65th Street.

One witness said: 
Hearing those hundreds of voices sing “Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All,” while coming up 66th Street was other-worldly as it bounced off the concrete walls of the canyon. But the kicker was an NYPD officer that was part of the traffic detail.
He said to me, “Do you realize the peace you’ve brought here?” He pointed to the way people were stopped and taking it all in. He was impressed and genuinely moved.

Another witness:
The procession was magical. We clearly need more of those. Stopping traffic on 1st, 2nd, 3rd Ave — amazing! It almost felt like this “new evangelization” one hears about from time to time…

Yesterday was the  final day of the Sacra Liturgia conference. I have included excerpts from the speakers’ talks.   There are more excerpts  on the Sacra Liturgia USA Facebook page.
I am posting separately the Corpus Christi Mass and procession which followed the talks.

Dom Alcuin Reid: “Certainly, the second half of the twentieth century saw much violence done to received liturgical tradition, officially and authoritatively (before anyone mistranslated or abused the new rites) and that is the big issue. But not everything in the reforms of the 1960’s or the 1950’s was wrong. We simply cannot exclude liturgical reform and development a priori. Reactionary intransigence does not provide a legitimate response to the grave problems of some twentieth century liturgical reform. To adopt such a position is both a-historical and is to condemn the Sacred Liturgy to become an archaic museum exhibit rambling throughout history not capable of the appropriate, proportionate, indeed organic development which is integral to the living organism that is the liturgy of the Roman rite.”

Rev. Dr.  Christopher Smith: “Refocusing the Church’s efforts from the revision of liturgical rites to suit ever-changing contemporary demands rationally considered, to entering into the mystery of the Christ of faith in the liturgy which makes that happen, re-establishes that it is the law of prayer which indeed grounds belief. The primacy of the communal worship of the Church, the primacy of Christ, reverses the anthropocentric obsession of man with his own perceived needs and gives him the space to transcend them to something infinitely greater.”

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski: “The Ordinary Form lectionary is gravely flawed because of its overall conception, its unwieldy bulk, its politically correct omissions, and its watering down of key spiritual goods emphasized in the old readings. No human mind can relate to so great a quantity of biblical text spread out over multiple years: it is out of proportion to the natural cycle of the year and its seasons; it is out of proportion to the supernatural cycle of the liturgical year.”

Intermission during the conference

Dr. Michael Foley: “One of the effects of almost every major reform to the general calendar since 1950 has been a reduction in recapitulation.”

Dom Philip Anderson: “Monks and nuns, while most of mankind sleeps, accomplish this more complete, this “professional” work of praise, as they keep watch in the night, chanting the psalms under the grace of the New Law, which, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, is the grace of the Holy Spirit. So there the monk stands, whether he is a priest or a lay brother, at his post as watchman, offering the Divine Praise at night and, at the break of day, the Holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist. He thus accomplishes as never could be done before Christ, the work of bringing back to the Father, to the Creator, the praise of all creation, grouped mystically around the Christian altar.”

Another day of excellent speakers at the Sacra Liturgia Conference in New York. The Mass for the Feast of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions was celebrated in St. Catherine Of Siena Church according to the Missale Romanum 2002. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was celebrant and Bishop Frank Caggiano was homilist. The Schola Cantorum of the Church of St. Agnes, New York, under the direction of James Wetzel performed the Mass in E Flast Major by Josef Rheinberger.

Most Reverend Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone

Matthew Menedez

Rev. Dr. Allan While, O.P.

Rev. Dr. Kurt Belsole OSB

Rev. Dr. Richard Cipolla

The second day of the New York Sacra Liturgia conference. A day long series of outstanding presentations – followed by Solemn High Mass at St. Catherine of Siena church. The celebrant was Father Sean Connolly of the New York Archdiocese, ordained on May 23 of this year. He imparted his priestly blessing after the mass.

Among the musical forces performing this evening was the children’s schola of St. Mary’s, Norwalk, Connecticut.

A complete set of photos can be found on the Conference Flickr account.

This afternoon, at the Kaye Playhouse in New York, His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke gave the opening address for the Sacra Liturgia USA conference. His talk was entitled “Beauty in the Sacred Liturgy and the Beauty of a Holy Life.” Later he presided over Solemn Vespers at St. Catherine of Siena Church.

Thursday, June 4th at 7:00 p.m.
St. Anthony of Padua Church
Monmouth between 6th and 7th Sts., Jersey City
Missa Cantata, Feast of Corpus Christi
Followed by a procession and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament

Tuesday, June 9th
Catholic Directors’ Event at Church of the Holy Innocents, NYC

In these days when the media promotes the culture of death, violence, and immorality, there are very few Catholic filmmakers who are trying to influence the media in a Catholic way. Acclaimed Australian filmmaker Liam Firmager and Connecticut’s own Jim Morlino are two of these Catholic filmmakers whose mission is to promote the culture of life, holiness, and Catholic doctrine.

Both Liam Firmager and Jim Morlino will be at Holy Innocents on Tuesday, June 9, 2015. On that day, there will be a Sung Mass at 6:00 p.m. and two talks in the parish hall immediately after the Mass. Holy Innocents’ volunteer choir Vox in Rama will sing the Messe Royale (Premier ton) by Henri Dumont.

The two directors will share some brief clips of their latest films, and host a freewheeling discussion on the importance of the vital role of Catholics in cinema in the midst of the Culture of Death!

Jim Morlino: Biography
Jim Morlino was born in 1959 in Los Angeles CA, and grew up in San Diego, where he received a BA in Music from the University of San Diego, and an MFA in Drama from the University of California, San Diego. He moved to New York City in 1989 and worked as an actor for a number of years in film, television, and theater. He then spent 10 years as an audio and video producer for various Catholic groups and charities.

In 2010, started his own production company, Navis Pictures (www.navispictures.com), which specializes in the unique film genre of “Children’s Cinema.” Two of his independent feature films, St. Bernadette of Lourdes and The War of the Vendee have been broadcast worldwide on EWTN. The War of the Vendee won “Best Director” from the JPII International Film Festival in Miami, and “Best Film for Young Audiences” from the Mirabile Dictu International Catholic Film Festival at the Vatican.

FILMS TO BE SCREENED – Clips from The War of the Vendee, St Bernadette of Lourdes, & How to Make a Movie.

Liam Firmager: Biography
Australian film director Liam Firmager has been busily directing films, TVC’s and music videos over the past decade as well as working extensively with other noted directors such as AFI winner Geoffrey Wright & AFI winner Frank Howson, as both cinematographer and editor. Liam is responsible for the critically acclaimed documentary on Australian motorsport legend Peter Brock – King Of The Mountain, and is currently filming the life story of Detroit rock star Suzi Quatro.

Frustrated by a distinct lack of Catholic inspired themes in cinema, Liam decided to shift his energies into seeking to produce films and documentaries with a strong Catholic flavor – resulting in his feature length documentary, titled The Life and Times of Gabriel Garcia Moreno.

FILM TO BE SCREENED – The Life and Times of Gabriel Garcia Moreno

Gabriel Garcia Moreno is the definitive story of Catholic Ecuadorian President Gabriel Garcia Moreno who was assassinated in 1875 after spending his life fighting for conservative values in Ecuador. Moreno was the first world leader to consecrate his nation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and to sign a concordat with the Vatican.

This infuriated the liberal masonic lodges in South America, which led them to plan Moreno’s assassination. He was attacked on the steps of the Presidential palace in August of 1875 – his final words were “Dios no muere” (God does not die). Blessed Pope Pius IX declared that Moreno “died a victim for the Faith and Christian charity for his beloved country.”

The following report and photos are from Arrys Ortanez:

Solemn Mass (EF) for Ember Friday in Pentecost celebrated by the newly-ordained Rev. Fr. Sean Connolly of the Archdiocese of NY, a dear friend to The Church of the Holy Innocents where the Mass was celebrated. This was also one of the celebrant’s first Masses of Thanksgiving. Father was assisted by the Rev. Fr. Joseph Zwosta of the Diocese of Brooklyn. Fr. Stephen Giulietti acted as deacon and Fr. Father-Matthew Mac Donald as Sub-Deacon and Mr. Eddy José Toribio as Master of Ceremonies. Holy Innocents was treated to full house that night with clergy also in choir. The Schola of Holy Innocents sang Missa St. Crucis in G Major by Rheinberger.

N.B. Father Connolly was ordained to the priesthood on Saturday May 23 by Cardinal Dolan in St. Patrick’s Cathedral to serve as a diocesan priest. We extend our prayers and best wishes to Father Connolly.