Yesterday evening, Traditional Mass of the Lord’s Supper was offered at St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT.

A beautiful Tenebrae was sung at St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT yesterday evening.

Our schedule of Traditional liturgies for Holy Week can be found at this link.

The following churches will have Traditional Masses and liturgies on Holy Week. March 24-March 31.

Palm Sunday March 24

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, Solemn Mass 10 am; procession of palms, St. Matthew’s Passion by Victoria

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Bridgeport, Low Mass 8:30 am; 10:15 am Blessing of Palms, Procession and Solemn Mass

St. Patrick Oratory, Waterbury, 8 am Confessions; 8:30 low Mass; 10 am Confessions; 10:30 Blessing of Palms and High Mass

Sacred Heart Oratory, Redding, 12 pm Mass with Procession

St. Martha Church, Enfield, 11 am

New York

Holy Innocents, New York, NY, 9 am; 10:30 am

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 9:30 am-12 noon Confessions; 10 am Blessing of Palms, procession, Missa Cantata (the liturgy begins outdoors on 116th Street), 4:30 pm Solemn Vespers, Rosary, Benediction

St. Cecilia Church, Brooklyn, 2 pm

Our Lady of Peace, Brooklyn, 9:20 am

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside (Queens) 9:30 am

St. Rocco Church, Glen Cove, Long Island, 11:30 am Mass and blessing of palms

St. Paul, Yonkers, 2:30 pm

Annunciation Church, Crestwood, 11:00 am (note earlier time)

Immaculate Conception, Sleepy Hollow, Missa Cantata 4 pm

St. Patrick Church, Newburgh, 3 pm

St. Joseph Church, Middletown, 10:15 am

St. Mary and St. Andrew, Ellenville, 11:30 am

Sacred Heart Church, Esopus, 10:45 am Confessions; 11:30 am Mass

Holy Trinity Church, Poughkeepsie, 1:30 pm

New Jersey

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, 8:30 am Blessing of palms; procession, Missa Cantata

Our Lady of Victories, Harrington Park, 8 am

St. Anthony of Padua Oratory, 7:30 am; 9 am; 10:30 am blessing of palms, procession and High Mass

Our Lady of Fatima, Pequannock, 7 am; 9 am; 10:30 am; 1:30 pm; 5 pm

Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, Raritan, 10:30 am, Missa Cantata

St. John Church, Allentown, 12:30 pm Solemn Mass with blessing of palms and procession

St. Catherine Church, Middletown, 9:00 am

St. Gianna Beretta Molla Church, Northfield, 12 noon

St. Dominic Church, Brick, 12 noon

Holy Monday March 25

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, Confessions 6-8 pm.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Bridgeport, confessions 7:15 am; Mass 7:45 am

Sacred Heart Oratory, Redding, Mass 6 pm

New York

Holy Innocents Church, New York, 6 pm Mass

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 7 am and 7;45 am Low Mass; 1-3 pm confessions; 6-9 pm confessions

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside (Queens), 7 am

St. Paul Church, Yonkers, 12 noon

New Jersey

St. Catherine Church, Middletown, 12 noon Mass

Holy Tuesday March 26

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, 8 am Low Mass; Confessions 11:30 am & 6-7 pm

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Bridgeport, Confession 7:15 am; Mass 7:45 am

Sacred Heart Oratory, Redding, Mass 6 pm

New York

Holy Innocents Church, New York, NY, 6 pm

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 7 and 7:45 am low Mass

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside (Queens), 7 am

Spy Wednesday March 27

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, 8 am Low Mass; 11:30 am Confessions, 7 pm Tenebrae of Maundy Thurday

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Bridgeport, Confession 7:15 am; Mass 7:45 am, Tenebrae 7 pm

Sacred Heart Oratory, Redding, Mass 6 pm

New York

Holy Innocents Church, New York, NY, 6 pm Mass; 7:30 pm Tenebrae

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 7 and 7:45 am Low Mass

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside (Queens), 7 am; 7 pm Tenebrae

St. Paul Church, Yonkers, 12 noon

New Jersey

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, 7 pm Tenebrae

St. John the Baptist, Allentown, 7 pm

Holy Thursday March 28

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, Solemn Mass 7 pm; Vespers and stripping of the altars 9 pm; Vigil before the Blessed Sacrament 9:30 pm at the Altar of Repose in the downstairs chapel

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Bridgeport, 11 – 11:45 am confessions, 12 noon Solemn Mass followed by procession fo the Blessed Sacrament, Vespers and stripping of the altars; 6 pm Mandatum foot washing ceremony; 7 pm. Tenebrae; Church open for adoration until 10 pm.

Sacred Heart Oratory, Redding, 9 pm Mass with procession to Altar of Repose

St. Patrick Oratory, Waterbury, 3 pm Confessions; 6 pm High Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Adoration at the altar of repose until midnight

St. Martha Church, Enfield, 7:30 pm

New York

Holy Innocents Church, New York, NY, 6 pm Solemn Mass of the Lord’s Supper, All-night adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrement at the Repository. The church will close at 12 midight for those not staying all night and will reopen at 6 am on Good Friday

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 9 am Tenebrae candlelight Matins and Lauds; 7 pm Solemn Mass of the Lord’s Supper; 8 pm Procession to the Altar of Repose and Adoration until Midnight

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside (Queens), 7 pm Mass; Adoration at Altar of repose until midnight

St. Mary and St. Andrew, Ellenville, 8:15 pm

New Jersey

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, 8:30 pm Mass and Solemn Procession to the Altar of Repose

Our Lady of Fatima Chapel, Pequannock, 7 pm

St. Anthony of Padua Oratory, West Orange, 7 pm

Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, Raritan, 7 pm

St. John the Bapist Church, Allentown, 8 pm Traditional Latin Holy Thursday Mass followed by adoration at the altar of repose until midnight

St. Catherine Church, Middletown, Latin Mass 12 noon

Good Friday March 29

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, 3 pm Mass of the Presanctified; 7 pm Porcession of the Cristo Muerto and burial of the Body of Christ

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Bridgeport, 11-11:45 am Confessions; 12 noon Mass of the Presanctified followed by Vespers; 6 pm Stations of the Cross; 7 pm Tenebrae

Sacred Heart Oratory, Redding, 3 pm Solemn Liturgy of the Passion; 6pm Candlelit Stations of the Cross; Lenten soup and bread

St. Patrick Oratory, Waterbury, 12 noon Confessions; 2 pm Stations of the Cross; 3 pm High Mass of the Presanctified

St. Martha Church, Enfield, 3 pm

New York

Holy Innocents Church, New York, NY, Adoration fo the Blessed Sacrament until 12 noon; 12 noon 7 Last Words preached by Fr. Miara; 3 pm Solemn Afternoon liturgical services; 6 pm Stations of the cross

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 9 am Tenebrae Candlelight Matins and Lauds; 12 noon-1:30 pm East Harlem Good Friday procession starting at St. Francis de Sales Church; 3 pm Mass of the Presanctified

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside (Queens), 3 pm Mass of the Presanctified; Adoration at the Lord’s grave until midnight

New Jersey

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, 3 pm Mass of the Presanctified. Street procession following the service

Our Lady of Fatima Chapel, Pequannock, 3 pm Presanctified liturgy

St Anthony of Padua Oratory, West Orange, 1 pm Confessions; 3 pm Solemn Mass of the Presanctified.

St. John the Bapist Church, Allentown, 12 noon Traditional Latin Good Friday liturgy

St. Catherine Church, Middletown, 12 noon Latin liturgy of Good Friday

Blessed Sacrament Chapel, Raritan, 3 pm

Holy Saturday March 30

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, 12:30 Blessing of the Easter food in gym; 7 pm Great Vigil of Easter followed by a festive reception in the school gym

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Bridgeport, 8-8:45 am Confessions; 3 pm Easter Vigil followed by blessing of Easter baskets and Compline

Sacred Heart Oratory, Redding, 10 am blessing of the Easter foods; 8:30 pm Easter Vigil

St. Patrick Oratory, Waterbury, 10 am Confessions; 12 noon Easter Vigil, Blession of Easter baskets and reception in the hall (please note that this liturgy of Easter Vigil does not fulfill one’ s Easter Sunday obligation)

St. Martha Church, Enfield, 7 pm Easter Vigil

New York

Holy Innocents Church, New York, NY, 6 pm Easter Vigil, followed by festive reception

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 9 am Tenbrae candlelight Matins and Lauds; 6 pm Confessions; 7 pm Solemn Easter Vigil; blessing of fire and paschal candle will take place at the 115th Street entrance

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside (Queens), 8 pm Easter Vigil

New Jersey

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, 10:30 pm Easter Vigil

Our Lady of Fatima Chapel, Pequannock, 8:30 pm Easter Vigil

St. Anthony of Padua Oratory, West Orange, 12 noon, High Mass of the Vigil of Easter

Shine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, Raritan, 8 pm Easter Vigil

St. John the Bapist Church, Allentown, 3:30 pm Traditional Latin Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday March 31

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, 10 am Solemn Mass

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Bridgeport, 8:30 am low Mass; 10:15 Solemn Mass; 6 pm Solemn Vespers and Benediction

St. Patrick Oratory, Waterbury, 8 am Confessions; 8:30 low Mass; 10 am Confessions; 10;30 High Mass

Sacred Heart Oratory, Redding, 7 am, 12 noon

Immaculate Conception High School Chapel, 12:30 pm

St. Martha Church, Enfield, 11:30 am

St. Augustine, North Branford, 11 am

New York

Holy Innocents Church, New York, NY, 9 am Low Mass; 10:30 am High Mass followed by festive reception

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 10:30 am Missa Cantata; 4:30 pm Solemn Paschal Vespers, Rosary and Benediction

Our Lady of Peace, Brooklyn, 9:30 am

St. Cecilia Church, Brooklyn, 2 pm

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside (Queens), 9:30 am Mass

St. Rocco Church, Glen Cove, Long Island, 11:30 am, Missa Cantata

St. Paul Church, Yonkers, 1:30 pm

Immaculate Conception, Sleepy Hollow, Missa Cantata 2 pm

St. Joseph Church, Middletown, 10:15 am

St. Mary and St. Andrew, Ellenville, 11:30 am

Holy Trinity Church, Poughkeepsie, 2:00 pm

Sacred Heart Church, Esopus, 10:45 am Confessions; 11:30 am Mass

New Jersey

Our Lady of Victories, Harrington Park, 8 am

Our Lady of Fatima Chapel, Pequannock, 7 am, 9 am, 11 am, 1:30 pm, no Mass at 5 pm

St. Anthony of Padua Oratory, West Orange, 7:30 am; 9 am, 11 am High Mass

Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, Raritan, 10:30 am Missa Cantata

St. John the Bapist Church, Allentown, 12:30 pm Solemn Mass

St. Gianna Beretta Molla Church, Northfield, 12 noon

St. Dominic, Brick, 12 noon

by Fr. Richard Gennaro Cipolla

Epiphany Parish, Tampa

Rome is a city I know well and love.  It has been one of the blessings of my life to organize and lead tours of Italy for small groups from my parishes, for friends, and for the many students I have taught.  There are places and things that one must see in Rome like St Peter’s basilica and the other major basilicas, the catacombs, the Pantheon and so forth. But in addition to the must-sees, I always take my groups to the Palazzo Doria-Pamphili, one of the great and noble palazzi built by families of great wealth and power, all of whom collected great art.

The Doria-Pamphili family still lives in a small part of the palace—a mere 15 rooms.  The rest of the palace now displays the paintings and the sculptures that they collected of 300 years. The most famous of their collection of paintings is the portrait of the Pamphili family member who became Pope Innocent X, painted by the Spanish artist Velasquez.  Once you have seen in this painting the eyes of Innocent X, you never forget them. And you know that he did not suffer fools gladly.

But I always take my groups to view a painting in this palazzo that is not nearly as famous. It is by the artist Caravaggio, who became famous for his later paintings with their drama and use of chiaroscuro.  This is an early Caravaggio, and the subject is the Flight to Egypt. The scene depicts a pause of the Holy Family on their way to Egypt to escape the murderous wrath of King Herod.  To the right Mary is bending over the baby Jesus who is asleep on her lap. To the left in the foreground is the figure of Joseph holding a sheet of music for an angel who is playing a lullaby on a violin for the sleeping baby Jesus.  Joseph stands there holding the music sheet with a look of a man doing  what he knows he should be doing at this particular time and place, a look of determination and peace.  That was one of many moments in his life in which he fulfilled his singular vocation to be the guardian of his wife, Mary, and her Son. And he did this in the silence of obedience in love, and he understood as no other man has ever known the virtue of obligo.

I learned the meaning of that Italian word obligo from my father Severino.  He came to this country at age 14 from Southern Italy, a place devastated by World War I.  He cut hair in a barber shop until he became a policeman on the Providence Police Force in Rhode Island.  Often, after supper—we ate supper not dinner—he would get up from the table, and put on his coat and hat—men always wore hats in those days when they went out. My mother would ask: Sam, where are you going? The answer:  To a wake.  My mother:  Whose wake is it?  My father: My friend Mike’s cousin. My mother:  Why are you going to a wake for someone you never knew?  My father:  I have to go because Mike is my friend.  My mother would roll her eyes and go do the dishes.

Every Christmas morning my brother and I had to go with my father to make  a round of visits.  One of these was to Billy and Teresa Rao, my parents’ best man and maid of honor at their wedding.  We stayed for only 15 minutes, enough time for my father and Billy to have a shot of sweet vermouth.  When we go back into the car, I asked my father:  Daddy, why do we have to the Rao’s every Christmas morning?  His answer:  Because they stood up for me and your mother at our wedding. That phrase “stand up for” was an English translation of the phrase  in Italian for agreeing to be a best man and maid of honor.  I did not understand what all this meant.

Do you know when I finally understood that  obligo is linked to an act of love?  It was many years later after my father died, when by the grace of God I became, against all odds, a Catholic priest, and it happened that I was the celebrant of the Traditional Good Friday Liturgy that particular year. At the time for the Veneration of the Cross, as is the custom, I took off my shoes and socks to begin the threefold approach to the Cross laying at the foot of the altar.  And as I knelt to kiss the Cross in adoration, I finally understood what St. Joseph and my father understood in the silence of their hearts: that obligo is what one takes on in personal sacrifice in response to love, and not love in general but personal love based on the love of God for us in the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross, the Sacrifice of God for me. Oh, my friends, as we approach Holy Week, let us ask St. Joseph for his prayers that we may live lives that reflect the love of God in Jesus Christ, and to have the courage to undertake and put into practice

Directed by Alejandro Monteverde

Angel Studios (Distributor)

Released March 8, 2024

Mother Cabrini (as I will henceforth call her) was an icon of the years immediately preceding the Vatican Council. For in 1946 did she not become the First American Saint? Her images are found in many of the older churches in New York City, as you can see on this blog under The Churches of New York. Later, she fell into nearly total obscurity even though she – or at least most of her – is buried near the Cloisters in northern Manhattan. To rekindle devotion to a saint with so many local ties, the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny has sponsored masses and pilgrimages to this shrine culminating in festive liturgies. Our last mass was in 2014 – but several other Traditionalist groups have since returned. (You can find descriptions and many pictures of all these events by searching for Cabrini on this site.)

So, I felt obligated to view this film – with some trepidation. For Roman Catholic inspirational films generally have not been, in my experience, a successful genre.  My disquiet was increased by what I saw in the theater before the film even began. Posters advertised a coming exploitation film Immaculate – apparently about a Rupnik-like convent in Italy.  And one of the coming attractions dealt with the infamous Cabrini-Green project in Chicago! 

The good news about Cabrini is that I could sit through the entire lengthy film – it held my attention. It is a well photographed film that moves on briskly despite its substantial length. I cannot say, though, that Cabrini is a masterpiece of cinematic art. The film is anything but subtle – the director goes to work with a sledgehammer. The many dramatic crises in the movie are telegraphed to us a mile in advance. Throughout the film the director presents to us a series of confrontations between Mother Cabrini and the pope, Archbishop Corrigan of New York (on one occasion, in a loud exchange of views in an empty Catholic Church!), a Caruso-like Italian tenor, the mayor of New York and the entire Italian parliament. I found the style of these encounters particularly unconvincing – although I would defer to Cabrini experts as to their historicity.  At other places the director employs symbolism or dream sequences to vary the visual language of the film.  These images, however, were not fully integrated into the narrative and their significance not immediately clear.

The heavy handedness of the direction is reinforced by a grandiose, operatic score. For example, at several key points of the narrative what seems to be a direct quote from the prelude to Wagner’s Das Rheingold is played! Several of these dramatic climaxes reference an early near-death-by-drowning experience of Cabrini. In these sequences Cabrini is depicted almost as a Rhine maiden in Wagner’s opera! 

I didn’t think the production recreates a believable 19th century atmosphere – for me, a major disappointment. The sets have very little resemblance to anything one can still see in the older sections of New York City. (That’s understandable; the film was mostly shot in Buffalo). Some of these sets seemed downright strange. So, for example, in repetitive scenes in the New York archbishop’s immense office, numerous candles, placed on all kinds of different candlesticks, are burning regardless of the time of day. And in the background, through a window, we see a church that definitely is not St. Patrick’s cathedral.

But in a film like this the didactic purpose takes precedence over artistic flights of fancy. And the purpose is to show us a portrait of Mother Cabrini. She is depicted as a modern American feminist. Throughout the film, she must confront – sometimes forcefully and loudly – the white male hierarchy that ruled the Church and the City.  Again and again, she accuses them of blocking her proposals just because she is a woman. With several exceptions the male characters of the movie are depicted as brutal oppressors, violent thugs and bullies, bureaucratic functionaries and in the case of the Catholic clergy in New York, incompetents or ninnies. Exceptions are a helpful Irish doctor, a reporter for the New York Times (naturally!), and Pope Leo XIII, portrayed by an actor who does not resemble at all the historic personage but acts as a Francis-like universal manager.  Strangely, the only female character other than Cabrini who receives any development is a friendly prostitute (one of the “marginalized”!) who becomes a companion to Mother Cabrini’s band of sisters.

America is depicted as an almost nightmarish world of oppression, prejudice and exploitation. Someone even states ”This land is built on the blood of immigrants!” – or words to that effect. Honestly, one wonders why all these Italian immigrants were coming to such a country in the first place! Mother Cabrini acts as a secular social reformer, founding a succession of orphanages and then a new hospital, all in the teeth of opposition from Church and state. Cabrini speaks out against exploitation, racial and ethnic prejudice and battles for the economic rights of immigrants. She organizes political and media backing and assembles a multi-ethnic, multi-religious circle of financial supporters for her hospital.  

The film does not try to establish any connection between what Mother Cabrini is doing and the Catholic religion. Holy pictures – including those of the Sacred Heart – are seen in rooms and on the exterior of buildings in the Italian quarter, but they seem to be mainly decorative.  Apart from a funeral procession, no liturgical acts are shown. Nobody seems to pray either. At times, at dramatic moments of frustration, Mother Cabrini does seem to meditate, seated by herself (once in a chapel). 

In fact, this film completely distorts the role of the Catholic Church in Mother Cabrini’s mission. Cabrini was not unique as the leader of a female religious order operating in missionary territory. The film does not mention the role of the Scalabrinian order in directing her to the United States in the first place and then supporting her initiatives. The hostile reception from the clergy she receives upon landing in New York is exaggerated. Archbishop Corrigan was indeed at first cool but later he supported Mother Cabrini in her plans as well as other aspects of the Italian apostolate (like national parishes). Cabrini benefited from the support of several wealthy American women from an early stage of her New York apostolate.  Yes, there was friction with the hierarchy, some parish priests and the non-Italian Catholic laity. But from the beginning Mother Cabrini also could draw on the support of significant lay and clerical patrons and on the accomplishments of her predecessors. That included the Catholic Irish, much-maligned here, who by 1889 had created a functioning system of Catholic parishes, schools, orphanages and hospitals on Manhattan Island (and had developed into a dominant political force as well).

But of course, the Catholic Church also was an immensely positive spiritual force among the Italian immigrants themselves. The depiction in this film of the Italian community as a disorganized rabble is misleading. The immigrants created societies, parishes and guilds relating to the province, town or village from where they came. As time went on, they recreated in America the processions and festivals they had celebrated in Italy. The family structures so important among Italians also provided major support in the new country. 

And what of Mother Cabrini’s own spirituality? For a witness to that, we have the nasty remarks of Ida Frederike Görres – a professional hagiographer! – writing in 1959 when Cabrini’s celebrity was at its height. The saint’s piety, however, was not at all to the taste of representatives of the proto-Conciliar movement in Western Europe: 

“I have been ruminating on Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, surely a classical example of that special, perfectly genuine and lawful brand of Christian piety which can be completely unintelligent. On the face of it, that is, for obviously all these saints are, in fact, filled with the Holy Ghost; but with them the Spirit makes no use of their “mind” as intelligence, only of their practical sense…. In 67 years of holiness truly lived – most of which were spent in working among people, and in the professional guidance of souls!   – there is no record of a single “unforgettable sentence.” …. Mute all of it. Completely devoid of self-reflection…What can this mean? That charity – i.e., wisdom lived – can exist without the mind. 1)

I will not speculate on the truth of these condescending remarks. For Görres, Mother Cabrini was an exemplar of simple faith and piety, if regrettably not a so-called “spiritual genius.” But that is not what Mother Cabrini aspired to be!

This setting aside of what is specifically Catholic is a deliberate choice of the producers, who wanted to present Mother Cabrini as an “entrepreneur,” “an extraordinary woman who happened also to be a nun.” 2) Indeed, they may well consider such a “secular” depiction of the saint to be eminently Catholic. I am sure that Pope Francis, for example, would appreciate the exclusive focus of the film on social action and the defense of immigrant rights. I also suspect that the negative depiction of certain clerics in this film is based on the experiences of today, not of 1889. In summary, this film may not help us understand the life of a missionary sister in the United States of 1889, but it tells us a lot about the self-understanding of leading Catholic circles in 2024.

Now Cabrini ends with a newsreel of her canonization in 1946, preceded by a cartoon showing the spread of her order all over the world. But what has happened since then? In the last few decades apostolate after apostolate of her order, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, has closed: the hospitals in New York City and Chicago, the high school next to her shrine in Manhattan, Cabrini University near Philadelphia in this very year.  Even the property on the Hudson River which, as depicted in this film, Mother Cabrini acquired in 1890 for her orphanage was sold last year to the Coptic Orthodox Church. 3) (The institution itself closed years earlier after a series of scandals and crimes.) Mother Cabrini’s order seems to have followed the same downward trajectory to “completion” as have other mainstream Catholic women’s’ religious communities. Assuming the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart have adopted an understanding of mission such as that ascribed to Mother Cabrini by this film, these consequences are unsurprising and inevitable. For people want to rally to a saint who still lives with us today, not a social reformer of the past, however well-intentioned and indomitable. 

1. Görres, Ida Frederike, Broken Lights at 364 (The Newman Press, Westminster, 1964 (German original 1960))
2. Basile, Paul, Cabrini Film a Miracle in the Making, (Fra Noi, 2/18/2024)
3. “A Catholic organization sells 522 acres in West Park to another faith-based group,” (HudsonValley1.com, 8/25/2023)

We received word that David Hughes will be moving out of Connecticut to the Denver area soon.

SOURCE

It is a tragic loss for the Catholic Church in this region. David Hughes was instrumental in creating a culture of musical excellence, especially for the celebration of the Traditional Mass, in Fairfield County and surrounding areas. He was an early, passionate advocate of the Traditional Latin Mass and of the music written for it. For many years he directed the music of St. Mary’s Norwalk, where he led a professional schola, the parish choir, a men’s schola, children’s choirs–I think at one time there were 5 or 6 groups simultaneously under his direction. He travelled around to other churches, helping to establish in the Catholic Church a new level of outstanding musical performance. He provided the music at many masses and events this society sponsored (you can find the exhaustive photographic record posted on this site). David also has had national and international success – for example, he led a large schola of children to sing at World Youth Day. More recently, he formed and directed the Viri Galilei, a group of men who sing chant all over the region.  

Since 2019 our contacts with David have diminished. A whole new set of great musicians has appeared at local Catholic churches. Yet David was the first – and he demonstrated the greatest flexibility of all in leading every kind of musical group. We will miss him here – but we wish him luck and hope to welcome him back often!