In the traditional calendar, Saturday, January 6th is the Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord. The following churches will be offering traditional Masses. Please inform us of other churches in the area that are offering this Mass.

January 5th, The Vigil of Epiphany

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, 8 am Low Mass; 9:15 Solemn Mass for the Regina Pacis community, all are welcome to attend.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Oratory, Bridgeport, 7:45 am Mass; 6 pm Mass and blessing of Epiphany water

St. Patrick Oratory, Waterbury, 8 am Mass and blessing of Epiphany water

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 7 am Low Mass, 7:45 am Low Mass; 10 am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament all day; 7 pm First Vespers and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, blessing of Epiphany water, chalk and scaramentals

Annunciation Church, Crestwood, NY, January 5th, blessing of Epiphany water at 7pm, bring empty bottles/vessels, which you will be able to fill from the larger vessels in the Sanctuary after the service. 

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 8 pm blessing of Epiphany water

St Josaphat’s, Bayside, Queens, 5pm Blessing of Epiphany water, 7pm Mass.

Our Lady of Fatima, Pequannock, NJ, 9 am Mass followed by blessing of Epiphany water

St. Anthony of Padua Oratory, West Orange, NJ, blessing Epiphany water at 6 pm.

St. John Vianney Church, Colonia, NJ, Holy Hour of Reparation to the Sacred Heart, 3-4 pm; Blessing of Holy Water at 4 pm. Bring 1 gallon bottles of water.

January 6th, Epiphany

Connecticut

Mary Church, Greenwich Ave, Greenwich, CT, Missa Cantata 8 am in the lower chapel followed by First Saturday devotions.  The chapel is accessed through a separate entrance to the left of the church entrance.

Sacred Heart Oratory, Redding, CT, Low Mass, 8:30 am; Solemn Mass 10 am

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Oratory, Bridgeport, 10:15 am

St. Patrick Oratory, Waterbury, 8 am

New York

Church of Holy Innocents, New York, NY, 6 am, 1 pm

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 7:45 Low Mass; 9 am Missa Cantata; 7 pm Second Vespers

Most Holy Redeemer, New York, NY, Solemn Mass, 12 noon.

St. Vincent Ferrer, New York, NY, Solemn High Dominican Rite Mass, 9:30 AM

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

St. Paul the Apostle, Yonkers, 12 noon

Sacred Heart Church, Esopus NY, 11:30 AM

St. Mary/St. Andrew, Ellenville, NY, 12:30 pm

New Jersey

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, 11:00 am – blessing of Epiphany water followed by Mass

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

St. Anthony of Padua Oratory, West Orange, NJ, 9:00 am – low Mass, 11:00 am – High Mass of Epiphany  (N.B. Blessing of Epiphany water will occur on Friday, Jan. 5th at 6:00 pm.)

Shrine Church of the Blessed Sacrament, Raritan, 9 am

Corpus Christi, South River, Solemn Mass 12 noon

We are reliably informed that two minutes before today’s Traditional Mass a decree of Archbishop Leonard Blair of Hartford was read suppressing the Latin Mass in New Haven as of January 14. There had been no previous communication with the congregation. They have been referred to St. Patrick’s, the church of the Institute of Christ the King, in Waterbury!

This is the tentative end of the apostolate of the St. Gregory Society which will mark its 37th anniversary soon. The St. Gregory Society has played a historic role in the rediscovery of the celebration of the Traditional Mass with complete music and ceremony. The Society’s influence has been felt all over the East Coast of the United States and beyond. You can find many references to their work over the years by searching this blog.

This action is entirely consistent with the pattern of contemptuous treatment of the faithful (and of priests) by Archbishop Blair displayed, for example, in his recent drastic restructuring of the Catholic parishes of New Haven. And the incoming coadjutor archbishop has been frank in his disdain for the laity. It is one facet of the tragic decline of an Archdiocese once so glorious.

The following churches will offer Traditional Masses this Monday January 1, the Feast of the Circumcision, the Octave Day of Christmas.

If you know of a Traditional Mass to add to our schedule, please notify us.

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, 9 am.

St. Pius X, Fairfield, 7 pm, in the chapel

Sacred Heart Oratory, Redding, 12 noon, Bishop Frank Caggiano preaching. 

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Oratory, Bridgeport, 8 am Confession; Low Mass 8:30 am; 9:45 Confessions; High Mass 10:15 am.  (On New Year’s Eve Holy Hour and Te Deum at 6 pm)

St. Patrick Oratory, Waterbury, Low Mass 12 noon

New York

Church of the Holy Innocents, New York, NY, 9 am Low Mass; 10:30 am High Mass (n.b. there are no Confessions on New Year’s Day)

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 10:30 am Missa Cantata

Our Lady of Refuge, Bronx, 1 pm.

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside, Queens, 10:30 am

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

St. Paul the Apostle, Yonkers, 12 noon.

Immaculate Conception, Sleepy Hollow, 4 pm low Mass

Sacred Heart Church, Esopus, 11:30 am

New Jersey

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, 9 am.

St. John Vianney, Colonia, Missa Cantata at 12AM on January 1st and a Holy Hour just before Mass.

Our Lady of Fatima Chapel, Pequannock, 7 am, 9 am, 11 am, 1:30 pm, 5 pm

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

Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, 10 am

St. John the Baptist, Allentown, 11 am

January 6, The Feast of the Epiphany

St. Mary Church, Greenwich Ave, Greenwich, CT, Missa Cantata 8 am in the lower chapel followed by First Saturday devotions. The chapel is accessed through a separate entrance to the left of the church entrance.

Sacred Heart Oratory, Redding, CT, Low Mass, 8:30 am; Solemn Mass 10 am

Church of Holy Innocents, New York, NY, 6 am, 1 pm

Most Holy Redeemer, New York, NY, Solemn Mass, 12 noon.

St. Vincent Ferrer, New York, NY, Solemn High Dominican Rite Mass, 9:30 AM

Annunciation Church, Crestwood, NY, January 5th, blessing of Epiphany water at 7pm, bring empty bottles/vessels, which you will be able to fill from the larger vessels in the Sanctuary after the service. 

St. Mary/St. Andrew, Ellenville, NY, 12:30 pm

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, 11:00 am – blessing of Epiphany water followed by Mass

St. Anthony of Padua Oratory, West Orange, NJ, 9:00 am – low Mass, 11:00 am – High Mass of Epiphany (N.B. Blessing of Epiphany water will occur on Friday, Jan. 5th at 6:00 pm.)

Bishop Athanasius Schneider has launched a spiritual crusade asking God’s help for the Church.

This crusade was announced on Bishop Schneider’s website for the Confraternity of Our Lady of Fatima. See link.

“In the face of the tremendous crisis now afflicting the Catholic Church, the Confraternity of Our Lady of Fatima is launching a worldwide spiritual crusade consisting in the daily prayer of the Holy Rosary and practice of the Five First Saturdays, to implore, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, God’s help and intervention, particularly for the Holy See in Rome.

“This spiritual crusade will begin on the first Saturday of January 2024 (January 6) and conclude on the first Saturday of December 2024 (December 7).”

We urge our members and readers to attend First Saturday Mass and devotions beginning on January 6, 2024 as well as reciting the rosary daily for Bishop Schneider’s intention: “to implore, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, God’s help and intervention, particularly for the Holy See in Rome.”

A Missa Cantata is offered every Saturday at St. Mary Church on Greenwich Ave in Greenwich in the downstairs chapel at 8 am, concluding with recitiation of the Rosary. Please consider attending this Mass for the First Saturdays in 2024 or another Mass of your choice.

The Solemnity of Christmas, December 25

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, Solemn Midnight Mass begining with carols at 11:30 pm; 10 am Solemn Mass on Christmas Day.

Sacred Heart Oratory, Redding, Midnight Mass; Christmas Day: 7 am Low Mass and 12 noon.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Bridgeport, Solemn Midnight Mass preceded by carols at 11:30 pm; Christmas Day: Low Mass 8:30 am, Solemn Mass 10:15 am (The church will be open in time for 8 am confessions)

St. Patrick Oratory, Waterbury, Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 10:30 pm carols, 11 pm Mass at night, reception in the church hall to follow; Christmas Day, 8:30 am Low Mass at Dawn, 10:30 am High Mass at Day.

St. Stanislaus Church, New Haven, the Low Mass for the Vigil of Christmas scheduled for 2 pm on Sunday December 24 has been canceled owing to the unavailability of a priest to celebrate; the High Mass for Christmas Day WILL be celebrated on Monday, December 25 at 2:00 pm.

St. Martha Church, Enfield, Midnight Mass; Christmas Day 9 am.

St. Michael Church, Pawcatuck, Christmas Day 11 am

New York

Holy Innocents Church, New York, NY, Solemn Midnight Mass preceded by carols at 11:30 pm and a procession to the manger and blessing of the crib, festive coffee hour following Midnight Mass; Christmas Day, 9 am Low Mass at Dawn, 10:30 am High Mass followed by Benediction. ( n.b. There are no confession on Christmas Day, the church will close shortly after the 12:30 Mass)

St. Vincent Ferrer Church, New York, NY, Dominican Rite Midnight Mass

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, Christmas Eve: 11 pm Confessions, 11:15 Carols, 11:50 Proclamation of the Nativity, 12 am Solemn Midnight Mass; Christmas Day, 10:30 am Missa Cantata

Our Lady of Peace, Brooklyn, 9:30 am

St. Josaphat, Bayside, Queens, Sung Midnight Mass; Carols begin at 11 pm; Christmas Day 9:30 am.

St. Rocco, Glen Cove, Long Island, Midnight Mass; Christmas Day 11:30 am

St. Michael, Farmingville, Midnight Mass; Christmas Day 9 am

St. Paul the Apostle, Yonkers, Christmas Eve 10 pm.

Annunciation Church, Crestwood, 11:30 am

Immaculate Conception, Sleepy Hollow, Christmas Day Mass, Missa Cantata, 2 pm (n.b. on Sunday, Dec. 24, the Mass for the Vigil of Christmas will be at 2 pm)

St. Patrick Church,Newburgh, 3 pm

Holy Trinity Church, Poughkeepsie, 8 am

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

Sacred Heart Church, Esopus, 11:30 am

St. Joseph Church, Middletown, 10:15 am High Mass

New Jersey

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, Midnight Mass beginning with carols at 11:30 pm, featuring Mozart’s Spatzenmesse. There is no TLM on the morning of Christmas.

Our Lady of Victories Church, Harrington Park, Christmas Eve 9 pm

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Newark, Midnight Mass

Our Lady of Fatima Chapel, Pequannock, Midnight Mass preceded by carols at 11 pm; Christmas Day 7 am Mass at Dawn, 8 am Mass at Dawn, 11 am Mass of Christmas Day, 1:30 pm Mass of Christmas Day ( no 5 pm Mass)

St. Anthony of Padua Oratory, West Orange, Christmas Eve: 10 pm confessions, 10:30 carols, 11 pm Solemn High Midnight Mass; Christmas Day: 9 am Low Mass, 11 am High Mass

Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Scarament, Raritan, Midnight Mass preceded by carols at 11:30 pm; Christmas Day, Missa Cantata 10 am

Corpus Christi, South River, Midnight Mass

St. John the Baptist, Allentown, Solemn Midnight Mass; Christmas Day, 7:30 am Low Mass

The “Declaration” Fiducia Supplicans authorizes “ordained ministers” to give blessings to couples in “irregular situations” and same-sex couples. By issuing Fiducia Supplicans Pope Francis returns directly to the project of transforming Church teaching on issues touching on sexual morality – a mission set aside temporarily in 2021 in favor of the war against liturgical traditionalism. But over the last two years these questions continued to be agitated, with the Pope’s approval, by the Synodal Path in Germany, hierarchies and individual bishops in Western Europe and finally by the Synod on Synodality worldwide. Fiducia Supplicans (“FS”) rivals Amoris Laetitia and Traditionis Custodes as Pope Francis’s most radical act.

The ”Presentation” to FS reveals the fundamental assumptions underlying the document. First, FS confirms Pope Francis as the source of Catholic teaching on morality, in line with the extreme understanding of papal power that had emerged by the time of Pius XII. FS is based on Francis’s “pastoral vision”; his statements are a “decisive element” for the work on this document – the curia is, after all “primarily an instrument at the service of the successor of Peter.” 20 of the 31 footnotes reference documents of Francis. Of the rest, the oldest reference is to the 1985 edition of Pope Paul VI’s “Divine office.” So, the entire history of Catholic tradition and magisterium on these issues is ignored, along with the directly relevant passages of Scripture. 

Second, the Presentation to FS, as well as the text, presents a “modernist” celebration of progress, creativity, spontaneity, evolution, expansion, and development. FS offers a “specific and innovative contribution,”  “permitting a broadening and enrichment of the classical understanding of blessings.”  FS “implies a real development from what has been said about blessings in the Magisterium and the official texts of the Church.” All this, while claiming to remain firm on what it calls the “traditional doctrine” of the Church regarding marriage.  

Indeed,  in this choice of words, can we not detect a distancing from the doctrine and discipline of marriage with their “fixed nature,” which FS claims to preserve intact? Is there not a sense that the “informal” “non-liturgical blessings” it introduces may be superior to merely liturgical provisions? For do not informal blessings “inhabit a realm of greater spontaneity and freedom” compared to the “impoverishment” produced by “ritualization?” This is entirely in line with the previous statements of Pope Francis, and for that matter the philosophy of the post-conciliar liturgy, with its love of freedom from “rigid” rules and spontaneity. 

FS claims to do all this by invoking the magic word “pastoral.”  By qualifying its provisions as pastoral,  FS claims to be able to avoid any discussion of the traditional understanding of marriage or of the liturgy. “The Church, moreover, must shy away from resting its pastoral praxis on the fixed nature of certain doctrinal or disciplinary schemes, especially when they lead to ‘a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism.’” But isn’t this radical distinction between the pastoral, on the one hand, and doctrine or discipline, on the other, unsustainable? Because the “praxis” – the “doing” – and doctrine and Church law must be in harmony. Didn’t Christ call the divergence of practice from the precepts of God’s law “hypocrisy?“

For, in substance, the praxis advocated by FS directly contradicts the consistent prior teaching of the Church. Regarding same sex-couples,  did not the immediate predecessor to Cardinal Victor Fernandez, the author of FS, explicitly reject the possibility of such blessings as recently as 2021? Does not the giving of blessings to couples as couples endorse their relationship as free from moral censure? Certainly, a reading of FS using the ordinary sense of the words would lead one to think so.  Picking up an argument from Amoris Laetitia, FS quotes:  “Pastoral charity requires us not to treat simply as ‘sinners’ those whose guilt or responsibility may be attenuated by various factors affecting subjective imputability.” Thus, in the situation of the “irregular relationships” treated by FS there really is no “objectively immoral” situations that can be discerned the ordained minister. Moreover, “Pope Francis proposed a description of this kind of blessing that is offered to all without requiring anything.” Thus, the couples in irregular relationships do not have to repent, let alone change their lifestyle. 

Similarly, FS emphasizes the ”non-liturgical” nature of the blessings it introduces as a key to distinguish such blessing from the sacrament of matrimony. According to FS, a non-liturgical blessing – aside from its other claimed advantages cited above – is free from any association with the liturgical blessings associated with matrimony. But this reasoning is totally specious. For FS in fact spells out a set of ritual or “semi-liturgical” rules of its own. The “spontaneous” blessings in FS are public acts with the participation of an “ordained minister.” 

“This is a blessing that, although not included in any liturgical rite, unites intercessory prayer with the invocation of God’s help by those who humbly turn to him.”

 “These non-ritualized blessings (should) never cease being simple gestures.”

“In a brief prayer preceding this spontaneous blessing, the ordained minister could ask that the individuals have peace, health, a spirit of patience, dialogue, and mutual assistance—but also God’s light and strength to be able to fulfill his will completely.”

“Such a blessing may instead find its place in other contexts, such as a visit to a shrine, a meeting with a priest, a prayer recited in a group, or during a pilgrimage.”

FS further states it would be wrong to “expect the same moral conditions for receiving a simple blessing that are called for in the reception of the sacraments,” yet Pope Francis himself insisted in Amoris Laetitia that the Sacrament of the Eucharist could indeed be received in spite of the recipient’s lack of “perfection.”  Thus, the Pope himself has blurred this allegedly significant distinction between “simple” blessings and sacraments. 

By reiterating the need to avoid “scandal,” FS itself confirms that it will inevitably be the occasion of such scandals. For FS was issued in a specific historical context. Regarding same-sex marriages, for years massive agitation for the rights within the Church of same-sex couples has been taking place in the secular media. And the overwhelming majority of Catholics – including, I understand, of the bishops as well  – get their information on the Church from the secular media.  The whole world knows by now that the German Synodal Path has been fighting for same sex marriages or blessings. Various bishops and bishops’ conferences in Europe have implemented rituals for such blessings. So, almost everyone, within and outside of the Church, understands that FS as a total reversal of the Church’s position in response to these pressures. I understand that President Biden, for example, has welcomed FS.

What will be the consequences of FS? In Europe the forces advocating for the relaxation or the abolition of the church’s rules on sexual morality are celebrating. They will now move on to the next issue: married priests, women priests and deacons, lay participation in the election of bishops, contraception, abortion, euthanasia, etc. As to the rituals for same sex marriages they already have in place,  FS will undoubtedly incentivize the European bishops not only to retain them but to expand their use. Regardless of FS’s supposed restrictions on “rituals” similar to marriage, why should they back down now after such a great triumph?

The reaction of other bishops’ conferences (like that of the US) has been much more restrained, even cold – they have seized on the language in FS to assert that nothing has happened and thus avoid the issue. Of course, that was the intent of the casuistry of FS in the first place! The big news is that several episcopal conferences outside of Western Europe and the United States have publicly distanced themselves from FS. Thus, we may be seeing the beginning of an “Anglican” situation developing in the Catholic Church, where the believers on the outskirts of the Church adhere to the principles they have been taught( or nurtured under persecution), while the unbelieving leadership of the Church in Western Europe, the United States and much of Latin America pursues further accommodation with the world.

As for the clergy, I fear that what is set out in FS as a possibility will soon be compulsory. In Western Europe, episcopal conferences and individual diocese have already issued rituals for the marriages of same sex couples. There have already been statements of European bishops  that no priest can refuse to give the blessings authorized by FS. The conflict of conscience for those who cannot accept FS will be immediate and drastic. In the US, however, I anticipate the following scenario developing very shortly. Couples in “irregular” situations or same-sex couples will seek out priests who they know would be reluctant to give such blessings –  for example, at parishes that still celebrate the traditional mass, priests of the Ecclesia Dei institutes or of Opus Dei etc. – and present themselves for a blessing. If this is refused they will immediately turn to the New York Times, the Vatican or the just the local bishop. In both Europe and the United States, assuming Francis remains in office, a new persecution similar to that of the traditionalists under Traditionis Custodes but even broader in scope may arise. 

For the laity the long-term results will be disastrous. Just like the progressives, they will assume that in the case of restrictions on actual conduct imposed by the Church, every conflict between the Church and the secular world will ultimately be resolved by capitulation by the Church.  This will affect not just contributions but every aspect of Catholic life. The level of compliance with Church’s moral teachings will sink yet further. And how could a man commit to the diocesan priesthood in the knowledge that, based on the evidence of FS, he not only will have to follow its rules, but the priesthood itself might well be radically changed? Thus, depending on how long Francis lives (and the nature of his successor) a truly horrific scenario of conflict will materialize. This possibility alone should motivate the bishops to take a more forceful stance.