During a Solemn Pontifical Mass, twelve men were ordained to the priesthood for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter this past Thursday, May 28 in the Cathedral of St. Cecilia in Omaha. His Excellency the Most Reverend Tomas Wenski, the archbishop of Miami, was the celebrant. Over 100 priests were in attendance and laid hands on the ordinands.
Deacon Joseph Marie Falciano, FSSP, will be ordained to the priesthood at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha on May 28. His first Mass will follow on May 29 at the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Valpraiso, Nebraska. Prior to entering the FSSP seminary, Deacon Falciano was a resident of the Bronx and a parishioner at St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk.
He will be coming to the Connecticut/New York area soon. Here follows a schedule of First Masses:
Tuesday June 9: St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT, 7pm, Solemn Mass, reception to follow.
Wednesday, June 10, St. Josaphat Oratory, Bayside, Queens, 7 pm, Solemn Mass, reception to follow
Friday, June 12, St. Vincent Ferrer, New York, NY, 9:30 am, Solemn Mass for Feast of the Sacred Heart, Missa Pange Lingua by Josquin des Prez.
Saturday, June 13. St. Margaret of Cortona, Bronx, NY, 10 am, Solemn Mass
Sunday, June 14, Annunciation Church, Crestwood, NY, 2 pm, Solemn Mass, reception to follow
Father Jon Tveit will celebrate the following Traditional Masses to mark his 10th anniversary of ordination:
Sunday, May 24: Annunciation Church in Crestwood, NY, Solemn Mass, 2 pm, convivium to follow
Saturday, May 30, Church of the Blessed Sacrament, New Rochelle, NY, 12 noon, Ember Saturday Solemn Mass
This Thursday, May 14, is Ascension Thursday, a Holy Day of Obligation. The following churches will offer the Traditional Mass.
If you know of a Mass that is not on our schedule, please contact us so that we can add it.
Connecticut
St. Mary Church, Norwalk, low Mass 8 am; Solemn Mass 7 pm
Georgetown Oratory of the Most Sacred Heart, Redding, Missa Cantata, 6 pm
Sts. Cyril and Methodius Oratory, Bridgeport, low Mass 7:45 am; high Mass, 6 pm
St. Patrick Oratory, Waterbury, low Mass 8 am; high Mass 6 pm preceded by Benediction
St. Martha Church, Enfield, 7 pm
New York
Church of the Holy Innocents, New York, NY Low Mass 8 am; High Mass 6 pm
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 7 pm
St. Josaphat Oratory, Bayside, Queens, 7 am Low Mass (Confession after Mass); 6 pm Eucharistic Holy Hour (Confession will be heard during adoration); 7 pm High Mass
St. Rocco Church, Glen Cove, Long Island, 7 pm
St. Matthew Church, Dix Hills, Long Island, 10:30 am
St. Paul the Apostle, Yonkers, 12 noon
Annunciation Church, Crestwood, Missa Cantata 7 pm
Immaculate Conception, Sleepy Hollow, low Mass, 5 pm
Sacred Heart, Esopus, 11:30 am
St. Mary and St. Andrew, Ellenville, 7 pm
St Joseph’s, Troy, 5:30 pm. Carmelite Rite.
New Jersey
Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, High Mass, 7 pm
Holy Trinity Church, Hackensack, Missa Cantata, 7 pm
Our Lady of Fatima Chapel, Pequannock, 7 am, 9 am, 12 noon, 7 pm
St. Anthony of Padua Oratory, West Orange, Low Mass 9 am; HIgh Mass 7 pm
Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, Raritan, 7 pm
St. John the Baptist, Allentown, High Mass 7 pm
Deacon Joseph Marie Falciano, FSSP, will be ordained to the priesthood at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha on May 28. His first Mass will follow on May 29 at the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Valpraiso, Nebraska.
He will celebrate Solemn Mass at St. Mary’s Church in Norwalk on Tuesday June 9 at 7 pm, sponsored by the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny. After Mass the faithful may receive his first priestly blessing. Deacon Falciano was a parishioner at St. Mary’s prior to his entrance into the seminary of the Fraternity of St. Peter. He served many Traditional Masses at St. Mary’s and ardently promoted the Traditional Mass in the area, most notably through the Lepanto Conferences he helped organize and our Society sponsored.
Deacon Falciano will also be celebrating two more traditional Masses while he is in the area:
St. Vincent Ferrer Church, New York, NY, Solemn Mass, Friday, June 12 at 9:30 am
Annunciation Church, Crestwood, NY, Solemn Mass, Sunday, June 14 at 2 PM, followed by a reception
As an acolyte at the Easter Vigil at St. Mary Church, Norwalk, in 2019
CREW is a Catholic Leadership Program that serves teens in the greater Danbury area and brings community, tradition, and the Traditional Mass to teens who would otherwise never have access to or experience it.
(Above) St. Brigid (Bridget) school in January 2013. Closed in 2019 and now to be sold.
The Archdiocese and secular media have now disclosed the magnitude of the settlement of sex abuse cases. The question now is how this money is to be obtained. One obvious source is the sale of Catholic schools and parishes. This is particularly so for Manhattan where the real estate values are the highest. This has been a process going on for many years which we have chronicled on this site. But now we may be coming to a climax.
(Above and below) Holy Name of Jesus parish’s former parochial school (with centennial plaque). Photo from 2014.
Media report that at this moment two properties are being actively worked.1) The former school building (and convent) of Holy Name of Jesus parish at 200 W. 97th St. is being sold to the Rockefeller Group and Atlas Capital for $96 million. 2) The former parochial school of Saint Brigid on Tompkins Square is being marketed to luxury housing developers. The school was closed as recently as 2019. 3)
Regarding Holy Name of Jesus parish and its school, I wrote in 2014:
But you soon notice that the church is just the center of a complex of buildings occupying a full block facing Amsterdam Avenue. …Then there is the impressive school building of 1904, with a former convent attached. A metal plaque commemorates the school’s 100th anniversary in 2005. Holy Name of Jesus School did not survive another ten years; it was closed in 2013. A ”De La Salle Academy” occupying several floors of the school also moved out to Holy Cross parish this year. Given the real estate values in the greater Upper West Side area, I would expect that this fine school building is not long for this world.
Additional school closures have been announced, freeing up more buildings for sale. The Archdiocesan explanations for school closures are Orwellian:
The Superintendent of Schools Office for the Archdiocese of New York on Monday provided an update on its ongoing School Renewal Plan process, a faith-filled initiative aimed at sustaining and strengthening Catholic education across the archdiocese….
“Just as Christ calls us to turn toward Him in faith, this season invites us to see God at work in our schools, creating new opportunities for growth and learning, and bringing hope to our students and communities.” Sr. Mary Grace Walsh wrote. The renewal plan follows a school viability study conducted during the 2024-2025 academic year and is part of an ongoing process to ensure Catholic education remains vibrant, accessible, and life-giving for generations to come….As part of the ongoing plan, three schools will close at the end of the 2025–2026 academic year: Incarnation School in Manhattan, Sacred Heart School in Hartsdale, and Most Precious Blood School in Walden.4)
Cathedral High School, that, in September 2023, had to move out of the Archdiocesan headquarters building when that was sold, is itself now being shut down. 5) That frees up a building for sale that I believe was originally the parochial school of St. Francis de Sales parish. Second , Incarnation school in Washington Heights will be closing. 6) And even the successful school of Transfiguration parish (which includes the former parochial school of Saint James where Governor Al Smith received his education) is now being reduced from three buildings to two.7)
Certainly, this is just the beginning. I could think of other parishes with dual “worship spaces,” or superfluous schools, convents or rectories, that may well be next. St. Michael’s parish with its surrounding complex of buildings next to the Hudson Yards, and currently closed, seems to me an obvious target. Most Holy Redeemer on East 3rd Street is already the subject of animated discussion. Another candidate that comes to mind is Sacred Heart parish in Hell’s Kitchen, merged with St. Malachi’s parish (perhaps including its school building, currently used by the active Blessed Sacrament school?). I might also mention, among others, the parishes of St. Thomas More and Our Lady of Good Counsel, or Corpus Christi, now combined with Notre Dame.
Then there are the parishes targeted in previous waves of closures that for one reason or another were spared, such as the above-mentioned St. Thomas More or Holy Innocents. But really any parish or school is potentially at risk – regardless of how successful it may be. Remember the fight over the Archdiocese’s attempt to close St Thomas More – surely not an impoverished parish!
And all of these actions are just the developments in the borough of Manhattan! Judging from the reaction so far, other than aggrieved locals, no one in the Catholic community seems to care.
