Gaudete Sunday at St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk, CT

On Friday Evening, December 10, at Holy Innocents Church, Mr David Hughes gave a presentation focusing on the recovery of the chant tradition by the monks of Solesmes Abbey in France in the 19th century. Mr. Hughes is preeminently qualified for this task; currently the music director at St. Patrick’s Church, Waterbury, he has founded and led to great success so many varied musical groups: childrens’ choirs, a men’s schola, professional scholae, parish choirs – the list his accomplishments is endless! Yet the announced topic of the evening was The Crisis in Church and Society and how Tradition Responds. For the speaker presented the story of the rediscovery of a more authentic chant as a case study of how a tradition functions.

In the 19th century Gregorian chant had fallen on hard times. To the extent it was sung at all, it was from editions deriving from a very simplified compilation made under papal patronage around 1600. Dom Guerenger of Solesmes led the restoration, first, of that abbey and, later, of chant itself. Dom Guerenger did not merely want to recreate what had existed prior to the French Rvolution, but to go back to the original sources. The monks examined ancient manuscripts throughout Europe on the trail of this tradition. The monks presented their discoveries to the world in (relatively) easy to use publications. They did not seek to “impose” their new metholds but sought, through their publications and their own singing at Solesmes, to lead by example.

This example helps us to understand better what has taken place in the Traditionalist Movement since 2007, at least in the New York area. Here too the principle that has steadily unfolded is not to recreate what had existed in liturgy and music in 1962 but to restore the Roman liturgy in all its fullness. Examples include the authentic performance of chant and polyphony; the celebration of the Holy Week Triduum according to the “pre-55” rite, the spread of Rorate masses and many other devotions. All this has been achieved, starting at a few parishes, by force of example. And in most cases participation at Traditional Masses is growing by attracting those who wander into a Traditional Mass by chance or curiosity – individual by individual, family by family, For this – as illustrated by Dom Guerenger and the musical movement he launched – is the path of authentic tradition! Music, vestments, ceremonies, art and and architecture of the past are studied, not as ends in themselves, but as elements actively working together in the proper celebration of the liturgy and thus ultimately for evangelization. Tradition is never static – it grows and can decline and be obscured – but recovery of its full meaning and beauty is always possible. And that task remains a challenge to our generation.

Here is a link to a recording of David Hughes’ talk:

Pastor Fr. John Ringley was the celebrant at last night’s Solemn Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The Mass setting was by Hildegard von Bingen sung by an all-women’s choir.

Wednesday, December 8th is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a holy day of obligation. The following churches will offer Traditional Masses. Please inform us of any Masses that are not listed.

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, Solemn Mass, 7 pm, Messe de Ste. Hildegarde (Hildegard of Bingen).

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Bridgeport, 7:45 am, 6 pm

St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Parish, Brookfield, CT, low Mass at 8:00PM. Fr. Donald Kloster, celebrant.

St. Emery Church, Fairfield, Solemn Mass 6 pm

St. Pius X, Fairfield, 7 pm

St. Patrick Parish and Oratory, Waterbury, low Mass 8 am, high Mass 6 pm.

St. Stanislaus, New Haven, Low Mass 5:30 pm.

St. Martha Church, Enfield, 7 pm

St. Michael the Archangel Church, Pawcatuck, Solemn High Mass at 6:00pm

New York

Church of the Holy Innocents, New York, NY, 8 am and 6 pm

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

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

St. Paul the Apostle, Yonkers, Missa Cantata, 12:15 pm

Annunciation Church, Crestwood, NY (lower church), Missa Cantata 7 pm

Immaculate Conception, Sleepy Hollow, low Mass, 7 pm

St. Rocco, Glen Cove (Long Island), 7 pm.

St. Matthew, Dix Hills (Long Island), 10:30 am

Sacred Heart, Esopus, 11 am

Holy Trinity, Poughkeepsie, Missa Cantata, 7 pm

St. Mary/St. Andrew, Ellenville, 7 pm

New Jersey

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, Missa Cantata, 7 pm, Fr John Perricone, celebrant.

St. Anthony of Padua, West Orange, 9 am and 7 pm.

Our Lady of Fatima, Pequannock, 7 am, 9 am, 12 noon, 7 pm

Corpus Christi Church, South River, Missa Cantata at 7PM

Shrine Church of the Blessed Sacrament, Raritan, Missa Cantata, 7 pm

St. John the Baptist, Allentown, NJ, Solemn Mass, 7 pm

The following churches will offer Rorate Masses. The Rorate Mass is a traditional Advent devotion wherein the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary is offered just before dawn. The interplay of light and darkness speak to the meaning of Advent and the coming of the Light of the World.

Weekday Mornings

Church of the Holy Innocents, New York, NY, 6 am, *Tuesday, December 7 *Thursday, December 9 *Friday, December 10 *Saturday, December 11 *Monday, December 13 *Tuesday, December 14 *Wednesday, December 15 *Thursday, December 16

St. Josaphat Church, Bayside, Queens, 6:35 am, Tuesday Dec. 7; Friday, Dec. 10; Saturday, Dec. 11.

Saturday Dec. 11

St. Emery Church in Fairfield, CT will offer a Solemn Mass at 6 am. The address in 838 Kings Hwy East.

St. Mary of Mount Virgin Church, 190 Sandford St., New Brunswick, NJ, Missa Cantata, 6 am.

Our Lady of Fatima, Pequannock, NJ, Missa Cantata 6:30 am

Saturday, Dec. 18

Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, New York, NY, 6:30 am.

Annunciation Church (Lower Church), 470 Westchester Ave., Crestwood, NY, Solemn Mass, 6:30 am.

St. Pius X Church, 834 Brookside Drive, Fairfield, CT, Fr. Richard Cipolla, celebrant, 6 am.

Basilica of Saint John the Evangelist, Stamford, 6:30 AM CANCELLED

St. Patrick’s Parish and Oratory, 50 Charles St., Waterbury, CT, Missa Cantata, 6 am.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 259 Olive St., Newark, NJ, 6 am.

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, 6 am.

By Father Richard G. Cipolla

It is indeed difficult in these times in the Catholic Church for those of us who love the Tradition of the Catholic Church to have joy at the center of our lives.  The mean-spirited and dishonest attack on Tradition in the publication of the Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes has been followed by statements by the head of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Archbishop Roche, that make it clear that these relics of the 1960s who are now in power in Rome are determined to erase from the Church’s memory the Roman Mass of Catholic Tradition. There are those of us who believe that the crisis of the Church today is no less severe than the crisis the Church faced when the “world woke up to find itself Arian”.  The Arian crisis was overcome not only because of the constant witness of great bishops like St. Athanasius to the Catholic faith but also because of the laity who continued to sing the liturgical hymns at Mass that proclaimed the full divinity of Christ as true God and true man.

I have been blessed in my retirement as a priest to be able to celebrate the Traditional Roman Mass in a number of parish churches both in my diocese and in other dioceses.  This past Sunday, thanks to the true graciousness of the pastor, I celebrated a Missa Cantata in a parish in Bayside, Queens, New York.  I remember the first time I celebrated Mass there over two years ago, perhaps even three years ago (the pandemic has made time fuzzy).  I remember a congregation of perhaps 50 people in a parish church whose ethnic roots are Polish, a small choir, and four altar servers.  This past Sunday the size of the congregation was well over 150 people, the choir had grown as well, and there were 15 altar servers, ages (my guess) from 9 to over 20.  The mix of people in the congregation was truly catholic:  old, middle aged, young, very young; various shades of black, brown and white; some women veiled others not, some men in ties, others in casual dress. 

A priest always knows when he is celebrating Mass whether the people in the congregation are “with him”.  There are times in my priesthood when I was celebrating the Novus Ordo Mass in a parish that despite my facing the people I felt alone, for so many of the people at that Mass were waiting for Mass to end.  Their obligation would be fulfilled, and then on to brunch.  Of course, there were always those at Mass who really believed their response to my “Pray, brethren…” expressed something real in their response: “May this sacrifice…” And a number of those people have since then discovered the Traditional Roman Mass as the embodiment of what that exchange between priest and people really means.  

At Mass this past Sunday there was no doubt that the bond between priest and people in the offering of the Sacrifice was truly there.  There was no sign of “traddie” stiffness or super-piety, just a group of heterogeneous Catholics happily entering into the Sacred Mysteries and coming to Holy Communion with grateful hearts.

I must say one more thing about the altar servers.  Before Mass all fifteen were in the sacristy and the camaraderie among them was inspiring to see.  It is neither reactionary nor misogynist to recognize and take joy in that special relationship that is the bond of male friendship, even at the level of “merely” serving at the altar together.  Of course, I hoped while watching this motley crew serving at the Mass that at least some would become priests.  But even if none of them become priests, because of their sense of that bond between them that comes from participating so closely in the awesomeness of the Mass, they will make good husbands and fathers, and good friends.  

I continue to love the season of Advent with its dark and cold that anticipates the coming of the Light.  But I do not like the darkness and the cold of a Church manufactured in the 1960s that tries to cancel Tradition and has forgotten that the three names of God are Truth, Goodness, and yes,–Beauty.