DIFUSION OF THE GREGORIAN MASS IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH JUST TWO YEARS AGO

Solemn Mass and Chant Training in St George's Cathedral, Southwark, 11th February

Solemn Mass St George's Cathedral, Southwark

A meatless Epiphany

We had a splendid candle-lit Mass in SS Gregory and Augustine to celebrate this important feast.

Juventutem London

Another set of photos which has been waiting for for PC to be fixed was that of the Juventutem London Solemn Mass, October 28th. Old news now, but their NEXT Mass will be



At the October Mass, in St Patrick's Soho Square, the celebrant was Fr Simon Leworthy FSSP; deacon, Fr Andrew Southwell; subdeacon, Fr Leon Pereira OP. The Mass was accompanied by the Juventutem London Schola led by Matthew Schellhorn.

Gaudete Sunday in St Bede's

On Sunday I was at St Bede's, Clapham Park for the monthly polyphonic Mass. It was of course Gaudete Sunday, and Fr Andrew Southwell was wearing some very splendid Rose vestments. Fr Andrew Pinsent was guest preacher.

The Mass was accompanied as usual by the Cantores Missae, directed by Charles Finch, who sang Mass in honour of Our Lady of Loreto by Vinzenz Goller, Ave Maria by Vinzenz Goller, Ave verum by W.A. Mozart, and Alma redemptoris mater by G.P. da Palestrin.

Sunday Missa Cantata in Oxford

On Sunday Fr John Saward celebrated a Missa Cantata at 12 noon in SS Gregory and Augustine's in the Woodstock Road. Although we are blessed with many traditional Masses in and around Oxford, a Sung Mass on a Sunday is rare, and Fr Saward is now celebrating one each month.

The Mass was accompanied by the Schola Abelis, with polyphony: Cristobal de Morales's five-part Missa L'Homme Armee (the Armed Man).

Mass in the usus antiquiorat Roman Basilica of Opus Dei

by Gregor Kollmorgen

In early December, Messa in Latino reported that a regular Mass in the usus antiquior has been scheduled at the Roman Basilica of Sant’Eugenio - built by Ven. Pius XII in honour of his Patron Saint - which is run by Opus Dei. The first Sunday Mass was celebrated on the first Sunday of Advent with the participation of the parish priest and many faithful of the parish.

Mass in Rapallo, Genoa

by Shawn Tribe

The Italian site, Maranatha.it has just published some beautiful photographs of Mass celebrated in the usus antiquior this past July 25th by Fr. Federico Icardi in a old oratory located in Rapallo, Genoa (Italian Riviera, North Italy).

I am sure many will also be interested in the architecture.

EF Pontifical Mass in the Czech Republic

by Gregor Kollmorgen

Last Saturday, Lourdes was not the only place where a Pontifical Mass in the usus antiquior was celebrated (cf. NLM report here). As we learn by way of the Polish site inspoired by the NLM Nowy Ruch Liturgiczny, the Bishop of Litoměřice (Leitmeritz) in Northern Bohemia, Most Rev. Jan Baxant, on the same day celebrated a Pontifical Mass in the usus antiquior in the parish church of Počaply (Potschapl) which is about 5 km from his See city. The Mass was in honour of St. Adalbert of Prague, to whom the beautiful church (built in its current form by the famous Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer) is dedicated and a relic of whom was venerated on the occasion. The website of the Czech and Slovak Association of Juventutem has posted a photo gallery, of which here are some samples:

Vespers (Usus Antiquior) from St. Stephen's Basilica, Budapest

by Shawn Tribe

With the celebration of Vespers this evening in Budapest, in the beautiful Basilica of St. Stephen, the Budapest liturgical conference hosted by the St. Augustine Liturgical Atelier was officially commenced.

Here are a few images of the Cathedral-Basilica itself, which is quite impressive and boasts the relic of the right hand of St. Stephen.

The Vespers themselves were celebrated at the throne by Cardinal Laszlo Paskai, the former Archbishop of Esztergom with the Apostolic Nuncio of Hungary in attendance. He wore a magnificant cope for the occasion. The schola was that of the Basilica itself, which sung both chant and polyphony to great acclaim. They were indeed quite excellent.

For those who have not experienced the opportunity to participate in chanted Vespers from the 1962 Breviarium Romanum, I must encourage you to do so. No matter how often I do it, I always come away from it enriched and uplifted.

Here are a few images from the Vespers service itself:

Usus Antiquior: Georgetown University

by Shawn Tribe

A few NLM readers sent me in notes about the re-emergence of the Solemn form of the usus antiquior at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. yesterday evening.

The celebrant was Fr. Stephen M. Fields, S.J.; the deacon, Msgr. Charles E. Pope; and the subdeacon, Fr. John R. Siberski, S.J. It is reported to me that a umber of the servers were Georgetown students.

The Mass had a Gregorian schola of seven men, the Canticum Novum Schola, and was celebrated in the Copley Crypt Chapel at Georgetown University.

The NLM is also told that the celebrant, Fr. Fields, said it was probably the first traditional High Mass on campus in 44 years. (Low Masses are said Wednesdays and Sundays.)

Usus Antiquior in Latin America

by Gregor Kollmorgen

It is often said that the Extraordinary Form is primarily of interest to Europe and North America. While it is certainly to be hoped that the restoration of the sacred, of which the diffusion of the usus antiquior is a very important part, becomes more wide-spread outside these areas, it is simply not true that there is no interest in other parts of the world.

As an example, here are some images of recent Masses in the Extraordinary Form in Latin America (taken from the excellent site of Una Voce Málaga):

Parish of Mary Mother of the Church, La Florida, Santiago de Chile, Chile:


Parish of St. Stephen, Puente Alto, Santiago de Chile, Chile:


Parish of St. Thérèse, Guayaquil, Ecuador:



Chapel of the Holy Face, Mar del Plata, Argentina:


Parish of St. John the Baptist of Tauape, Fortaleza, Brazil:


Chapel of St. Peter the Apsotle, Guadalajara, Mexico:


Parish of St. Roch, Buenos Aires, Argentina:

First Pontifical Mass at Elysburg Carmel

by Gregor Kollmorgen

A reader sent in news and pictures about the the first Pontifical Mass offered at the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Elysburg, PA since its founding in 2009. We have mentioned this monastery before (cf here and here). Here is what he writes:

Bishop William Waltersheid, the celebrant of the Mass, was at that time the Vicar for Clergy and Religious in the Diocese of Harrisburg and played an instrumental role in bringing the sisters to Elysburg, where a Carmelite monastery stood empty after it was closed a few years earlier due to lack of vocations. Recently appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburg, he returned to celebrate his first Pontifical Mass for their patronal feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Living the traditional Carmelite rule and praying the traditional Mass and Office, the sisters have continued to flourish in their new house, attracting many young vocations from around the country. His Excellency Bishop Joseph McFadden, Bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg in which the Carmel is located, assisted at the Mass from the Throne. Many Diocesan Priests and seminarians came to fulfill the roles of Sacred Ministers and servers for the Mass.

Usus Antiquior at Harvard University

by Shawn Tribe

As readers will know, we here at the NLM are always eager to promote and report on Masses in either the usus antiquior or in a "reform of the reform" vein which are taking place at university campuses and amongst university students. Accordingly, we were delighted to hear of the following Mass which took place at the prestigious American ivy league school, Harvard University, in Cambridge, MA.:

The Harvard Latin Mass Society have sent us some photos of the Mass.

Sung Mass in Virginia Showcases Beautiful Gothic Revival Commissioned Vestments

by Shawn Tribe

One of our readers sent in photos from a recent Sung Mass (usus antiquior) at St. Mary's in Alexandria, Virginia, on the occasion of the Feast of the Assumption.

I particularly wanted to bring your attention to it because of the excellent vestments, which goes along with the recent NLM post about a revival in the liturgical arts. The vestments were designed by Gardiner Hall Inc. and include an antique French embroidery of the BVM, embroidered fleur de lys on Fairford damask orphreys, and a base fabric of Watts Crevelli Brocatelle. The tailoring and orphrey embroidery were done by Hayes and Finch, Liverpool and the set was custom sized for the celebrant, Rev. John De Celle.

Beautiful work, and again, one of the model forms of edifying gothic revival vestments for priests to consider when they are seeking out, or better, commissioning vestments.

The First Mass for Artists, Church of Our Saviour, NYC

by Shawn Tribe

We mentioned here a few days back and one other time before that the Mass for Catholic Artists which was being held at Fr. George Rutler's Parish of Christ the Saviour in New York City.

The Society of St. Hugh of Cluny has published a post on the event and give this summation:

... the Catholic Artists Society sponsored its first Solemn High Mass for Artists at Our Saviour’s Church on Park Avenue in New York. A capacity congregation, very proficient in singing the responses, filled the church. But that seems to be the rule for Solemn Masses at this parish. David Hughes led the schola of St. Mary’s Norwalk and Herve Duteil was the organist – need we say that the music was splendid? (Missa super Credidi Propter by Orlando di Lasso and works by Palestrina, Philips, Vaughan Williams, Bach and Messiaen)

[...]

As already noted, there always seems to be a full house for a Solemn mass at Our Saviour’s. But the Catholic Artists Society has succeeded in bringing most of them down to the lecture hall as well. It was heartening to see so many artists – and would-be artists – especially given the nonexistent Catholic presence in the arts in New York. Perhaps these artists have only been waiting for something like the Catholic Artists Society to come along to draw them all out of the woodwork. In any case, we will be hearing more from this Society in the near future…..

A few photos of the Mass and the conference.