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News

Latin Mass this week

This week we will have two Latin Masses in New Haven

First Friday, December 7, 8:00 a.m.

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Saturday, December 8, 11:00 a.m.

Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception is the patroness of the USA. It is also a holy day of obligation.

Catechesis

First Sunday of Advent

The First Sunday of Advent will be observed in a celebration of High Mass at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street, New Haven, this Sunday, December, at 2:00 pm. The Rev. John Pikulski will be the celebrant, and the Schola Cantorum of the St. Gregory Society will sing the Gregorian chant for the service.

The Post-Communion collect from the First Sunday of Advent sums up the purpose of this liturgical season praying “… that we may prepare with due reverence for the coming festival of our redemption.” Providing all of her great feasts with preparatory periods, during Advent the Church prepares us for the twofold coming of Christ; His first coming when He took flesh, which will be commemorated at Christmas, and His second coming mentioned in the gospel reading when we “… shall see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with great power and majesty.”

While Advent does not require obligatory acts of penance, the Church’s liturgy suggests that penance and repentance are the best means of preparation for the coming of Christ. St. Paul admonishes us in the epistle reading to “… cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light …” that we may “… walk… not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy…” Furthermore, the penitential character of Advent is expressed liturgically through the use of violet vestments, the removal of flowers from the altar, the omission of the Gloria, the silence of the organ, etc. In fact, the liturgy during Advent is akin to Lent with the exception that the Alleluia is retained. Therefore, may we use this Advent season profitably in preparation not only for Christmas, but for the eschaton, i.e., the end of days and last things.”

Music for the liturgy to be sung by the Schola Cantorum of the Saint Gregory Society will include the Missa Orbis factor (Vatican edition XI) chant ordinary, the Gregorian proper for Advent Sunday: “Ad te levavi,” the hymn “Condite alme siderum” by Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474), and the Advent prose, “Rorate caeli desuper.”

Catechesis

Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost

(c) Somerville College, University of Oxford; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

The Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost will be observed in a celebration of High Mass at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street, New Haven, this Sunday, November 11, at 2:00 pm. The Rev. John Pikulski will be the celebrant, and the Schola Cantorum of the St. Gregory Society will sing the Gregorian chant for the service

The Gospel for the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost presents the parable of the wheat and the tares. Our Lord shows us how even though he has planted much good among us, an enemy (the devil) has sown evil in our midst as well. During our lives, the two are allowed to grow side by side according to our acceptance or rejection of God’s will. During the Last Judgment, the angels will separate the sons of the evil one (the tares) from the sons of the kingdom of heaven (the wheat).

During this close of the Church year when the liturgy invites us to meditate on last things, let us pray that we receive the discernment to choose to the good in our lives (the wheat) and to resist temptations to do evil (the tares).

Music for the service will include the Gregorian Mass Ordinary XI (“Orbis factor”), the proper Gregorian chants, the chant Antiphon “Domine, nonne bonum” the polyphonic motet “Ave verum corpus” by Josquin DesPrez (139), and organ music by Johann Pachelbel and J. S. Bach.

Devotion

All Souls Indulgence

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let the radiance of your light shine forever upon them (cf. 2 Es 2:35).

To you our praise is due in Zion, O God.
To you we pay our vows, you who hear our prayer; to you all flesh will come (Ps 64:2-3).

Requirements for Obtaining a Plenary Indulgence on All Souls Day (November 2 )

– Piously visit a church to pray for the faithful departed
– Say one “Our Father” and the “Creed” in the visit to the church
– Say one “Our Father” and one “Hail Mary” for the intentions of the Pope
– Worthily receive Holy Communion (ideally on the same day)
– Make a Sacramental Confession within a week of (before or after) All Souls Day
– that one be free from all attachment to sin, even venial sin.

Requirements for Obtaining a Plenary Indulgence from November 1 to 8

– Devoutly visit a cemetery and pray for the dead.
– Say one “Our Father” and one “Hail Mary” for the intentions of the Pope
– Worthily receive Holy Communion (ideally on the same day)
– Make a Sacramental Confession within a week of (before or after) All Souls Day
– that one be free from all attachment to sin, even venial sin.

The “technical” things on Indulgences (so that we don’t fall into error)…from the Handbook of Indulgences, Norms:

“1. An indulgence is the remission in the eyes of God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose culpable element has already been taken away. The Christian faithful who are rightly disposed and observe the definite, prescribed conditions gain this remission through the effective assistance of the Church, which, as the minister of redemption, authoritatively distributes and applies the treasury of the expiatory works of Christ and the Saints.”

“22. The prescribed work for gaining a plenary indulgence attached to a church or oratory is a devout visit there, which includes the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed (Pater Noster and Credo), unless otherwise stated in a specific grant.”

“23. 1. Besides the exclusion of all attachment to sin, even venial sin, the requirements for gaining a Plenary Indulgence are the performance of the indulgenced work and fulfillment of three conditions: Sacramental Confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the Pope’s intentions.

  1. Several Plenary Indulgences may be gained on the basis of a single Sacramental Confession; only one may be gained, however, on the basis of a single Eucharistic Communion and prayer for the Pope’s intentions.
  2. The three conditions may be carried out several days preceding or following performance of the prescribed work. But it is more fitting that the Communion and the prayer for the Pope’s intentions take place on the day the work is performed.
  3. If a person is not fully disposed or if the prescribed work and the three mentioned conditions are not fulfilled, the Indulgence will only be partial …”
  4. The condition requiring prayer for the Pope’s intentions is satisfied by reciting once the Our Father and Hail Mary for his intentions (Pater Noster and Ave Maria); nevertheless all the faithful have the option of reciting any other prayer suited to their own piety and devotion.”

From the Handbook of Indulgences, Grants

  1. Visiting a Church or an Oratory on All Souls Day
    A Plenary Indulgence, which is applicable only to the Souls in Purgatory is granted to the Christian faithful who devoutly visit a church or an oratory on (November 2nd,) All Souls Day.13. Visiting a cemetery
    An indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who devoutly visit a cemetery and pray, if only mentally, for the dead, This indulgence is applicable only to the souls in purgatory. This indulgence is a plenary one from November 1 through November 8 and can be granted on each one of these days. On the other days of the year this indulgence is a partial one.