All posts by Paul Zalonski

Corpus Christi Sunday 2021

The Feast of the Most Sacred Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, or Corpus Christi, will be celebrated in a High Mass in the traditional Latin form at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street in New Haven, on Sunday, June 6, at 2:00 pm. The Mass will be followed by Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. The celebrant for the service will be Father Robert Turner, Pastor of St. Ambrose Parish, North Branford.

While the origins of the Feast of Corpus Christi date from the early 13th century when St. Juliana of Mont-Cornillon urged the French hierarchy establish a feast celebrating the Real presence of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the elements of Eucharist in northern France, in was in 1268 that Pope Urban IV instituted the feast of Corpus Christi universally in the Western Church. The pope requested that St. Thomas Aquinas compose the texts for the liturgy of feast, which include the propers sung at Mass, notably the sequence Lauda Sion and the chants sung in the procession and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

The Benediction that follows the service is the supreme devotional ceremony of adoration of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, in which prayers and hymns are addressed to Our Lord in the Host exposed in a monstrance placed on the altar. The concludes with the reposition of the Sacrament in the tabernacle.

Music for the service, performed by members of the Schola Cantorum of The Saint Gregory Society, will include the Gregorian Mass Ordinary IV, “Cunctipotens Genitor,” motets by Charles Gounod and César Franck, the proper Gregorian chants, and organ music by Alexandre Guilmant and César Franck.

Pentecost 2021

Pentecost, or Whit Sunday, will be celebrated in a High Mass in the traditional Latin form at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street in New Haven, on Sunday, May 23, at 2:00 pm. The celebrant will be Father Michael Novajosky, who serves as a special assistant to the Bishop of Bridgeport for the Eucharistic Ambassador’s initiative.

We read in the Gospel at the Mass on this great feast that our Lord foretold the coming of the Paraclete to his disciples, and the Epistle shows us the realization of that promise. God descended upon the Cenacle, and a mighty wind which blew suddenly upon the house, together with the appearance of tongues of fire within, were the wonderful tokens of His coming.

Taught by the “Light of Thy Holy Spirit” (Collect at Mass), and filled by the gifts of the same Spirit poured out upon them (Sequence), the apostles became new men to go forth and renew the whole world (Introit). In the words of the Alleluia: “Come Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Thy love,” let us fervently pray that the Holy Ghost will come down upon us.

Music for the service, sung by members of the Schola Cantorum of the Saint Gregory Society, will include the Gregorian Mass Ordinary I, “Lux et origo,” motets by Claudio Monteverdi and Lorenzo Perosi, the proper Gregorian chants, and organ music by Girolamo Frescobaldi.

Latin Mass for the 5th Sunday after Easter

The Fifth Sunday after Easter will be celebrated in a High Mass in the traditional Latin form at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street, in New Haven on Sunday, May 9, at 2:00 pm. The celebrant will be Father Robert L. Turner, Pastor of St. Ambrose Parish, North Branford.

The proper texts of the liturgy for this Sunday’s Mass continue to sing of Christ’s victory and of the salvation of Christian people whom He has redeemed. During the Rogation Days that follow, the Church exhorts us to pray in “His name” and ask for what is necessary for us, salvation first and foremost; these prayers will unfailingly be granted us “that our joy may be full.”

We must ask, too, that we may be worthy to enter with Him into His Father’s kingdom, while acknowledging that prayer that is sincere implies generosity: St. Jame’s Epistle reminds us that it is not enough merely to pray; we must also be “doers of the Word.”

Music for the service, sung by the Schola Cantorum of The Saint Gregory Society, will include the Gregorian Mass Ordinary for Eastertide (Vatican Edition I: “Lux et origo,” motets by Jean-François Lalouette, the Gregorian chant proper, “Vocem jucunditatis,” and organ music by Guilllaume de Nivers and Jacques Boyvin.