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Easter, News

Solemn High Mass for the Fifth Sunday after Easter

The Fifth Sunday after Easter will be celebrated in a Solemn High Mass in the traditional Latin form at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street, in New Haven on Sunday, May 22, at 2:00 pm. The celebrant will be The Reverend Richard G. Cipolla, Pastor Emeritus of St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk; the Deacon will be The Reverend Peter Lenox, Director of Liturgy, the Diocese of Bridgeport; and the Subdeacon will be Mr. James Onofrio.

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,”) the antiphon “Regina caeli laetare,” the hymn “Ad regias agni dapes,” the proper Gregorian chants, and organ music by J. S. Bach and Herbert Howells.

 

 

News, Saints

High Mass in Honor of Saint Joseph

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The Feast of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Workman, will be celebrated in a High Mass in the traditional Latin form at St. Stanislaus Church, State and Eld Streets in New Haven, on Sunday, May 1, at 2:00 pm. The celebrant will be The Reverend Canon Joel Estrada, Pastor of St. Patrick’s Oratory in Waterbury.

In 1870 Pope Pius IX solemnly proclaimed St. Joseph the Patron and Protector of the Universal Church. In 1955 Pope Pius XII instituted the Feast of St. Joseph the Workman and decreed that a new Mass in the saint’s honor be said on May 1st. It is not by chance that this day was chosen. May 1st is a Communist legal holiday in honor of the radical workers. In contrast, the Holy Father set aside May 1st to give honor to St. Joseph and to restore dignity to faithful Christian laborers.

By the work of his hands St. Joseph provided sustenance for the Holy Family as husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster-father of Our Lord. The child Jesus worked beside Joseph in his shop in Nazareth. Let us pray for the patience and humility to emulate St. Joseph who fulfilled his duty in his daily toil and protecting the purity of the Christian home.

Music for the service, sung by members of the Schola Cantorum of The Saint Gregory Society, will include the Gregorian Mass Ordinary for Eastertide (Vatican Edition I: “Lux et origo,” motets by Orestes Ravanello and Charles Gounod, the Gregorian Mass proper for St. Joseph, “Sapientia reddidit,” and organ music by Eugène Gigout and Léon Boëllmann.

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Easter, News

Holy Week 2022: Easter Day

Easter Day 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, April 17, at 2:00 pm. The Celebrant will be The Reverend Jan Pikulski.

The Feast of Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead on the third day after his death on the cross on Good Friday. The Resurrection is the climax of Holy Week, and, indeed of the entire Church Year, as it represents the central tenet of Christian belief: Christ’s triumph over sin and death and redemption of fallen mankind.

Jesus confounded the powers of evil by clothing in glory the Body which had been the Victim of the cruelty of sinful man. Christ’s triumph over depth is the most conclusive proof of His divinity and is thus the foundation of our faith. “God hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He hath raised us up together with Christ and hath made us sit together in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 2.6)

Let us joyfully keep this day on which our Lord has restored life to us in His own rising from the dead, and affirm with the Church that “the Lord is risen indeed.” In following Him, let us make our Easter a passing to an entirely new and righteous way of life.

Music for the service, sung by the full Schola Cantorum of The Saint Gregory Society, will include the Gregorian chant proper, “Resurrexi,” the Mass ordinary “Lux et origo” (Vatican Edition I), motets by François Couperin and Jean-François Lallouette, and organ music by François Couperin and Louis Marchand.

News, Sacred Liturgy

Holy Week 2022: Good Friday

The Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday will be celebrated in the traditional Latin form at St. Stanislaus Church in New Haven on April 15, at 11:00 A.M. The Reverend Jan Pikulski will be the celebrant.

The Good Friday liturgy is at once one of the most dramatic and austere services of the Church Year. It is comprised of four parts: the lessons, solemn orations, adoration of the cross, and communion.  The externals of this service are marked by both a solemnity and simplicity appropriate to the day.  The altar is bare except for one cloth, the missal stand is not covered, the vestments are black for the first portions of the service and violet for the communion, and bells are not rung.

Most striking perhaps is the Adoration of the Cross in which the priest progressively unveils the cross and thrice chants, each time on a higher pitch, Ecce Lignum Crucis (Behold the Wood of the Cross).  After the cross the unveiled, it is laid on a cushion and the clergy and servers venerate it by removing their shoes and making three double genuflections as they advance toward it before kissing it.  Removing shoes is a common act of piety in the Coptic Rite (Catholic and Orthodox), and reminds us that God told Moses to remove his sandals since he was standing on holy ground (Exodus 3:5).  During the Adoration of the Cross the “Reproaches” are sung by the choir.

Besides the Kyrie regularly sung at Mass, the Reproaches are the only other liturgical text in the Roman Rite in which Greek is used. The Trisagion is sung in both Greek and Latin and is another indication of how ancient certain elements of the Good Friday liturgy are.  Other reminders of the antiquity of this rite are its simplicity with the use of one altar cloth and the rather abrupt beginning of the service with a lack of preparatory prayers.

Music for the service, sung by the Schola Cantorum of the St. Gregory Society, will include Tomás Luis de Victoria’s “Reproaches,” motets by Palestrina, and Loyset Compère, and the proper Gregorian chants.

Lent, News

Holy Week: Blessing of Palms, Procession, and High Mass

Palm Sunday will be celebrated in the traditional Latin form in the Blessing of Palms, Procession and High Mass at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street, in New Haven on April 10, at 2:00 pm. The celebrant will be the Rever­end Jan Pikulski.

In the liturgy of Palm Sunday, the two-fold point of view from which the Church regards the Cross is expressed in two ceremonies, one marked by joy and the other by sadness. First comes the Blessing and Procession of Palms, in which everything overflows with a holy joy, enabling us after twenty centuries to revive the spirit of the magnificent scene of our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Then follows the Mass with its chants and lessons relating exclusively to the sorrowful memory of our Redeem­er’s Passion.

We should keep carefully a blessed palm branch in our home. This palm is a sacramental, and, fastened to our crucifix, should serve to remind us of the victory gained for us by Christ on the Cross.

Music for the service performed by members of the Schola Cantorum of the St. Gregory Society, will include the proper Gregorian chants for the the Blessing of Palms, Procession and Mass, the Missa ‘Orbis Factor’ ordinary (Vatican ed. XI), the motet “Adoramus te, Christe” by Orlando di Lasso, and the plainsong hymn, “Vexilla Regis prodeunt.”