Category Archives: Catechesis

Catechesis, Sacred Liturgy

Solemn High Mass for the Feast of the Holy Cross

The fall schedule of High and Low Masses at St. Stanislaus Church in New Haven (State Street at Eld Street) will commence with an external  celebration of Solemn High Mass for The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on Sunday, September 17, at 2:00 pm. Father Richard G. Cipolla, Pastor Emeritus of St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk, will be the celebrant and homilist. The Schola Cantorum of the St. Gregory Society will sing the Gregorian chant for the service.

The Feast of the Holy Cross commemorates the finding of the True Cross by St. Helena, Mother of the Emperor Constantine, who erected churches upon the sites of the Holy Sepulchre and Calvary.  The dedication took place on the 13th and 14th of September of 335. In this feast we memorialize Christ’s death on the Cross, which was at once His sacrifice and His victory. He Himself foretold on the eve of His Passion: “The prince of this world is to be cast out. Yes, only if I am lifted up from the earth, I will attract all men to myself.” (Gospel). St. Paul also points out that the law of exaltation through suffering may be said to have governed the whole of Christ’s life (Epistle), and draws the moral that “it behooves us to glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Introit).

 The external celebration of this feast has special significance for the members and friends of the St. Gregory Society.  It was on this feast day in 2007 that Pope Benedict XVI’s apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum went into effect, granting all priests of the Latin rite Church the right to celebrate Mass in the traditional Latin form and the faithful to request such celebrations be regularly available in their parishes. It is, therefore, a most fitting occasion for us thankfully to rejoice in the Holy Father’s provision for widespread use of the traditional Roman liturgy.

Music for the service will include Gregorian Mass Ordinary XI (Orbis factor), the motets “O Crux ave” (Anonymous) and “Adoramus te, Christe” by Vincenzo Ruffo, , the Gregorian chant propers for the feast (“Nos autem gloriari,” and organ music by Girolamo Frescobaldi and Claudio Merulo.

Catechesis, Sacred Liturgy

HIgh Mass, Procession, and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament for the Feast of Corpus Christi

The Feast of the Most Sacred Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, or Corpus Christi, 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, June 11, at 2:00 pm. The Mass will be followed by a Procession and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. The celebrant for the service will be The Rev. Robert Turner, Pastor of St. Ambrose Parish, North Branford.

The origins of the Feast of Corpus Christi date from the early 13th century when St. Juliana of Mont-Cornillon urged the French hierarchy to establish a feast celebrating the Real presence of the Body and Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the elements of Eucharist. In 1268 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, as well as 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 XI, “Orbis factor,” motets by Ludovico da Viadana and Jean-Baptiste François Lallouette, the proper Gregorian chants, and organ music by Girolamo Frescobaldi and Claudio Merulo.

 

 

Catechesis, Easter, Sacred Liturgy

High Mass for the Feast of Pentecost

The feast of Pentecost, or Whitsunday, will be observed in a High Mass in the traditional Latin form at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street in New Haven, on Sunday, May 28, at 2:00 pm. The celebrant will be The Reverend Richard G. Cipolla, Pastor Emeritus, St. Mayr’s Church, Norwalk

Celebrated on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday, Pentecost commemorates the first manifestation of the Holy Ghost among our Lord’s disciples and the foundation of the Church itself. as described in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1-31).

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 Ghost” (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 thus 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 Lorenzo Perosi and Guillaume Dufay, the proper Gregorian chants, and organ music by Girolamo Frescobaldi.

Catechesis, Easter

Easter Day Solemn Mass at St. Stanislaus Church, New Haven


Easter Day 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, April 9, at 2:00 pm. The Celebrant will be The Reverend Robert L. Turner, Pastor, St. Ambrose Parish, North Branford; and the deacon will be The Reverend Canon Joel Estrada, Pastor, St. Patrick Parish and Oratory, Waterbury..

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.

 

Catechesis, Easter, Sacred Liturgy

Good Friday in the traditional Latin form for Holy Week at St. Stanislaus Church, New Haven

 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 7, at 11:00 A.M. The Reverend Peter Lenox, Episcopal Vicar for Liturgy and Worship, Diocese of Bridgeport, will be the celebrant.

The Good Friday liturgy is at once one of the most dramatic and austere services of the Church Year. It 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 of when God told Moses to remove his sandals since where he was standing is 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, Lasso,  and Loyset Compère, and the proper Gregorian chants.

Easter Day 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, April 9, at 2:00 pm. The Celebrant will be The Reverend Robert L. Turner, Pastor, St. Ambrose Parish, North Branford; and the deacon will be The Reverend Canon Joel Estrada, Pastor, St. Patrick Parish and Oratory, Waterbury.