Category Archives: Easter

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.

Easter, News, Sacred Liturgy

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 14, at 2:00 pm. The celebrant will be The Reverend Richard G. Cipolla, Pastor Emeritus of St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk.

The proper texts of the liturgy for this Sunday’s Mass continue to tell 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 motets “Cantate Domino” by Hans Leo Hassler and “Panis angelicus” by Marc-Antoine Charpentier; the proper Gregorian chants, and organ music by Guillaume Nivers and Jacques Boyvin.

 

 

 

Easter, Sacred Liturgy

High Mass for the Third Sunday after Easter

The Third Sunday after Easter, 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, April 30, at 2:00 pm. The celebrant will be The Reverend Robert L. Turner, Pastor, St. Ambrose Parish, North Branford

Holy Mother Church, rejoicing in the Resurrection, sings her joy and proclaims the glory of God (Introit, Offertory).  “A little while now, and you shall not see me,” said our Lord in the Cenacle, “and you shall lament and weep; and again a little while, and you shall see me and your heart shall rejoice” (Gospel). When the Apostles saw the risen Christ again, they experienced this joy with which the Easter liturgy is still overflowing.

Easters celebrated on earth are a preparation and symbol of the eternal Easter when joy shall be full—the joy of the Church when, having with sorrow begotten souls to God, she shares the glories and joys of the Lord.  This holy joy begins here below; it is founded on hope and on Christ’s invisible but real presence even now with us.  As strangers and pilgrims on our way to heaven, we should be imbued with this Christian joy which frees us from earthly pleasures and leads us to God, whose grace succors us and upholds us to the end of our journey.

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,”) the motets “Regina caeli, and Ave verum corpus by Charles Gounod, the Gregorian Mass proper, “Jubilate Deo,” and organ music by Eugène Gigout and Léon Boëllmann.

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.