Catechesis

Christ the King

The Feast of Christ the King will be observed in a celebration of High Mass at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street in New Haven, on Sunday, 31 October, at 2:00 pm. Father Robert Turner, Pastor of St. Ambrose Parish, North Branford, will be the celebrant and homilist.

Pope Pius XI instituted the feast of Christ the King in his Encyclical Letter Quas primas of 1925. This letter explained how laïcism and secularism by organizing society without any reference to God, leads to the apostasy of the masses and the ruin of society because of their complete denial of Christ’s Kingship, which is one of the greatest heresies of our time. The Pope proposed this feast as an annual liturgical assertion of Christ’s divine right of Kingship as an effective means of combating this pernicious heresy.

By its position on the last Sunday in October, towards the end of the Liturgical Year and just before the All Saints’ Day, the feast of Christ the King comes at the climax of the celebration of all Christ’s mysteries and a kind of earthly anticipation of his everlasting reign over the elect in the glory of heaven.

Music for the liturgy sung by the Schola Cantorum of the St. Gregory Society will include the Gregorian Mass Ordinary IV, the motets “Gloria tibi” by Wm. Byrd and “O Sacrum Convivium by Ludovico Viadanam, and the Gregorian chant proper of the feast (“Dignus est agnus”. “Mass for Three Voices” and the Mass proper for the feast of Christ the King –“Dignus est agnus.”

Catechesis

Michaelmas 2021

The Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel, commonly known as Michaelmas, will be observed in an external celebration of Solemn High Mass at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street in New Haven, on Sunday, 3 October, at 2:00 pm. Father Richard G. Cipolla, Pastor Emeritus of St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk, will be the celebrant and homilist, and Father Robert L. Turner, Pastor of St. Ambrose Parish, North Branford, will be the Deacon. The Schola Cantorum of the St. Gregory Society will sing the Gregorian chant and polyphony for the service.

The Hebrew name Michael means “Who is like unto God?” and recalls the battle in heaven between the prince of the heavenly host and the devil, a battle that began with Lucifer’s rebellion and continues down through the ages. In this tremendous struggle Michael and his angels, together with the Church and her saints, are Christ’s allies against Satan and his demonic cohorts. At the offertory of the Requiem Mass, the church prays that God’s Standard-bearer Michael may lead the departed Christian soul into heaven. The offertory at Michaelmas reminds us that St. Michael also presides over our worship, for he is the angel whom St. John saw in heaven near God’s altar, censer in hand, offering the fragrant incense of the prayers of the saints.

As the Church Militant faces these days the assault from within and without, it behooves Christians everywhere redouble their devotion to St. Michael and to invoke him daily in the prayer ordered by Pope Leo XIII to be said after every Low Mass:

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, 
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Music for the liturgy will include Gregorian Mass IV (Cunctipotens genitor), motets by François Couperin (Factum est silentium) and Jean-Baptiste Lallouette (O Sacrum Convivium), the Gregorian chant proper of the Feast of St. Michael (Benedicite Dominum, omnes Angeli), and organ music by Guillaume Nivers and Jacques Boivin.

Catechesis

TLM for the Holy Cross feast

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross will be observed at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street in New Haven, on Sunday, September 19, at 2:00 pm. Father Robert L. Turner, Pastor at St. Ambrose Parish in North Branford, will be the celebrant and homilist, and 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, if only 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 motet “Adoramus te, Christe” by Vincenzo Ruffo, the Hymn “Vexilla regis prodeunt” set by Orestes Ravanello, the Gregorian chant propers for the feast (“Nos autem gloriari,” and organ music by Girolamo Frescobaldi and Claudio Merulo.