Joe Balistreri Appointed to Detroit Chancery Post

Tridentine Community News (November 13, 2011):

Many of our readers know Joe Balistreri, who has volunteered as substitute organist and cantor for Wassim Sarweh on several occasions. Joe is one of our region’s musical prodigies, having been appointed Music Director of St. Matthew Parish on the east side of Detroit at age 16. A few weeks ago, Joe received his Masters degree in Organ from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor.

We are delighted to announce that Archbishop Allen Vigneron has appointed Joe as Pastoral Music Director for the Archdiocese of Detroit. Joe succeeds Louis Canter in this position in the chancery. He will be a central resource for musicians throughout the Archdiocese and will be involved with the Archdiocesan Chorus at major events at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral. Dr. Steven Ball will continue in his position as Organist for Pontifical Events at the cathedral, quite fitting as Steven was one of Joe’s professors at U of M.

Joe’s appointment comes at a time when the new English Missal for the Ordinary Form places an increased emphasis on the celebrant chanting portions of the Mass. Led in part by Jeffrey Tucker of the Church Music Association of America, there is also a new push for singing the Propers in the Ordinary Form, as is required at Extraordinary Form High Masses. Joe’s background with the Tridentine Mass makes him uniquely qualified to advocate the use of both Chant and the Propers during this time when Church authorities are seeking to use traditional music as a means to restore a sense of the sacred to the Ordinary Form.

We congratulate Joe and ask for your prayers for Joe as he undertakes his new responsibilities.

Ss. Peter & Paul (West Side) To Host Tridentine Mass


Another traditionally-outfitted church in the Archdiocese of Detroit will be hosting a Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form: The historically Polish parish of Ss. Peter & Paul on the west side of the city will hold a Tridentine Mass on Sunday, December 11 at 12:15 PM. Celebrant for the Mass will be Ss. Peter & Paul Assistant Pastor Fr. Mark Borkowski. Music Director for the Mass will be the aforementioned Joe Balistreri.

Built in the 1950s, the current and third church of the parish is traditionally outfitted, with a high altar, side altars, spacious sanctuary, and Communion Rail. While not an historic edifice, it was nevertheless built to Borromean standards, with elements of verticality and art which evoke the sacred. Ss. Peter and Paul is located at 7685 Grandville Ave., one block north of Warren Ave., and a few blocks west of the Southfield Freeway.

Relaunch of The Mass of Ages Magazine

The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales has announced a new design for their signature quarterly magazine, The Mass of Ages, under the leadership of newly appointed editor, Gregory Murphy. The LMS intends to broaden the appeal of the magazine: they recognize, as many of us observers in the Extraordinary Form world do, that a modern approach to marketing the EF is called for in today’s media-savvy culture. Printed in full color throughout, with a more attention-grabbing and headline-filled cover, the magazine is designed to catch the attention of those skimming magazine racks who may not yet be familiar with the Traditional Latin Mass. Think of it as an effort to blend the modern media appearance of a People Magazine with a more positive version of The Latin Mass Magazine. Such an outreach effort has not yet been attempted by any other periodical serving readers interested in the Tridentine Mass.

The Mass of Ages enjoys wide distribution in Catholic bookstores in England. Whereas many Catholic bookshops in North America carry very little in the way of traditional books and periodicals, many if not most British Catholic stores devote a portion of their retail space to Latin Mass-related items. A striking example is the enormous (by Catholic standards) St. Paul’s Bookshop adjacent to London’s Westminster Cathedral, which has one section devoted to the Extraordinary Form, another section devoted to Gregorian Chant including many of the books of Solesmes, and an extensive selection of traditional monstrances, chalices, and ciboria. We in North America may dream of the day when the EF is considered an integral part of the Catholic scene; in England, this goal has already been achieved.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

Mon. 11/14 7:00 PM: High Mass at St. Josaphat (Feast of St. Josaphat)

Tue. 11/15 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Assumption-Windsor (St. Albert the Great, Bishop, Confessor, & Doctor)

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@stjosaphatchurch.org. Previous columns are available at www.stjosaphatchurch.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat bulletin insert for November 13, 2011. Hat tip to A.B.]