Extraordinary community news

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News (February 10, 2013):

Holy Family Church to hold Tridentine Mass and Dinner

Detroit’s beautiful historic Sicilian parish, Holy Family, is pleased to announce their second special Mass in the Extraordinary Form, a High Mass for the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, on Friday, February 22 at 7:00 PM. The Rosary will be prayed at 6:00 PM and Stations of the Cross at 6:30 PM. Fr. Mark Borkowski will be the celebrant, and the choir of Windsor’s Assumption Church will provide the music. After Mass, everyone is invited to a Parish Salad & Pasta Dinner in the lower level Social Hall. There will be no charge for the dinner, however free will offerings may be made.

Juventútem Michigan has designated this Mass for their monthly Fourth Friday gathering. Young adults age 18-35 are invited to register on the Facebook event page that has been set up.

The church is located on the southbound I-75 service drive adjacent to the Blue Cross tower downtown. Limited parking is available on the drive surrounding the church. Additional parking is available in the Blue Cross parking structure on the south side of the church; please enter the structure on Congress Street.

Holy Family has a long tradition of offering Latin Masses in the Ordinary Form. They hope to offer additional Tridentine Masses if the turnout is good for this one. Special thanks to Holy Family’s Fr. Pino and Bonnie & Bill Leone for their support.

Churches Turn to the East

Those who attend Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form are accustomed to the celebrant facing in the same direction as the congregation as he leads them in prayer. This is known as ad oriéntem worship, facing (Liturgical) East, facing Christ, the rising Sun and Light of the world. In view of the recent news that the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship will be releasing a document suggesting that Holy Mass in the Ordinary Form be celebrated in this same traditional orientation, it is worth noting that an increasing number of churches are reinstating ad oriéntem worship for most, if not all, of their Ordinary Form Masses. Locally, St. Joseph Church in Detroit celebrates most of their scheduled Masses at their High Altar. Assumption Grotto Church recently did away with their freestanding altar; all of their Masses are now at the High Altar.

Some churches are taking even greater steps to make this sort of change. Recently, Holy Innocents Church in Long Beach, California conducted a wholesale remodel, with the approval of Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez. A Communion Rail and High Altar were installed, and all of their Masses, Ordinary and Extraordinary Form, are now celebrated facing East. The below before-and-after photos posted on various blogs this past week show the impressive results.


Before


After

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Mon. 02/11 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Our Lady of Lourdes)
• Tue. 02/12 7:00 PM: High Mass at Assumption-Windsor (Seven Holy Servite Founders, Confessors) – University of Windsor Campus Ministry Visit to the Tridentine Mass. Pizza dinner and discussion about the Extraordinary Form with Juventútem after Mass in the Student Lounge at Assumption University
• Wed. 02/13: Ash Wednesday – Call St. Josaphat or Assumption Grotto for Mass times; not determined as of press time
• Sun. 02/17 Noon: High Mass at St. Albertus (First Sunday of Lent)

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat (Detroit) and Assumption (Windsor) bulletin inserts for February 10, 2013. Hat tip to A.B., author of the column.]