Extraordinary Community News: EWTN Bus Tour Report

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News (September 7, 2014):

Over 110 people participated in Prayer Pilgrimage’s August 25-29 bus tour to the American South. Pictures tell the story better than words. Our first stop was the new Fathers of Mercy Chapel in Auburn, Kentucky. Built in 2008, the chapel is designed in a traditional style, with a High Altar, Communion Rail, and elaborate artwork throughout. The adjacent photo shows the High Altar set up for the Tridentine Mass which was offered as part of the tour.


Two churches were visited in Nashville, then it was off for two days at EWTN. The first day was spent at the expansive Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament / Our Lady of Angels Monastery in Hanceville, a rural town one hour north of Birmingham, Alabama. Mother Angelica’s nuns live here. Five wealthy families donated the over-$50 million it cost to build this magnificent complex, a true shrine to Catholic tradition. The main church is the site of televised Benedictions and Extraordinary Form Masses. Our tour group had a Tridentine Mass in the lower level church, where the crypts of the nuns are located.


The next day was spent at EWTN network headquarters in Irondale, a suburb of Birmingham. We were given a backstage tour of the production facilities and attended a broadcast of the EWTN Live talk show. Apparently our group was one of the larger pilgrimages the network had seen. This author took the opportunity to meet with network executives, who conveyed their support for the continued production of Extraordinary Faith.

Our next stop was Atlanta, where we visited the Cathedral of Christ the King, a rare Cathedral located in a posh suburb. Mass in the Extraordinary Form was offered at downtown Atlanta’s Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. A surreal moment was experienced at the Peachtree Mall food court: The city was host to an enormous comic book and gaming convention, with hundreds of attendees walking around town in costume as various superhero characters. How often does one see a group of Latin Mass fans dining alongside Wonder Woman and Spider Man?

On Friday we traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio and its Windsor-like neighbor across the Ohio River, Covington, Kentucky. Mass in the Ordinary Form was offered at the artistically ornate Mother of God Church, with its colorful murals depicting the Joyful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary.


The last stop was St. Francis de Sales Church, designed by the same architect behind Detroit’s St. Joseph Church. Like St. Joseph, St. Francis’ High Altar is five steps up rather than the usual three, with an enormous and elaborate reredos.




We hope you can join us on a future inspirational pilgrimage!

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Mon. 09/08 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Joseph (Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
• Tue. 09/02 7:00 PM: High Requiem Mass at St. Benedict/Assumption-Windsor (Daily Mass for the Dead)
• Sun. 09/14 9:30 AM: High Mass at St. Josaphat – (Exaltation of the Holy Cross) – Sunday Tridentine Masses return to St. Josaphat and will no longer be held regularly at St. Joseph Church

[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. Albertus (Detroit), Academy of the Sacred Heart (Bloomfield Hills), and Assumption (Windsor) bulletin inserts for September 7, 2014. Hat tip to A.B., author of the column.]