Tridentine Community News - 'Extraordinary Faith' Episode 17 - London Part 3 of 4 to Debut on EWTN on Saturday, July 6; Tridentine Masses this coming week

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (June 30, 2019):

June 30, 2019 – External Solemnity of the Sacred Heart

Extraordinary Faith Episode 17 – London Part 3 of 4 to Debut on EWTN on Saturday, July 6

EWTN has scheduled another batch of new episodes of Extraordinary Faith for airing over the next several weeks. Episode 17 is the third of four filmed in London, England, which this column has many times explained is a sort of Catholic liturgical paradise. Extraordinary Faith Episode 17 debuts on EWTN this Saturday, July 6 at 4:30 AM U.S. Eastern time.

The two previous London episodes showcased two of the prominent boys’ choirs in the city, the Westminster Cathedral Choir School and the Schola Cantorum of the London Oratory School. London has not neglected young ladies, however; indeed, across the Thames River, St. George’s Cathedral in Southwark has a girls’ choir, comprised largely of young ladies from immigrant families, who have learned to sing the classical Latin repertoire. Even more impressive, because the choir director at the time of filming, Norman Harper, must play the organ accompaniment, he delegates the actual conducting of the choir to one of his more accomplished students. St. George’s experience proves that young singers not only can sing difficult material but they actually embrace the challenge.

The Tridentine Mass scene in England is so busy that there are not one but two organizations devoted to organizing and promoting Latin Liturgy. The first and larger of the two is the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales, which boasts its own office with full-time staff members in the Covent Garden theatre district of London. LMS Chairman Dr. Joseph Shaw tells us about the history and achievements of the LMS.

England is, of course, headquarters of the Anglican Church. England’s enthusiastic embrace of traditional Catholic liturgy, as well as the truths and beauty of our Faith, have not gone unnoticed by Anglicans. Msgr. Keith Newton, Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, explains the origins and purpose of the Ordinariate in welcoming Anglican convert clergy and faithful to the Catholic Church, including offering its own distinctive Anglican-like liturgy, depicted below at the Ordinariate’s Our Lady of the Assumption & St. Gregory Church.

One of the most accomplished adult choirs in the world is that of St. James Spanish Place Church. Its young music director Iestyn Evans tells us how this parish in the embassy district of London has been able to attract top local professional singers to its Latin-centric music program. St. James is known both for solemn Ordinary Form and Extraordinary Form Masses and regularly serves as the site for EF Confirmations in London.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Mon. 07/01 7:00 PM: High Mass at Our Lady of the Scapular (Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ)
• Tue. 07/02 7:00 PM: High Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Windsor (Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
• Fri. 07/05 7:00 PM: High Mass at Old St. Mary’s (St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria, Confessor) – Celebrant: Fr. David Bechill. Devotions to the Sacred Heart before Mass. Reception afterwards.
• Sat. 07/06 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi (Saturday of Our Lady)

[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 St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for June 30, 2019. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Tridentine Community News - Reasons for Thanksgiving and Optimism; Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (November 18, 2018):

November 18, 2018 – Resumed Sixth Sunday After Epiphany

Reasons for Thanksgiving and Optimism

It seems that most of the Catholic news nowadays comes in one of two categories, either bad news about malfeasance and corruption in the Church hierarchy or “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” seemingly forced-happy news from establishment Catholic media outlets.

Ignored in both of the above are the quiet signs of improvement in many areas of Catholic life, most connected with the Traditional Latin Mass. Given that this is the week of American Thanksgiving, it’s appropriate to remind ourselves to give thanks for what we do have. For example:

The continuing mainstreaming of the Tridentine Mass, and its increasing prominence in diocesan life. The ever-increasing number of Extraordinary Form Mass sites in metro Detroit and Windsor (and elsewhere) is something unimaginable just eleven years ago. Consider how many options we now enjoy on major weekday Feast Days as one example. In this region, we’re now limited by number of volunteers available to organize and run more Masses rather than by number of willing and interested host churches and clergy.


The ever-increasing number of priests and seminarians interested in learning to serve and celebrate the Extraordinary Form. A perfect example of this was at the All Souls Day Mass on Friday, November 2 at Old St. Mary’s Church in Detroit [photo above]: Brothers from the Franciscans of the Holy Spirit served the Mass, with seminarians from Sacred Heart Major Seminary representing two dioceses sitting in choir. Every one of the Franciscan seminarians repeatedly expressed their gratitude for having been exposed to the Traditional Mass. And stay tuned – there will be more good news along this front in next week’s Tridentine Community News column.

The increasing prevalence of Gregorian Chant and sacred polyphony in parish life. For example, this week this writer heard Gregorian Mass XVIII’s Sanctus and Agnus Dei and the Salve Regína sung at a weekday Mass at an average parish in Las Vegas. That would have been unthinkable in the pre-Summórum Pontíficum era as recently as eleven years ago, when blogs and discussion boards proudly boasted of Ordinary Form choirs taking the daring step of chanting the occasional Communion Antiphon in Latin. Clearly the bar has been raised.

A gradual evolution of where serious Catholicism is found. Prior to Vatican II, many if not most parishes seemed to have been fairly orthodox. Post-Vatican II, only a handful of conservative parishes and ethnic parishes cared enough to maintain traditions. Nowadays there is no mistaking that Tridentine Mass communities lead the charge, but an increasing number of Ordinary Form parishes are shifting to a more traditional presentation of the Faith, at least at certain Masses.

A recapturing of the importance of celebrating the Feasts of the Church Year, and increasing integration of the Church calendar into daily thinking and prayer. Catholic media and many priests’ preaching are helping to rekindle awareness of the sanctoral cycle, Feasts of Our Lady, octaves, and the lives of the Saints.

Rediscovery and rededication to traditional devotions, from the Rosary to Eucharistic Adoration to gaining Indulgences. Even at otherwise “modern” parishes, ground-level support from the faithful is causing a resurgence of popular devotions that often went ignored in the 1980s and 90s. One example is the increasing number of novenas and devotions prayed before or after weekday Masses.

Increasing availability of Confession before and after Mass. If you offer it, they will come, even in Ordinary Form parishes.

The resurgence of traditional art and architecture, both in new church construction and in restorations and un-wreckovations of older churches. The number of church restorations seems to be outpacing wreckovations these days. Communion Rails, High Altars, and serious religious art are making a comeback, and the designers and contractors supporting those efforts are growing in number and busier than ever.

The rise of a whole industry of secondhand and new traditional church goods vendors, as presented in the November 4 edition of this column. The era of 1970s style products is finally starting to pass.

One might ask, with all of this good news, why isn’t the Catholic press more focused on it? Certainly much of the mainstream Catholic press is under control of the bishops, most of whom still seem oblivious to or disinterested in traditional forms of piety and worship. However, web sites, blogs, and social media – and of course this column and Extraordinary Faith - abound with example after example of the resurgent interest in our immemorial traditions, so the encouraging word will spread via other channels.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Tue. 11/20 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Windsor (St. Felix of Valois, Confessor)
• Sat. 11/24 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi (St. John of the Cross, Confessor & Doctor)

[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 St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for November 18, 2018. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Tridentine Community News - Relics of the True Cross are Eucharistic; Ozorak Chant Sheets Set to Calligraphy; Academy of the Sacred Heart Chapel Dedication Certificate; Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (October 14, 2018):

October 14, 2018 – Twenty-first Sunday After Pentecost

Relics of the True Cross Are Eucharistic

A September 14, 2018 tweet by British priest Fr. Raymond Blake [the first tweet/paragraph], along with informed responses from a gentleman from Cleveland [subsequent tweets/paragraphs], provide some insight regarding proper treatment of a relic of the True Cross:

“A relic of the True Cross is a Eucharistic Presence, it is drenched in the Blood of Christ hence must be treated exactly the same as the Blessed Sacrament.

According to pre Vatican II norms on Sacred Relics, most of which have not been abrogated by VII reforms, the Relic of the True Cross deserves hyperdulia. Latria is only permitted for the Blessed Sacrament consecrated in Holy Mass.

That said, one must genuflect on knee before a Relic of the True Cross exposed for veneration. The Relic must have two lighted white candles on either side when exposed. On Good Friday, the Relic may be exposed in Adoration until the Easter Vigil.

When carried for exposition or in procession, the Relic of the True Cross must be held by the clergy with a red humeral veil. If the Relic is carried in a formal outdoor procession, it must be carried under a canopy and given the same honor as a Eucharistic procession.

A Relic of the True Cross may not [be] exposed in the Real Presence of the Eucharist except on Good Friday. Technically, for a Relic of the True Cross to be moved from parish to parish, chapel, shrine, authorization of the local Ordinary is required.”

Ozorak Chant Sheets Set to Calligraphy


On September 9, 2018, the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles had their new abbatial church in Gower, Missouri dedicated according to the Traditional Rite. This elaborate and rarely performed ceremony was accompanied by the First Profession of two nuns and the Investiture of four postulants. Bishops and traditionalist clergy from around the world participated in the event, photos and details of which may be seen at: https://benedictinesofmary.org/sites/benedictinesofmary.org/files/newsletters/2018%20Special%20edition.pdf

The sisters called upon Windsor’s own Michel Ozorak to produce Chant Sheets for the occasion. However, they didn’t just print what he sent them. A sister actually transposed his Chant Sheets into calligraphy, creating quite a work of art.

Academy of the Sacred Heart Chapel Dedication Certificate

While we’re on the subject of dedication of a church, the Academy of the Sacred Heart recently put up for display in their chapel sacristy the certificate of blessing of the chapel and consecration of its altar. Dated May 8, 1963, written in Latin, and signed by Detroit’s then-Archbishop John Dearden, the certificate is a reminder of the solemnity and formality with which such events used to be conducted and recorded.


Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Tue. 10/16 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Windsor (St. Hedwig, Widow)
• Sat. 10/20 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi (St. John Cantius, Confessor)

[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 St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for October 14, 2018. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Tridentine Community News - First Detroit Solemn High Mass for the Franciscans of the Holy Spirit; Music From the Tower: Weekly Radio Show on Sacred Music; Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (September 9, 2018):

September 9, 2018 – Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost

First Detroit Solemn High Mass for the Franciscans of the Holy Spirit

The December 17, 2017 edition of this column reported that Fr. Athanasius Fornwalt, FHS, had then celebrated his first (private) Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form. The Arizona-based Franciscans of the Holy Spirit send their seminarians to Detroit’s Sacred Heart Major Seminary, and Fr. Athanasius serves as their Post-Novitiate Director.

Our July 29, 2018 column reported that the same order’s transitional Deacon Peter Teresa McConnell, FHS, had served as Deacon for his first Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form this summer at Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, alongside a celebrant also from his order.

On Friday, October 5 at 7:00 PM at Old St. Mary’s Church in Detroit, the Franciscans of the Holy Spirit will offer their first local Solemn High Mass. Fr. Athanasius will be the celebrant, Deacon Peter Teresa will be deacon, and Detroit diocesan seminarian Deacon John McKenzie will serve as subdeacon.

Interestingly, both the Franciscans of the Holy Spirit and the Companions of the Cross, whose seminarians also study at Sacred Heart Seminary, were founded as Charismatic communities. Now Fr. Athanasius and his counterpart at the Companions, Fr. Pierre Ingram, who also recently learned to celebrate the EF, have both stated that they intend to invite their respective seminarians to learn the Traditional Mass. Only a few years ago such a crossover would have been unimaginable, but as Fr. Athanasius predicts, “Tradismatics” will become a more common sight in the future.

Also of note, the Franciscans of the Holy Spirit have begun to celebrate most if not all of the Ordinary Form Masses ad oriéntem, both at their local base, the Greyfriar’s House of Studies at Most Holy Trinity Church in Detroit [pictured above], and at their mission church, St. John the Baptist in Laveen, Arizona. Pictured below is yet another ad oriéntem Mass they celebrated in August with Diocese of Orange, California Bishop Kevin Vann at Our Lady of Solitude Monastery in Tonopah, Arizona.

Music From the Tower: Weekly Radio Show on Sacred Music

Skepticism abounded in 2011 when the Diocese of Orange, California announced that they were purchasing Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral, a Protestant landmark, to become the diocese’s new Christ Cathedral. Slowly the cathedral has been transitioning to a more Catholic architectural layout.

One bright spot has been the establishment of a serious sacred music program in the cathedral parish, under the direction of John Romeri, the former Director of Music for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Traditional music is making its way into the repertoire of the choirs there, as can be seen on the parish’s extensive music web site, www.christcathedralmusic.org

Among other initiatives, Mr. Romeri has begun hosting “Music From the Tower”, a weekly program on sacred music, airing at 10:00 PM Sundays California time on KHJ 930 AM and KCEO 1000 AM. All past episodes are posted for listening at: http://christcathedralmusic.org/music-from-the-tower-radio-program/#music-from-the-tower-radio-program-1

While many if not most of the past episodes cover traditional material including Gregorian Chant, of particular interest to readers of this column is Episode #44, which aired on August 18, 2018. The guest was the rarely-interviewed Charles Cole, the famed director of the London Oratory’s children’s choirs.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Tue. 09/11 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Windsor (Ss. Protus & Hyacinth, Martyrs)
• Sat. 09/15 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi (Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

[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 St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for September 9, 2018. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Tridentine Community News - Extraordinary Faith Episode 16: London Part 2 of 4; Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (May 6, 2018):

May 6, 2018 – Fifth Sunday After Easter

Extraordinary Faith Episode 16: London Part 2 of 4 The second of four episodes of Extraordinary Faith filmed in London, England has aired on EWTN this past week and will surely be re-run, on dates yet to be determined. Because the network scheduled five new episodes to run last week, it was not possible to provide a column about each of the episodes before their air dates. You will be able to view the episode on the Extraordinary Faith YouTube and Vimeo channels and at www.extraordinaryfaith.tv one month after its debut on EWTN.

One of the most impressive churches in the world for traditional liturgy is London’s Oratory of St. Philip Neri, also known as the Brompton Oratory for its location on Brompton Road. At any point in the day, a visitor is likely to stumble in on Masses being offered at Side Altars throughout the church. All Masses are celebrated ad oriéntem, and Latin Masses in the Ordinary and Extraordinary Form are offered daily. Fr. Ronald Creighton-Jobe is American by birth and one of the longtime priests of the Oratory. He explains the charism of his order and why his church has become so renowned for its reverent liturgical offerings.


The music program at the Oratory is one of the most ambitious in the world. Four choirs regularly sing there, the first being the adult professional choir which sings at the Sunday 11:00 AM Ordinary Form Latin Mass and at the 3:30 PM Sunday Vespers in the Extraordinary Form. Music Director Patrick Russill explains the reasons for this commitment to sacred music and the exceptional solemn experience that is the Sunday Vespers [the procession to Our Lady’s Side Altar at the end of Vespers is pictured].


Charles Cole is the director of three children’s choirs that sing at the Oratory. He is also one of the highest-profile choir directors in the world and a familiar face at the Sacred Music Colloquia organized by the Church Music Association of America. Charles tells us his background and introduces us to the first of his choirs, the London Oratory Schola, a boys’ choir consisting of students at the affiliated London Oratory School which sings at the 6:00 PM Saturday Vigil Mass, issues recordings, and regularly goes on concert tours of Europe and the U.S. We were allowed to film one of their practice sessions.


We are also introduced to the London Oratory Junior Choir, consisting of boys and girls who do not attend the parish school. The Junior Choir sings at the 10:00 AM Sunday “Family Mass” and at the Tuesday 6:30 PM Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. The Tuesday Benediction is an ethereal experience, with a different O Salutáris, Tantum Ergo, and motet sung each week. Our crew was permitted to film the Junior Choir as they sang for one of those Benediction services.


Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Tue. 05/08 7:00 PM: High Requiem Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Windsor (Daily Mass for the Dead)
• Thu. 05/10: 8:00 AM Low Mass & 7:00 PM Solemn High Mass at St. Joseph (Ascension Thursday)
• Thu. 05/10 7:00 PM: High Mass at Our Lady of the Scapular (Ascension Thursday)
• Sat. 05/12 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi (Ss. Nereus, Achilleus, Domitilla, Virgin, & Pancras, Martyrs)

[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 St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for May 6, 2018. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Tridentine Community News - Extraordinary Faith Episode 15: London Part 1 of 4 to Debut on EWTN on Monday, April 30; TLMs this coming week

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (April 29, 2018):

April 29, 2018 – Fourth Sunday After Easter

Extraordinary Faith Episode 15: London Part 1 of 4 to Debut on EWTN on Monday, April 30 The first of four episodes of Extraordinary Faith filmed in London, England will air on EWTN. Episode 15: London Part 1 of 4 will be shown on Monday, April 30 at 5:30 PM and on Tuesday, May 1 at 2:30 AM. As with all episodes, it will be posted for viewing on the Extraordinary Faith YouTube and Vimeo channels and at www.extraordinaryfaith.tv one month after it debuts on EWTN. You are not imagining things; EWTN scheduled the debut of this later episode of the show before earlier episodes are to debut later this the same week.

As this column has many times emphasized, London is the most exuberantly Catholic city this writer has ever visited. Traditional liturgy and music abounds; the quality of Catholic life, liturgical and otherwise, is unparalleled. These episodes provide a glimpse into this amazing world.

Our visit begins at the center of Catholicism in this capital city, Westminster Cathedral. Rector Canon Christopher Tuckwell explains the myriad of sacramental and devotional offerings at the cathedral. Mass is offered in Latin in the Ordinary Form daily and in the Extraordinary Form at least once per month, with occasional Solemn High Masses at the High Altar.


Dylan Parry was at the time of filming the editor of Westminster Cathedral’s Orémus Magazine; he has since joined the Norbertines and has taken the religious name of Br. Gildas Parry. He explains why Catholic tradition is so strong in London and the role of the late Cardinal Heenan in obtaining the pioneering “Agatha Christie Indult” for the Tridentine Mass in 1971.


Few Catholic parishes in the world can boast of a music program that features occasional polyphonic Masses in Latin. Westminster Cathedral has them all beat: They offer choral Masses most every day of the year, usually with the Cathedral Choir School boys’ choir. Music Director Martin Baker explains their ambitious music program and lets us in on a rehearsal with the choir school.


Occasional devotional processions are a part of the life of many parishes that feature the Traditional Mass. London, however, pretty much outclasses them all: In October there are not one but two major outdoor processions on successive weeks, both starting from Westminster Cathedral. We filmed the Rosary Crusade, in which approximately 2,000 of the faithful process down the main commercial streets of London on a Saturday, from Westminster Cathedral to the London Oratory. The procession ends with standing-room-only Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament at the Oratory. How inspiring to see such an enthusiastic public witness to our Holy Faith.


Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Tue. 05/01: 8:00 AM Low Mass & 7:00 PM Solemn High Mass at St. Joseph (St. Joseph the Worker)
• Tue. 05/01 7:00 PM: High Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Windsor (St. Joseph the Worker)
• Fri. 05/04 7:00 PM: Solemn High Mass at Old St. Mary’s (St. Monica, Widow) – Celebrant: Fr. Stephen Wolfe, SJ; Deacon: Fr. Joe Tuskiewicz; Subdeacon: Fr. Peter Hrytsyk. Choir will sing Missa Surréxit Pastor Bonus by Orlando di Lassus. Devotions to the Sacred Heart before Mass; reception after Mass.
• Sat. 05/05 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi (St. Pius V, Pope & Confessor)

[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 St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for April 29, 2018. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Tridentine Community News - Extraordinary Faith Season 2 Debuts on EWTN: Episode 12: Windsor, Ontario to Air on May 2; Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (April 8, 2018):

April 8, 2018 – Low Sunday / Divine Mercy Sunday

Extraordinary Faith Season 2 Debuts on EWTN: Episode 12: Windsor, Ontario to Air on May 2

EWTN has scheduled the airing of Season 2 of Extraordinary Faith. They are taking a different approach this time: New episodes will be aired rapid-fire on successive days. As a result, this column of necessity will be featuring all of those episodes over the next several weeks. Not to worry if you can’t watch them all when they initially air; the network will likely repeat them frequently, as they did with the episodes from Season 1. Plus, as always, episodes will be posted on the Extraordinary Faith YouTube and Vimeo channels, and linked on our web site, www.extraordinaryfaith.tv, one month after they debut on EWTN.

The first episode of Season 2 oddly will not be the first to air, but we will nevertheless mention it first, as there is a thematic progression to the episodes: Staying close to home this time and showcasing some local pride, Episode 12 is the first of three episodes filmed here in metro Detroit. This first episode focuses on metro Detroit’s oldest Latin Mass group, Windsor’s St. Benedict Tridentine Community. Episode 12 will air on Wednesday, May 2 at 5:30 PM and Thursday, May 3 at 2:30 AM (yes, overnight).


Little did we know that the principal site where we filmed much of this episode, Windsor’s Assumption Church, would be closed just weeks after our shoot took place. Scenes of the Tridentine Mass at Assumption [pictured above] are included throughout the episode. Additional footage was filmed more recently at one of St. Benedict’s two current homes, historic St. Alphonsus Church.


Two of our most ubiquitous priest celebrants are profiled: Fr. Peter Hrytsyk and Fr. Joe Tuskiewicz, as they have interesting and unusual vocation stories. Ordained for the Ukrainian Rite, Fr. Peter has bi-ritual faculties in the Latin Rite. He came to love the Tridentine Mass after attending it in the congregation when the Windsor Tridentine Masses were held at St. Michael Church. A senior ad executive whose job posts led him to live in cities across the globe, Fr. Joe gave up his lucrative career to study for the priesthood after several years of serving at the altar for the Tridentine Masses at Assumption, St. Josaphat, and St. Albertus. [This is a man who was on the team that gave us the Like a Rock ads for Chevrolet.] The interview with the two Fathers was filmed in the Rosary Chapel at Assumption Church, which remains open and occasionally still hosts Tridentine Masses, as recently as two weeks ago.

Music directors near and far have come to know Wassim Sarweh for his innovative approach to accompanying Gregorian Chant on the organ and for his use of Organum Chant, in which a vocal drone serves as background to the singing. Wassim introduces the St. Benedict Choir and explains his background and his experience in building Latin Mass choirs from scratch.


Do you know people who don’t or won’t attend the Latin Mass because they find the Latin language too difficult? St. Benedict Secretary/Treasurer Charlotte Parent and her husband Ron are on a mission to bust that myth by training their dogs to understand Latin. Tell your friends that if a dog can learn what Oráte, fratres means, so can you!


Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Tue. 04/10 7:00 PM: High Requiem Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Windsor (Daily Mass for the Dead)
• Sat. 04/14 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi (St. Justin, Martyr)

[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 St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for April 8, 2018. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Mass music: what's appropriate, what's not, and why it matters ...

• Peter Kwasniewski, "The Church’s traditions are alive and well. Catholics need to immerse themselves in them" (LifeSiteNews, October 17, 2017).
  
  
• Peter Kwasniewski, "Guitars have no place in the Catholic Mass. Here's why" (LifeSiteNews, March 20, 2018)
  
  
• John Paul Meenan, "If you want a beautiful Mass, you need beautiful liturgical music" (LifeSiteNews, March 22, 2018)
  
  
• Peter Kwasniewski, "Bob Dylan tunes with Christian lyrics can never be truly liturgical ‘sacred’ music" (LifeSiteNews, March 27, 2018).

Wee bit of heaven ...

The London Oratory, also called the Brompton Oratory, has a special place in my heart. Cardinal Newman, essentially a patron saint to me on my journey into the Church, figures prominently in the history of the Oratory. Beyond that, it's a magnificent place and easy to find in London. It has three world-class children's choirs, as well as at least one other adult choir; and their music is one of the most beautiful things this side of heaven. (For more on the Oratory choirs, see Alex Begin's column in the post below.)

Tridentine Community News - Veiling of Sacred Images During Passiontide; Vatican Bookstore Once Again On-Line; London Oratory Schola New Web Site and CD; Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (March 25, 2018):

March 25, 2018 – Palm Sunday

Veiling of Sacred Images During Passiontide


A traditional practice not often seen nowadays is the veiling of sacred images in a church during Passiontide, the two weeks before Easter Sunday. Passiontide is so named because the Sunday two weeks before Easter Sunday is called Passion Sunday in the Tridentine calendar, and the name persists even in Ordinary Form settings.

Statues, religious images, and crucifixes are covered with violet cloth in an effort to focus our attention on the Passion of our Lord and heighten our longing for Easter. Note that the sacred objects, even if movable, are not taken away. Even Processional Crosses continue to be used even if veiled. Crosses are uncovered during the Good Friday Service, while other religious images remain covered until the Easter Vigil.

Around metro Detroit several Polish churches [including Sweetest Heart of Mary, pictured] and certain traditional parishes follow this practice. It certainly requires a lot of cloth and either staff or volunteers to perform the veiling and unveiling. If you see a church that has some, but not all, of its images veiled, chances are they didn’t have the material, labor, or time to complete the job.

Unfortunately veiling is not possible at certain settings where it would appear appropriate, such as the Academy of the Sacred Heart Chapel and St. Alphonsus Church. The Oakland County Latin Mass Association and the St. Benedict Tridentine Community, respectively, are essentially renters and cannot determine standards of décor. This is another case of where rubrics must give way to practicality in our current era.

Vatican Bookstore Once Again On-Line

Several years ago, Libreria Editrice Vaticano, the Vatican bookstore, had a web site, paxbook.com, from which one could order most any official publication. Inexplicably, the web site was taken down. For many years the only way to order books from the Vatican Bookstore was to send in a written order, which of course dissuaded all but the most motivated buyers.

At long last a new web site has debuted to make ordering books from Rome simple once again: www.vaticanum.com. Most of the main books are already up there, such as the 2008 Latin Novus Ordo Altar Missal, various Gregorian Chant resources, and Latin editions of many Ordinary Form liturgical books. One glaring omission is the Enchirídion Indulgentiárum, the book of indulgenced prayers in Latin. Hopefully the gaps will be filled in, in due time, and site will be as complete a listing of products as the old paxbook.com used to be.

London Oratory Schola New Web Site and CD

One of the world’s most accomplished Catholic music directors is Charles Cole of the London Oratory. Not only does he lead three world-class children’s choirs at the church, but he has also mastered the art of organization and promotion of his choirs’ efforts.


One of the most visually impressive web sites you are likely to see in the Catholic world is the one Charles created for the London Oratory Schola: www.londonoratoryschola.com. This particular choir consists of young men who are studying at the London Oratory School. The choir tours extensively; last October, they performed at several renowned churches in the United States. They sing a wide repertoire of Chant and Polyphony for the 6:00 PM Saturday Vigil Mass at the Oratory; their music schedule is provided on the above web site.

A reader of this column recommends the new CD put out by the schola, Sacred Treasures of England. Information about the CD and an impressive promotional video are here: www.londonoratoryschola.com/recordings/

One of Charles’ other choirs, the London Oratory Junior Choir, consists of boys and girls who are not students at the parish school. They are known for singing Tuesday evening Benedictions at the Oratory and will be featured in an upcoming episode of Extraordinary Faith. More about that choir is here: www.oratoryjuniorchoir.com

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Tue. 03/27 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Rosary Chapel at Assumption Church, Windsor (Tuesday in Holy Week) – Note special location this week only
• Thu. 03/29 7:00 PM: High Mass at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart (Holy Thursday)
• Fri. 03/30 1:30 PM: Chanted Service at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart (Good Friday)
• Fri. 03/30 5:30 PM: Chanted Service at Holy Name of Mary, Windsor (Good Friday)
• Sat. 03/31 8:00 PM: High Mass at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart (Easter Vigil) – Choir will sing Missa O Quam Gloriósum by Tomás Luis de Victoria
• Sun. 04/01: No Mass at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart

[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 St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for March 25, 2018. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

A bit of history: Fr. Perrone, Detroit, Music

Effective evangelism through ancient liturgy

Does this seem counter-intuitive? Many today think that the ancient Faith should be 'translated' into a more contemporary, post-modern medium to make it more 'palitable' today. But there are those who think otherwise.

Did you read about the Turkish Catholic convert from Ismir, Turkey, who was so inspired by the ancient Catholic liturgy that he prayed for three years until he got one in the church of Notre-Dame de Lourdes in the Archdiocese of Izmir?

Recently, the Una Voce Federation also published a Position Paper on "Islam and the Extraordinary Form," which argues that Catholics must preserve their ancient traditions if they are to effectively evangelize Muslims. For example, it argues that a Christianity too closely identified with secular liberal attitudes is singularly unhelpful. Samir Khalil Samir, S.J. writes:

Muslims know that modernity is coming from the West; this is a fact. Now they see the West as having lost its ethics, especially on sexual questions. They’re very shocked by what they see or hear.

...Then the Muslims say, “Okay, the West is Christian, Christianity allows this, and so Christianity is not the true religion; it’s a false religion. And we want to be true, to stick to the Qur’an and to the tradition.”

Another issue is the turn-off Muslim men experience when confronted with the effeminate forms of Catholic worship so prevalent since Vatican II. Here an antidote is provided ancient Catholic liturgy with its stress on the transcendent, reverence, dignity and ritual in worship, as opposed to a stress on spontaneity and emotionalism.

Conversion stories of Muslims often include great sacrifice and suffering. After being tortured, imprisoned, and exiled, the Iraqi Muslim convert Joseph Fadelle wrote of his first experience of Latin Chant:

I was gripped by the sonorities, which were much subtler and more musical than Arabic. Although I did not understand it, I immediately felt an attraction for that language.

As I listened to that slow, profound music, I also found again the prayerful atmosphere that I had experienced in churches in the Near East. This chant touched me deeply; it immersed me in a peace that I could not have imagined a few days before.

There is an immense appeal of traditional liturgy and eastern and western traditional chant to those fed up with the superficial. I have found this to be the case personally with Muslim friends as well. For example, I remember playing for some modern Catholic music for a Muslim couple from India with their college-age daughter, whom we had invited as guests for dinner in our home. None of them liked the samples I played for them. On the other hand, when I played a CD of some ancient Armenian Catholic chant music (like this), they immediately found it enchanting. Live and learn.

How trendy experiments in music and liturgy have led to the triumph of bad taste, banality, and a deflated sense of the sacred

Composer and Catholic James MacMillan writing in a recent issue of Standpoint:

In the 1970s many well-intentioned types thought that such 'folk' music and pop culture derivatives would appeal to teenagers and young people and get them more involved in the Church, when the exact opposite has happened. It is now thought that these trendy experiments in music and liturgy have contributed to the increasing risible irrelevance of liberal Christianity, and that liturgy as social engineering has repulsed many. Like most ideas shaped by 1960s Marxist ideology it has proved an utter failure. Its greatest tragedy is the willful disingenuous, de-poeticisation of Catholic worship. The Church has simply aped the secular West's obsession with 'accessibility,' 'inclusiveness,' 'democracy,' and anti-elitism, resulting in the triumph of bad taste, banality and a deflation of the sense of the sacred in the life of the church."

Maybe this is the sort of trendy banality he had in mind -- gone-to-seed, perhaps?




Well, the choreography of the latter is almost good enough to serve for the closing "Christmas-in-Heaven" performance in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, if that's not being overly generous. The horror of it all is just the philistine assumption that any of this belongs to the worship of Almighty God.

Record attendance at chant workshop in Detroit (upwards of 100 attendees)!

I want to make sure nobody missed this from the previous post:

A special thank-you to all those who made time to attend Wassim Sarweh’s most recent Gregorian Chant Workshop on October 28. Attendance was almost triple the previous local record, and arguably was among the highest ever seen for a comparable event in North America: Old St. Mary’s Parish had set a limit of 75 attendees; all reservations on Eventbrite had been claimed, plus there were several walk-ins on the day of the class. Approximately 20 additional faithful attended the associated 2:00 PM Tridentine Mass without attending the seminar. Not surprisingly, the parish has asked Wassim to hold another Chant Workshop in 2018.

Perhaps most notably, many of the attendees were choir directors themselves. This certainly bodes well for the (re)introduction of chant in parish repertoires.

Extra Tridentine Community News Notes - Chant Workshop at Old St. Mary's on October 28; Summórum Pontíficum Conference Report; London Oratory Tridentine Vespers on BBC

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (from bulletin insert for October 1, 2017):

Chant Workshop at Old St. Mary’s on October 28

Wassim Sarweh will be offering another Chant Workshop on Saturday, October 28 from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM at Detroit’s Old St. Mary’s Church. Intended for those interested in learning more about Gregorian Chant, no particular musical background is required. Subjects to be covered:

• A brief history and origin of chant
• Understanding free melody & rhythms
• Vocal techniques developing the chant sound
• Notation and Neumes
• Western Church Modes, scales and feel
• Old Roman Chant
• Chant in the Liturgy
• Instrumental accompanying of chant

The workshop will include a Tridentine High Mass at 2:00 PM at which participants will be able to put their newly acquired skills to practice. [The public is invited to attend this Mass; you do not need to be a participant in the workshop.] Lunch will be provided. For more information and registration details, contact Wassim at: wassimsarweh@gmail.com.

Summórum Pontíficum Conference Report

The tenth anniversary of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio Summórum Pontíficum was marked with a conference in Rome on September 14-17, at which this writer was present. Over 400 faithful crowded into the amphitheater classroom at the Angélicum in Rome, where talks were given by Pontifical Commission Ecclésia Dei Secretary Archbishop Guido Pozzo, Cardinal Robert Sarah, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, and others. Cardinal Raymond Burke was in attendance, along with FSSP co-founder Fr. Josef Bisig, FSSP Superior General Fr. John Berg, and ICRSP founder Msgr. Gilles Wach.


Many of the talks noted the global surge in the number of Traditional Latin Mass sites post-Summórum, along with the appeal of the liturgy to the young. Vespers were celebrated by Prefect of the Papal Household and Personal Secretary to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Archbishop Georg Gänswein. A procession through the streets of Rome and Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica capped the event. With such strong international attendance – North Americans were in the minority – and support from such high-ranking clergy, the conference was yet another example of the ascendance of the Traditional Mass into the mainstream life of the Church.

London Oratory Tridentine Vespers on BBC


On Wednesday, September 20, BBC Radio 3 conducted a live broadcast of Tridentine Vespers for Ember Wednesday from the London Oratory. This was a rare opportunity to see the professional adult choir of the Oratory perform in a visible location, necessitated to accommodate the microphones; normally the choir is hidden from view in the loft.

As this column has many times mentioned, Vespers at the Oratory is one of the most impressive and ethereal liturgical and musical experiences in the world. Visitors to London can attend Solemn Vespers at the Oratory every Sunday at 3:30 PM, but you don’t have to travel to hear it: The BBC has posted a recording of the September 20 broadcast, available on-line until October 19, at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b094t14k

While the whole hour-long recording is amazing – the choir basically sings non-stop for the whole hour, flawlessly – if you have limited time, listen to one of the Psalms, beginning at 11:51.

[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 St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for October 1, 2017. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]