March 26, 2010

Mass in the EF with Cardinal Egan

My old friend Paul, who writes a fine blog that you all should read, bears in this world the difficult and thankless ministry of trying to get me out of the house from time to time. Last night we went to the a solemn Mass in the Extraordinary Form at which Cardinal Egan preached on the Annunciation, Evangelium vitae, and the EF itself. My fellow Connecticutians over at the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny have some pictures posted. If you click on the fourth to last one and click again to blow it up, you can see my biretta-less head as I assist in choro from the front pew on the left side.

7 comments:

ben in denver said...

Very Beautiful.

We had sung High Mass yesterday morning at 8:30. But Solemn High Mass is just stunning. We had one for Laetare Sunday, and I believe we will also be having another for Palm Sunday and Easter. I suspect that we will also have vested Deacon and Subdeacon for Good Friday.

How charitible of you to assist as Subdeacon for this mass. It can be really difficult to assemble enough trained ministers to execute a mass of this complexity.

There aren't enough trained clergy locally for us to have a priest fufill the role of sub-deacon, so we have 2 laymen who alternate in this role.

I'd love to see a picture of you with the humeral veil, do you know if there is one?

Brother Charles said...

Thanks Ben! Unfortunately, that's not me, but another friar. May I be competent to serve in such a way someday!

Qualis Rex said...

This is GREAT! And Fr Charles - your biretta-less head is a truly thing of beauty. I highly suggest you never leave home without it.

It really is comforting to see a Cardinal attending such celebrations. Wouldn't happen where I live, but it does give one hope for the future.

Kevin F said...

What a cool post.

I tend to be more the streamer and liturgical dance with folk music type of person (though I was fluent in Latin - gotten sort of rusty), but that really looks like a beautiful mass.

I need to find some churches in my area (SF Bay Area) that offer the Extraordinary Form, I only know one which offers it at 12:30PM, which is difficult because of work schedules.

Brother Charles said...

Kevin-your comment got lost by accident. Sorry about that!

Kevin F said...

Oh no! It was a silly comment anyway.

You don't need to post this, you can if you would like

I have to share though, thank you for your blog here. Reading your writing (esp. the very difficult one on sex abuse) is a real pick-me-up for me. There are a few other folks I read as well.

Where was I, oh, I am very happy to tell you that I am definitely going to mass this week and maybe even confession. Thanks for your writing, example and being you. Your blog really helped me through a very nasty crisis of faith.

I don't know if I will make it to the extraordinary form of the mass, since the only parish in my neck of the woods that offers it is late in the day and I always have things to do. But what strikes me about the Extraordinary Form is how deeply it resonates with the mystery of Christ. When I attend the Novous Ordo (especially with guitars and the like) I feel closer to Jesus the Man; the EF, gives me more of a sense of mystery.

I would never advocate one over the other (I think they both have strengths and weaknesses), but I find that both forms complement one another very nicely.

Anonymous said...

Father Charles, these are beautiful photos of what was, I am sure, a memorable event. The Church and the liturgy appear almost mesmorizing in their beauty. I am happy that you were able to attend.