Quincy, IL: TLM parish to be established

Here is some good news:

 

St. Rose in Quincy to be chapel for extraordinary form of Mass 

Written by Kathie Sass, Catholic Times Editor   
07/27/2008

Extraordinary form sometimes known as Traditional Latin Mass

st-rose-of-lima-bw.jpg

St. Rose of Lima Church will be used as a chapel for the celebration of the extraordinary form of the Mass in the Roman Rite. It will be supported by the Latin Mass Society of Quincy and staffed by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. Pope Benedict XVI, in his apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum, granted broader permission for the Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass.

QUINCY Bishop George J. Lucas has given permission for St. Rose of Lima Church, Eighth and Chestnut, to be used as a chapel for regular celebration of the extraordinary form of the Mass in the Roman Rite.

In his July 2007 apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict XVI granted broader permission for the use of the extraordinary form of the liturgy, sometimes known as the Tridentine or Traditional Latin Mass. Shortly afterward, a group of lay Catholics from the Quincy region approached Bishop Lucas for permission to use St. Rose Church as a site for celebration of the extraordinary form.

St. Rose of Lima Parish merged with St. John the Baptist Parish in Quincy in 1999 to become All Saints Parish. In 2006, All Saints was merged with two other Quincy parishes to form Blessed Sacrament Parish. The last parish Mass at St. Rose of Lima was celebrated in September 2005, and the church was scheduled to be sold.

After consultation with priests of the Quincy Deanery, Bishop Lucas granted permission to use the church, which will be known as St. Rose of Lima Chapel. A not-for-profit organization, the Latin Mass Society of Quincy, was formed to take responsibility for the facilities, which includes the church, rectory and parish hall.

The chapel will be staffed by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, founded in 1988 with the approval of Pope John Paul II to provide priests conversant in the celebration of the extraordinary form. The fraternity has nearly 200 priests and 100 seminarians, with its North American headquarters in Elmhurst, Pa.

Paul Geers, president of the Latin Mass Society of Quincy, said people from as far away as St. Louis or Springfield have expressed interest in attending the traditional Mass.

"We estimate that there are 500 people in perhaps a 75-mile radius who might want to attend this Mass," Geers said. "I’ve had calls from people who have been away from the church for 20 or 30 years. This is going to bear a lot of good fruit and there will be a lot of conversions."

Geers said the church is being refitted for the celebration of the extraordinary form. A main altar and two side altars are in storage pending installation and a Communion rail has been donated. The society hopes to have a chaplain in residence and begin a regular schedule by Nov. 1.

"We would like to offer a daily Mass, with two Masses on Sunday – a high Mass and a low Mass," Geers said.

Msgr. Michael Kuse, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Quincy and dean of the Quincy Deanery, said he has fielded some inquiries about the planned celebration of the extraordinary form of the Mass.

"I have had people ask ‘Is this Catholic? Can we go? Can we receive Communion?’" Msgr. Kuse said. "My answer to them is this is a legitimate form of the Mass. They can go and check it out, even if it’s only for a little nostalgia. It can also lead to a deepening of faith for those who find it important."

For more information, contact the Latin Mass Society of Quincy, P.O. Box 3006, Quincy, IL 62305.

 

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
This entry was posted in SESSIUNCULA. Bookmark the permalink.

26 Comments

  1. TexasAC says:

    To most Catholics, the TLM is a gift that we will never see in our lifetime (especially us left-overs from the pre-Vatican II era). God bless those who can see and feel the grace of a TLM.

  2. sea-cat says:

    Excellent news for the Quincy area — but I thought that was Illinois (and eastern Missouri, for that matter) was ICRSS country. How did the FSSP swing that?

  3. Luke says:

    Bishop George Lucas? The Force is strong with this one!

    -L

  4. David says:

    Exciting news!

  5. Martha says:

    Great news for this community! I have posted about Tacoma and Seattle WA before. I pray for Bishop Burnett here in WA to allow the TLM in our local churches, especially in Tacoma, WA. I see Holy Rosary church in Tacoma as an ideal church for the TLM. God willing!

  6. Bob says:

    I also heard there is supposed to be a second apostolate that the FSSP will staff in IL. Deo Gratias for the FSSP

  7. John says:

    Paul Geers is a friend of mine and has worked for this for years. He has also been a regular contributor and has worked countless hours helping at St. Francis de Sales Oratory in St. Louis where he lives and works.

  8. Thom says:

    Martha –

    I live in Tacoma, and agree that Holy Rosary would be perfect. Comes complete with a school that could certainly use a shot in the arm as well.

    There are many of us praying for the TLM somewhere in Tacoma. Keep praying!

    thom

  9. me says:

    This is my old parish, and where I made my First Communion! How wonderful that the Tridentine Mass will be offered there again.

    Msgr. Kuse said: “They can go and check it out, even if it’s only for a little nostalgia. It can also lead to a deepening of faith for those who find it important.”

    A little more enthusiam from the Msgr would be nice, though.

  10. Matt Q says:

    This is wonderful news. It’s even more wonderful when a church can be restored to accommodate the Tridentine Mass or at least be able to pick up where it left off.

    ======

    TexasAC wrote:

    “To most Catholics, the TLM is a gift that we will never see in our lifetime (especially us left-overs from the pre-Vatican II era). God bless those who can see and feel the grace of a TLM.”

    This is a very telling fact. The way Rome and the bishops behave, it gives me pause to think such a thing Texas wrote can actually be true. It’s like Social Security. They keep raising the age limit, reducing benefits, etc., hoping the potential recipient dies before they can qualify. I wonder if various bishops are acting the same way. They hope they can outlast the Pope. Anyway, my opinion.

    Pray and pray.

  11. Paul K. Geers says:

    Dear Friends of the Latin mass,

    I am the president of the Latin Mass Society of Quincy. This was great news.
    His Grace, George J. Lucas, Bishop of Springfield In Illinois has been so gracious to us, he is one fine Bishop.

    We are having a Latin Low mass on Sundays at 10:30am at St. Joseph’s Church in Quincy, Ill. Rev.Lewis Schlangen is saying the mass for us until the Shrine of St. Rose of Lima is opened in Nov 2008.
    Father Deviller, FSSP is coming from Rome in late Oct.

    We need your financial help to have the 3 Altars and railings installed for Sept. if any one can help us, please send your tax deductable check to us and made out to; The Latin Mass Society of Quincy. P. O. Box 3006. Quincy, Illinois, 62305.

    Please keep praying for us and ask St. Michael to watch over us.

    Thank you for all the prayers and visit the shrine in Nov.

  12. Martha says:

    Thom,

    Thank you for responding to my post, and what a blessing that a fellow Catholic from Tacoma read my post. And you are very right, Holy Rosary school would benefit too.
    Please join me and send a letter to Bishop Brunett about the TLM coming to Tacoma, and perhaps suggesting Holy Rosary. I hope Bishop Brunett hears from many of us.

  13. FrGregACCA says:

    This raises an interesting question: Quincy has long been at the heart of the U.S. Anglican\Episcopal “Biretta Belt”. The Episcopal Diocese of Qunicy is one of a couple of historically Anglo-Catholic dioceses which may follow the Diocese of San Joaquin, California, out of the Episcopal Church. Further, there is a thriving Anglo-Catholic parish in Quincy which is a part of the Anglican Church in America/Traditional Anglican Communion, the continuing Anglican entity currently seeking union with Rome. Therefore, I wonder if traditional Anglo-Catholicism and traditional Roman Catholicism are mutually reinforcing each other in this instance.

  14. LCB says:

    Bp. Lucas is a fine bishop indeed. His chanting voice is suburb, and his celebration of the Novus Ordo really does the new mass justice.

    The Cathedral is currently being renovated (properly/beautifully, not wreckovated), and the new plans will retain altar rails.

  15. FJ says:

    Does anyone know if this parish has a website, would love to see more pictures of the Church.

  16. “To most Catholics, the TLM is a gift that we will never see in our lifetime (especially us left-overs from the pre-Vatican II era). God bless those who can see and feel the grace of a TLM.”

    The expansion seems pretty remarkable to me – the FSSP alone has 2 locations in Texas already. High Mass tourism looks increasingly possible – and cities like Chicago and St. Louis are great places to visit anyway. Be more optimistic!

  17. Elizabeth says:

    This is SUCH good news. Yes, Illinois seemed to be the Institute of Christ the King territory, praise God. But I, for one (in Chicago), was praying that we’d also be blessed with FSSP. The more traditional apostolate locations, the better. I’m thrilled.

  18. MPod says:

    Just a bit off the topic, but why can’t we seem to build handsome-looking churches like this one anymore? Who wouldn’t be proud to say to a friend or relative, “This is my parish church!”? God bless Bishop Lucas, the priests of the FSSP, and the faithful in Quincy.

  19. Paul K. Geers says:

    Dera Friends of the Latin Mass,

    I hope to have a web site soon on the church. These windows are the most beautiful windows in the Diocese. We restored them in 1994. they came from Munich germany and installed in 1912 by the famous glass maker from St. Louis, Emil Frei.
    Please pray for us. if I could put the pictures here, I would. This church is very handsome (1912) rectory (1939) and parish hall (1973). When we open in Nov, please come and see.
    God Bless all of you for being so kind with your comments.
    Paul K. Geers
    president of the Latin Mass Society of Quincy, and yes, we have a great Bishop too.

  20. LCB says:

    I’d love to see pics of the windows. One of our previous Bishops (perhaps even Bp. Griffin) seems to have had a penchant for beautiful windows. A number of churches throughout the Diocese have gorgeous windows (the Cathedral and Blessed Sacrament in Springfield both come to mind).

    The Cathedral’s windows are especially fascinating, some of them detailing major events of religious freedom in American history. Considering the Irish origin of many in central Illinois (Irish coal miners), the freedom to practice Catholicism and assist at the Mass of the Saints without persecution was a big deal.

    At one point Blessed Sacrament even had a polish priest who had been interred in a Nazi concentration camp. How easily we forget.

  21. A. Noel says:

    “I have had people ask ‘Is this Catholic? Can we go? Can we receive Communion?’” Msgr. Kuse said.

    That just strikes me as terribly sad. What a blessing that more and more people will have the chance to experience what Mass was like before Vatican II!

  22. MICHAEL says:

    congradulations…….just love to hear about new TLM masses being brought to a community……thank god for the bishops you have to support this
    its a miracle to have it close to your on home…..believe me i know
    how thrilling it must be to have the mass again……i have tried in my own area to
    write to my local bishop and so far its all fallen own deaf ears
    its so sad and it is really hard not having this opportunity giving to you p.s.please thank god for what he has giving back to your community!!!!!!

  23. Khaled says:

    I am soooo hallpy about this! My mom lives in the south eastern part of Iowa, about an hour and 15 minutes from Quincy. This is where we will go to holy mass when we are visiting. Great news! Deo Gratias!

  24. Father Totton says:

    I visited a couple priest friends in Quincy recently and was given the tour of recently closed churches – this one is truly remarkable (as is St. John’s) I am glad to hear it will be put to such noble use.

  25. Paul K. Geers says:

    Dear Friends of the Latin Mass,

    this is a remarkable church, the windows are so beautiful and with the style of the church, they are the Jewels of the church.

    We will be getting a web site together soon and inform all the with great pictures to see. thank you for all the great comments.

    Please pray for us.

    Paul K. Geers

Comments are closed.