Brick by brick in Philadelphia

From a reader:

"Beginning this past Sunday St. Paul’s Church, Christian Street in Philadelphia began having a weekly Latin Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The parish is located in South Philadelphia and encompasses both St. Paul’s Church and the Church of St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi. St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi was founded in 1852 by St. John Nepomucene Neumann, then Bishop of Philadelphia, as the first Italian National Parish in this country. The current pastor of the parish is Fr. Gerald Carey.

The Traditional Latin Mass is every Sunday at 12 noon. There will also be Masses for each of the six Holy Days of Obligation in the United States, as well as for other feast days. The parish is scheduled to have its Forty Hours Prayer beginning on Lætare Sunday next Lent, and Fr. Carey hopes to have it according to the Traditional Roman Rite. The public recitation of the Divine Office is also being planned for the future.

The normal Sunday Mass at St. Paul’s will be a Sung Mass (with incense). However, Solemn Masses are scheduled for various Feast Days throughout the year. The first Mass yesterday was a Solemn Mass for the Feast of Christ the King and one is scheduled for next Sunday, being the Feast of All Saints.

The choir and schola cantorum are directed by Dr. Robert Hall and the organist is Mr. Lee Milhous. Yesterday, the Mass setting was Sir Richard Terry’s "Short Mass in C". The motets were Sir Edward Elgar’s Ave Verum Corpus, Lorenzo Perosi’s Laudate Dominum, and Te Sæculorum Principem sung to plainsong and falsobordone."

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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19 Comments

  1. Gabriella says:

    Praise the Lord!
    I’m always so happy when I hear of a new Mass in the EF being said in a church somewhere … and I’m always so jeaulous!

    Fr. Z: couldn’t you ask my bishop to do something please – he just won’t hear by that ear!!!

  2. Girgadis says:

    This thread is my good news. Thanks be to God for the three priests you see in this photo – from left Father Richard McFadden, Father Gerald Carey and Father Ronald Check – and the seminarians and other men who made the commitment to help Father Carey every week. I ran into a friend whose kids attend the same school as mine and we kept commenting how just a few short years ago, we would never have believed it possible that the TLM would be celebrated in our parish. It was a welcome sight to see so many new families as well as young people in attendance. I hope they will soon be regulars.

  3. moon1234 says:

    Love the vestments. Wow!

  4. Ferde Rombola says:

    Brick by brick indeed! God bless these guys. With their brother priests of the new world order, they’re going to rescue the Church in this country within 20 years. Pray for them!

  5. stephenocist says:

    The World Series (again!) and a new EF Mass! I know my friends back there are having fun.

  6. Bressani56 says:

    I apologize that this may not be the correct com-box, but I *really* need your help.

    I was listening to the Z-Cam (Radio Sabina) and I heard the most beautiful music.

    It ended at 11:00am on Friday 23 October (Central Time, USA).

    Can you please tell me what this beautiful music was?

    THANKS if you can help!

  7. becket1 says:

    If you google the street location with google maps and click on street view. You can see that it is not in a very clean part of the city. When will the EF Form be offered in the suburbs of Philadelphia, like Doylestown, Quakertown, Chalfont, Lansdale, etc.

  8. becket1 says:

    Many Catholics are moving out of the city of Philadelphia. It would make more sense to offer one outside of the city. In the northern suburbs!.

  9. becket1 says:

    Actually there is an EF Mass that is offered in Eddystone PA, St Jude’s Roman Catholic Church. Just south of the Philadelphia International Airport. Shame no one has ever mentioned it. Here are some pics.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcapaldi/3583343033/

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcapaldi/sets/72157618988194077/

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcapaldi/sets/72157605130810087/

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcapaldi/sets/72157605269657986/

    Brick by Brick!.

  10. becket1 says:

    Here are more pics of the EF Mass at St Pauls in Philadelphia.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcapaldi/sets/72157622661142320/

  11. Girgadis says:

    I need to develop a thicker skin. I’m really stunned that someone could find fault with the developments at St Paul’s. Maybe if folks supported their pastors, rather than nitpick and criticize every last thing, they’d have a Mass in the Extraordinary Form in their own parishes. Here’s why Mass in the EF is being offered at St. Paul’s – because the pastor was willing to do it and he had the support of his parish and the surrounding TLM community. Talk about sour grapes!

  12. dcs says:

    Actually there is an EF Mass that is offered in Eddystone PA, St Jude’s Roman Catholic Church. Just south of the Philadelphia International Airport. Shame no one has ever mentioned it.

    St. Jude’s is an SSPX chapel.

    I’m not sure what you mean when you say that St. Paul’s is not in a “clean” section of Philadelphia. It’s located right in South Philadelphia’s Italian Market, perhaps not the best area in the city, but ordinary Sunday Massgoers have nothing to fear from the neighborhood. It’s not dirty except in the sense that ordinary urban areas are dirty.

    We were at the Mass yesterday and it was beautiful. Very few errors that I saw (of course it is hard to keep track of these things with a complement of children) – especially remarkable considering that (AFAIK) it was the first Solemn Mass celebrated by Fr. Carey.

    This is hands down the most convenient TLM in Philadelphia for city dwellers. And I find it especially edifying that the weekly Mass will be a sung Mass rather than a Low Mass.

  13. becket1 says:

    St. Jude’s is an SSPX chapel. Your point?. Are we not praying for full visible unity with the SSPX. And do they not offer the EF Mass. Yes!.
    For city dwellers great. But what about for suburban dwellers. We have no EF Mass, but tons of churches. I can think of one church that would absolutely perfect for the EF Mass. The old St. Johns the Baptist Catholic Church parish in Haycock PA. Not used but maintained pretty well. Perfect place for the FSSP, or the Institute of Christ the King.

    Here are some pictures of it.
    http://www.23hq.com/bkovacs

  14. dcs says:

    St. Jude’s is an SSPX chapel. Your point?. Are we not praying for full visible unity with the SSPX. And do they not offer the EF Mass. Yes!.

    Offering information is not making a judgment.

    Those who live in the northern suburbs might try to go to Our Lady of Consolation in Northeast Philadelphia (Tacony), while those who live in the western suburbs might try Our Lady of Mount Carmel (a mission of Holy Saviour) in Plymouth Meeting or Our Lady of Lourdes in Overbrook.

    But it would be nice if there were more options.

  15. Hamburglar says:

    Beautiful! Celebrated on a nice Altar, too.

  16. jesusthroughmary says:

    becket1 –

    Fr. Carey is at St. Paul’s. He is the priest that is willing to offer the TLM. Therefore, the Mass is at St. Paul’s. End of story.

    Do you happen to live in the northern suburbs of the city? If so, then get together with the people in your area who desire the TLM and petition your pastor. That’s what the people in South Philly did. If you can’t get enough people together to show a pastor it would be worth the effort, then I can’t see how it would “make more sense” to have one up there, other than that you personally wouldn’t have to drive as far.

    Instead of driving down to South Philly, you could always cross the Betsy Ross on Sunday mornings and come to the weekly noon High Mass at St. Peter’s in Merchantville.

  17. Bryan says:

    And knowing Dr. Hall and his lovely wife (they’re members of the local Rosary group I participate in), you can have NO doubt that the chant will be done well, in harmony with the spirit of the Extraordinary Form, and theologically sound.

    Deo gratias!

  18. Kimberly says:

    I was born at the beginning of VatII and yet, when I attend the Latin Mass or see pictures such as these, I feel like I’m home. The vestments absolutly amaze me. Jesus so deserves this!

  19. stgemma_0411 says:

    It is so nice to see 2 friends of mine from seminary, filling the roles of deacon and subdeacon. Just makes me wish that my diocese had a parish where this was going on. Alas, that brick has not been built, yet.

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