D. Madison Solemn Mass Eyecandy (new deacon alert!)

Our very own “acardnal”, frequent commentator, assisted today at the Solemn Holy Mass celebrated by the undersigned at Holy Redeemer in downtown Madison.  He took some photos and has graciously shared them.

This was the first time that one of the diocese’s new transitional deacons, Rev. Mr. Chris Gernetzke, just ordained by His Excellency Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino, by the grace of God and approbation of the Holy See Bishop of Madison (aka His Mightiness, aka The Extraordinary Ordinary), was able to fulfill his proper diaconal role in a Solemn Mass of the Roman Rite.  The subdeacon was Fr. Tait Schoeder, who did splendidly.

You should know that, for one reason or another, 75% of the congregation always sits on the Gospel side of the church.  Who knows why, but they do.  Thus, from the angle our acardnal had for photos, it might seem that few people were there, which was decidedly not the case.

A sample:

More photos HERE

The choir was good and the servers did a fine job.

It was nice to have a sort-of-anniversary Solemn Mass.  Tomorrow is the actual day, but today is close enough.  We will also have a Rogation Day Mass on Tuesday at St. Mary’s where the great Fr. Heilman reigns supreme.

Brick by brick.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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

  1. danhorse says:

    Wonderful, Father! Thanks for sharing the Beauty!

  2. acardnal says:

    Confirming what our gracious host said, most people do sit on the gospel side in front of the ambo at this parish. I suspect it is so they can be directly in front of our illustrious homilist. The congregation was even larger today than usual in honor of this auspicious occasion, I think.

  3. MarkG says:

    Very nice pictures!

    On the seating: I was always taught (1960s) that unmarried males who weren’t with their families were supposed to sit on the Epistle side, likewise unmarried females on the Gospel side, and families on either side depending on the balance. This was the Catholic School arrangement at Mass. Maybe this was just a local tradition and it does seem to have died out (except at the local SSPX). This usually tips the balance towards the Gospel side, especially since at a Solemn Mass or Sung Mass where a lot of males are needed at the altar.

    When a TLM is going to be half full, one suggestion would be to put out signs in each aisle asking people to sit in the front half of the church and signs half way up saying to sit in front of this. I see this a lot at weddings (Catholic new Masses and other denominations) where a church isn’t going to be full.

  4. OrthodoxChick says:

    Wow! Great pictures, acardnal! What a beautiful church. The statues on the altar around the tabernacle are breathtaking! I especially love the weeping angel. And I’ve never experienced a Rogation Day Mass yet. I’ll bet it’s something to behold.

    This makes me want to move to Madison. Why not? Heck, I’m a native New Englander. I’m already used to an abundance of snow and liberals!

    Happy anniversary one day in advance, Fr. Z.!

  5. acardnal says:

    The photos look even better when viewed as a “slide show”. (There are a few that are a little out of focus; no tripod.) There is automatic change from slide to slide, movement and zooming in and out. In Flickr, click on the box with an arrow inside it in the right hand corner (third icon in from the right).

  6. excalibur says:

    It was nice to have a sort-of-anniversary Solemn Mass. Tomorrow is the actual day, but today is close enough.

    Father Z, is March 26 the anniversary of your ordination then? Is it the silver anniversary (got the idea somewhere 2014 would be 25 years)? [26 May 1991]

    Happy anniversary Father Zuhlsdorf! May many blessings be showered upon you.

    Don

  7. Elizabeth D says:

    Happy anniversary, Fr Z. It was a beautiful Mass. And it was fairly well attended. I like to sit on the side with the Sacred Heart statue.

    [A good reason to sit over there!]

  8. mschu528 says:

    @Elizabeth,

    Yes, but the Gospel side has the Immaculate Heart statue. You really can’t go wrong either way. Although as far as the statues themselves are concerned, the one of St Anthony of Padua above the side altar is my favorite.

  9. Ben Yanke says:

    It was a very lovely Mass. Blessed to be able to assist!

  10. iPadre says:

    Beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing A Cardinal.

    Happy Anniversary Fr. Z! Ad multos annos! Tu es sacerdos in aeternum.

  11. Gratias says:

    I have been fortunate enough to attend three Solemn masses in my life. Congratulations to the new Deacon. Acardnal and Elizabeth D are lucky to have been there.

    Thank you Father Z for your tireless service to the Catholic Church. A happy anniversary indeed.

  12. Sconnius says:

    Like what Ben said, it was a lovely Mass, and we were blessed just to be able to attend! The marathon cut us off before we arrived.

    Also blessed that the little guys we brought we pretty quiet

  13. excalibur says:

    26 May 1991

    Well, I did mean May, not March. LOL. Even if I was two years premature on the silver anniversary part.

    An edit button would be nice, though I confess that I did preview the post, and still the incorrect month slipped through. At least the ‘M’ and the ‘a’ were correct.

    Don

  14. YorkshireStudent says:

    Congratulations to both Fr. and the Deacon.

    My dedication to the Gospel side is such that I spent 6 months attending my current church before I saw all five of the pictures arrayed above the altar (i.e. I always missed the South facing one). I’d concluded it would be the Annunciation (having seen the Nativity, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension) – but it was more beautiful than I had imagined! That said, there seems to be a roughly 50:50 split in our church, though my desire to sit quite close to the altar, coupled with the other well known Catholic trend to huddle at the back, means I don’t have accurate data!

  15. Netmilsmom says:

    Is the Webcast a go for Tuesday? Please.

  16. APX says:

    FWIW:I sit on the Gospel side because there’s less noisy children to distract me on that side.

  17. Siculum says:

    A blessed anniversary tomorrow, Father.

    P.S. Great photos, acardnal.

  18. Mike Morrow says:

    Odd…the comments about the popularity of the Gospel side. I always chose the Epistle side when left to my own accord, in the late 1950s and early 1960s…before the transmogrification.

  19. Militans says:

    I typically sit on the epistle side, but mainly because at the NO parish where I grew up this was the side where father distributed communion (rather than the EMHC).

  20. JonPatrick says:

    What a beautiful church – amazing that it survived the wreckovation period of the 1970’s.

  21. StWinefride says:

    Happy Anniversary, Father Z!

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hy6ZSg1_lIo/T4miqRMrexI/AAAAAAAAWsI/S3WjfoTcpjI/s1600/priest%2Bimage%2Bvii.JPG

    The pictures are great, acardnal – thanks for sharing!

  22. mschu528 says:

    @JonPatrick:

    Yes, for the most part it survived, although the high altar was cut away from the reredos, making the sanctuary rather crowded and leaving us without altar steps. There also used to be a real ambo which was taken out to add another exit to comply with updated building code.

    It survived so well because it was nearly closed a few decades ago. Fortunately that never happened.

  23. acardnal says:

    Happy anniversary, Fr. Z. Ad multos annos.

  24. JamesM says:

    I looked at the pictures and thought “wow, that is a lot of servers…” then I noticed 3 of those I thought were servers had birettas. Young men – at a traditional Mass – a fine sight!

  25. acardnal says:

    JamesM: seminarians. Bp. Morlino has asked that all his seminarians learn and celebrate the TLM/EF.

  26. aviva meriam says:

    Happy Anniversary!

Comments are closed.