MADISON 31 MAY – Pontifical Mass at the Throne – Feast of the Queenship of Mary

On 31 May, the Feast of the Queenship of Mary, we will have a wonderful Pontifical Mass at the Throne at 6 PM at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Monona, WI.  The Extraordinary Form Mass is organized by the TMSM with Bp. Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison.

We will be using the new Pontifical Set in White, which, at the time of this writing, has just departed the DHL hub in Leipzig, Germany. [26 May] in Chicago in Milwaukee and now out for delivery!

I stopped at the church today to scope it out.  There won’t be any problems for logistics, that’s for sure.  The sanctuary is large, the accouterments more than sufficient.

Check this out.   There are even shoes for the servers.

And we have not one, not two, but three choices amonst the scruple spoons.

And I have rarely seen a sacristy the size of this one.  It’s crazy big.

This is what the place looked like in the 1960’s, and still looks like now:

This was clearly a Solemn Mass celebrated in the presence of the Bishop, Most. Rev. William O’Connor.

The church is a real trip, virtually untouched since its completion and dedication in May 1961.   There was once an intention that the church become the national shrine of the Green Scapular.

They still have the same canopy, the great chairs and candle-sticks, all of which would look great in the Jetson’s family home!  If only we had a Missa Jetsoniensis for 4 voices, or maybe an introduction in place of Ecce Sacerdos for the entrance of the bishop in Cappa Magna… “Meet the Bishop!”  No, on second thought, the version with lyrics would be the Novus Ordo version, from the 80s.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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

  1. edm says:

    I absolutely love that black and white photograph. It shows that modern did not have to mean abandoning tradition. Clean lines, “Jetson’s” appointments, BUT everything still as per the rubrics!

  2. acardnal says:

    Looking forward to attending Mass there and, I hope, to exchange Challenge Coins with you!

  3. acardnal says: exchange Challenge Coins

    I don’t think I will have my coins by then. They are coming more slowly than I had hoped. But they are coming!

  4. acardnal says:

    I.O.U.s accepted.

  5. Matt R says:

    Clearly it was made for Solemn Mass. It seems that the Liturgical Movement took hold in WI. The pamphlet on ordinations that was written by Fr. Weller, of La Crosse but who was teaching at Loyola–Chicago, features similar vestments, though with a neo–Gothic approach and not…the Jetsons.

  6. ChesterFrank says:

    I went to the church’s website hoping to see some more photographs of the church’s interior. Unfortunately there were not any. Just because it is modern, that doesn’t imply bad. the way you describe it, the church is truly historic.

  7. Denis Crnkovic says:

    Modern architecture: “But the Emperor isn’t wearing any clothes!”

  8. acardnal says:

    ChesterFrank,
    there’re more photos at the parish’s Facebook page that include some ordination photos.
    HERE

  9. Benedict Joseph says:

    The picture of the sacristy closet leads me to believe that sober shoes are in place for the servers? You mean that liturgical functions are not debased by multicolored Frankenstein footwear?
    The individual who spotted the never mentioned abomination of servers in sneakers and remedied it has my gratitude.
    Who would have thought of such a simple solution? I’ve feared to bring the issue up thinking a therapist or counselor of some sort would have to broach the topic with the lads.
    Another ecclesiastical eyesore bites the dust.

  10. The Mad Sicilian Geek says:

    All those scruple spoons… Such scrupulousness!!! :D

  11. un-ionized says:

    Benedict Joseph, I once saw a server wearing those sneakers with lights that blink when you step. They must have been his formal pair.

  12. Jeannine says:

    I recommend the Mass setting that my daughter describes as “Missa My Little Pony.”

  13. Filipino Catholic says:

    A communion rail has been detected in the photograph. Is it still intact?

    [Yes! The rail remains intact.]

  14. Elizabeth D says:

    yes IHM church still has its Communion rail.

  15. Ben Yanke says:

    Filipino Catholic,

    The rail fully is intact, if memory serves. If not fully, certainly most of it is.

    ChesterFrank,
    Here’s some pictures from a recent ordination there (using the same throne pictured, notably):

    https://www.facebook.com/ihmcatholicschool.org/photos/a.1479195702111735.1073741881.171724076192244/1479210655443573/?type=3&theater

    https://www.facebook.com/ihmcatholicschool.org/photos/a.1479195702111735.1073741881.171724076192244/1479209295443709/?type=3&theater

  16. ghp95134 says:

    Missa Jetsoniensis
    Altar boy Elroy,
    Father Foodie:
    This change ain’t right!

    –Guy

  17. frjim4321 says:

    The mosaic looks rather interesting. I’d love to see it in person.

    [Really? It’s sort of… meh.]

  18. Ben Yanke:
    Stunning photos. That’s how a Bishop confers ordination.

    Beauty and ceremony has its place. Making our celebrations as plain and banal as a boardroom conference don’t elevate minds and hearts to the Lord, but try and pull the Lord down to our level, IMHO. Full Benedictine altar arrangement…7th candle, beautiful accompaniments, solemn processions impart what intuitively we KNOW we should be doing in praise of the creator.

    Thank you for posting those links. For those of us in the wasteland of 1960s kitsch, it is heartening to see.

  19. frjim4321 says:

    The mosaic looks rather interesting. I’d love to see it in person.

    [Really? It’s sort of… meh.]

    Well, it seems like an actual piece of art, and not a catalog piece or mass-produced cartoon.

    [That’s a good point. No one would mass-produce that one.]

  20. frjim4321 says:

    LOL, good. Would you call it “brutalist?” There was a brutalist church somewhere in Bavaria that I really liked; can’t remember what city. It had one heck of a pipe organ inside.

    [I don’t think it is brutalist. Perhaps more …. bauhaus?]

  21. robtbrown says:

    The sanctuary seems to have been furnished from IKEA.

  22. The Egyptian says:

    considering that this church was designed to be “Jetsons” modern from the ground up I kind of like it. However it needs more color IMHO. It’s when a beautiful Gothic or Romanesque or whatever church is wreckovated to make it “modern” that I have problem, I have seen a few that really must have been “improved” by a twisted mind

    [Jetsons, yes. But… the church hasn’t been worked over in a series of renovations or wreckovations.
    Hence, it retains its original thought. It ought to be used ad orientem, but that’s a simple matter.]

  23. StephenB12 says:

    I thought the modern look was a product of Vatican II….I was wrong. The Church looks depressing.

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