This morning I had Holy Mass at St. Philippine Duschesne which is run by the FSSP. I thought it was to be a Sung Mass, but it turned out to be Solemn, which was a treat. Here are a few snaps from someone.
The church is lovely. They obvious have put their hearts into building a beautiful church and doing good things there. And it was really full for Mass.
What people didn’t know is that a friend of mine brought some special gear for the Mass. On the altar we had great relics. There was a large piece of bone of St. Bernard, a 1st class of St. John Vianney, an arrangement of great Jesuit… yes, Jesuit saints, and – special – some hair of St Maximilian Kolbe.
Some images…
Some of them. Great names…
Ignatius Loyola
Francis Xavier
Aloysius Gonzaga
Francis Borgia
Paul Miki
Peter Claver
John Berchmans
Peter Canisius
Stanislas Kostka
Alphonus Rodriguez
Lst but not least, at about 11 o’clock… AND BOB!
A few of them I couldn’t immediately discern. I do like going around clockwise to find AND BOB!
Also, for the Mass itself, I wore an amice of St. John Vianney and used one of his ciboria to distirubute Holy Communion.
On a more mundane level, we went to Independence to see a priest friend who is redoing his church and who has a new community of women religious whom he’s helping. Then we visited the Pres. Harry S. Truman Library.
This is also Mormon Ground Zero. They – in they’re various splinter groups, think that this is where (their) Jesus is to return… Independence, MO, folks. Here’s what they built in the place where they believe it’ll happen.
Weird.
Meanwhile, in KC, there are protests because of Civil War monuments. This one was boxed up and prepared for removal even before the protest against it. Today there are marches downtown.
Last night we opened up a bottle of 1991 Brunello. I had saved a bottle from the year of my ordination to enjoy for my 25th anniversary. When I left the Sabine Farm for Madison, I entrusted a few bottles of wine to my friend here in KC. This is my 26th year, but… hey!
Tonight, my last ’82 Bordeaux. It has been open for hours. It should be great.
Tomorrow… eclipse.
Saint Andrew Bobola, a new friend of mine:
Also known as Andrzej Bobola, Apostle of Lithuania and Hunter of Souls.
Memorial 16 May, 21 February in Poland, 23 May (Jesuits)
Born to the Polish nobility. Studied at the Jesuit school at Sandomierz, Poland. He joined the Jesuits on 31 July 1611 at Vilna, Lithuania. Studied and taught philosophy. Ordained on 12 March 1622. Parish priest at Vilna in 1625. Superior of the Jesuit community at Bobrinks in 1630. Worked with the sick during a plague outbreak.
Successful missionary to the Orthodox from 1636 to 1656, preaching along the roads, bringing whole villages back to Catholicism. In 1652 Prince Radziwell gave Andrew a house in Pinsk as a refuge for Jesuits hiding from the Cossacks and Tartars. He was captured just after Mass on 10 May 1657 during a Cossack raid on Pinsk. He was severely beaten, dragged by horses, tortured, hacked with knives, skinned alive, and when he tried to pray for them, they tore out his tongue and murdered him, all for being a Christian; he never surrendered his faith. Martyr.
Born 30 November 1591 at Sandomierz, Poland. Died beheaded at Janow on 16 May 1657 at Pinsk (in modern Belarus). Buried at the Jesuit school in Pinsk, but his grave was forgotten when the Jesuits were forced to abandon the town -he later appeared in visions to the rector of the school, pointing out his grave – relics translated to Polosk in 1808 – body found incorrupt and later taken to Moscow, Russia by the Bolsheviks, then taken to Rome, Italy in 1922, currently entombed at the Jesuit church in Cracow, Poland
Venerated 9 February 1755 by Pope Benedict XIV
Beatified 30 October 1853 by Pope Blessed Pius IX
Canonized 17 April 1938 by Pope Pius XI
Patronage: Poland
Warsaw, Poland, archdiocese of
(From CatholicSaints.Info)
A beautiful reliquary for St Maximilian Kolbe. Knowing how he died many people are sceptical about such relics but in the Kolbe Centre in Lourdes it is explained that during his life his barber was convinced he was someone very special and carefully kept some hairs from his beard. These have been distributed in reliquaries in various countries.
The reliquary in Lourdes is also very beautiful with a gold filigree surround and after Mass on his Feast Day each year those present are able to venerate the relic. This year I arrived early for the Mass and because of the heat asked if I could sit down somewhere to wait. Expecting to be given a chair in a corner somewhere imagine my surprise when I was shown into their tiny chapel where their relic is kept and was able to spend half an hour there nearly all of it alone in its presence.
Very cool post, Father Z! Love the photos. An amice and a ciboria of Saint John Vianney. Wow! Glad you visited the Truman Library. More people should visit the presidential museums and libraries scattered across this nation. They’re fantastic!
Ah, the 1982 Bordeaux. Had my last two bottles, one for Christmas 2012, and the other for Christmas 2013, enjoyed them with one older brother ( the oldest having moved to Texas). The 2012 dinner one was Ch. Talbot, the 2013 dinner one was Ch. Pichon-Lalande. The Talbot was the better of the two, but they were both wonderful. The best 1982’s I ever had were at Christmas in the 1990’s, with both my older brothers, and best of all was the Lynch Bages, which I brought along. I think we had 5 or 6 bottles of various 1982’s that Christmas.
Cheers!
I hope to see some pictures of some Kansas City Joe’s beef brisket and burnt ends on your trip. Sooooo good….
What a beautiful humeral veil and cope. Alpha, omega, chi, rho… how much teaching, just in that simple vestment – the two lungs, truly. And an amice, and ciborium (how beautiful it is), of St. John Vianney. Not to mention the various relics. And the beauty of the Solemn Mass. Wow! Et iterum dico… wow! Thank you, Father, that was so uplifting.
St. Rose is a beautiful Church. We use to make the pilgrimage down there when I was at Benedictine because the college wouldn’t let us have a traditional mass. This brings back good memories (even if they are relatively recent).
hmm….
Mormon temple vs. Liverpool Cathedral.
The Kansas City area is indeed home to various Mormon sects. I grew up in the Mormon religion, but am now a Catholic priest. I do indeed remember hearing as a child about how when it gets close to the Second Coming, the prophet will call upon us to return to Jackson County, MO.
The spiral looking building is the temple built by the Community of Christ. Until the early 2000s, the Community of Christ was known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and commonly known as the RLDS Church. When Joseph Smith was assassinated in 1844, he had left no clear plan for succession. There were a variety of possible claimants including Brigham Young, who was president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at the time and Joseph Smith III, the twelve year-old son of Joseph Smith. In 1860, some former followers of James J. Strang (another claimant to the succession) prevailed upon Joseph Smith III to accept the leadership of what became the RLDS Church and later the Community of Christ. The Community of Christ, while still accepting the Book of Mormon and parts of the Doctrine & Covenants as scripture, has become very liberal. It is basically now a liberal Protestant denomination with rather exotic origins. Like many Protestant ecclesial communities, they practice same-sex marriage and have ordained women since the 1980s. It was lead by a direct descendant of Joseph Smith from 1860 until 1996, at which point someone completely unrelated to the Smith family took over. The Community of Christ is the second largest of the Latter-day Saint churches.
Joseph Smith’s wife and children did not follow Brigham Young into Utah. Many of them were members of the RLDS Church. One adopted daughter, Julia Murdock Smith Dixon Middleton, converted to Catholicism at the time of her marriage to her second husband. By all accounts, she was a very devout Catholic and refused to follow her siblings and adopted mother into the RLDS Church.
Joseph Smith did buy a lot on which to build a temple. The Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the Mormon Church or the LDS Church and the largest of all the Latter Day Saints churches and the one in which I was raised) does believe that there will eventually be a temple on that lot. However, the temple lot is owned by yet another Latter Day Saint group, namely the Church of Christ (Temple Lot). The Church of Christ (Temple Lot) has fiercely guarded that site since they acquired it. There was litigation over it, but they have prevailed in the courts.
Growing up in the Mormon church, we were taught to take pride in belonging to the only true church. Kansas City has lots of “true churches”. There are at eight or nine Mormon sects not far from the temple lot.
There are other Latter Day Saints groups there. But there is another aspect to the Kansas City area you may not have considered. Joseph Smith believed that Missouri was the location of the original garden of Eden. Adam-ondi-Ahman, located in nearby Daviess County, was where Joseph Smith believed Adam and Eve to have lived after their expulsion from the garden of Eden.
[Thanks! ]
That side altar at St. Philippine Duschesne is better than the “main” altar one finds at any modern church.
I like the vanilla – ice blue swirl! Just kidding.
Thanks for the info on the various Mormon sects. Do the ones you described as protestants with exotic origins believe in the Trinity? If they dont, I don’t think tbey qualify as protestants.
Thank you for seeing the Light of Christ and joining the One True Church. Thank you for your vocation.
As far as I know, the group that built that ‘temple’ in Independence MO does not call itself Mormon or use the term.
Fr Z:
Is that Msgr. Blacet concelebrating with you? In October 2004, I was at a Catholic Young Adult meeting in Kansas City and the organizer took us to what was then the parish pastored by Msgr. Blacet. It was an older downtown parish that due to his leadership, was revived and restored – impressive.
After Mass, the good Msgr. Blacet led the Divine Praises in preparation for the upcoming election. I was glad the organizer took us there on a chartered bus.
[No, that is not he. Also, in the Extraordinary Form there is no concelebration. Those whom you see are the priests assigned at the parish.]
I have friends who regularly attend St. Philippine Duchesne, and we went to Mass there when I visited them over July 4th. Beautiful church, wonderful priests.
Fr. Z, this community of women religious your friend is helping is presumably the Filiae Laboris Mariae? I’m making a vocation retreat there in a couple months.
I attended the 9:00 a.m. low Mass there which was also packed to the brim. They might need to expand. Funny how that works…
My husband and I were there for Sunday Mass in 2013. Our first Mass celebrated by FSSP priests, and the first in a LONG time of the TLM. Such a refreshing Mass! Incense and all the other wonderful bonuses. Yes, the church is beautiful. I took tons of pictures. After Mass, many of the congregation were heading downtown for some march. Because of our tight schedule (vacation itinerary) we couldn’t join them.
I love the pictures of the relics and sites. Fr Z and rbbadger, thanks for the education on the LDS history and sites. Very interesting…
If that community of women religious in Independence MO is the one I think it is (Mater Divinae Gratiae Convent …I think the order is called Filiae Laboris Mariae as youngcatholicgirl alluded) my wife’s cousin is one of women in that community. From talking before she left to join and letters after, it’s been a fast-paced, exciting, and very blessed few months for all of them. Sometimes the world seems so small!
Father, is everything up to date there? Has she gone about as fer as she can go? Inquiring minds want to know
NickD:
I don’t think Fr. Z had time to see if Kansas City was up to date. He got there on a Saturday, not a Friday.
He will have to make another trip to see “what’s next?”
Beautiful pictures and wonderful descriptions. We have Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos here in Louisiana. There is also a little girl who some people call “the little Cajun saint” but of course she is not even Blessed yet, her name is Charlene Richard. Maybe one day these 2 from right here in Louisiana will be canonized.
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The Bordeaux sounds great! Saint Julien Bordeaux is my first choice, but I would drink from the East bank or further south if I was forced to :-)
The photos of the TLM are superb! Maybe one day you will make it over to All Saints FSSP. We had a sub from Montreal on Sunday. He did an excellent job, Mass, homily, and made a commitment (as as our own priests often do) to hear confessions after Mass until the line had been gone through. What a gift!
Thank you for your vocation, Father Z.
[I believe I am scheduled there in December sometime.]
A very late post but I just discovered a connection between the swirling Mormon temple and Catholicism. Here it is: the Assumption Parfait! A heavenly layered dessert of blue Jello and Cool Whip in narrow glasses to create the sky and clouds!
http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2013/08/heavenly-assumption-parfaits.html
Uber cool! I will keep an eye on the schedule.