Yesterday, Gregor mentioned the Solemn Pontifical Mass offered by Cardinal Zen of Hong Kong. In addition, the NLM has now received further news and photographs of the event, and a tip that makes it rather noteworthy on a variety of levels:
...[yesterdays] EF Pontifical Solemn Mass [was] the last Mass offered by the Cardinal as the Ordinary of Hong Kong. He retires on the 15th of April and he says he would help us out with celebrating the Mass more often after his retirement. The Mass was quite widely covered by the local Chinese press and television stations.
Accordingly, we not only hear of the forthcoming retirement of Cardinal Zen, and of the fact that this was reportedly his final public Mass as acting Ordinary -- a solemn pontifical Mass in the usus antiquior no less -- but also of his offer of future assistance to the usus antiquior community in Hong Kong.
Needless to say, it is encouraging to see and hear of the generosity of Cardinal Zen.
(Vesting)
(Procession)
(Prayers at the Foot of the Altar)
(Communion)
Cardinal Zen was interviewed by the Press following this, his last public Mass, and is reported as having said that in China the older Roman liturgy helped to create a spirit of prayer and produced many martyrs for the Faith. He reportedly made a further comment to the effect that the Chinese have learnt the modern Roman liturgy, but have kept the older Roman liturgy. At this time, the full context of this is not available to the NLM, but we are seeking a more direct quote that might explain further his intended meaning.
For those who would like to see more photos of this event, see:
Album One
Album Two
In addition, this video gives a sense of the sacred music that was part of this Easter Mass: Recessional
