Today I was blessed to attend here in Berlin the First Mass (in German Primiz; you can read about that term and customs surrounding it in the posts about our Holy Father's First Mass which I wrote a while ago here and here) of two of the new priests who were ordained for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter on 3 July in Wigratzbad by His Eminence Antonio Cardinal Cañizares Llovera (cf. here). The Mass was celebrated as a Solemn High Mass by Fr Jérôme Bücker FSSP, the other newly ordained, Fr Gerald Gesch, acting as deacon, and Fr Sven Conrad FSSP as subdeacon. Both new priests hail from the parish of St. Matthias in Berlin, where Blessed Count Clement Augustus Cardinal Galen was parish priest from 1919 to 1929. This parish has always been known for a dignified celebration of the liturgy, and has an Ordinary Form Latin Sung Mass every second Sunday. The parish priest had traveled to Wigratzbad for the ordination, acted as presbyter assistens for today's High Mass, and also gave the sermon (in which he mentioned that what most struck him at the ordination at Wigratzbad was the exalted prince of the Church kissing the newly ordaineds' hands, a custom he did not recall from his own ordination, even though that was still according to the usus antiquior books). The Mass replaced the regular 11 am Sunday High Mass, and a good number of faithful filling the church belonged to the parish without having prior familiarity with the usus antiquior, as was evidenced when they sung the entire Pater noster, as is the norm in the Ordinary Form. It was a wonderful occasion, and a very good sign of unity, as well as for the Extraordinary Form taking its rightful place at the centre of the Church, fruitfully co-existing with the Ordinary Form. Another son of the parish celebrated his First Mass in the Ordinary Form there last year, another will be ordained transitional deacon next year, and yet another is a seminarian with the Servi Jesu et Mariæ. Congratulations again to the newly ordained, and to the parish!
Since I did not want to take pictures during Mass, here are some from the German site http://www.summorum-pontificum.de/:
Sunday, July 18, 2010
First Mass of New FSSP Priests
Gregor KollmorgenMore recent articles:
The Exposition of the Holy Lance at St Peter’s BasilicaGregory DiPippo
The YouTube channel of EWTN recently published a video about the exposition of the Holy Lance at St Peter’s basilica on the first Saturday of Lent. This was formerly done on the Ember Friday, which was long kept as the feast of the Holy Lance and Nails, but since this feast is no longer observed, the exposition of the relic has been transferred to ...
The Feast and Sunday of St John ClimacusGregory DiPippo
In the Byzantine liturgy, each of the Sundays of Lent has a special commemoration attached to it. The first Sunday is known as the Sunday of Orthodoxy, because it commemorates the defeat of iconoclasm and the restoration of the orthodox belief in the use of icons; many churches have a procession in which the clergy and faithful carry the icons, as...
The Story of Susanna in the Liturgy of LentGregory DiPippo
In the Roman Rite, the story of Susanna is read as the epistle of Saturday of the third week of Lent, the longest epistle of the entire year. This episode is not in the Hebrew text of Daniel, but in the manuscripts of the Septuagint, it appears as the beginning of the book, probably because in verse 45 Daniel is called a “younger man”, whic...
A New Edition of the Monastic Breviary Available SoonGregory DiPippo
The printing house of the Monastère Saint-Benoît in Brignole, France, Éditions Pax inter Spinas, is pleased to announce the re-publication of the two volumes of the last edition (1963) of the traditional Latin Monastic Breviary.The Breviary contains all that is necessary to pray the complete Monastic Divine Office of Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, S...
A Mid-Western Saint from Rome: Guest Article by Mr Sean PilcherGregory DiPippo
Thanks once again to our friend Mr Sean Pilcher, this time for sharing with us this account of the relics of a Saint from the Roman catacombs, which were brought to the cathedral of Dubuque, Iowa, in the 19th century. Mr Pilcher is the director of Sacra: Relics of the Saints (sacrarelics.org), an apostolate that promotes education about relics, and...
Fons et Culmen Sacred Liturgy Summit - July 1–4, Menlo Park, CaliforniaJennifer Donelson-Nowicka
You are cordially invited to the Fons et Culmen Sacred Liturgy Summit, which will be held from July 1-4, in Menlo Park, California!Fons et Culmen Sacred Liturgy Summit gathers together Catholics who love Christ, the Church, and the Church’s sacred liturgical tradition for: - the solemn celebration of the Mass and Vespers; - insightful talks on...
A Lenten Station Mass in the Roman ForumGregory DiPippo
Today’s Mass is one of the series instituted by Pope St Gregory II (715-31) when he abolished the older custom of the Roman Rite, by which the Thursdays of Lent were “aliturgical” days on which no Mass was celebrated. The station appointed for the day is at the basilica of Ss Cosmas and Damian, which was constructed by Pope St Felix IV (526-30) in ...
Do Priests or Religious Need Special Permission to Pray a Pre-55 Breviary?Peter Kwasniewski
On occasion, I receive an email like the following (in this case, from a seminarian): “Do you happen to know of any sources/authoritative references which you could point me to that explain why praying the Pre-55 Breviary definitely satisfies the canonical obligation for clerics or religious? As I am strongly desirous of the Pre-55 Liturgy, I ...
Early Bird Registration Discount for CMAA Colloquium Ends March 31st!Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka
Join us this summer for world-class training in the Church’s treasury of sacred music.Early bird registration discount ($50 for colloquium, $50 for Vocal Intensive course, $150 off for Chant Intensive) ends March 31st!Here’s a special invitation from our new president, Fr. Robert Pasley.The Church Music Association of America is pleased to announc...
The Annunciation 2025: Dante and the Virgin MaryGregory DiPippo
The specific date of birth of the great poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) is unknown, but this Thursday, March 27th, is the anniversary of his baptism, which took place during the Easter vigil of 1266. The language which we call “Italian” today originated as the dialect of his native region of Tuscany (more specifically, of the city of Florence, but...
