Midnight Mass in an Ordinariate Parish

Our readers may recall an article from a few days back about a new set of vestments commissioned for the parish priest of the ordinariate community of Bl. John Henry Newman Catholic Church in Santa Ana, California. Fr. Bartus was kind enough to share some photos of this year's Christmas Midnight Mass, where the vestments got their first public use. We are always eager to share news of the ordinariates across the world, so, interested readers, please feel free to send us updates. I share these images not only as an example of the liturgical praxis and development of the fledgling Anglican ordinariates within the Catholic Church, but also to illustrate how the ordinariate's dignified vernacular liturgy, conducted here with traditional ceremonial, could be an example to the wider church of the "Reform of the Reform." Photos below provided by Fr. Bartus and taken by Elizabeth Vallentine.

Here, just before mass begins, Fr. Bartus is chanting the Martyrology, a laudable embellishment to the liturgy that could also be incorporated in mainstream parishes using the modern form of the Roman rite.

This photo shows a distinctive element of Anglican liturgical patrimony, in which the Gosple is read or sung from the central aisle. Perhaps our readers may be able to comment in more detail on the origins of this custom.