New Liturgical Movement is pleased to welcome Fr. Robert Pasley, KCHS, as a new contributor. Fr. Pasley is rector of Mater Ecclesiae Parish in Berlin, New Jersey, and serves as chaplain to the Church Music Association of America.
God has abundantly blessed Mater Ecclesiae Chapel in Berlin, NJ, Diocese of Camden over these last 14 years. We are pleased to announce that our native son, the Reverend Mister Joseph G. Heffernan, FSSP, will be ordained to the sacred priesthood on Saturday, May 31, 2014 at St Cecilia's Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska.
Father Heffernan will return to the Delaware Valley and celebrate two Masses of Thanksgiving. His First Solemn Mass, of course in the Extraordinary Form, will take place at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Philadelphia, PA, on Trinity Sunday, June 15, at 2:00 PM. He will then return to Mater Ecclesiae to celebrate his second Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving on the Feast of Corpus Christi, Thursday, June 19 at 7:30 PM, followed by the traditional Eucharistic Procession.
If you are anywhere near Philadelphia and you love the Traditional Latin Mass, please make every effort to attend the First Mass at the Cathedral Basilica. It is hoped that this Mass will be a great manifestation of congratulations to Father Heffernan, an expression of love and support for the sacred priesthood, and a manifestation of the enthusiasm, strength, and vibrancy of the Traditional Latin Mass movement. Of course, you are also invited to the Mass on Corpus Christi.
There is more good news to share about vocations at Mater Ecclesiae. Over the past several years two young ladies and one young man have entered the Carmelite Order. Marissa Consoli, now Sister Maravillas of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, is a member of the Carmel in Elysburg, PA, Kathleen Gilbert, now Sister Mary Magdalene of Jesus Crucified, is a member of the Carmel in Buffalo, NY, and a young man, Thomas Heffernan, now Brother Seraphim of the Assumption, and also the brother of Father Heffernan, is a professed choir monk at the Carmelite Monastery in Wyoming. Finally, even though he was a seminarian before joining Mater Ecclesiae, Father Michael Magiera, FSSP, who just celebrated his 9th anniversary as a priest, is counted as one of our native sons.
A prayer for vocations has been said publicly, every day, since the foundation of Mater Ecclesiae. It was composed by the great Msgr. Richard Schuler of Saint Agnes, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Please accept this adaptation of the prayer and consider saying it at your parish every day:
Priest:Let us pray for vocations:All:O God we earnestly beseech Thee/
To bless the Church with many priests, brothers, and sisters,/
Who will love Thee with their whole strength,/
Be faithful to their vocation,/
And gladly spend their entire lives
To teach Thy truths,/ serve Thy Church,/
And to make Thee known and loved.
Priest:Bless our families, bless our children.All:Choose from our homes those who are needed for Thy work.
Priest:O Mary, Queen of the Clergy,All:Pray for us./ Pray for our priests, seminarians and religious./
Obtain for us many more. Amen.
