We are very happy to share with our readers the following photos of a first Mass in Slovakia, ordination in England done for the Ordinariate, and two Masses in New York, one of which was celebrated by a new priest. It is the season for ordinations and first Masses, and we will be happy to receive more such photos if any of our readers care to send them in.
On Sunday, June 24th, the feast of St John the Baptist, Fr. Ľubomír Urbančok, a newly ordained priest of the Archdiocese of Trnava in Slovakia, offered his first Mass at the pilgrimage shrine of St Anthony in Báč, close to the capital of Bratislava. This was the first solemn Mass by a new priest at the shrine since the post-Conciliar reforms. The image over the altar became famous in the beginning of the 18th century after a badly injured man was miraculously healed in front of it, and even more so after the Madonna was seen to cry bloody tears in 1715. The shrine is well-known in Slovakia also because it was the place of imprisonment of many bishops during the communist persecution, some of whom are now venerated by the Church, such as the Bl. Bishop Vasil Hopko.
On Saturday June 30th, eight men were ordained priest for service in the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham at the Oratory of St Philip Neri in Birmingham, England, the home of the shrine and Rrelics of Bl. John Henry Newman, the Ordinariate’s patron. The Archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley, carried Newman’s crozier as he celebrated the Mass according to Divine Worship: The Missal, the rite given to the Ordinariates across the world by Pope Francis, drawing on the riches of the British Catholic heritage. The packed church heard the Newman Consort (an Ordinariate choir from Oxford) enhance the celebration with music from the great English tradition - Taverner, Byrd, Tallis and Pearsall. The new priests made their promise of obedience to Msgr. Keith Newton, their Ordinary, who assisted Archbishop Longley in the Mass. Two of the new priests were the first to complete their formation entirely within the Ordinariate, studying at Blackfriars’ Oxford and St Mary’s College Oscott. With the six former Anglican ministers ordained alongside them they bring the number of Ordinariate priests in Britain to exactly 100.
On the feast of Ss Peter and Paul, recently ordained Fr Leo Camurati, OP, celebrated a solemn Mass at the Pontifical Shrine of Our Lady of Mt Carmel, and gave the traditional first blessing to the faithful at the end.
Two days later, Mass was offered in the traditional rite at the church of the Most Precious Blood in Little Italy for the Patronal feast day, with the Missa Quatuor Vocum (“Madrid Mass”) by Domenico Scarlatti. The Mass was offered in honor of St Joseph, witness to the first shedding of the Precious Blood at Our Lord’s Circumcision, with the intention that through his intercession, the princes of the Church may steadfastly and publicly witness to the true nature of marriage; it was also offered for the eternal repose of Mons. Ignacio Barreiro, who dedicated many years of his life to the pro-life movement, working for Human Life International. (Photographs courtesy of NY Scugnizzo.)
