Dear Parishioners,

I have some news this week about the Traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese of Trenton. 11 years ago, Fr. Brian Woodrow (now pastor of St. Dominic’s in Brick) was named the liaison to the Extraordinary form of the Mass and charged with promoting the Traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese. In order to show the beauty of the liturgy and to thank God for the great gifts of the traditions of the Church, every year he holds a Solemn Mass followed by a banquet at a parish that hosts the Latin Mass. I am very glad to announce that this year our parish has been selected to hold this event. The Mass will take place on November 26th at 6 pm in our church. A banquet will follow in our school gym with food and entertainment. For ticket information, please see LatinMassTrenton.org or email ususantiquior070707@gmail.com. There will be a $25 charge for the banquet.

The Traditional Latin Mass is the liturgy as it was done in 1962 before the reforms to the liturgy after the Second Vatican Council. Pope Benedict allowed for a wider use of this form of the liturgy because he saw the spiritual good of being in touch with our roots as well as being attached to the inherent beauty of this liturgy. I admit that most people’s reaction to this liturgy is a bit of confusion because nothing is explicit, it is in Latin and it takes some effort to understand the liturgy. So, if anyone would like to prepare or learn about this form of the Mass, I would suggest looking up youtube videos like “A Beginner’s Guide to The Traditional Latin Mass How to Attend” by the Religious Hippie on youtube or “How to Easily Grasp The Latin Mass: A Step-by-Step Guide” by reverentcatholicmass.com or “LIFT UP YOUR HEARTS: 10 TIPS FOR NEWCOMERS TO THE LATIN MASS” on the Catholic Gentleman Blog. If enough people would find it beneficial, I would also be willing to give a talk about the Traditional Latin Mass to answer any questions you may have. Just let me know if this would be beneficial for you.

As many of you know, we do host two Latin Masses a month in the parish. We have a first Saturday Mass at 9 am and a Mass on the third Sunday of every month at 3 pm. Christa our Music Director has been doing a great job recruiting and organizing choir members to sing for our Masses. Chant and Polyphany are great compliments to the liturgy in either form of the Mass. So, I invite you to attend the Traditional Latin Mass to see for yourselves the treasure of Tradition.

Also, we have two additional events coming up in December:

• On December 3rd, our Latin Mass will be at 6:30 am. This is known as a Rorate Mass at dawn and it’s an Advent tradition.
• On December 28th, we will have the Feast of the Holy Innocents at 7 pm.

I will write a future article about those with more details. Please stay tuned for any changes in times.

God bless!

Fr. Carter