Today, MTA NYC Transit did not fail me, as I was at St. Agnes on E43rd Street between Lexington Avenue and 3rd Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, with the United Nations only 3 Blocks away. And there was a Missa Cantata at 11:00AM. Michael Voris, SSPX SCHISM BOY, was NOWHERE to be seen. It was a Short Gospel. It was a Well Sung Mass. Some of The Regulars were missing. A number had gone the prior evening to Dr John Rao’s Party in Greenwich Village. And Father told us “Merry Christmas”, as January 1st is the 8th Day of The Christmas Octave, which is WHY it is a Holy Day of Obligation. In The Tridentine Latin Mass Calendar, Christmas Cycle ends on February 2nd on Candlemas Day, known as The Feast of The Presentation of The Child Jesus In The Temple, and that Sundays After Epiphany are part of The Christmas Cycle.
Happy Christmas Cycle, even though The Novus Ordo Mass Calendar says “Ordinary Time”, which is so Generic.
After Mass, I saw some cute Baby Cards with funny captions. One caption stood out, in regards to The Novus Ordo Mass. It read “I can’t think-The Priest keeps looking out at me.”
MTLOA is the Metropolitan Transportation Lack Of Authority. This applies whenever MTA NYC Transit’s Subways are run, irresponsibly. Like the Suprise Rerouting of an E Express Train at Roosevelt Avenue, without announcing it, adding 25 Minutes to the trip, DURING RUSH HOUR.
I would have been 15 Minutes Early for a very Faith Filled New Years Eve at St. George Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the East Village on E.7th Street in Manhattan, beginning with The Byzantine Rite Catholic Divine Liturgy Of St Basil The Great. Instead, without announcing anything, the E Express Train starts running via the R Local Tracks, making all Local Stops into East 53rd Street & Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, adding 25 Minutes to my trip, IN RUSH HOUR.
Yet, as I made it to my Moose Lodge in Maspeth, Queens to cool my heels & head, the R Train ran Express on the Local Tracks to Woodhaven Blvd & 59th Avenue, where I caught an uncrowded Q59 Bus. But, after 2016 Rolls in, I will journey to the 6:00AM Divine Liturgy Of St John Chrysostom at St. George Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. This way, I will open 2016 Byzantine Rite Style. I just want to do it differently & head to a Latin Rite Mass, probably at St. Agnes on East 43rd Street.
After all this, I will need a Good Rest, away from all this.
Agnus Dei, Qui Tollis Peccata Mundi, Miserere Nobis.
I am planning to end 2015 & begin 2016, with a contingent of Holy Innocents Partisans, with the Byzantine Rite of The Catholic Church. It should prove to be Prayerful & Mystical. At 6:00PM on Thursday, December 31st, 2015, a Divine Liturgy will be offered at St. George Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on E7th Street. This will be followed by an All Night Vigil, followed by Coffee Hour at Midnight at St. George Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, continuing with the All Night Vigil & Divine Liturgy at 6:00AM. It should be a Peaceful Sleep at Home after this is done. Happy Octave Of Christmas and Happy 2016.
My Normal Sunday Mass is the Tridentine Latin Mass. But, I was in a Byzantine Mood. After all, Catholic is Catholic and I sought The Byzantine Rite on The Gregorian Calendar & Not the Julian Calendar. Put in Byzantine Rite Catholic Terms, my Primary Sunday Mass is The Tridentine Divine Liturgy Of St Pius V. It was November of 2013, when, after listening to my Nuns in Catholic Elementary School, waiting over 40 Years to do it, when I began to attend the Byzantine Rite Catholic Divine Liturgy Of St John Chrysostom, at St. George Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the East Village on E7th Street. I listened to a Tridentine Latin Mass Attendee at Holy Innocents RC Church in Midtown Manhattan, in fact, two of them, who told me about St. Michael’s Russian Catholic Chapel, on the Property of Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral Parish in Little Italy, only a block away from East Houston Street. As it is one of only 4 such Churches left in the United States, three of them are affiliated under the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton, MA. This one Russian Catholic Chapel, while of Byzantine Rite, is under the Auspices of The Latin Rite Archbishop, Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York. And as Sunday, 12/27/2015 was the 31st Sunday After Pentecost in The Byzantine Rite, there were TWO Commemorations, one of St. Joseph, leading Blessed Mary Theotokos & Jesus out of Palestine into Egypt & of The Martyrdom of Protodeacon St. Stephen, 1st Martyr of The Church(Latin Rite Feastday on 12/26). Because of The Rage of King Herod, believing that the Three Magi had deceived him, he ordered all 1st Born Males under the Age of Two Years of age, slain, in his search for The Christ Child. This Gospel of St. Matthew was also read on The Feast Of The Holy Innocents on Monday, 12/28/2015. It was a powerful Gospel. This was The Divine Liturgy Of St James The Apostle, 1st Bishop of Jerusalem. The Divine Liturgy Of St James is the OLDEST Liturgy Of The Catholic Church, both East & West. James is a Cousin of Jesus, or “Brother Of The Lord.” This Liturgy is from 60 AD. It is the Root Liturgy for The Divine Liturgies of St John Chrysostom and St. Basil The Great. The Divine Liturgies are Sung, with the Human Voice as the Musical Instrument. There is No Organist. There is a Choir(Tridentine Version is The Schola). Some Litany Chants were done in Slavonic, some were done in Russian, with the majority done in English. The Reception of Holy Communion followed an Ancient Antiochian Formula. One appears before an Acolyte holding Thurible where one incenses ones hands, one then bows before The Priest, who recites the words Body of Christ, when one responds Amen. The Priest puts a tiny piece of The Corpus Christi on the Right Palm & one consumes this piece right away. The Byzantine Rite uses Leavened Bread in The Consecration. Then one appears and bows before The Deacon, who says “Blood OF Christ”, followed by Amen. The Deacon controls the Sacred Chalice. Absolutely no Laity perform this function. And as it should be. The Novus Ordo Mass has Unconsecrated Laity perform this function, hence the New Roman Rite, is engaged in Sacreligious Practices. In the case of the Lector, a Female, she faced East when reading the Epistle of St. Paul The Apostle to The Galatians & sang the Epistle. The Choir sang the Graduale. The Deacon Proclaimed The Gospel According To St. Matthew The Apostle. I wish that when Converts enter The Catholic Church, especially via the Roman/Latin Rite, that they instruct these Converts that there are 22 Sui Juris Eastern Catholic Churches in Union with the Holy See. I love how they do the Prayers for The Pope, Bishops, Priests, Deacons & Laity. There is another thing in that you will make the Sign Of The Cross approximately 20 Times. For you Nonathletic Novus Ordo Roman Rite Catholics, between bows & Signs of The Cross, be prepared to “Break a little Sweat.”
A very wise man by the name of Father Christopher Salvatori, who is most noted for The Tridentine Latin Mass in many locations in the RC Archdiocese of New York, particularly at Holy Innocents RC Church in Midtown Manhattan, says that Evangelism can be as easy as a click of one’s mouse.
How Very True:
Think about this as there are Catholic Sources that need to be pushed out there. Use Twitter, Facebook & Google+, agressively.
If you have a Smartphone, there are apps for The Video Services. And there are Live Services such as Veetle, Tarsii, Ustream, Bambuser &, Yes, You Tube. If the Evangelical Protestants can web telecast their services, well so can you, telecast that Mass or Divine Liturgy.
And another thing, at The March For Life, do televise from your phones certain short segments. It is important that the message gets out there. Emphasize Your CATHOLICISM.
This Period in the Current Liturgical Form of The Roman Rite of The Catholic Church, is Post Octave, but part of The Christmas Cycle. So much for the 12 Days of Christmas, which is only a Christmas Carol, the Christmas Cycle does run longer than the One Day per annum. Right now the ChristmasTime is The Christmas Cycle called ChristmasTide, which then fades into Ordinary Time after Next Sunday, called The Baptism Of The Lord, on the Ordinary Form Mass Calendar. It was appropriate today at the start of ChristmasTide to celebrate the Double Feast Of Saints Basil The Great and Gregory Nanzienzen, both Martyrs and Doctors Of The Church, both like Pope St Sylvester I, and Saint Athanasius and Saint John Chrysostom, those who fought the Arian Heresy of The Christ only being a Super Holy Person and Not God. Saints Basil The Great and St Gregory Nanzianzen are on both the Tridentine and Novus Ordo Mass Calendars this Month of January. St. John Chrysostom is on the Tridentine Calendar this month only and on the Ordinary Form Calendar in September. Ordinary Form Mass Calendar lists Epiphany as Sunday, 01/04/15, while Tridentine Form Calendar shows January 6th. Byzantine Christmas Day on Julian Calendar is Wednesday, January 7th, with Total Fast on Tuesday, January 6th. Feast of St. Basil The Great is Wednesday January 1st on Julian Calendar(January 14th on Gregorian Calendar). ChristmasTide is extended to February 2nd on Gregorian Calendar for those who are on the Tridentine Latin Mass. Christmas actually lasts awhile.
I have known this story since the Days of City Line Cypress Hills, Brooklyn. There was a school at 396/398 Grant Avenue in Brooklyn, NY. Fifty Years Ago today, I was with Mum at the 9:00AM Mass on the Feast of St. Sylvester at(You may have thought this)St. Sylvester R C Church on Mc Kinley Avenue between Grant Avenue and Elderts Lane in City Line, Brooklyn, NY. It was in 1955 when the current Church Building was completed. It will be 60 Years since the current building replaced an all wood edifice.
But, Pope St. Sylvester I(314 to 335 AD), began the construction of many of the Roman Churches in the Diocese of Rome. He was also the 1st Pope to be canonized a Saint, who was not a Martyr. He also had to battle the Arian Heresy in the 4th Century AD.
Today’s Gospel according to Saint John The Evangelist was the Story of The Incarnation. I usually hear this Gospel in Latin at the End of The Tridentine Latin Mass. Today was a rarity, hearing it in English.
So if you go to Mass in Rome, one can thank Pope St Sylvester I. It wouldn’t be Rome, The Eternal City, without him.
The Gospel entailed the Presentation Of Jesus in the Temple, where Simeon was in Prayer. Upon laying his eyes on The Lord, he prophesied that This Child would be One who would effect much change in the world, which He did. A talk during the Homily was about The Extraordinary Synod On The Family, about the Single Parent and the Divorced who remarried outside of The Church, as well as the Doctrine of Marriage. It was a Well Balanced Presentation. This was at the 1PM Mass at Our Lady Queen Of Martyrs R C Church in Forest Hills, Queens, NY. The Priest who offered the Mass and this discourse, Fr Francis Passenant, originally scheduled for the 11:30AM Mass, offered the 1PM, and was surprised by a visit from his Sister and Nieces and Nephews, who showed up at the 11:30AM Mass, who asked the question “Where’s Uncle Frank.” Music by Maestro David Close was of the 18th and 19th Century Variety, hence quite good.
On Wednesday Evening at 8PM, December 31st, 2014 at Our Lady Of Mercy on Kessel Street, Forest Hills, Queens, NY, the Ordinary Form Mass will be offered in Latin.
On Thursday, January 1st, 2015, at 9:00AM, Mass in the Vetus Ordo, the Tridentine Latin Mass of 1962, will be offered at St. John’s Cemetery Chapel in Middle Village, Queens, NY.
Certain Feasts will be Latin Mass at Holy Innocents R C Church on West 37th Street in Midtown Manhattan. Other Masses of Daily Nature will be at Our Lady Queen Of Martyrs on Ascan Avenue and Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills, Queens, NY. Also in January, I will resume weekend attendance in the Byzantine Rite at either St George Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on East 7th Street in Manhattan’s East Village or Holy Cross Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on 30th Street and 31st Avenue in Astoria, Queens, NY. I might even attend a Ruthenian Greek Catholic Divine Liturgy at St Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church on East 15th Street and 2nd Avenue(Sundays at 10AM).
The Christmas Season at Our Lady Queen Of Martyrs has been superb. Even a Latin Byzantine Aficionado like me, needed a break, so OLQM became a great place for Ordinary Form Mass.
A Roaming Catholic 
Evangelisation Can Be As Easy As A Click
24 DecA very wise man by the name of Father Christopher Salvatori, who is most noted for The Tridentine Latin Mass in many locations in the RC Archdiocese of New York, particularly at Holy Innocents RC Church in Midtown Manhattan, says that Evangelism can be as easy as a click of one’s mouse.
How Very True:
Think about this as there are Catholic Sources that need to be pushed out there. Use Twitter, Facebook & Google+, agressively.
If you have a Smartphone, there are apps for The Video Services. And there are Live Services such as Veetle, Tarsii, Ustream, Bambuser &, Yes, You Tube. If the Evangelical Protestants can web telecast their services, well so can you, telecast that Mass or Divine Liturgy.
And another thing, at The March For Life, do televise from your phones certain short segments. It is important that the message gets out there. Emphasize Your CATHOLICISM.
A Blessed Octave of Christmas!
Gloria In Excelcis Deo!
M
Kyrie Elaison
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