Christ the King Shrine

Nearly twenty years ago, the Institute of Christ the King took over the Church of St Gelasius in Chicago.  It had been the church of the German community in Chicago, but after congregations had declined, it was closed.  Later it was damaged by fire, and it seemed to have no future other than demolition. 

However, the Institute was up to the challenge of restoring the building.  Much money was spent on making the church usable again, but there was a further and much more devastating fire in almost totally destroyed the building.

Undaunted, the Institute set about rebuilding all over again.  So far, the roof has been reinstated, and the interior now looks like this.

There are very ambitious schemes to complete the restoration.  This is an artist's impression of how it will look when completed.

The Liturgical Changes of 1969

The first Sunday of Advent marked the fiftieth anniversary of the introduction of the Novus Ordo Mass, and there have been many reports on the internet and elsewhere reporting the anniversary.  However, I have not seen anything from anyone with first hand experience of the changes. 

I remember my experience of the day, and I have to say that for me it certainly was not a major event.  I was a student at the time at Liverpool University, and although I attended Mass every Sunday and often during the week, I was completely unaware that a major to the liturgy was planned.  I think very few people did.  I cannot recall any announcement beforehand, and even if there had been, I doubt whether I would have taken a lot of notice, because there had been so many changes over the preceding years.

On the day, I attended Mass in a parish church close to where I was living.  I recall that two leaflets were handed out in stead of the usual one.  It had been the practice in most churches that cards or booklets were handed out on which were printed the Ordinary of the Mass in its 1965 form (or the latest revision of the 1965 form).  In those days almost everyone carried their own missal, so until the Novus Ordo was introduced, these could be used for the propers, which had not changed - at least not significantly.  On the first Sunday of Advent 1969, a second leaflet was handed out including the new propers.  The only really noticeable difference was the inclusion of an Old Testament reading.

The changes on that day seemed minor compared with those that had been introduced over the preceding five years.  If I recall correctly, these included the use of English, the abolition of the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, the abolition of the Last Gospel, the use of lay people  as readers and much more. 

Looking back, the most notable thing was the complete absence, at least in my case, f any form of explanation of the changes.  For example, it took me about four years to discover that the Sunday readings followed a three yearly cycle; and about a further ten to find out that the weekday Masses followed a different cycle.

A Mass for Young People

New Liturgical Movement has a report on a Mass in the Extraordinary Form celebrated a as part of the the National Catholic Youth Conference of the USA.  It took place on the Feast of St Cecilia and was very well attended as the picture below illustrates.

I understand that the venue for the Extraordinary Form Mass was moved to one of the largest churches in Indianapolis because a large congregation was anticipated.   However, the number of young people who actually attended exceeded all expectations.  The article does not record how many attended the Novus Ordo Mass.

The picture clearly demonstrates that a large number of the young people opted for the Latin Mass.  There can be little doubt that this form of the Mass is proving to be increasingly popular with young people, especially in America.  There is also evidence that the same trend is occurring here in England.

The link address for the NLM post is:

http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2019/11/tradition-is-for-young-ef-mass-at.html

The article includes a video of the Mass.

Musical Oratory

This is a reminder of the event at St Wifrid's Church in York on Thursday 28th November at 6pm.

FSSP Statistics

The Priestly Society of St Peter has published statistics for its membership.  As of  1st November 2019, the figures are as follows:

        Priests                                                320
        Deacons                                               17
        Seminarians (other than Deacons)     145

         Total Membership                             482

There are 10 deceased members.

The Fraternity serves 255 Mass locations in 142 Dioceses.  Of the Mass locations, 44 are formally erected parishes.

Each year there is an average of 13 priestly ordinations.  The growth in the membership of the order since its foundation in 1988 is shown in ye following graph.

The green line represents seminarians,the red priests and the blue line is the total.

The Institute of Christ the King in Belfast

The first Mass at the Institute's newly acquired church in Belfast will take pl;ace at 6pm on Wednesday 11th December.  It will be a Solemn Mass celebrated by Mgr Wach, Prior General if the Institute, and in the presence of  His Lordship Noel Treanor, Bishop of Down and Connor.

The former Presbyterian church has has been hastily worked on to make it suitable for Catholic use, so may be in need of further adaptations.  Nevertheless, I am sure that it will be a great occasion.

Latin Mass in Hull

Don't forget that there will be a Latin Low Mass at the Catholic Chaplaincy in Hull on Thursday 21st November at 7.30pm.

About the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest

I found the following on the Irish site of the ICKSP.  It gives a summary of who they are, how many they are, and what they do.

Founded in 1990, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest is a Roman Catholic Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right in communion with the Holy See. The 115 priests of the Institute work across the globe to promote the spiritual Kingship of Christ. A special emphasis is laid on the harmony between faith and culture, and the young community has acquired a reputation for promoting the arts, especially sacred music and architecture. 

The motherhouse and international seminary of the Institute of Christ the King is based in Florence, Italy, where 90 seminarians are training for the priesthood. It also has over 50 religious sisters, especially devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who live a semi-cloistered life and 17 oblates (lay brothers). Among these are several Irish vocations. The average age of this community’s members is 24 for seminarians, 28 for sisters, 41 for oblates and 39 for priests. The community has missions in Gabon (Africa) and important apostolates in the United States, England, France, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Sweden and naturally in Rome, where their founder, Monsignor Gilles Wach, was ordained to the priesthood by Saint Pope John Paul II. 

Here is a picture of many of their priests gathered at their motherhouse in Gricigliano, near Florence.

Here are some of the sisters.  Those with white veils are novices.

To slow how the female branch of the order is continuing to grow, her is a picture of a recent batch of postulants.  It seems that each year brings increasingly large numbers of new members.

St John Henry Newman

To mark the canonisation of John Henry Newman, there is to be a special service of readings, hymns and choral music at St Wilfrid's Church in York on Thursday 28th November.  Here is the poster.

Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus

The Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus Sovereign Priest, who form the female branch of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest are continuing to grow at a remarkable rate.  Last year, they welcomed eight new postulants to the order, and will shortly be accepting a further ten.  It is normal for the postulants to spend a year living with the community before being clothed in the habit of the order.  They then join the novitiate, for a minimum of three years before before becoming fully professed nuns.

The order was founded in 2001, with the first three members taking the habit in 2004.  Now there are about 50 sisters with a steady flow of postulants to ensure the growth of the order.

The novitiate is now located in Naples, and there are convents in Switzerland, Germany England and the USA.  Here are six novices and one professed nun in front of the spectacular High Altar of the Institure's church in Florence.

Here is their convent in Engelport, Germany.

One of the sisters teaching at St Benedict's Academy in Preston.

With the community expanding at the present rate, we can expect many more foundations in the coming years.  However, there are costs involved.  Just to take on another member of the community costs nearly £1,000, in providing a habit and living essentials.