Events: Pontifical Mass in Manhattan on March 26
From a reader:
Agnus Dei and Regina Caeli Councils of the Knights of Columbus are sponsoring a Pontifical Mass for Life on the Feast of the Annunciation at Manhattan’s Church of the Holy Innocents. His Excellency, James C. Timlin, bishop emeritus of Scranton, will celebrate the Pontifical Mass and administer Confirmations in a separate ceremony beforehand.
This Pontifical Mass is one event in the Knights of Columbus’ international observance of “The Day of the Unborn Child” on the Feast of the Annunciation. Throughout the world, Knights of Columbus councils mark the day by attending Mass, praying the Rosary, and speaking out against the evil of abortion and in favor of all unborn children and their mothers.
This is the fourth year the New York Knights have sponsored a special Mass that celebrates not only the archangel Gabriel’s Annunciation to Mary but also the Incarnation of Jesus Christ Our Lord.
“Even more than Christmas,” explained the Rev. Thomas Kallumady, pastor of the Church of the Holy Innocents, “the Feast of the Annunciation and Incarnation is the preeminent pro-life feast in the Catholic calendar.” “It reminds us every year,” he added “that just as Our Lord’s human life was sacred — nine months before His birth — at the very moment of His conception in Mary’s womb, so too is all human life.”
In 2012, the Feast of the Annunciation is observed on Monday, March 26, because the traditional date of the feast falls on a Sunday. Before Mass, there will be a Rosary for Life at 5:45 PM. Confirmations will be at 6:00 PM. The Pontifical Mass begins immediately after Confirmations. The Church of the Holy Innocents, home to New York City’s Shrine of the Unborn, is located at 128 W. 37th Street.
Bishop Timlin will celebrate Pontifical Mass at the faldstool according to the Roman Missal of 1962, the form of the Catholic Church’s Mass in Latin before the Second Vatican Council. Organist and choirmaster, Pedro d’Aquino, will lead the schola and choir singing Missa O soberana luz by Portugese composer Filipe de Magalhães (c1571-1652). Singers from both councils will join the schola and men from the Regina Coeli council will serve the Mass.
