Pontifical Low Mass of Bishop Fernando Rifan in the Church of the Holy Innocents, June 18, 2009
Cardinal Egan attending a Solemn Mass in the Church of the Holy Innocents, March 25, 2010.Churches in New York City with regular Traditional Latin Masses
(An article written by Mr. Eddy Toribio upon the request of Rorate Caeli)
(An article written by Mr. Eddy Toribio upon the request of Rorate Caeli)
Church of the Holy Innocents
– 128 W. 37th St. bet. Broadway & 7th Ave.
– Monday through Friday at 6pm with a Sung Mass on Wednesdays.
– Mass at 1pm Saturdays organized by Una Voce NY.
Since the Motu Proprio, the pastor of this church has been very open to the idea of having the traditional Mass there. Starting a daily Mass was his own initiative. The Confraternity of the Sacred Heart and some servers were very instrumental in assisting the pastor to get in touch with priests and servers who would help say and serve the Mass.
In June 2009, Bishop Fernando Rifan celebrated a Pontifical Low Mass. There were two chaplains and two acolytes to help with this Mass.
We have also had a Pontifical Requiem Mass at the Faldstool in this church on All Souls’ Day with the full cooperation of the pastor. The celebrant was Bishop Timlin. The Rite of Absolution was part of the ceremonies on this day and tapers were distributed for the congregation at the appropriate times. (For more pictures, go here: Solemn Pontifical Requiem Mass at Church of the Holy Innocents).
There was a traditional Solemn Midnight Mass that was well attended. It was attended by many (young) people/families we had not seen before. A professional choir was hired for this Mass. (Sadly, we do not have pictures of this Mass).
On March 25th, we had Solemn Mass with Cardinal Egan attending in choir The pastor allowed the Low Altar to be moved so that the ceremonies could be carried out with more ease and better precision and decorum. (For pictures of this Mass, go here: Mass at Holy Innocents for the Feast of the Annunciation.)
The Pastor has also graciously allowed many Sung and Solemn Masses for special occasions and has encouraged regular parishioners to attend the traditional Mass as well. He also decided to learn to say and sing the traditional Mass, which he now does once or twice a week.
Last but certainly not least, we were able to have the Sacred Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday) ceremonies according to the traditional books. (For pictures of Holy Thursday, go here: Holy Thursday Mass at Holy Innocents Church.)
There is also a Chant class that takes place every Wednesday to motivate people to join the choir for the sung Masses on Wednesdays and to become familiarized with Gregorian Chant in general.
Church of St. Agnes
East 43rd Street
Between Lexington & Third Aves.
– Only on Sundays – there’s almost never any interest in having Masses other than on Sundays.
– Last Monday of the month by the Purgatorial Society.
Mount Carmel
East 116th Street (Spanish Harlem).
– Every Sunday at 10am. A Sung Mass is done on the last Sunday of the month.
The story behind the Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel has an interesting history. It had been authorized with all necessary permissions by Fr. Marini (Chancery at St. Patrick’s Cathedral) via phone call on the direction of Cardinal O'Connor. It occurred right after permission was given under Ecclesia Dei for Masses on Sundays (in 1988). Permission was then received for any Masses needed – weekdays, requiems and weddings, and baptisms. Because there was never a demand for weekday Masses, the Mass here is still done only on Sundays and on the Feast of Mt. Carmel. They used to do Holy Days, the Feast (July 16th) and the old Epiphany Octave because it was a tradition of the Pallottines (the society of apostolic life that is still active in this church).
In the mid-1990’s, there were many Liturgies according to the many Eastern Rites (except the Chaldean one) in an attempt to build a congregation. According to some, the Syrian Rite was the most beautiful of the Eastern Liturgies. This was done for about 5 years and then it was stopped because the people who used to attend them lost interest or could not attend anymore.
Church of Our Saviour
59 Park Avenue at East 38th Street
– Sung Masses every Sunday at 9am (except when the choir is on vacation).
Church of the Guardian Angel
193 10th Ave. at West 21st Street.
– Only on 1st Fridays at 6:30 PM
– Sponsored by the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart
Other churches in NYC that offer the traditional Mass:
Brooklyn:
Our Lady of Peace
522 Carroll Street
– Sundays at 9:30 AM
Queens:
St. John's Chapel
St. John's Cemetery, Middle Village
– Sundays at 9 AM
St. Fidelis Church
123-06 14th Ave., College Point (Q65 Bus)
– First and 3rd Fridays at 7 AM
The Bronx:
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church
627 E. 187th Street (at Arthur Ave.)
– Sundays at 8:30 AM
St. Barnabas Church
409 E. 241st Street
– 3rd Sundays at 2:30 PM
St. Margaret of Cortona
6000 Riverdale Ave. at 260th Street
First Sunday of the Month at 3 PM
Fordham University Chapel
– 1st Fridays at 12 PM
Call for info: (718) 817-1000
(CAP note: other information has it that the Mass in Fordham is every Monday, 9:15 P.M.)
They had their first Solemn Mass on February 28th. For pictures of this Mass, go here: Solemn Traditional Mass at the Chapel of Fordham University.
An array of links to photographs of Traditional Masses in various churches in NYC can be found here: Mass Photos and Footage.
