Dear Friend of the Saint Gregory Society,

We would like to share the happy news of some early steps in the
implementation of Pope Benedict’s motu proprio “Summorum Pontificum”
in our part of the world, in particular those which have been made by
the generous priests who offer Mass for the Society at Sacred Heart
Church, New Haven.

As many of you will know, the longest serving priest on our rota, Fr.
Kevin Fitzpatrick, is pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Fairfield. (What
a great name for a parish in this day!) Whereas many of his fellow
pastors seem to have remained silent on the subject of the motu
proprio, Fr. Fitzpatrick made sure to bring it to the attention of all
of his parishioners. In accord with Article 2 of “Summorum
Pontificum”, he also began to celebrate a “private” Mass in the
Extraordinary Form, i.e. one which does not appear on the regular
schedule. Not surprisingly — as envisioned in Article 4 of the motu
proprio — some of the faithful spontaneously asked to be admitted to
these Masses. Fr. Fitzpatrick was delighted to honor these requests,
and ever since September 24th he has been offering the traditional
Mass every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at noon. If you are in the
area, you are most welcome to attend! Directions to the church may be
found here:
http://www.geocities.com/holycrossrcc/directions.htm

Fr. John Ringley, recently introduced in this email bulletin, is
parochial vicar at Saint Lawrence parish in Shelton and the newest
addition to the Society’s rota of devoted priests. Fr. Ringley has
been offering a class at his parish about the traditional liturgy at
8am Wednesdays and 9am Saturdays. This will continue until further
notice. All are welcome to attend. In addition, he has celebrated
“private” sung Masses at St. Lawrence church on two occasions in the
past few months (Sept. 14th and Nov. 2nd), in preparation for which he
has helped to train the servers and singers. More such Masses are
planned for the evenings of Nov. 26th and 27th. The address of the
church may be found here:
http://parishesonline.net/scripts/HostedSites/Org.asp?ID=2635

And one more thing: whether in Fairfield or in Shelton, don’t be
surprised if you find 15, 25, or even 50 people at these “private”
Masses. As noted above, this very thing is envisioned by the Pope, who
writes in Article 4 of “Summorum Pontificum”: “Celebrations of Mass as
mentioned above in art. 2 [i.e. private Masses] may - observing all
the norms of law - also be attended by faithful who, of their own free
will, ask to be admitted.”
http://www.saint-gregory.org/summorum-pontificum/

One more such report will follow next week.

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The Saint Gregory Society
P. O. Box 891
New Haven, CT 06504
Telephone: (203) 624-2751
On the web: http://www.saint-gregory.org/