The final service in the traditional Latin (“Extraordinary”) form of the liturgy permitted in our community by the Archdiocese of Hartford will be celebrated in a Solemn Votive Mass of St. Gregory the Great, patron of our Society, on Sunday January 14 at 2:00 pm at St. St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street, New Haven. The Mass, followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, will be celebrated by the Rev. Richard G. Cipolla, Pastor Emeritus of St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk, and longtime supporter and chaplain of the Society. [Please note Fr. Cipolla’s communiction below.} The Rev. Robert L. Turner, Pastor of St. Ambrose Parish, North Branford will be the deacon and The Rev. Peter Langevin, Chancellor of the Diocese of Norwich, will be the subdeacon. The Gregorian chant and polyphonic music for the service will be provided by the Schola Cantorum of the St. Gregory Society.

The Officers of the Saint Gregory Society encourage all who are devoted to the traditional Liturgy to plan to attend this service, to bring family and friends, and to invite others to attend and witness this historical, if ominous, event in the life of the Church in our area.

COMMUNICATION FROM THE REV. RICHARD G. CIPOLLA
The recent announcement from the Archdiocese of Hartford that the Traditional Mass is suppressed at St. Stanislaus in New Haven is a source for me of deep sadness. The St. Gregory Society was founded 38 years ago to offer the Traditional Mass, especially in the beauty and depth of the Solemn form, as a positive response to St. John Paul II’s Indult allowing the use of the 1962 Missal. Not only did the Society play an important role in the regular restoration of the Traditional Mass but also brought back Beauty as an intrinsic and central element of the celebration of Holy Mass. The Society of St. Gregory’s importance to me is indeed great, for it was at my first celebration of the Traditional Roman Mass over twenty years ago in Sacred Heart church in New Haven that I first understood the transcendental power of the Mass and its deep relationship to the Beauty of the person of Jesus Christ who is both Priest and Victim.

I am convinced that despite the foolish and painful attempts in this pontificate to radically suppress the Mass of Catholic Tradition, Beauty is stronger than ignorance and oppression. In a real way the parishes that have offered and still offer that Traditional Mass are in debt to the St. Gregory Society for its leadership beginning 38 years ago to the present time. I would ask that as many Catholics who love the Traditional Roman Mass attend the “last” Traditional Mass in New Haven at St. Stanislaus Church on Sunday 14 January at 2 p.m. For the laity to show great support for the Traditional Mass is necessary at this time to counter the forces of reaction within the Church that have deliberately forgotten that the Mass is not self-worship but the worship of the transcendent God in the person of Jesus Christ.

Oremus pro invicem.

Father Richard Gennaro Cipolla, Ph.D., D. Phil.(Oxon)

In a sudden announcement read before Mass was to begin at St. Stanislaus Church in New Haven on Sunday, December 31, Fr. Sebastian Kos, Priest Administrator of St. Stanislaus Church, announced that the regular celebration of the traditional Latin Mass in New Haven was to be canceled. Permission for the cancellation was requested by Fr. Kos and Fr. Ryan Lerner, Pastor of Blessed Michael McGivney Parish, and granted by The Most Reverend Leonard P. Blair, Archbishop of Hartford. The last official Mass in the traditional form is to be celebrated on Sunday, January 14, at 2 p.m.

The announcement came as a shock to the congregation and leadership of the St. Gregory Society of New Haven, the organization that has sponsored the Masses for the 38 years of its existence. In making his decree, Archbishop Blair noted two reasons: alleged declining attendance (in fact, attendance is up) and staffing the Mass with priests competent to celebrate the ancient rite. Chairman of the St. Gregory Society, Nicholas Renouf, who was in attendance, was as surprised by the announcement as the congregation, and had to field questions from concerned congregants following the service.

Permission for the celebration of the Latin Mass in New Haven was granted by the late Archbishop John F. Whealon, following the indult Quattuor abhinc annos, promulgated in 1984 by Pope St. John Paul II. The indult gave limited permission for use of the pre-Vatican II Roman Missal. The St. Gregory Society of New Haven was estasblished in 1985 to fulfill the requirement of the petitioning process to demonstrate a stable group of faithful who desired the older rites.Archbishop Whealon responded by allowing three locations in the Archdiocese to regularly celebrate Mass according to the “Tridentine” Missal.

The first Latin Mass under the terms of the indult was celebrated on January 12, 1986, in Sacred Heart Church, New Haven, where its regular celebration remained until that church was closed in 2009. At that time, the Society was invited to use St. Stanislaus Church and has remained there ever since.

“It is ironic the last traditional Latin Mass allowed by the Archdiocese, this Janury 14, is the 38th anniversary of a Latin Mass presided over by Archbishop Whealon at Sacred Heart Church, was attended by nearly 1,000 people,” said William Riccio, the master of ceremonies of the SGS.

In its 38-year history, the services sponsored the Society have become known for the beauty of the liturgy and the music to accompany it. The Schola Cantorum of St. Gregory Society was invited to many locations to sing for other Latin Masses. Moreover, its Master of Ceremonies helped train many dozens of priests and servers to learn the rites. It would be no exaggeration to say many of the Latin Masses celebrated in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and even Pennsylvania have been aided by the efforts of the Society. Among the musicians in the Schola there have been several conversions, and a number of its alumni have gone on to establish Scholas in other churches throughout the country.

The Mass on January 14, the Second Sunday after Epiphany, will be celebrated by the Rev. Richard G. Cipolla, former pastor of St. Mary’s, Norwalk, and longtime supporter and chaplain of the group. The Gregorian chant and polyphonic music for the service will be provided by the Schola Cantorum of the St. Gregory Society.

The First Friday Mass at St. Stanislaus Church New Haven on January 5 at 8:00 am  has been canceled owing to the unavailability of a priest.

Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity will be observed in a Low Mass at in the traditional Latin form at St. Stanislaus Church, at State and Eld Streets, New Haven, on December 31 at 2:00  pm. The Celebrant will be The Reverend Matthew Mauriello, Canon of Orvieto.

N.B.  Monday, January 1, there will be no Latin Mass at St. Stanislaus, as this year the Octave Day of the Nativity is NOT a Holy Day of Obligation.