REPORT: High Mass/Missa Cantata on Saturday, June 10, 2017 at 7:00pm EST

REPORT: High Mass/Missa Cantata on Saturday, June 10, 2017 at 7:00pm EST

(Source: https://www.marylake.com/upcoming-events?tag=Tridentine%20Mass.)

Hello Everyone,

Allow me the privilege to release another report of an offering of a Missa Cantata/High Mass in the Extraordinary Form that occurred during the summer season. On June 10, 2017, 7:00 pm EST the Augustinian brothers of the Marylake Shrine of Gratitude, in King City, ON, graciously allowed for their annual offering of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite/Latin Mass, to take place. This offering has now been offered annually, either for its 3rd or 4th year at the Shrine.

For this offering, Fr. Steven Szakaczki, head of the Latin Mass contingent of the parish of St. Lawrence the Martyr, Scarborough, and veteran priest to the Latin Mass offerings in the Archdiocese of Toronto, was main celebrant for this Mass. Servers were requested independently, via contact by the Master of Ceremonies, including I, the author of this posting, for service at the altar. For this EF liturgy, I was acolyte 2 alongside my longest friend in the Faith, who served as Acolyte 1.

Prior to the Mass Fr. Steven, and all servers in their positions, met at the Shrine for a rehearsal, and to iron out liturgical particulars between our knowledgeable Master of Ceremonies, Giovanni, Fr. Paul, who was the current head prior/brother of the Shrine (and organizer for the choir portion of the Mass,) Fr. Steven, and the servers. Ironing out these particulars was essential, as mentioned before in my prior announcement post here, this Mass fell on an interesting time of year in the EF calendar, the Saturday of an Ember week in the Octave of Pentecost, and thus some changes to the order of the Mass (readings, etc.) needed to be known to all parties involved.

The liturgical differences, due to being an Ember Saturday were:

• On an ember day liturgy, up to 5 additional Old Testament "lessons" of Scripture are added in addition to the standard Epistle. This is followed by a collect after each lesson. As was custom before in the EF, there is the granting to the celebrant of the option of a shorter amount of only one lesson in addition to the main collect, followed by the Epistle, a tract (instead of an Alleluia), a "sequence," and then the Gospel reading. It was decided for the sake of time and unnecessary burden on all present, the shorter option was in effect.
• A sequence was sung (being in the Octave of Pentecost) called the Veni Sancte Spiritus, before the Gospel was proclaimed. This is NOT the same as the "Come Holy Spirit ..." prayer, though ``Come Holy Spirit`` is the literal translation of the title of the sequence, based on its first three Latin words. 

Since I was not serving as thurifer, this year, and got to remain in sanctuary the whole time, I had the privilege of listening to Fr. Steven's homily in full. Here is from my recollection the main points of this homily:

• Where we are today in the calendar of the Novus Ordo, is that we are not celebrating Pentecost anymore, but have moved back into Ordinary time during the weekdays. Unfortunately, in the liturgical changes, the Octave of Pentecost was removed from the calendar. 
• In the Extraordinary Form Calendar, we are on the Saturday of the Octave of Pentecost, specifically the Ember Saturday. While people in both forms may have partaken in the Novenas (for Pentecost or more likely to,) the Holy Spirit, it is unfortunate that this was taken from the Novus Ordo Calendar. 
• We should be truly fortunate in the EF Calendar to have the Octave, to be celebrating the Joy of the Feast of Pentecost, as without this truly remarkable event, there would not be the Catholic Church.
• Before we discuss Pentecost, just what is the Holy Spirit? The Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity, as revealed to us in the Scriptures, with intention of God and our Lord to exist, sharing the same divine nature as the other Persons. What the Holy Spirit is, is the LOVE of our Lord and his Only Son. 
• When there is a relationship that involves love, there are three persons: the person giving love, the one receiving it, and the Love itself. 
• God the Father, so loved all of us that He gave His Only Son to us, Jesus. God Loved his Son, and the Son loved His Father in Return, that between the two exists the Love that "spirates" from both of them, and that is the Holy Spirit. 
• When we examine the events surrounding Pentecost, we come to the Apostles, who were vital to spreading the Gospel and hence, establishing the Church after Christ's Death, Resurrection, and even Ascension to Heaven. Even after His Ascension into Heaven, the Apostles did not go about an just make the Church happen. They were still fearful of persecution by the Roman authorities, having been so close to our Lord. Further, they likely discussed many things about their Lord, and likely still had much doubt about Him and what He said.
• So here they were, all hiding in the upper room alongside our Virgin Mother, Mary, and some others, waiting out their days in hiding. Then, comes the very paraclete that Our Lord said would be sent to help them carry out His mission. The tongues of fire came down upon them and they were filled with those Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the courage to go out and establish the Church, doing the Lord's work. 
• When they went about doing the Lord's work, filled with the Holy Spirit, they did many amazing works and converted scores of people to our Lord and the Faith, even performing miracles and amazing works! 
• So then, why do we not see many, or any, of these supposed works that happened with the Apostles after being filled with the Holy Spirit, despite many Catholics being baptized and confirmed, and receiving the Holy Spirit with the Sacraments? There are two key reasons
• 1. TRUST - Sadly today, many people, even Catholics, do not place their full trust in the Lord, and in the Holy Spirit. They place their trust in the things of this world, or things of man, many a time being led to sin and unhappiness. The Apostles were able to place their trust in our Lord with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 
• 2. LOVE - When we go about doing our spiritual works, or our lives, we often do not do many things with the Love of the Holy Spirit. [Editor's note: As the Holy Spirit IS LOVE itself, then we must, as Children of God. go about with the LOVE of the Lord in our whole being in what we do, and that LOVE IS the Holy Spirit.] 
• So, on this Feast of Pentecost, may we pray for the opening our hearts to trusting in the Lord, and the TRUST and LOVE that our Apostles exhibited when filled with the Holy Spirit, to be able to serve our Lord fully. 

All in all, the liturgy and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, was carried out in a solemn, reverent, and even joyful capacity, and the chapel was clearly filled with the presence of something "awesome" happening in that holy space, meeting (though not literally replicating) that very same experience the Apostles had in the upper room, being so close to our Lord and His Holy Spirit, in the Latin Mass. 

As for attendance, while not as full as last year, the chapel, which I estimate visually to be capable of holding about 200 bodies in its pews, was almost completely full, with only the odd spare seat in the back couple of pews. That is still a remarkable attendance for an offering in a Chapel, held not in the immediate core of the Archdiocese, AND had only parish posters and some internet promotion, which seems limited to this blog and my requests on some Facebook groups. When you factor all that, there is CLEARLY demand for the Latin Mass, and even some spreading, will bring out a good sizable number of the Faithful, including young people, who thanks to social media are discovering this treasure of liturgy that they rightfully deserve from the Church at large. 

This young acolyte (and assuredly, all present in the pews and involved in carrying out the sacred liturgy) are truly thankful for the generosity of the Augustinian Fathers for offering, even yearly, the opportunity for the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite to be offered in their shrine, in the Archdiocese of Toronto. Likewise, Fr. Paul was truly impressed and thankful for the hard work and dedication we all showed, including true reverence for our Lord in the Liturgy, our organization and efficiency in carrying out the Liturgy, and the humility we brought to the Latin Mass. 

We hope that by efforts such as the Augustinian Fathers, more offerings will become established via influence in King City, and surrounding areas of Vaughan, Woodbridge, Aurora, Newmarket, and Brampton. 

Also, it is hoped that this annual tradition will continue in future, as it has been found out that as of this summer, the prior head brother, Brother Paul, who was appreciative of the Latin Mass, will be leaving the Shrine and Br. John Paul Szura, is now the new superior/head brother of Mary Lake. It is with good hope that the new head, Br. John Paul, will continue on allowing the tradition to continue, one which will maintain good report with those who favour Catholic Tradition/the Latin Mass of the faithful in the surrounding municipalities of the Shrine and those in the Archdiocese of Toronto, and further meet the spiritual needs of those faithful and the youth, who truly want a deep and personal connection to Christ in the Liturgy. May the love of St. Augustine and the fraternal order founded on this great saint for our times, continue to thrive in our Archdiocese of Toronto. 

Thank you, Augustinian Brothers, and those in the E.F./Latin Mass for making this sacred event happen. 

Pax Tibi Christi. Julian Barkin. 

Missa Cantata/High Latin Mass at Mary lake Shrine in King City This Saturday June 10th, 2017 7pm

(As advertized on https://www.marylake.com/upcoming-events?tag=Tridentine%20Mass, this is the poster that has been distributed to nearby parishes.)

Hello everyone, particularly those living in King City, Ontario, and the surrounding areas of Woodbridge, Vaughan/Maple, Brampton, Newmarket, Aurora, and Richmond Hill, 

As is now the annual tradition of the Mary Lake Shrine in King City, overseen by the Augustinian Fathers, in the month of June they allow for a yearly celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite a.k.a the Latin Mass. Last year I was able to altar serve that offering as thurifer and the posting of that past offering is here, where I also briefly talk about the Fathers and the Shrine.

Once again, the Augustinian Fathers will be organizing a Missa Cantata/High Latin Mass, with the offering being celebrated by Fr Steven Szakaczki, one of the main priests in our archdiocese of Toronto who celebrates the Latin Mass, and is frequently consulted for such offerings by multiple parties. Fr. Szakaczki also oversees the St Lawrence the Martyr, Scarborough, daily Latin Mass offerings. In addition, a full complement of 5 servers (MC, 2× acolytes, crucifer and thurifer,) including myself as acolyte 2, will be serving our Lord at the service of the altar.

The date of this Mass in the EF is this coming Saturday, June 10, 2017 at 7pm EST start time, at the Mary Lake Shrine of our Lady of Grace, 13760 Keele St., King City, ON, just north of Keele St. and King Rd. This will take place in the Eucharistic adoration chapel, beside the main altar/sanctuary at Mary Lake Shrine. 

Allow me to add some additional notes of generality and of the liturgy:

Generally speaking (and for the laity to attend):

• In the Latin Mass calendar, this is "Ember Saturday" in the Octave of Pentecost. For the laity, there used to be binding laws of partial abstinence from meat and full fasting. Partial abstinence means meat is ONLY eaten at one meal/the main meal of the day. While the current Canon Code of Law of 1983, combined with the change of the Novus Ordo (vernacular) liturgy, the Papal document Paenitemini of Pope Paul VI, and the Vatican II "invention" of Bishop's Conferences, they have made these practices not binding by sin/law in today's Church. STILL, one should always be encouraged to participate in the customs and life of the Latin Mass, such as these. So if capable, do fast and partially abstain from meat this coming Saturday.

• There WILL be confessions before the actual Mass, as the prior has been made aware. A priest will be available for the sacrament in the confessional beside the main altar

Liturgical notes:

• At the decision of the Augustinian Fathers, the regular maximum of five servers will be maintained, with no additional servers to be added in supplementary roles such as boat bearer and torchbearers. Part of this was an organizational decision (as the sanctuary in the chapel is small,) while at the same time, it was also motivated by allowing for the richness of the liturgy to be fully seen and carried out as per the EF/TLM of 1962. Therefore, our acolytes (myself included,) will also be pseudo-torchbearers in the Mass of the Canons from the Sanctuary until after the people's communion. You will receive communion with acolytes as "guards" next to each prie deux.

• As this is the Saturday of Ember days during the Octave of Pentecost, some interesting additions to the liturgy will happen:
• On an ember day liturgy, up to 5 additional Old Testament "lessons" of Scripture are added in addition to the standard Epistle. This is followed by a collect after each lesson. As was custom before in the EF, there is the granting to the celebrant of the option of a shorter amount of only one lesson in addition to the main collect, followed by the Epistle, a tract (instead of an Alleluia), a "sequence," and then the Gospel reading. It has been decided that for the sake of time and unnecessary burden on all present, that the shorter option will be in effect on this day.  

• In addition there is a sequence sung during the Octave of Pentecost called the Veni Sancte Spiritus, before the Gospel is proclaimed. This is NOT the same as the "Come Holy Spirit ..." prayer we know, though ``Come Holy Spirit`` is the literal translation of the title of the sequence, based on its first three Latin words. 

Thankfully, the more senior brothers of the Augustinians here, including the head brother, have a solid appreciation for this form of the liturgy and a good head about how one goes in celebrating this form. As just one example, while all of us servers, Fr. Steven, and the head brother/prior, were waiting outside to begin practice this Monday, Fr. mentioned that he has seen in his many years a true and reverent way of celebrating/serving the Latin Mass, and ways it has not been such. When serving or celebrating, one must not be an "actor on a stage" moving like clockwork. Your movements must not be grandiose, but smooth, and genuine, with an attitude of true humility and service to our Lord at the altar.  

I ask kindly that you please spread word of this offering by any means of communication, and bring any family and friends to this offering. I hope to see some of you there, afterwards, when we will have a post-Mass celebration with refreshments. 

Pax Tibi Christi, Julian Barkin. 

Report: High Latin Mass/Missa Cantata at Mary Lake Shrine of the Augustinian Fathers in King City, ON, Saturday June 11, 2016

Source: http://villavallelonga.com/canada/MarylakeShrine/Images/Gallery/pages/

shrine004.htm

Hello Everyone,

I'll admit in light of my married life, as well as focusing on my major work whereby I had to call out a professor of OLSWA for his attack on Jean Vanier, (Part I, and Part II) this is long overdue, and I haven't had a chance to do this until now.

A month and a half ago, the Mary Lake Shrine in King City, Ontario, one of the parishes blessed with being a site of the Doors of Mercy of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year, held a beautiful and reverent Missa Cantata. The celebrant was none other than our Archdiocese's Latin Mass Chaplain, Fr. Steven Szakaczki, currently residing at St. Lawrence the Martyr Scarborough. I refer you to this link, that I had for promoting the Mass for some brief information about the Shrine and the Fathers' charism, but how blessed was the Archdiocese that these fine brothers would allow a Latin Mass. It turns out that this is their 2nd or 3rd year in a row that they have done an annual offering at the shrine of the Latin Mass, and for a yearly offering, they are happy to oblige.

I personally was going to attend with my best friend in faith, as this Mass was entirely independent of any specific organization, and being celebrated by Fr. Steven at a magnificent place. Initially, I had also inquired about serving. At that time, numbers seemed ok, but I was asked to be on "standby" later, in case of increasing the level to a Cantata with incense.

It turns out that, we were part of the Lord's plan, as a last minute change of plans necessitated me robing up and serving. We also had another young man join us who had served some other Latin Masses in the Archdiocese that my friend knew, and an old ally from our last St. Patrick's offering, just happened to show up, who was originally going to be in the pews. Thankfully, we had an extra cassock on hand and I lent my spare, cotton surplice, to him that I keep with me. With four servers, we had enough for incense and elevation to a Missa Cantata! Since none of us had the experience to do the Master of Ceremonies role, we went with two acolytes, a thurifer, and a crucifer.

Overall, we were able to give each other quick rundowns for our roles and I had crammed a little thurifer reading on the Missa Cantata just in case. For the most part, the serving went well, although without an MC, it was a bit challenging to know cuing of parts and such. The four of us are not part of an established Latin Mass program/parish so there's where the challenged lay. I also had a relative lengthy distance for the midpoint to walk for a coal exchange for the thurible, as the sacristy was near the main altar, and to get to that, you had to exit the back of the chapel, out to behind the main altar. Thank goodness Fr. Steven is a master of the Latin Mass! He led us fantastically in the Mass, and we were able to carry out a beautiful Missa Cantata.

However, a Mass isn't just priest and servers alone. I also give mention to the choir and the crowd. The choir was a small size schola, a combination of some of the Augustinian Fathers including the pastor/"prior" of the parish, as well as a couple of laypeople with an interest in Gregorian Chant and singing. Considering this Mass is held annually, the schola possessed considerable talent! They had clearly prepared well for this Mass and it showed. As for the laity, I was impressed! The Eucharistic chapel of Mary Lake, I'd estimate, could seat about 150-180 people in the pews. For this offering of the Latin Mass, the chapel was full! Of those in attendance, I saw a mix of people of varying age, but also a number of young people too. Even a couple of old friends of mine from Aurora showed up, and two people from my current Novus Ordo parish I never expected! All in all, it was a great showing that we could pack the chapel full, with standing room only!

As per my usual reporting, here are photos of the altar set up to celebrate the Extraordinary Form:

The chapel of the Mary Lake Shrine, which is usually open for perpetual adoration. The tabernacle ... is to the right of the altar. Yeah, it's construction is "modern." 

This is the altar close up, before the Mass began, and before a couple more items were added. 

The credence table for the Mass. 

These are two of the altar cards that are in the sacristy after Mass, that were on the altar. Interestingly, these are the altar cards of the Mary Lake Shrine!!! I, nor Fr. Steven, had to supply the cards this time around! See the picture above for the center altar card. 

Also, traditionally in my reports, I recapitulate the homily from the Latin Mass, as a "snippet" of interest. Unfortunately, because of my thurifer duties, and the length of time that has passed since the Mass in June, I have forgotten most of it. What I can remember is the following, with my own embellishment to explain the points made by Fr. Steven:

• The central topics/themes of the Homily were: The forgotten other half of Mercy, which is justice; The Blessed Virgin Mary; Humility and how the B.V.M. exhibits this humility; the Devil and how he has a total lack of humility. 

• On Mercy and justice, Fr. opened up his homily with the theme of Mercy. He likely started with this because this was a Doors of Mercy parish with a Holy Door in the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. He commented on how there are two parts to the Lord's Mercy, and that the virtue of justice is its second component, going hand in hand with Mercy.

• Unfortunately, there is a current trend in our society that is rapidly rising both in our world and in our Church. Father than began to explain how both mercy and virtue must be balanced, and the errors/sins we make when we pursue each too far in their extremes. 

• With mercy, it is good and well to forgive those of their faults and transgressions, but we err and overemphasize mercy to the point that we allow the person to not correct their mistakes or work at turning away from their sins, and we actually harm them, giving them license to remain stagnant in their personal and spiritual development.

• Father Steven also commented on the other part of the combination of mercy/justice, that we as humans, err in also overemphasizing justice to the point where we lack mercy. When something or someone wrongs us, our instincts are to lash out and punish the source of offence and injustice. Part of that is a desire of revenge or to serve "justice," though it also reflects the good part of nature to correct the injustice. Unfortunately, the manner in which we do so, can be to the point it is merciless, or malicious in intention, making the virtue inordinate. [Editortial note: I would not be surprised if Father was thinking about the Pharisaical "armchair theologians" that are rising in number on the Internet.]

• ... at this point, I had to go out and change the thurible coals, so I missed a good chunk of the homily. When I came back ....

• Father then was explaining the virtue of humility. While I do not remember the beginning part of the explanation, he did illustrate the example. He wanted us to think of the famous WWE wrestler, Hulk Hogan, a muscular strong opponent. If a little girl were to be his opponent, this would be awful and not humble at all, embarrassing, and cruel, on the part of the Hulkster. If you, as a grown adult tried to fight with all your strength, with honesty and sportsmanship, you would obviously lose, but would lose the challenge with humility at fighting an opponent such as the Hulkster. 

• With humility explained, Fr. Steven entered into speaking about Satan and how he exhibited a total lack of humility in his rebellion against God. In heaven, then Lucifer, meaning "bearer of light," had witnessed the creation of the world, especially that of humanity. Looking at that, he could not bear it. How could God create something so inferior and to show his desire and love them. They are mortal beings! We angels are superior and deserve that privilege simply by right that we are pure spiritual beings! 

• Were Satan humble, he would have exhibited obedience to his creator, God, and accepted humanity as part of His Divine Plan, and that he created free willed human beings out of the totality of His Love, in being the Divine Creator. Instead, Satan, as an angel with a pure will, made an irreversible decision to rebel against God along with 1/3 of the angels in Heaven [editor comment: which one can logically speculate to include angels of other choirs, like powers, thrones, dominions ... they didn't all just come from one choir.]

• The Devil, was even more furious after the fact, when He decided to make Mary, a virgin, Blessed, in bearing the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ. He chose a human flesh woman, to bear through the family and natural childbirth, our Saviour, to take the form of the World of God made flesh. What a travesty to Satan!!! God, purposely decided to have a human nature, of those fleshlings that Satan so hated with all his being, and further, used a human woman to do so. 

•  As for Mary, she was the counter to the example of the Devil, the women who would crush the Devil's head, as foretold by God after the Fall of Adam and Eve. Unlike Satan, her "fiat" to willingly accept what God wanted after being told by Gabriel, was accepted in total humility, despite not knowing the totality of it, the risks involved, etc. Being faithful to the Lord in practice of her Jewish Faith, as well as a deep devoted level of the virtue of Faith, she was the example of humility, an example which we should emulate in our lives with the Lord. 

When the Mass was over, we were overjoyed, and we all celebrated with refreshments after the Mass in the courtyard space next to the main body of the Church. 

Once again, we must thank the Lord Jesus Christ for the mercy and the loving hearts of the Augustinian Fathers, as another parish in the Archdiocese of Toronto, under the merciful and loving pastor ship of His Eminence, Cardinal Thomas Collins, allowed the Extraordinary Form/Latin Mass to occur. 

Even though it would be great if a parish like Mary Lake or any of the other Vaughan/Woodbridge parishes would offer a frequent Latin Mass offering for the northern regions of the Archdiocese of Toronto, it is a blessing even a yearly offering occurs at a parish! May we thank the Lord for these offerings, and may we pray steadfast to him for the growth and proliferation of offerings in the Archdiocese of Toronto and the Church, under positive leadership that practices the Joy of the Gospel. 

Pax Tibi Christi, Julian