REMINDER Latin Novus Ordo at St. James Catholic Church Sat April 11, 2015 and Report of March 7, 2015 NO Mass

Hello Everyone.

This is to advertise and to remind you of one of the coolest, most sacred and wonderful, liturgical
initiatives going on right now in our Archdiocese of Toronto. One I wish intently you will support and help to grow in this Archdiocese.

The pastor of St James Catholic Church, Rev. Ignacio Pinedo, continues to host Novus Ordo Latin Masses for the first (or second in certain cases) Saturday of the month. Considering that regular Latin Novus Ordo masses in Toronto ended a couple years ago at the Oratory of St. Phillip Neri, it would be worth attending and supporting. Should this be successful, it could become a regular occurrence at St. James, and maybe spread to other parts of the archdiocese.

Here is the information to attend the Latin Novus Ordo for tomorrow:

Saturday April 11, 2015 (NOVUS ORDO) - Saturday Vigil, Liturgy for 2nd Sunday of Easter/Divine Mercy Sunday in the Novus Ordo Calendar. 

St. James Roman Catholic Church - LATIN NOVUS ORDO, 

• Location: St. James Roman Catholic Church
• Address: 728 Annette St., Toronto, Ontario, CANGoogle Maps: https://plus.google.com/105912210603375556435/about?gl=ca&hl=en
• Time: CONFESSIONS 4pm EST
• MASS TIME IS 5:00 p.m. EST
• Contact info: 416 767 6451 or st.james@sympatico.ca
• Bulletin Advertisment/Online (Archdiocese of Toronto News and Events):

• " Latin Mass Revisited - Rediscover the beauty of the solemn Latin Mass in this modern Eucharistic celebration. We will be celebrating the Mass using the original Latin text of the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal (note: this is not the Tridentine form of the Mass). Side-by-side Latin and English Missals will be provided for those attending. A truly uplifting experience that is both ancient and new, bridging past and present. For more information, contact St. James Church at st.james@sympatico.ca or call 416-767-6451."

• Also, I have one more additional piece of information about the Latin Masses. There are Latin-English booklet aids that are provided for the Liturgy by the parish. You can either borrow them for the Mass, or for a donation of $1.25 you can purchase the booklet, a suggestion I say to do if you are a repeat attendee! 

As for remaining Masses, after this one, there will be two more Latin Novus Ordoes: Saturday May 2, 4:45pm, and Sautrday June 6, 4:45pm. There will be no Latin Novus Ordo masses for July and August. Whether they will return to St. James for the fall of 2015 will be up to the decision of the pastor .... and you. The more attendance and support (including $$$), the more likely they will continue in the Fall.

Finally, and thankfully, I can now say I've attended one of these awesome liturgies and I will hence report on my experience. Hopefully, you might be inspired by it and will be curious. Not to mention you will get a sense of what is going on here at this parish under Fr`s pastor-ship.

Report: LATIN NOVUS ORDO @ St. James Catholic Church, Saturday March 7, 2015, 4:45pm Vigil Mass - 3rd Sunday in Lent

For the week of Mar 7-8, I decided to venture out to the Novus Ordo Mass at St. James Catholic Church, with a friend of mine who has attended back in December. I had good hopes for this Liturgy, to see what was intended by the Vatican II council (should all the documents had been followed to the T, and the rubrics in the GIRM were not violated.) The Church is located near Annette St. and Jane St., easily accessible by a short bus ride taken from Jane station in Toronto. 

Upon entering the narthex of the oddly shaped Church, whose front end is literally, a triangle that juts out to Annette St., I was pleasantly greeted by two ushers for the Latin Novus Ordo. I asked one of them for a bulletin (for personal record and storage), and was told calmly, that they only hand those out after the Mass is over. They do not do so before Mass because the time is to be devoted to prayer in preparation for the Mass, and the bulletin can be a distraction to that. GREAT! That was the first sign that this was how Mass should be practiced in the church, with great reverence. When even the ushers are on board with that .... this is where one's heart and mind should be, and this WILL be excellent. I made sure to take a liturgy booklet for keeps, paying the $1.25 donation. 

Then, I entered the nave/body of the Church. For a modern church it isn't too bad. It might not be like Roman Churches, but it homely and welcoming. Here are a couple of pictures. While I am not fond of the tabernacle to the side, it is in an enclosed worship space with a rail to kneel in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and I think what is a copy of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (which is a plus in my books, with me being fond of the Redemptorist order). At least the space says "Worship HE, who is our Blessed Lord in the Eucharist. Every knee shall bend to him. And remember his Blessed Mother, Mary." Here's the pics I took after the Mass was over:

The Sanctuary. Notice that the altar is in the "Benedictine Arrangement?" Cool eh?

The rear view of the Church. Notice to the left that part of the confessional can be seen. To the right is a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe, as the parish serves the Latino (Spanish) community. Some parishioners even travel from some distance for that Mass!

The tabernacle. While I don't enjoy seeing this aberration of the "Spirit of Vatican II" with the tabernacle off to the side, I will say I am pleased at the space being treated appropriately. Seeing a kneeling area in front gives a great visual reminder of the Real Presence and Adoration of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. It's a little bit sad though seeing the priest needs to leave the Sanctuary to get to the tabernacle. 

I did wait and pray in the reverent silence before Mass (save the last 10 minutes when the choir assembled and the people in the sacristy,) and even partook in the Sacrament of Confession. The priest in the confessional took it seriously, and wasn't afraid to speak about the Devil! sign # 2 that this was going to be awesome. 

And so the Liturgy began with the opening hymn being Veni Sancte Spiritus in Latin! These hymns, that I mention, by the way, and the parts used for the sung prayer portions of the liturgy, ARE found in the Catholic Book of Worship III. Despite the dreadful reputation that hymn book has among serious liturgists and choirmasters, it IS possible to use the better parts of the book. Fr. Pinedo and his three servers, dressed in red cassock and surplice (just hold your criticism till the end of this report .... you'll see why ...), proceeded in procession from the back, reverently genuflected to the center of the altar, and then assumed their proper positions on the altar. 

Although Fr. Pinedo was facing ad populum, all the major liturgy parts, were done in the Latin. That includes the Penitential Rite with cues in the book to strike your breast at the Meae Culpae, The Gloria, etc. with exception of the collect and the Readings, which were done in the English. Yes, even the responses of the people are in the Latin, and being affiliated with the Latin Mass, these responses were no hurdle to me, but a comfort in worship. 

Might I also add that the thurible with incense WAS used in this Mass, and done at the appropriate times in the Liturgy that the Novus Ordo allows to happen. In my honest opinion, I have only seen a couple of Churches use the incense in their regular Sunday Novus Ordo, not the major liturgies/feast days. Another sight to see and make me home here, sign # 3 if you are counting. Sign # 4 would be that each server (all male!), carried out their Novus Ordo liturgical duties respectfully and responsibly. Seeing a young under 13 male take apart that chalice for the Offertory setup in serious manner, the lack of fidgeting by all the altar boys, etc. showed a clear visual sign this is a liturgy, not an entertainment show. 

Continuing on in the Mass, the other prayer parts were sung when needed, in the Latin, but the following other hymns were sung: Ubi Caritas, Laudate Omnes Gentes, and O Sanctissima. 

While I do not remember Fr. Pinedo's homily, it did got me thinking, and I remember there was one point that made me fall off my pants that I had never thought about. I do remember that the Gospel was the famous one with Christ driving the moneylenders out of the temple, and it was somewhat relevant to that. 

Finally, when the Mass was over, I really did feel like I was sent out to do the Lord's work. I also decided to speak to the priest to introduce myself formally, and to let him know how much I enjoyed it. We also ended up speaking about the parish and other things a bit, and it turns out he knows the Oratorians of St. Phillip Neri (which was where he got the inspiration for this venture), and some of the possible plans for the parish might include a youth ministry with a hired, part-time minister. Now I know the general whine among Trads is "Youth ministry is all "Fuzzy Jesus"" but to me, a pastor willing to pay a youth minister, even part time, means they want someone with proper training and experience, not some volunteers running the show or those of questionable status. Don't forget, the youth minister's position is subject to the dictum of the pastor. Good pastor with orthodox attitude to liturgy and faith = good youth minister (most of the time). 

Oh and as for the altar servers, they have a monthly meeting/practice, and guess what ... the young men decided as a group, that they all wanted to switch to the traditional, black cassock and surplice combination! This combination will be present in the parish as of the beginning of May. WOW! The fact that under this priest's leadership, the young men wanted this ... speaks volumes and is a sign great things are happening under this priest's leadership at St. James. 

So please, everyone, while I know that we should all be honking crazy about the 1962/Latin Mass/Mass of St. John XXIII, we also should be welcoming to our Novus Ordo brothers and sisters in their parishes, and support efforts, like this one at St. James Catholic Church, Toronto. Like the Knights of Columbus, we should be asking our priests how we can help these communities, though we Traditionalists of mind and/or liturgy, should expand that to liturgy and the New Evangelization of our parishes. Going to the Masses of St. James, is one important way to do so. 

END. Pax Tibi Christ, Julian Barkin. 

P.S. BTW, if anyone is interested in doing more than attending, be it serving and/or singing, let me know. I will put you in contact with St. James Catholic Church. Hopefully there is some room for the last 2 masses, if not, the Fall, should the initiative continue.