Report: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Solemn Latin Mass at St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Toronto, 7pm Dec 8, 2014

"AVE MARIA, GRATIA PLENA, DOMINUS TECUM ....."

Hello Everyone,

What an Advent season miracle that has just happened this past day! The Archdiocese of Toronto, under the holy and considerate leadership of His Eminence, Thomas Cardinal Collins, was graced to have had not just one, or two, but FIVE Latin Masses on this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Two of these offerings were part of the daily Missa Lectae (Low Masses) offered by St. Lawrence the Martyr, Scarborough, and Holy Family under the Oratorians (11am and 1130am respectively).

But get this ... THE OTHER THREE WERE SOLEMN LATIN MASSES IN THE EVENING! THREE! We are talking three clergy, incense, acolytes with candles, perhaps even a boat bearer and torches at some of the offerings, and beautiful Gregorian Chant and hymns to celebrate this sacred mystery! One was the Oratorians at Holy Family for 6pm, and the other two at the same time, were: St. Joseph's in Mississauga, Ontario with the (likely direction) of the Toronto Traditional Mass Society, and the other, at St. Francis of Assisi for their centenary of the founding of the Parish with assistance from St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir! Both masses were 7pm!

This report will be detailing the efforts and what happened for the centenary Mass @ St. Francis of Assisi at 7pm, as I was involved in assisting the parish and St. Patrick's in the role of first acolyte for the Mass.

Primer: Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Just what were all these Masses, including those in the Ordinary Form/Novus Ordo about today? Today in the liturgical calendars of both forms of the Roman Rite, was the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

When we talk about the Immaculate Conception, this is NOT the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is easy to see where the confusion lies, as Jesus was "Immaculate" in the sense of being born without sin, and we refer to the moment the human gametes (semen/sperm and ovum/egg) in biology contact each other to begin becoming a new human life (a fetus) as "Conception," or just plainly that a newborn was "conceived" by giving birth. This is NOT the case here.

The Immaculate Conception actually refers to MARY's birth, in that she was born WITHOUT ORIGINAL SIN. Yes she was essential in Christ's birth, but this feast day celebrates her as the spotless virgin, sin-less, able to be the Theotokos (God-bearer), the perfect vessel for Christ.

This fact is of the utmost importance, that Holy Mother Church wielded her Divine Authority, Infallibly through Pope Pius IX, to declare that her Immaculate Conception is a matter of dogma, thus every Catholic MUST believe in this teaching, else they separate themselves from the Church. This was declared in the Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus, which can be viewed here entirely: http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius09/p9ineff.htm. The declaration is as follows:

"... by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own: "We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful."^[29]

Hence, if anyone shall dare -- which God forbid! -- to think otherwise than as has been defined by us, let him know and understand that he is condemned by his own judgment; that he has suffered shipwreck in the faith; that he has separated from the unity of the Church; and that, furthermore, by his own action he incurs the penalties established by law if he should are to express in words or writing or by any other outward means the errors he think in his heart.

Now that you get what this solemnity in the Church is all about, allow me to report on the preparation and the actual Mass that took place

Preparation for the Mass
Within a month before the date of this mass, word was spread about this Mass via the parish bulletin, the Archdiocese website, the SPGC associated Facebook page, as well as this blog, and perhaps word of mouth. In promoting this mass, members from St. Lawrence the Martyr's Latin Mass program, St. Francis of Assisi's altar servers, and I as an independent not affiliated with a Latin Mass parish, volunteered to assist the Lord in service at the altar, as well as another young man who was our the subdeacon, having the appropriate qualifications under the guidelines that exist for the EF.

November 29th, both the choir, and the servers met at St. Francis on that cold Saturday evening to do training for the Mass, via a run through of all major serving roles, as well as training for the subdeacon role for the young man. This training was undertaken by our veteran Master of Ceremonies with the Choir, who also co-ordinates the serving portions of each Mass that SPGC organizes. I was assigned the role of first acolyte, while others were given the roles of 2nd acolyte and thurifer. The practice went smoothly, as all individuals involved have had some or great experience serving in the EF, and/or extensive experience in carrying out those roles or the equivalent of in the Novus Ordo, making the transition quicker and easier in learning the EF.

It was also found out that of all the Novus Ordo Churches (that do not have a Latin Mass or people who come in and do them that) I have been to in assisting the St. Patrick's Gregorian choir, St. Frances of Assisi has been the most heavily equipped with liturgical items appropriate for celebration in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite!

The parish was equipped with: a gorgeous gold, "Gothic" style thurible (you might have seen this in one of my earlier posts) as well as a simpler silver one, both the complex three chain variety; a set of golden and ornate NEW altar candles which are gracious gifts from parishioners of the parish for the 100th anniversary, a Gothic style, framed set of EF altar cards, a complete set of liturgical clothing in white/gold for Solemn Latin Masses in all roles made by nuns from the 1930s (again, you've seen this in an earlier post), lantern-style torches for processions, patens with handles ... I could go on but this blew my mind to know this parish takes its liturgy with respectful seriousness and solemnity.

Save perhaps the 1962 Missal itself, little to no additional items would be needed to be brought in for this liturgy. In addition, the parish had set about to create the booklets for the Order of the Mass, in both Latin-English, and Latin-Italian.

The Solemn Latin Mass of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
And thus came the day for the EF Mass for the parish's 100th anniversary this past Monday, December 8th, 2014. Present in the clergy roles were: Fr. Jean-Marie Pilon from the diocese of Peterborough (now headed by former auxillary bishop of Toronto, +McGrattan) as celebrant, Fr. Steven Szakaczki, Latin Mass chaplain for St. Lawrence the Martyr in the role of deacon (of whom was requested by the parish to assist for the fruition of this EF Mass), and Mr. Bradley Black in the role of subdeacon, having the appropriate qualifications under EF ``customs`` as it were, to be allowed to carry out the role.

Prior to the start of the Holy Mass, the Parish had been set up appropriately for the liturgy. The liturgical objects, both of cloth and metal, had been laid our accordingly. Interestingly enough, our clergy role members has quite a ``welcome`` as can be seen in the layout of their vestments with name cards. It is lovely to see a parish give such organization and attention to our conduct of this liturgy. These might be small details, but every little bit helps, and shows the respect given to our clergy:

The Subdeacon's Vestments, for Mr. Bradley Black

 The Deacon's Vestments, For Fr. Steven Szakaczki

The Celebrant's Vestments with vesting prayers and biretta, for Fr. Jean-Marie Pilon

Close up shot of Fr. Pilon's card. 

In addition, the parish decided to provide ALL of the servers with Solemn Mass surplices, that had a diamond pattern woven in at the sleeves and hems. Further, a multitude of beautiful liturgical items lay awaiting to be used in the liturgy, reflecting the Gothic styled architecture and environment of St. Francis` tradition (albeit with some minor adjustments) as seen here in a couple of pictures:

There it is ... the Gothic style golden thurible. These are also the two tallish acolyte candles that I and the 2nd acolyte used in the Mass. 

Prior to Mass, the Chalice is fully prepared, the ciboria, and the cruets from a distance. 

Here's the cruets close up. Wow! Just look at that stunning detail! This must be brass or gold! They do not make cruets like this anymore!!! Interesting note: There are pegs that you put the cruets on to hold them steady. They have holes in their bottom for the pegs. 

The credence table prior to Mass, with a veiled Chalice.

These beautiful framed Gothic altar cards adorned the altar. This is a full set! Only the center card is pictured here. 

Does this scream majestic? Again I do not think they make altar Missals like this anymore. Even those you can purchase from FSSP/St. John Cantius are not as ornate as this missal. I think this one even has gold clasps on them. 

The altar before Mass Begins. Notice the Marian blue "accented" antepedium. White, however is the bulk of the colour. 

Prior to the Mass, the parish pastor of St. Francis, dressed in his Franciscan habit with a lacy surplice over his robes, explained to the congregation the difference between the modern Mass and the Extraordinary Form, in both English and Italian (e.g. direction of the priest as ``Liturgical East``, receiving communion ...) Dressed and vested, we then proceeded to do the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite for the 100th anniversary celebration of the parish.

Since the tabernacle was off to the left side of the body of the Church (personally, not in favour of this), we had to make a slight modification, where we genuflected to the tabernacle once we got out of the sanctuary to the left of the body. Afterwards, it was business as usual. During the Mass, all clergy and servers performed their roles reverently and respectfully, showing experience and devotion to the Holy Mass.

It was clear in certain parts (e.g. the Offertory chants) that a sacredness and an ``energy`` or "spiritual uplifting," to use crude modern terms for description, was ever-present during the EF liturgy. For me personally, that was one moment. Another that hit me was in the exit procession, when we all sung the closing hymn ``Immaculate Mary``, whereby at the chorus, congregation and others sang in unison in joyous commemoration of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Mother. It was purely beautiful and I felt a sense of joy and encouragement, ready to go out into the world post-Mass.

As per my usual reporting, what great tidbits of wisdom was I able to glean from the sermon, given by the celebrant, Fr. Pilon? I will recount what I could from the sermon, albeit I am paraphrasing and missing important linking ideas as well.

• This EF liturgy has many things happening visually, though we might not understand everything. 
• To accept or embrace what we are experiencing in the sacred liturgy, implies Faith. 
• Last year, it was deemed by then Pope Benedict XVI, that the 2013-2014 liturgical year would be the "Year of Faith" 
• Faith, allows us to believe in that which is a mystery or beyond full comprehension. 
• ...... (some linking points I've forgotten )......
• In this Liturgy, we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We mistakenly might think it refers to the birth of Christ. It is actually the birth of Mary being conceived without sin. 
• Sin, while there is temptation, or influence, or our weaknesses, present, always involves our will to make a choice to do sin. 
• .... (some linking points) ...
• When we undertake studies in theology, one area of theology is that of "Speculative Theology." In this branch, we deal with items or concepts that are hard to prove with evidence, but we can use our existing knowledge of the faith or otherwise, to speculate on plausible parts of it. 
• We can look at then, Mary`s parents, St. Anne and St. Joachim. As parents of Mary, having such devout faith to our Lord, they would have desired that their daughter would be without sin or temptations in her life, imploring on the Will of God (or perhaps, for his graces???)
• In the throes of love in conceiving the Blessed Virgin Mary, their love would have been pure at the moment of conceiving, susceptible to God's graces and His Will. 
• As part of God's Will ... [here Fr. recounted a story of a sermon he gave to nuns in a crowd, habited traditional nuns ...] I uttered three latin words: potuit, voluit, fecit. When it came to Mary's Immaculate conception, He was able to, He wanted to, and He did it. This was referring to making Mary sinless as the Theotokos (God-bearer). 
• God so knew the value of Christ suffering for us on the Cross as the Word Made Flesh. Thus, he wanted the sinless woman's flesh, to be a part of his own, via Christ's birth. 
• .... (other linking points I forgot) ......
• We should follow, likewise in the obedience and devotion to our Lord, like that of our Blessed Mother, on this the Solemnity of her Immaculate Conception.

Once again, another beautiful Solemn Mass, alongside others held yesterday, was done in our Archdiocese of Toronto for this important Solemnity. 

Generally, while the congregation did have a fair share of more senior people, it was a age mosaic! I saw a number of families come for this mass, moms and dads with daughters/sons in tow, some teen, some children, others adult children. I also saw a few young adult men in the crowd on glance, plus old friends! Furthermore, it seemed that many in attendance were not the usual regulars, but St. Francis parishioners! Visually, I'd say that we had over 200 to close to 300 in attendance, maybe a little more. While the bodies were spread out a bit in the pews in the body of the Church, they reached back to the rear of the body of the Church!

The congregation also had the added aids of Latin-English and Latin-Italian translational booklets of the whole ordo of the Mass to help assist them in their prayer and worship. There were also brief descriptors of what was happening on the altar at parts, and cues for standing, sitting, and reverences. Here are snapshots of the beautiful booklet created by St. Francis of Assisi:

Afterwards, I got to speak to a few of those in attendance who were hanging around. They were joyful and happy, after coming away from what we experienced here this evening. One young couple with babe in tow, whose first EF this Mass was for them, described the event as "solemn," even saying it would be good to pass word of these Masses onto their Mother next time one happens! Hopefully they will scour the internet and find this blog, for future listings in our Archdiocese. 

Once again, another Mass, with the aid of St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir, was brought to fruition in the Archdiocese of Toronto. This ends their 2014 run of Masses. I was blessed and am thankful to have served in such a reverent liturgy, and look forward to the new year. I do hope we can return to St. Francis of Assisi. What a gem this parish is Little Italy (College St. Area)! Oh if only there was a parish with such beauty AND leadership in my area where I live. 

As a final note, I give a huge thank you to St. Francis of Assisi, its current pastor-ship, administration, and all those who helped to make this liturgy possible. I will never forget this, and hopefully, neither will all those who were able to experience this on a winter night. What a liturgically appropriate way to dive into the season of Advent, into the celebration of the Nativity of our Lord on Christmas Day. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel .....

Hope you have enjoyed this report. Due to the amount of photos I took, I will follow up and post the rest when I have time with a separate photo post. 

Pax Tibi Christi! Julian Barkin.  

Report: Friday June 27, 2014 Solemn Latin Mass on the Feast of the Sacred Heart with St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir

Hello Everyone!

Once again, I had the esteemed pleasure and privilege to serve a Solemn Latin Mass with my compatriots in serving, and under the organization of the St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir. This past Friday, June 27, 2014, together we came to be part of a Solemn Latin Mass/Missa Solemnis for this Feast Day of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which occurs both in the Novus Ordo and Extraordinary Form liturgical calendars on this day. I was the boat bearer, but nonetheless happy to serve alongside St. Pat's choir in the Latin Mass.

To begin with, we had a practice on the Sunday prior, after the 7pm Novus Ordo Mass celebrated reverently by Fr. Steven Szakaczki, SLTM's Latin Mass Chaplain, a priest I know to be a true alter Christi in his vocation to our Lord. Afterwards, with almost all servers present (save one for work reasons), we went through the basic duration of the serving parts for the Mass. It was great to do this with old serving comrades, and even two new young siblings to the foray, one whose first time it was doing this Mass. Needless to say practice went well and our MC, Paul Mundra, guided us effectively.

And so the day finally arrived this past Friday for our Mass. Besides Fr. Szakaczki as our Subdeacon, two familiar faces showed up to complete our clergy roles for this evening. The first was Fr. Russell Asch, coming from his current (soon to be former) assignment at St. Patrick's Markham, and he was our Deacon. The second was a kindred soul hailing all the way from Campbellford Ontario, Fr. Jean-Marie Pilon, under the newly installed +Kirkpatrick in the Archdiocese of Peterborough. Fr. Pilon was our Celebrant this evening.

Our preparations were done in good time. As per my usual reporting, here's some of the setup pictures for the altar, as when in liturgy, we do NOT take pictures on the altar:

Credence Table with Chalice and its Veil. 

The Altar with cards set up. Basic metal framed cards that were used in prior St. Pat's Masses eventually replaced the cardboard laminated cards. 

The Sedilia and accompanying seats for our clergy. This pic of the three is my favourite. Isn't it beautiful and majestic how the light shines through the windows onto the chairs? It's like it's telling us something ...

7:00pm rolled around, and lo we proceeded out to carry out the greatest form of prayer in the world, the Catholic Mass, the extraordinary form of the Roman rite. With Fr. Pilon as our celebrant, it was he who gave us the homily at Mass. Here is what I could remember from Fr. Pilon`s Homily, albeit not quite verbatim, and I know I skipped over connecting parts:

• There is an expression told to people, to ``have a heart.``
• For people, this advice is hard to swallow as many people are bearing their own personal sins. 
• When we turn to our personal sins, we often express the sin of anger. The sin of anger does not allow us to be with God, and we often make God the source of our anger for whatever our struggles are at that part of our Life. 
• In being angry at God, we do not want to allow Him into our lives at that point when we are sinning. 
• However, God should not be the source of our anger. If anything, God is the opposite of anger. If anything, he is the steadfast and most ultimate source of Love in our lives. 
• God gave us our Lord Jesus Christ, his ultimate sign of His Love for us, from the depths of His very Heart. 
• Man, alas, shallow and concerned in His sin, rejected God in the form of the Word Made Flesh, spat on Him, whipped Him, beat Him, and even crucified Him on the Cross. 
• But that was not enough for sinful man. Man even had to go so far as to literally, pierce his beating heart, while upon the Cross. 
• That person who did so, was the soldier, Longinus. In Longinus, he represents in us when we commit the most egregious sins of them all, Mortal Sins. It is these sins that, freely, expel us through that open wound, out of the loving heart of Christ. Some of you might have already pierced His heart in doing so already. Some of you might do so in future. Some people, continually pierce His heart by staying in Mortal Sin and committing such sin. 
• However, do not think or be angry that God, via our Lord does not love us, or does not understand us. When we feel that we are broken, our Lord knows of our brokenness. When we feel that he cannot understand us, He in his Divine Love knows the whole of human sin and darkness. When we feel that we are not loved, He Loves us perfectly. He Loves us via his pulsing, beating, heart, the very heart that we have stabbed in the form of Loginus` spear. 
• It is out of that Heart that he has come to give us repentance and mercy and His Undying Love for us. So much that there have been brought forth devotions to His Heart, and he has shown certain Saints how to do so. To Mary Margaret Alcaquoqe, we were given the devotion of the First Fridays in Honour of His Sacred Heart. To St. Faustina Kowalska, we were given the modern day devotion of Divine Mercy, (which as pictured here in St Lawrence the Martyr to my left), pours forth abundant rays representing his Divine Mercy and Love, straight from His Heart. 
• But further more, one can find the overwhelming Love and Mercy of our Lord here in His Sacraments. You will find His Love and his Heart here in the Mass, in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. 
• Importantly, it is in the Confessional in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where His Heart pours out his mercy and forgiveness for those sins, even mortal, in the confessional. Here he renews you and you may be part of His Love, emanating from his Sacred, pulsing, Heart. So avail yourselves to be a part of the Divine Love of His Sacred Heart. 

All in all, while there was minor mistakes made, and sometimes we were a little too fast in our speed for processions, our overall serving of the Mass was much better than last year's Mass. Part of that was our MC emphasized that we listened to him, for his cues, during the Mass. We did actually listen to the cues for the Mass and our transitions to various parts were smooth. Further, everyone carried out their duties in their assigned roles, with nobody freezing up when they were carrying them out. Oh, and our young torchbearers did their jobs well if you were wondering.

In addition, considering another Latin Mass group was holding their own TLM in the west end of Toronto, and it was the beginning of the "long weekend" for some people who could take of work yesterday, we still managed to have a good solid turnout of 100-130 people for our Latin Mass, when SLTM looks like visually it could hold about 500-600 people in its pews. To me, that's a great turnout!

Regardless, it was fine indeed, a good serving experience, and the future looks promising. St. Patrick's next Mass will likely be its anniversary Mass, that of the Feast of Christ the King on the last Sunday in October, so Sunday October 26th, 2014. However, there might be a Mass later in the summer somewhere .... and .... there might be something in the works for me as a server. Not 100% sure, but when I have more full details on St. Pat's next Mass, you will definitely hear it from me and I'll add it to the Summer Listings for 2014!

Hope you enjoy this report, and of course, if you have any other reports or things to add, like pictures, e-mail my blog at torontotlmservers@gmail.com. Just remember, read my blog rules and no communications of slanderous, calumnious, or detracting nature. Course, I really hope someone took pictures from the pews of the Mass.

Pax Tibi Christi! Julian Barkin.

Post Latin Mass Report: St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir Solemn Mass for the Feast of the Sacred Heart

Hello Everyone,

This past Friday evening, June 7, the St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir once again organized and sponsored a Solemn Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The Mass was held at 7pm at St. Lawrence the Martyr (SLTM) Catholic Church is Scarborough, ON in the evening on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Solemn Mass became this week's Friday parish Latin Mass, as normally a Low Latin Mass is said at SLTM on Fridays outside of Lent in that timeslot.

The choir, led by Surinder S. Mundra, organizes these Solemn Masses in the Archdiocese of Toronto, and arranges the order of the musical pieces and chant for the Mass. In addition, the choir trains young men to serve for the Masses, such as myself, whom aid the clergy in offering their Sacrifice of the Holy Mass. St. Pat's is always welcome to accept young men wishing to serve in the EF, and is open to the general Catholic public. These Masses are offered every few months in the Archdiocese in parishes that are open to hosting the EF. The choir also is open to working with others who are open to collaboration in the Extraordinary Form or other facets with traditional Catholicism (e.g. Gregorian Chant, Classical music).

Between Masses, any priests and servers who serve with the choir are encouraged to continue serving the Latin Mass in their own parishes, communities, or with other parishes/efforts to maintain their skills and abilities. They are not discouraged from doing serving as an inferior minister (altar server) or clergy elsewhere, and/or Masses held by other Latin Mass efforts in the diocese, regardless of the organizers. The same goes with laity who attend the Masses. The SPGC welcomes those from every EF-supporting community, and as always, anyone who is interested in the Latin Mass whether it is their first occasion or one of many occasions.

The choir was grateful once again for the support from St. Lawrence the Martyr, who encourages the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite in the Archdiocese in a charitable and joyful manner. The parish assisted the choir in holding the Mass by providing the location to hold the Solemn Mass, and also assisted in the Mass via the Deacon role through SLTM's Latin Mass Chaplain Fr. Steven Szakaczki, and veteran servers Robin Cheung and Brian Izzard.

The Solemn Mass had the following roster for servers and clergy:
Celebrant: Fr. J. Pilon, Diocese of Peterborough
Deacon: Fr. Steven Szakaczki, Latin Mass Chaplain of SLTM
Sub-Deacon: Fr. Russell Asch, Archdiocese of Toronto. Ordained in 2011, Associate Pastor of St. Patrick`s Markham, ON. Catholic Register has a brief but interesting biography on their website here.
MC: Robin L.M. Cheung, Veteran Server, SLTM
Acolyte 1: DDS, St. Pat's (Name withheld, minor under 18).
Acolyte 2: Me (Julian Barkin), St. Pat's and occasionally SLTM on request
Thurifer: Brian Izzard, SLTM
Cross Bearer: L.A, New joinee to St. Pat's. (Name withheld by consideration for privacy)
Boat Bearer: Derrick Shim, core group of SLTM EF servers.

Some Minor notes:
- Once again it was great to have Fr. Pilon and Asch be part of the clergy in their roles. They are diocesan priests in their respective dioceses. It is always awesome to see diocesan priests take an active role in this vital liturgy for the New Evangelization! Seeing diocesan priests is really encouraging to a young individual like myself.
- This Mass was the first time that Robin has been assigned the MC role in the EF. Robin has been serving with the parish, primarily in the weekday low masses as well as Sunday Masses and Sunday EF benedictions.
- A couple of new people have joined the lovely St. Patrick`s Gregorian choir, including another young lady! Welcome!
- Prior to the Mass was the end of Eucharistic Benediction and Adoration. The server`s area had been converted into a lovely little Adoration Chapel. I ducked into the chapel before a few minutes to pray before the Mass. I got a couple of treats. First, Fr. Liam Gavigan, a priest who has been ESSENTIAL to the EF in our Archdiocese, through his holding of the Latin Mass even before Summorum Pontificum, and who has trained some of those who train today`s servers, was doing the ending Benediction. Second, he said the Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart, in addition to the usual prayers that go with Adoration and Benediction.

The Mass
As usual, here are some pictures of the setup of the Altar and some other minor facets of the Church prior to the Mass. No pictures are taken during the Mass by any members of the choir during the Mass due to respect for the sacred liturgy. It is not an entertainment event! If any media will be taken, it may by video for the purposes of altar server training. Here was my usual round of Sanctuary photos:

Epistle Side of the Altar. The Bells were later moved to the Gospel Side near Acolyte 1

Center Aisle and Altar from a Distance. Now with beautiful new Altar Rails! Finally we got the pleasure of using them!

Sedilia and Lower Chairs, as well as the Credence Table in the back. Epistle Side of the Altar.

As for the actual Mass, as usual, things progressed in a solemn and reverent manner by our clergy. The choir sang beautiful, uplifting chant and pieces in the Mass and our new young lady to the choir apparently received the solo for the gradual/Alleluia, or the piece leading into the Gospel.:

The Homily
Being an acolyte, I was privy to hearing the whole homily from start to finish. Here are the main points of what Fr. Pilon had to preach to us for the Feast of the Sacred Heart, though I admit my memory is shoddy between the stress I experienced prior and during Mass, coupled with coming off night shift. I have taken a bit of liberty here to fill in and connect some main points:

• To Begin the homily, the Sacred Heart of Jesus was, actually, the living breathing organ when he was in the flesh on earth. 
• It was a beating heart of flesh, that beat as baby Jesus was held against his father, St. Joseph, and his mother, Blessed Virgin Mary. They felt his little heartbeat when He was a babe. 
• When we think of the heart, we point to it physically, but our emotions and affects refer to more than the physical organ. 
• When we say something insulting with emotion and/or intent, or speak down to someone, the evil action affects us more than just corporally so. It affects our "hearts", our person-hood and being, and is the opposite of love. 
• Christ's love for us is represented in his Sacred Heart, the heart that gave out beating as he sacrificed himself for our sins on the Cross. That act was the ultimate act of love for us, the ultimate act of mercy for us. 
• The Latin for mercy is miserecordiae. The word is separated into two root words. Misere which is misery, and cordiae which can come from "corda" which is "heart". [Editor: like as in Sursum Corda]. Mercy is connected to the heart.
• Christ's Sacred heart is depicted [Editor: like in my First Friday devotion to the sacred heart posting] with a large laceration to the heart. This laceration is from the spear wound inflicted by the Roman soldier [regardless whether it "represents the wound" or it was actually lacerated at Jesus' death]. 
• [Editor: One could say Fr. Pilon took a page out of our Jesuit Holy Father Francis' book on homiletics, with the three word pattern to teach a lesson:] His Sacred Heart keeps that very wound, and it remains open for you to enter into His Heart, His ultimate Love. To do so, it will require three things:
• Humility: Sadly these days, psychologists in this world brush off things and make us "feel ok" about ourselves, that many of our sins and actions are not wrong, and can be rationalized. Further, many people commit sins and rationalize them away. They are prideful. We need to realize that the sins we do are continually attacking and stabbing at Jesus' Heart. We must say "what I am doing is sinful and wrong, and not of the Love of Christ."
• Shame: We should be shameful and sorrowful for our acts. They should not be hidden [mostly] behind excuses and mental disorders, etc. We must, despite our shortcomings or deficits in life, be willing to admit our sins we've inflicted on the Lord's Heart, and be ready to detest what we done and know they are sinful. [This includes detachment from sin]
• Sorrow: We must be sorrowful for our sins. We must be sad for the sins we commit, knowing the nature of them and how they wound our Lord, and that they hurt his Sacred Heart. Further we must feel sorrow at those who sin against His Heart and commit such actions, as those sins too hurt our Lord's Sacred Heart. 
• May we come to desire His love in the Form of his Sacred Heart. O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee!!!

A fine Homily. I just wish my mind was less foggy to remember the rest of it.

Despite some serving mistakes, we together nonetheless proceeded in a beautiful and solemn liturgy, learnt a number of practical applications for future, and granted to those present an EF mass in our Archdiocese. Afterwards a reception was held downstairs in the parish hall with some celebratory sweets. It was a feast day after all! 

I would like to congratulate the St. Patrick's Choir, and to those new members to the choir for partaking in the liturgy through your voices. Thank you`s are also extended to the servers of SLTM for assisting St. Patrick's. Especially, Robin Cheung, veteran server, is to be commended for his first time role as a Master of Ceremonies. His serving was excellent for a first-time role, and it is great to see that his hard work and training under Fr. Steven has paid off admirably.

I'd also like to thank those of you who attended whether this is your normal form of the Roman Rite, or this was your first time, or perhaps you were even from another highly liturgically orthodox Christian faith/rite (e.g. Anglican Rite). I hope that you were able to worship our Lord in beautiful reverence and solemnity, honouring Him on this sacred feast day devoted to his Sacred Heart. If you honestly loved this form of the Mass and would like to attend more frequently in the core o the diocese, I encourage you to look for the regular offerings under the page on the right side of this blog and to attend, be it for your Sunday obligation, or even on weekdays. That or just e-mail me if you would rather get a direct message and assistance to lead you in the right direction.

In addition, should you, or if you have a child or young man who was inspired by our service at the altar as servers and wants to do it, I can personally assist you with pursuing Latin Mass altar serving. My e-mail is under the "contact information" page. Please provide both an email and a phone number to contact you. This info can also be passed onto the SPGC should you specifically want to work with the choir. As a final note, should any of the attendees for this Mass, have snuck in shapshots with your cellphone cameras, you can send them into my e-mail address. I will display them in this post. 

UPDATE JUNE 11, 2013
Someone took a camera picture of the incensing at the Offertory. See me there on the far right. The Master of Ceremonies is whom in most EF serving guides removes the Missal from the Gospel side for incensing. However, I reverted to what I did last time at the St. Joseph's Mass: AC2 removes altar Missal (I suppose it's an alternate role not set in stone, or at the discretion of your MC) and well, got a little surprised. Thankfully I reverted to orans position and left at a suitable time. Next time, I'll make sure to discuss finer points in the liturgy with my MC. Hey, it's a learning curve.

Once again, Thank you, and keep spreading the word of the Latin Mass. Pax Tibi Christ, Julian Barkin.

P.S. For your pleasure:

This is side by side, the Novus Ordo Missal (2011) with a biretta of one of the clergy. This is a clear example of the two forms of the Roman Rite side by side. Feel free to copy and paste with description at will! This is symbolically Pope Benedict XVI`s meaning of the two forms mutually enriching each other! I thought this was too cool not to photograph. Pax.