Responding to the July 2007 publication of Pope Benedict XVI's Motu Propio on the Tridentine Mass, Fr. Patrick Lynch, CSsR, Pastor of Holy Cross Church on St. Croix, has begun celebrating Latin Mass at his parish. The first two Tridentine Masses were on October 21 and November 18. The next Tridentine Mass will be in early 2008; the date has yet to be announced.
Fr. Lynch had been trained in the Latin Tridentine Mass while in seminary but with the changes instituted after Vatican II, he never had the opportunity to celebrate it. About 150 people attended the October Mass. According to parishioner Isabel Cerni, the Mass "felt as if we were in on a continuous conversation with God."
Traditionally, many parishes in the Virgin Islands distribute blessed bread to parishioners on Thanksgiving Day. Pictured above, Fr. Louis Kemayou, Administrator of St. Joseph Church on St. Croix, offered blessed bread to parishioner Agneta Bailey at the end of Mass on November 22.
The Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral Choir were among the performers at the Harvest Gala at Columban Hall on St. Thomas on November 4. The concert honored past and present organists of the Cathedral.
The Voices of Praise from St. Alphonsus Church in St. Louis, Missouri, sang at Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral on St. Thomas on November 2 to benefit Ss. Peter and Paul School.
THE CATHOLIC ISLANDER * December 2007*