Photos of Pontifical Mass in New Orleans Seminary

Last week, His Excellency Glen Provost, bishop of Lake Charles, Louisiana, celebrated a Pontifical Mass of Easter Saturday in the chapel of Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. We are very happy to share these photos with our readers, because they show once again that it is especially the young who are working so diligently to preserve and promote our Catholic liturgical tradition. It is also a very good sign that the traditional liturgy can now not just be celebrated, but celebrated in its fullest and most elaborate form, within a seminary. Our thanks to Bishop Provost and to the staff of Notre Dame Seminary for this important step in making the fullness of the Roman Rite known and available to the upcoming generation of priests.

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Pontifical Mass at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans This Saturday

This Saturday, April 27, His Excellency Glen Provost, bishop of Lake Charles, Louisiana, will celebrate a Pontifical Mass at the faldstool in the chapel of Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, beginning at 8:30 am (CDT). The seminary is located at 2901 Carollton Avenue; the Mass is open to the public, and will also be livestreamed via the seminary’s Facebook page.

Tradition is for the Young (Part 15) - Pontifical Mass in Louisiana

On the feast of St John the Baptist, His Excellency Glen Provost, Bishop of Lake Charles, Louisiana, celebrated a solemn Pontifical Mass in the traditional rite at the cathedral of the Immaculate Conception; our thanks to Barbara Wyman for sending in these photos of the ceremony, and also wrote to let us know that attendance has been steadily growing at these Masses.

Anyone who has ever served this rite of Mass knows that it is especially hard work, something which requires a good amount of organizing and rehearsal to do properly; the reward is, of course, a ceremony which truly impresses upon one, forcibly and unmistakably, the power and majesty of what the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass really is. We can all take encouragement once again from the fact that none of the people who are making the effort and committment to put this together are old enough to be doing so from any sense of “nostalgia”; what we see here is a true and sincere love for the richness of our Catholic liturgical tradition. (The assistant priest here is the same Fr Jacob Connors whose parish was featured in the very first “Tradition is for the Young” post.)

Praying before the Blessed Sacrament

Pontifical vesting

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Tradition is for the Young (Part 10) : Pontifical Mass in Louisiana

On the feast of Ss Peter and Paul, His Excellency Glen Provost, bishop of Lake Charles, Louisiana, celebrated a Pontifical Mass in the traditional rite in the cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Even though this was two months ago, I am very happy to share these photos, because they show once again that it is especially the young who are working so diligently to preserve and promote our Catholic liturgical tradition. (The complete set can be seen at this link:  The 2nd MC is the same Fr Jacob Conner whose parish was featured in the first article in the “Tradition is for the Young” series last November.)

Thy sons round about thy table.

Dr Barbara Wyman, who sent in the photos, writes “If a passerby, anxious to escape the Louisiana heat for a moment, had slipped into the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, he would have immediately known that something extraordinary was occurring. What he would have seen is truly the most beautiful thing this side of Heaven. On this particular day, the occasion was the Solemn Pontifical Mass for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, celebrated by His Excellency, The Most Reverend Glen John Provost, (the 13th since his consecration as Bishop, and the 6th at his own cathedra).

One of the hallmarks of the usus antiquior, or Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite is the continuity it gives us to the Saints who have gone before. It is quite moving to think of St Thomas Aquinas, St Francis De Sales, Blessed John Henry Newman, St Josemaria Escrivá, St Catherine of Siena, St Padre Pio, alongside St Therese of Liseux … all these Saints, from throughout time, if they were to suddenly slip in the side door, they would feel right at home, and their voices would blend with the schola, chanting the Mass, for these Saints would know the Latin words. And there was much cause for rejoicing this particular night! Not only is this the 10th anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, but also the 10th anniversary of His Excellency’s consecration and installation as third Bishop of Lake Charles, and the 42nd anniversary of his ordination to the sacred priesthood.

It is altogether fitting that at this particular Mass, newly ordained Samuel Orsot served as the deacon, since he had grown up in the Tridentine Mass celebrated for many years in this diocese under the Ecclesia Dei indult of St John Paul II. We must be ever thankful to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI for the motu proprio. Cardinal Sarah, writing on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, recalls the words of the great German liturgist Msgr. Klaus Gamber (1919-1989) who ‘used the word Heimat to designate this common home or ‘little homeland’ of Catholics gathered around the altar of the Holy Sacrifice. The sense of the sacred that imbues and irrigates the rites of the Church is the inseparable correlative of the liturgy.’ And so, our imaginary passerby, who stumbled out of the heat and out of time, along with all present on that night, were given a glimpse of the heavenly city. ”

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EF Pontifical Mass for Christmas in the Diocese of Lake Charles, LA

Out thanks to Barbara Wyman for sharing with us in these photographs, and an account of the Pontifical Mass celebrated by His Excellency Bishop Glen Provost during the Octave of Christmas. The ceremony took place in the cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in diocese of Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Seasonably cool temperatures, at last, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on the night of December 30, 2015, found the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception comfortably full on the occasion of a Solemn Pontifical Mass for the Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas. Indeed, it was one of the largest crowds to date since His Excellency Bishop Glen John Provost, D.D. began celebrating this Mass in the diocese. From the time of his installation as 3rd Bishop of Lake Charles on April 23, 2007, Bishop Provost has celebrated eleven Solemn Pontifical Masses in the Extraordinary Form throughout the diocese. This was the fourth from the throne of his own cathedral. His Excellency was vested in his pontificalia, the vestments and ornaments proper to a bishop, which include the pectoral cross and ring, the miter and crozier, gloves, tunicle and dalmatic beneath the chasuble. Located in the niche of the high altar is a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Aug. 22, 2013, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States from the Holy See, officiated at the crowning rite of the statue. With the splendor of both the surroundings and of the liturgy, and with the carefully orchestrated pageantry of the Solemn Pontifical Mass, for nearly two hours, time seemed to stand still -- intimations of Heaven.

One thing particularly evident in an Extraordinary Form Solemn Pontifical Mass is that the Bishop appears not as a sort of figurehead, a church CEO, but as a leader, our General, with us, the soldiers of Christ behind him, along with the differing ranks of officers in the persons of priests, deacons, seminarians, and on this occasion, the fully vested Knights and Dames of St. Gregory the Great, the Knights bearing actual swords. The reality of spiritual warfare and this our battle against principalities and powers is made visually present. The Bishop’s message on this day was that we, like Holy Mary, must ponder the mystery of the Incarnation in our hearts, leading us to the contemplation of the other mysteries of the Faith, especially the saving mystery which is reenacted at every Mass.

What struck this writer particularly on that happy night was the mystery and power of prayer, and, how the Holy Spirit works through individual fiats to effect His purpose on earth. It just so happened that as I looked around, I noticed many familiar faces. These friends were the very same people who welcomed us, a Protestant family, fleeing not the beauty of Anglicanism, but the heterodoxy, 17 years ago. This faithful bunch in the 80s had petitioned then Bishop Jude Speyrer (RIP) to allow the “indult” traditional Latin Mass. Bishop Speyrer’s fiat along with those of two brave priests, Fr. Roland Vaughn and Fr. Marty Martineau (RIP) was the beginning of a little parish which grew. Although the group was moved about the diocese, it soon found a semi-permanent home at a cinder-block mission church way out by the airport. It was there that my family and I found them in 1999. We marveled as week in and week out, the tiny chapel was transformed: banners temporarily removed and a crucifix and statue of Mother Mary set in place. Portable kneelers were moved in from a van, and a small but strong schola stood in the back, chanting the Mass.

Time passed, and for a period, the indult was canceled. Nevertheless, the whole family eventually converted, and the core Latin Mass group stayed in touch, offering prayers and sacrifices for the return of the Traditional Latin Mass to the diocese. The rest of the story is beautiful: after the motu proprio of Pope Benedict, the diocese of Lake Charles received Bishop Provost and with him, the glorious Mass of the Ages returned and now, is celebrated at the Cathedral. Vocations are soaring, and many young priests offer the Extraordinary Form in the diocese. Two young men in particular stood out to this musing writer on that December night, small boys at the time of the cinderblock indult Mass, sons of one of the original families: one is now a seminarian and was assisting at the Solemn Pontifical Mass, the other was leading the schola. Deo Gratias!

For more pictures of this and other Pontifical Masses, please see the website: http://www.immaculateconceptioncathedral.com/events-1

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Pontifical High Mass for the Nativity of John the Baptist in Lake Charles, LA

This article and the accompanying pictures were submitted by reader Barbara Wyman a few days ago, but I saved them for today, the eve of the eighth anniversary of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. Many years ago, in a place that shall remain nameless, friends and colleagues of mine were involved in organizing a Pontifical Mass, which was preceded by much wringing of hands over whether a full Pontifical Mass was opportune, or whether a Prelatitial Mass (i.e. the bishop’s form of Low Mass) would be less “controversial”. Happily, these controversies have (in many places, by no means all) become a thing of the past, and there is no longer any surprise or novelty to hear of an American bishop saying a Pontifical Mass from the throne in his own cathedral - another reason to thank Pope Benedict!

“If you build it, they will come” has once again been proven true, this time in the Diocese of Lake Charles, Louisiana, under the spiritual guidance of His Excellency Bishop Glen John Provost. Since his installation as 3rd Bishop of Lake Charles on April 23, 2007, Bishop Provost has celebrated several Pontifical High Masses in the Extraordinary Form throughout the diocese, three at the throne in his own cathedral, the latest being in celebration of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist on June 24th, 2015. The crowds have been growing with each subsequent Pontifical High Mass, but on this occasion especially a record numbers of diocesan priests, visiting priests, deacons, and seminarians were present, as the following pictures show. The beautiful vestments worn by the clergy were purchased for the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Aug. 22, 2013, at which time, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States from the Holy See, officiated at the crowning rite of the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The statue that was crowned, in the name of the Holy Father and by his authority, is located in the niche of the Cathedral’s high altar, and visible in the photos. The crown was custom designed and fashioned by Fratelli Savi, one of the most distinguished workshops in Rome for church items.

This Pontifical High Mass follows a historic event in the life of our diocese, the Bishop leading a Eucharistic procession from the Cathedral, which was proceeded by a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form celebrated by Fr. Rommel Tolentino, rector of the Cathedral parish. The procession drew large numbers of the faithful, who braved the heat and humidity of a Louisiana June evening and processed nearly a mile in the streets of downtown Lake Charles. Pictures of this procession follow those of the Pontifical High Mass. And finally, these lead up to a most joyous occasion on Monday June 29, the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Bishop Provost’s ordination. Is there any wonder that the Diocese of Lake Charles has a record number of seminarians? (more pictures of the Corpus Christi procession can be found at the following link to the diocesan website. http://immaculateconceptioncathedral.com/photoalbums)

 

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