EF Confirmations in New York City and Copenhagen

Our thanks to readers from New York City and Copenhagen for sending in these pictures of Confirmations recently celebrated in their local churches in the Extraordinary Form.

On Saturday, June 18, the Church of the Holy Innocents in New York City was honored to welcome one of the auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of New York, the Most Rev. John O’Hara, for the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation according to the traditional rites and ceremonies. The Veni Creator Spiritus was sung at the beginning, and Bishop O’Hara gave a wonderful exhortation to the candidates and those in attendance, mentioning how glad he was to be at Holy Innocents doing the Confirmations in the Old Rite. After the Confirmations, a solemn Te Deum was sung in thanksgiving for such a great occasion, followed by the recitation of the Rosary, and a Solemn Mass; Bishop O’Hara attended in choir and gave the homily, expressing his appreciation of the liturgy and the music (the Missa Quatuor vocum ad imitationem moduli ‘Exsultate Deo’ by François Cosset, c.1610-c.1664). Below are the photos taken by Mr. Arrys Ortanez.

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Pontifical Vespers in Copenhagen, Denmark

On May 7, Solemn Pontifical Vespers in the usus antiquior were celebrated for the first time in Scandinavia since the liturgical reforms. Bishop Czeslaw Kozon of Copenhagen celebrated First Vespers for Sunday after the Ascension in the Catholic cathedral of St. Ansgar. The Gregorian proper chants were sung together with a polyphonic setting of the Magnificat by Tomas Luis de Victoria. Clergy from the diocese assisted together with visiting priests.

Remarkably, the Vespers were part of the religious and cultural festival “Danish Ecclesial Days,” held every third year. Originally an event of the Danish Lutheran State Church, this year other denominations have been involved. It was the Catholic representative to the organizing committee, a permanent deacon, who asked the St. Charles Borromeo Group (which organizes the TLM in Copenhagen) to arrange for this celebration of Vespers; he himself served as Assistant Deacon. The cathedral was open for prayer and Eucharistic adoration throughout the three-day event.

Mgr. Kozon has been very supportive of the older liturgical use and will celebrate an EF Solemn Pontifical Mass and confer Confirmation in St. Augustine’s Church, Copenhagen, on June 25. Thank you, Your Excellency!