A Personal Note of Thanks to the FSSP and FIUV in Mexico

On behalf of Dr Kwasniewski and myself, I would like to express our profound gratitude to the Mexican apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, especially to the head of their house in Guadalajara, Fr Daniel Heenan; and likewise, to the Mexican branch of the International Federation Una Voce, and particularly to the president, Mr Edgar Fernández, for their warm and generous hospitality over the past week as we attended the recent Summorum Pontificum conference in Guadalajara. I would also like to thank the many people who were kind enough to express their appreciation of the papers we delivered at the conference, and of the work we do at NLM in general. It was a pleasure to meet you all, and we will both be very glad to return to Mexico when occasion arises. We also offer our heartiest congratulation to Fr Joel Pinto Rodríguez FSSP, who was ordained to the priesthood by H.E. Raymond Cardinal Burke during the conference, on June 11th, the feast of the Sacred Heart. This was the first priestly ordination in the traditional rite to be celebrated in Mexico since the post-Conciliar liturgical reform.

While we were in Mexico, however, my computer suffered a catastrophic automatic update, which is why we have had so few posts this week. My clever nephew has solved the problem, and we will, Deo volente, be getting back to a more regular posting schedule soon, including some of Peter’s pictures of the various sites we visited. In the meantime, just a little preview...

the FSSP church in Guadalajara, dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Pilar, the patroness of Spain...

and the laying-on of hands at Fr Rodríguez’s ordination. (Both photos by Peter.)

Going on Pilgrimage 2021

I just wanted to let our readers know that things may be a little bit slower than usual on NLM over the next several days. Today, I am travelling to Guadalajara, Mexico, where I will be participating in the Fraternity of St Peter’s Summorum Pontificum Convention. In addition to the various liturgical events, which include a priestly ordination on Friday afternoon, to be celebrated by His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke, I will be delivering a paper on the history of the ordination rites in the traditional Roman liturgy; next week, we will be visiting some of the sites associated with the Cristero Martyrs. I promise that I do my best to continue processing our photopost submissions for Corpus Christi and Pentecost. There is plenty of time to send more in to photopost@newliturgicalmovement.org.

The ordination will be live-streamed at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLYAwtcAwaA. People can also sign up to participate in the convention virtually through the following event page: https://www.eventbrite.com.mx/e/summorum-pontificum-online-online-access-english-tickets-156537777707.

The FSSP in Mexico recently also posted some nice videos about the traditional liturgy which you may enjoy.

“The most beautiful thing this side of Paradise.”

“Are young people still interested in Faith? Why are they attracted to the traditional Latin Mass?”

“How the traditional Mass helped my conversion to Catholic Faith.”

“Our spiritual life has to be centered in Christ in the Holy Sacrifice of the traditional Latin Mass.”

The 3rd Summorum Pontificum Convention in Mexico Next Month

The Summorum Pontificum Convention is an international Catholic gathering in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico - land of the Cristeros - dedicated to promoting the liturgical, spiritual, theological, and artistic traditions of the Church. The convention takes its name from Pope Benedict XVI’s Motu Propio from 2007 in which he wrote about the traditional Roman Rite, “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too.”

This year’s convention will feature speakers such as Fr Javier Olivera Ravasi, Dr Peter Kwasniewski, Matt Fradd, and Gregory DiPippo, as well as His Eminence Cardinal Raymond Cardinal Burke who will celebrate three pontifical Masses, including a priestly ordination for the Fraternity of St. Peter. There are also opportunities to participate in workshops for sacred music and for serving the Traditional Latin Mass, a concert of sacred music, and a Cristero tour of historic Guadalajara (Simultaneous translation will be available for both English and Spanish during the conferences). Tickets for virtual participation are also available.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.summorum.mx, or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/3er-congreso-summorum-pontificum-2021-tickets-146495338501?aff=ebdssbeac&keep_tld=1#, Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Summorum-Pontificum-FSSP-M%C3%A9xico-2021-105459744949442

TLM Conference and Priestly Ordination in Guadalajara, Mexico, June 10-13

NLM is pleased to announce on behalf of the FSSP in Mexico the following Summorum Pontificum Congress, to be held from June 10-13, and including a priestly ordination at the hands of Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke.

“Summorum Pontificum Congress is an event for Catholics who want to learn more about the richness of their liturgical, artistic, theological, and spiritual traditions. This year the keynote address will be given by His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke, member of the Apostolic Signatura in Rome, who will also celebrate a traditional priestly ordination – the first in Mexico in many years. There will be three pontifical Masses and the sacrament of Confirmation, outstanding conferences, and much more. The Summorum Pontificum Congress will bring together faithful Catholics from all over Mexico and abroad to participate in this historic event. Translation services will be available in English and Spanish.”

For more details and for registration, visit the bilingual website.

FSSP Liturgical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, June 11-14

From June 11-14, the Fraternity of St Peter’s apostolate in Guadalajara, Mexico, will host its third Summorum Pontificum Congress, with His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke as one of the speakers, and as celebrant of the liturgical events; among these will be a priestly ordination, and the Mass and procession of Corpus Christi, which falls on June 11 this year. In addition to the various conferences and discussions on liturgical and theological subjects, Una Voce Mexico will hold its second annual convention at the same time, there will be opportunities to visit some of the sites of the Cristero Wars, and various social events. For more information, and to purchase tickets see the conference website: https://summorumpontificum.mx/.

Restoration of a Large Processional Monstrance

Thanks to reader Richard Seto, who brought to my attention this very nice video about the restoration of the very large processional monstrance (‘custodia’ in Spanish) of the cathedral of the Assumption in Mexico City. The video includes a good amount of footage of Eucharistic processions, which are always an impressive affair in the Spanish-speaking world. For those who do not speak Spanish, YouTube’s automatic subtitle and translation feature works very well with that particular language.

FSSP Spanish Immersion Program in Mexico This Summer

The St Junipero Serra Spanish Institute is pleased to announce that registration is open for its fifth year of Spanish immersion for priests and seminarians in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. This year the program will run from June 15th – August 14th; for more information, and to register, see their webpage: http://sjsinstitute.org/

Participants stay at Casa Cristo Rey of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, where, in addition to 4 hours of class daily, they live in a pastoral environment that immerses them in Spanish and nourishes them spiritually. Each day begins with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the singing of the Divine Office. Seminarians have a wide range of opportunities to put the Spanish they learn in practice through interaction with local families and participation in pastoral activities of the FSSP’s parish in Guadalajara.

Some of the highlights of the programs:

Academics: Students attend 4 hours of class daily with professional language instructors. These professors have developed their own curriculum specifically designed to meet the needs of students whose primary goal is to apply their knowledge of the language in a pastoral setting. Students will be asked, according to their proficiency in the language, to prepare sample sermons and conduct practice confessions. Private tutoring sessions are also available several times per week at the student’s discretion.

Immersion: Upon arrival students will sign a pledge to only speak Spanish during their time in the program. Each week they will have dinner with a local family and will enjoy many opportunities to interact with people in situations which necessitate speaking Spanish.

Pastoral: Because the St. Junipero Serra Institute is designed for priests and seminarians, students have a wide array of pastoral opportunities during their time in Guadalajara. These include visits to hospitals and orphanages, participation in parochial groups and activities, and lectures on vital cultural elements of ministering in a Hispanic culture. Additionally, the curriculum is specifically designed for seminarians and priests. Our professors have created the language program “¡Habla Cristiano!” which takes its name from the history of the Reconquista in Spain. During the time of Muslim occupation of the Iberian Peninsula, Catholics would differentiate themselves from Muslims on the basis of the language they spoke. To speak Castilian was to speak the Christian language.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

FSSP Spanish Immersion Program in Mexico

The St Junipero Serra Institute is accepting registration for its fourth summer of Spanish Immersion for priests and seminarians in Guadalajara, Mexico. SJS Institute provides a full immersion in the Spanish language and traditional Catholic culture. As the program is under the direction of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, seminarians have daily Traditional Latin Mass and singing of the divine office. They have four hours of Spanish class each day plus opportunities for private tutoring. There are also classes in Mexican history and sightseeing trips, (e.g. shrines of the Mexican Cristero martyrs). Participants take part in a variety of apostolic activities such as visiting orphanages and hospitals, providing an excellent chance to put their Spanish in practice. Former students of the program have commented that not only was SJS Institute excellent for learning Spanish, but it was also one of the most valuable pastoral experiences of their seminary formation.

Contact: SanJunipero@fssp.com
Website: www.sjsinstitute.com
or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SaintJuniperoSerraInstitute/

Cardinal Burke Celebrates Pontifical Mass in Mexico City Cathedral

Earlier this month, His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke was in Mexico for the Sixth Worldwide Congress of Catholic Jurists, and celebrated a traditional Pontifical Mass in the cathedral of the Assumption in Mexico City. The Mass was organized by the priests of the Fraternity of St Peter’s apostolate in Guadalajara, by whose kind permission we reproduce these photos.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

FSSP Anniversary Celebrations in Rome and Mexico

This past Thursday, the Fraternity of St Peter celebrated the 30th anniversary of its canonical founding; here are some photos of Masses offered on the occasion in two of their apostolates. The new Superior General, Fr Andrzej Komorowski, who was elected last July, celebrated a solemn Mass at the order’s Roman parish, Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini; a particularly nice and classically Roman set of red vestments was used, one which is only brought out for really special occasions.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

Colonial- and Mission-Era Mexican Outdoor Chapels

A reader of NLM who had seen my various posts on outdoor Masses (see here, here, and here) wrote to me about a fascinating piece of architectural history that deserves to be better known.

A number of colonial- and mission-era churches in Mexico were constructed with outdoor chapels attached to the main church building. These chapels consist of the altar and sanctuary only, inset into the main structure and thus out of the elements, with the congregation assembled in the open air outside. Dr. Robert H. Jackson discusses these chapels in the Boletín, the journal of the California Mission Studies Association (now California Missions Foundation), issues for 2011-2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Dr. Jackson photographed a number of churches with this feature:

San Pedro y San Pablo, Teposcolula
Nuestra Senora de la Luz, Tancoyol
San Miguel Arcangel, Mani, Yucatan peninsula
Santo Domingo, Yanhuitlan, Oaxaca
San Juan Bautista Yodzoco, Coixtlahuaca

The reader who sent this information to me commented: "I wasn’t aware of this [architectural feature] until reading Jackson’s papers. Living in San Diego County, I have to wonder if it might be a good idea to incorporate outdoor chapels into new or renovated church buildings, where appropriate, particularly in regions with a favorable climate. It might allow for smaller church structures, with the option of using the outdoor sanctuary for larger liturgies, weddings, etc. I’m sure a tradition-respecting church architect could update and incorporate such a feature as the focus of a park or other landscaping adjacent to the main church, maybe using the sacristy as a common pass-through."

More information on Mixtec stonecutting artistry may be found at this website.

Unfortunately, most of these historic outdoor chapels are in poor shape today, but one can well imagine them in their pristine original condition and how useful they would have been for large congregations on great feastdays.


San Pedro y San Pablo, Teposcolula

Santo Domingo Yanhuitlan, Oaxaca

San Juan Bautista Yodzoco, Coixtlahuaca

Nuestra Senora de la Luz, Tancoyol

San Miguel Arcangel, Mani, Yucatan peninsula

JT on: If you love organ...

This looks like an ideal vacation. The state of Oaxaca, Mexico, houses one of the world's great treasures of historic pipe organs. El Instituto de Órganos Históricos de Oaxaca hosts an annual festival to hear these amazing instruments and discover the repertoire that made them famous and central to the life of the Church in Mexico.

The 2009 conference occurs February 18-25, and it will feature not only lectures and concerts but visits to seven unrestored instruments. This year will also feature examinations of several treasures of Dominican chant and polyphonic books.

This unique event should appeal not only to organ and early music aficionados, but also to those interested in Oaxacan folk art, churches, history, cuisine, village culture, and ecology. A fee schedule will be sent out in about a month, but in the meantime we encourage you to set aside the dates. If you think you will be able to attend the festival, please let us know now (even if your plans change later), as it will help us with the planning. We look forward to seeing you in Oaxaca in February, one of the loveliest times of the year, for this unique cultural adventure.

Here is the contact page.

JT on: A lost piece of Mexican Polyphony

Here you see the Introit for Septuagesima in the extraordinary form, which is the text for the Office of the Dead and, I think, appears in the ordinary form on Saturday in the fourth week of Lent. The translation is: "The sorrows of death surrounded me, the sorrow of hell encompassed me: and in my affliction I called upon the Lord, and He heard my voice from His holy Temple."

Why talk about this during Easter? Well, last night at our schola practice, we enjoyed the incredible pleasure of reading through a setting of this text by Mexican composer Hernando Franco (1532-1585) who worked as a cathedral musician in Guatemala and Mexico. No it is not published, yet anyway, not until June. A Spanish scholar named Javier Marín, specialist in Mexican polyphony, has gone through newly discovered folios on Franco's music and produced a draft of a motet on this text from original manuscripts. He submitted it to Sacred Music. We had it reset for publication in the Summer issue and it will be "debuted" at the colloquium.

One of the pleasures that comes with being in an editorial position with the magazine is that I get to see these things in advance of publication, and so I figured, oh why not sing it? I oddly felt selfish in doing so, but I'm not sure why. Maybe because no one else has the opportunity? I don't know. In any case, we passed it out and read through it. My goodness, this music is so indescribably great. After the first read, we were all swooning at how sweetly tragic it is, and also, from a musical point of view, how inevitable the whole thing feels. We ended up singing it four times through, and we might record it soon too.

I don't know enough about composition theory to say whether it is brilliantly simple or simply formulaic, but whatever it is, it sure does hold up after 500 years. It is as fresh and glorious as if it just appeared -- which it did in some way. Of course the feeling of being the first to hear a particular combination of notes that form sacred music in 500 years is a special treat, and probably only happens once in a lifetime for those of us who are not musicologists.

Singing this piece really underscores what it means for music to be universal. It is truly universal in the sense that it transcends not only space but time too. It contains not the slightest hint of ego, no tricks to show off technique or passages designed to conjured up some popular idea in the culture. The link to the chant is obvious. The composer has served only God in his work here.