Faithful in All Generations: The History of the First TLM Parish

A little-known fact about the movement to restore the usus antiquior is that the first diocesan parish established for the exclusive use of the traditional Mass after the liturgical changes of the 1960s is located in Canada: Saint Clement Parish in Ottawa.

The remarkable story of this intrepid community in the country's capital is certainly unique. It began with a small group of concerned lay Catholics in 1968 who requested permission to retain the traditional Mass. The archbishop of Ottawa at the time, Joseph-Aurele Plourde, responded favorably and arranged for the chaplain of the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood, Canon Rene Martin, to celebrate a Low Mass according to the Missal of 1962 every Sunday for this fledgling group of traditionalists.

Moving from place to place for Masses, the group eventually got so big that it essentially created its own parish from scratch. In 1993, it purchased its first proper church building and became a quasi-parish. In 1997, the community was canonically erected as a full parish of the Archdiocese of Ottawa. St Clement Parish was therefore the first traditional Mass-only diocesan parish since Vatican II, a distinction confirmed by a 2005 letter from Cardinal Hoyos to the Archbishop of Ottawa, Marcel Gervais. It was also the first parish to be given to the care of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

St. Clement's celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018. To mark the occasion, a group of parishioners compiled a thorough and colorful book, Faithful in All Generations, detailing the exciting events, dramatic successes, unfortunate setbacks, tragic losses, and the incredible displays of Divine Providence in the development of the parish. This book is a must-have for anyone interested in the history of the preservation of the usus antiquior. Full of historic documents, letters, reports, and photos, Faithful in All Generations is well worth adding to your personal library. It stands alongside Leo Darroch's history of Una Voce as a valuable witness to the courage of the faithful, the strength of the sensus fidelium.

The book is lavishly produced in full color, with the highest design standards. Sample pages will be found below.

I myself had the great blessing of visiting St. Clement's last year to give a lecture as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations, and I was deeply impressed with what I saw. The Sunday Mass was packed with faithful, both French- and English-speaking, who were drawn together by and united in the ancient solemn sacrifice conducted in Latin. I had a powerful conviction of how well the Latin Mass would continue to unite our increasingly multilingual and fragmented Church, if only it were available everywhere in the same way.

This book may be purchased from the bookstore of the Fraternity of St. Peter.

One of the rare compassionate bishops in those days

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Important News from the FSSP

Yesterday, the Fraternity of St Peter began its 2018 General Chapter, which is being held this year at their American seminary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Denton, Nebraska. On the agenda are the elections of various leadership positions, mostly importantly, that of a new Superior General, since Fr John Berg, the American priest who has led them for the last twelve years, has now completed the second of the two six-year terms allowed by their constitutions. And of course, plans will be discussed for the growth of their established apostolates, with an eye to the gradual establishment of new ones. We encourage our readers to click over to this page of their website, where they can find the Latin and English text of prayers to the Holy Spirit which the FSSP has requested for the good success of the Chapter.

Fr Berg ends his term on as Superior General on a high note, with news of two new apostolates given to the Fraternity, on opposite ends of the United States. His Excellency Thomas Tobin, bishop of Providence, Rhode Island, has welcomed them to the church of St Mary, one of the oldest parishes in his episcopal city; the church is located at 538 Broadway, close to a highway which makes it easily accessible for most of south-eastern New England. The Fraternity will arrive at the church on August 1st; we will post further information about the Mass schedule as soon as we have it.

As reported on Corpus Christi Watershed, and the website Angelus News, His Excellency José Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles, has established a personal parish dedicated to the traditional Mass at the church of St Vitus, located at 607 4th St in San Fernando, and placed it under the pastoral care of the Fraternity. It was offically opened on June 25th; click here for the schedule of services.

Palm Sunday at St Victor, the church which has hosted the FSSP in Los Angeles hitherto; from our first Palm Sunday photopost this year.

Our deepest thanks to Archbishop Gomez and Bishop Tobin for their pastoral sollicitude on behalf of the faithful attached to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, and our congratulations and best wishes to the Fraternity - ad multos annos!

Guest Article - A New TLM Parish in Alabama

This article first appeared on Rorate Caeli on August 26; at the request of the author, Jen Macintosh, it is here reproduced with their kind permission. Ms Macintosh is also the writer of a blog called Wildflowers and Marbles.

After Pope Benedict XVI issued his Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum on July 7, 2007, establishing that every priest could offer the Traditional Latin Mass, a group of faithful from Huntsville, Alabama and surrounding areas expressed a great desire to have it offered on a regular basis. In 2008, in response to this, Bishop Robert Baker (Birmingham, Alabama) established an apostolate in Huntsville, Alabama in order to make this Mass available. Father Alan C. Mackey was appointed chaplain of the newly formed Latin Mass community in Huntsville with the assignment of offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and making the Sacraments available according to the 1962 liturgical books. The newly formed Latin Mass Community was granted permission to use the facilities of an existing parish, St. Mary of the Visitation in Huntsville, for Sunday Mass.

The community steadily increased in support and number, and a building fund was established and maintained, with the goal of purchasing property for the establishment of a personal parish. Five years after first expressing a desire for the Traditional Latin Mass, the vision of Father Mackey and the community of faithful came to fruition with the purchase of an Anglican Church in the Five Points district of Huntsville, at 1201 Kingsbury Avenue. Providentially, the first Mass in the new building was offered on January 31, 2013, the Feast of St. John Bosco, who had a special devotion to Our Lady under the title Help of Christians.

On the 4th Sunday of Lent, March 10, 2013, after years of prayer and hard work by many faithful, along with generous donations, the newly formed Catholic Church was officially dedicated by Bishop Robert Baker, using the 1962 Dedication of a Church Rite, as a personal parish within the Diocese of Birmingham, and established Our Lady, Help of Christians in Huntsville, Alabama as a diocesan Traditional Latin Mass parish. Immediately following the Dedication, Father Mackey, whom Bishop Baker appointed pastor to Our Lady, Help of Christians, offered a High Mass.

Due to the Virgin Mary’s constant intercession and maternal protection, the parish chose the name Our Lady, Help of Christians, a title given to Our Lady by Pope St. Pius V after the Christians’ naval victory over the Turkish fleet at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571.

The Traditional Latin Mass, offered according to the 1962 books, is now available regularly to those in the Huntsville and surrounding areas. Every Sunday there are two Mass options: Low Mass at 7:00 am, and a High Mass at 12:00 pm (preceded by the recitation of the Rosary.) Mass is offered on all Holy Days of Obligation, and regular weekday Mass is offered on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays (with First Saturday Devotions led by Father Mackey.) With great devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament, the parish spends one day each month in Adoration. The parish enjoys the rich blessings offered through the 1962 calendar such as parish processions, Sacramental celebrations, and traditional observation of the liturgical calendar on Ember days and beautiful feasts of the church.

Father Mackey observes, “A majority of the parishioners were born after the Second Vatican Council, thus they do not attend the Traditional Latin Mass for nostalgic reasons nor to make a political statement. This has been a canard frequently aimed at those who attend the Traditional Latin Mass. Most seek solace in the transcendence and silence that emanates from the Mass.”

In the year since the dedication of the parish, membership has grown steadily. Parish life has also grown with a focus on renewing Catholic Culture in and through the parish. There are occasional festivals and receptions anchored to feasts of the Church. Classes for adults are offered as well as classes for children preparing to receive Sacraments. A parish Altar and Rosary society has formed and through the work of generous volunteers maintains the beautiful interior of the Church. The church maintains a St. Vincent de Paul outreach to the local community, and is involved in vibrant pro-life work.

Our Lady, Help of Christians parish, in looking to the future and under the leadership of Father Mackey, continues to identify and pursue a number of building projects to improve the interior and exterior church grounds.

Father Mackey concludes, “In a world that is increasingly hostile to our Catholic faith, the Traditional Latin Mass is a rock of stability. For at least fifteen centuries, the (Traditional Latin) Mass has directed the mind, heart and soul of man toward the transcendent majesty of God.”

Our Lady, Help of Christians Traditional Latin Mass parish maintains a website with pertinent and up to date information: ourladyhelpofchristians-al.org.

EF Personal Parish Established in Melbourne, Australia

We have learned from a friend that His Grace Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne, Australia, has raised the Catholic Community of Blessed John Henry Newman to the rank of a Personal Parish, effective March 28th. The parish is located at the Church of St Aloysius in Caulfield, a suburb of Melbourne; Fr. Glen Tattersall, a priest of the archdiocese who has served the community thus far, along with two other priests, will be formally installed by the Archbishop as the parish priest on Friday 25th April, at 11.00 am. Archbishop Hart’s decree may be read here; the parish’s website contains links to various articles reporting on its establishment, including the archdiocesis’ own website. The website also contains a great many other pages and links detailing the many activities of the parish, links to photos and their youtube channel. Congratulations to the new parish, its clergy and faithful, and thanks to Archbishop Hart for his pastoral generosity.

Two Personal Parishes for the EF in Switzerland

His Excellency, the Most Rev. Vitus Huonder, Bishop of Chur in Switzerland, has erected two Personal Parishes for faithful attached to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. These are the first such parishes erected in a German-speaking diocese.

Here is a quick translation of the communiqué released by the Diocese of Chur, which is also interesting in its reasoning:

For more than 35 years there have been in the Diocese of Chur two centres for faithful attached to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. There, pastoral care has been provided at a scale equivalent to many regular parishes, but without a corresponding regulation. The Bishop of Chur wants to end this unsatisfying long-time provisional arrangement and to establish canonical clarity. Therefore, on 22 February 2012 he has erected two Personal Parishes. The Personal Parish of Mary Immaculate in Oberarth is being erected for the faithful of the original cantons [NLM: i.e. Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden and Nidwalden], the Personal Parish of St. Maximilian Kolbe in Thalwil for the faithful of the canton Zurich.

Membership of a Personal Parish does not primarily depend on the place of residence, as with a normal parish, but on belonging to a group which is characterised by particularities of rite, language, or nationality. For instance, the Italian Mission in the cities of Zurich and Winterthur is likewise organised as a Personal Parish.

Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum" of 7 July 2007 provides for the bishop erecting Personal Parishes for faithful attached to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Such Personal Parishes have already been erected in various dioceses, e.g. in Rome, Blois, Straßburg, Quebec, Denver, Colorado Springs or Dallas.

Personal Quasi-Parish for the Usus Antiquior in Guadalajara, Mexico

The Archbishop of Guadalajara, Mexico, His Eminence Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iñiguez, has erected a Personal Quasi-Parish for the usus antiquior (see decree below, click for larger version). The Personal Quasi-Parish of St. Peter-in-Chains is entrusted to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.



Source: Creer en México. For those who wonder: a quasi-parish, according to can. 516 of the Code of Canon Law, is equivalent to a parish; a quasi-parish is a definite community of the Christian faithful in a particular church, entrusted to a priest as its proper pastor but not yet erected as a parish because of particular circumstances.

Personal Parish for the Institute of Christ the King in Gabon

The apostolate of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest in Libreville, Gabon, has been raised to a personal parish by H.E. Basile Mvé Engone, Archbishop of Libreville. The event has been marked by a Pontifical Mass in the usus antiquior celebrated by Msgr. Mvé Engone, at which the bishop of Port-Gentil, Mathieu Madega, as well as ministers of the Gabonese government assisted. Images of the erection of the personal parish of Our Lady of Lourdes can be found at the website of the Institute; here are some impressions:

The arrival of the Archbishop:



The decree of erection and appointment of the parish priest, Fr de Ternay ICRSS, is read:


Before Mass, the Archbishop confirmed some of the new parishoners:


Pontifical Mass:

Personal Parish for the FSSP in Nigeria

The news is a bit older, but since it had not been mentioned before, and it is especially welcome to see the usus antiquior thrive beyond Europe and America, it is well worth noting that last August 15th, Feast of the Assumption, the Monsignor Augustine T. Ukwuoma, Bishop of Orlu, Nigeria, raised the Apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter at the Nne Enyemaka Shrine in Umuaka (Imo State, Nigeria) to the status of Personal Parish (art. 10 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum). You can read the entire history of this apostolate here. Some pictures of the solemn Mass for the occasion, at which Msgr. Ukwuoma together with his predecessor, Msgr. Gregory Ochiagha, attended, follow below.

In case you wonder where the diocese of Orlu is situated, I have taken two pictures from my atlas hierarchicus (click to enlarge). The first shows it within Nigeria and its neighbouring countries, while the second shows it in somewhat greater detail within the metropolis of Onitsha:


And now for the pictures of the Solemn Mass of the Assumption:



Apparently the event was covered by the local media:

Thanks to Una Voce Málaga for the tip.