Pontifical High Mass at the National Shrine Next Week – Let’s Fill the Pews!

This is one of the few occasions on which I wish I was rich and still drove. If that were the case, I'd be on a road trip in a day or two, headed to Washington, DC! If any of my readers are in a position to attend this amazing Liturgy, I highly encourage them to do so!

From One Peter Five

Last month, we shared some information with you about an upcoming event at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. Namely,  Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon, will offer a pontifical Solemn Mass in the Traditional Rite on Saturday, April 28, at 1PM — that’s next Saturday, so mark your calendars.

We’ve got some additional information on the event below, but first I wanted to encourage you once again to attend this event if at all possible. I recall a couple of years ago, when the FSSP offered a Mass for the same purpose — thanksgiving for Summorum Pontificum, the papal letter from Pope Benedict XVI that restored status and availability to the Church’s venerable liturgy — that the crypt church at the Basilica was absolutely packed. Now, I love the crypt chapel — it’s where I proposed to my wife, in fact — but someone said to me at the time how hard it was to get permission to have a TLM in the actual upper church of the Basilica, which so many American Catholics know from their visits to the March for Life. (If you’d like to know more about its history, I wrote an article on that.)

I just found out that this Mass is going to be held in that main church.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, it’s an absolutely huge church — the largest in the United States, and one of the ten largest Catholic churches in the world. The upper church alone can seat 3,500 people, and has a total capacity of 6,000.

We need to fill that church as much as is humanly possible. Can you imagine the statement it would make? I can’t wait to publish photographs of thousands of people attending a TLM in such a prestigious church in the heart of America’s capital. And the Mass will be broadcast live on EWTN.

Let’s make it happen!

Additional details from The Paulus Institute, which is sponsoring the event, follow. You can also download their flyer for distribution at your local chapel or Catholic bookstore.

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The Paulus Institute for the Propagation of Sacred Liturgy

April 10, 2018
For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON — The organizers of the traditional Latin solemn pontifical Mass announced details today on the liturgy planned for April 28. The Mass, to be celebrated by His Excellency Alexander Sample, archbishop of Portland in Oregon, will be broadcast live and worldwide on EWTN. No tickets are required to attend in person, and all are encouraged to fill the pews of the upper church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on the 28th at 1 p.m.

In addition to Archbishop Sample, priests who will be serving as sacred ministers include two diocesan priests, four from the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter and two from the Institute of Christ the King. Dozens of other clergy will process and sit in choir, and women religious will be in the front pews at the Mass.

Music will be a significant part of the April 28 Mass, sponsored by the Paulus Institute for the Propagation of Sacred Liturgy. The choir of the basilica shrine will sing “Missa Salve Regina” by Victoria as the ordinary of the Mass, and several Renaissance polyphony motets by Palestrina, Ugolini, Monteverdi, Clemens, Manchicourt and Marenzio. The propers of the Mass will be sung by the Saint Mary Mother of God schola in Washington, D.C. Several preludes will be sung by guest choirs, including one from the Lyceum School in South Euclid, Ohio, and another choir from Saint John the Baptist Church in Allentown, N.J.

April 28’s solemn pontifical Mass in the basilica shrine in D.C. will be the second such Mass in the upper church since 1969, this one commemorating the 10th anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s motu proprio “Summorum Pontificum,” which greatly expanded the use of the traditional Latin sacraments, including Mass. The Mass to be offered will be a votive commemorating the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in the basilica dedicated to Our Lady.

Additional details on the Mass can be found on the event page:https://www.facebook.com/events/1909485235736414/ 

Donations are needed to help defray the expenses for the Mass, and can be made from here:https://www.facebook.com/paulusliturgy/posts/483844915351420