News Apostolates
Categories: All News, General, Apostolates, Events, Interviews & Press Coverage, Seminary & Vocations, Sisters
The Most Reverend Archbishop of Newark John J. Myers has graciously given permission to Monsignor the Prior General of the Institute to erect St. Anthony’s Chapel in West Orange, New Jersey, as an Oratory and residence of the Institute of Christ the King according to the prescriptions of Canon Law. At the same time, the Institute has received the permission to keep all the sacramental registers and thus to celebrate the entire Liturgy for all the sacraments in the Extraordinary form also in the future.
St. Anthony of Paduawith the Virgin Mary and Infant Jesus
This important step was made after the Board of Directors had decided to bestow the property to the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, this decision being preceded by the very favorable results of a poll conducted among the faithful. The property transition came shortly before Christmas, and the permission of the Archbishop and the erection of the Oratory and Residence by Msgr. Gilles Wach arrived on Christmas as a special gift from St. Anthony, patron of the Chapel.
On this occasion, the Institute of Christ the King expresses its deepest gratitude for the confidence the former and present Board members and the faithful of the Oratory have shown us. The Institute also thanks the Board of Directors and the Chapel volunteers for their steadfast fidelity and their dedicated work over the years. We implore the protection of Christ the King, of the Immaculate Conception, and of St. Anthony in a special way over the Oratory, all its faithful, and the Rector, Rev. Canon Andreas Hellmann, of the Institute of Christ the King. The Oratory members continue to remember Rev. Father Paul Wickens, founder of St. Anthony’s, with prayerful gratitude. May his soul rest in peace!
On December 8, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest organized a candlelight Marian procession through the very heart of Rome for the closing of the Lourdes Jubilee year. Lead by Canon Joseph Luzuy, the procession began at the Church of Jesus and Mary (Chiesa Gesu e Maria), which serves as the church of the Institute’s apostolate in Rome. A very large crowd of more than a 1000 faithful then filed down the Via del Corso, an avenue which serves as a main artery to the center of the city, to Chiesa Santa Maria in Aquiro (Piazza Capranica), where the plenary indulgence for the Lourdes Jubilee was made available to the faithful (Chiesa Giubulare). It was here in this church that the image of Our Lady of Lourdes was publicly offered for the veneration of the faithful for the first time in Italy.
The most Reverend Bishop of Grenoble has entrusted to the Institute a jewel of Gothic architecture, the Collegiate church of St. Andre, in which St. Francis de Sales has preached several times and the holy Cure of Ars was ordained to the priesthood.
Large numbers of faithful and many altar boys clothed in the blue characteristic of the Institute assisted at the inaugural Mass, which was celebrated on September 14 by the newly appointed Rector, Father Jean-Paul Trezieres.
The Institute has also been invited to serve and offer daily Mass at the magnificent church of Notre Dame de Cordeliers in the Diocese of Laval.
At the request of the Archbishop of Munich-Freising, the Institute now offers Holy Mass each Sunday morning in the city of Traunstein, Germany, where our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI spent many of his younger years attending the minor seminary. He also celebrated his first Mass in a parish church of the town.
The Most Reverend Bishop of Tucson, Arizona, assisted at a High Mass celebrated by Msgr. R. Michael Schmitz in the City of Tucson on Sunday, August 17. During the ceremony, Bishop Kicanas announced the coming of the Institute of Christ the King to his diocese and told the faithful that Father Richard von Menshengen will be the priest responsible for the Oratory of St. Gianna.
During the very warm reception which followed, Bishop Kicanas and Msgr. Schmitz answered questions and provided more information concerning this apostolate, as well as thanked the local clergy and laity for their dedication to the Latin Mass community.
Father von Menshengen will celebrate Holy Mass for the first time for the Oratory community on September 21, 2008.
More information about the new apostolate will be forthcoming.
Renovation efforts at St. Francis de Sales Oratory have received public recognition with the reception of the "Golden Brick Award," bestowed by the DeSales Community Housing Corporation.
The Corporation, which spun off from St. Francis de Sales Parish as a separate legal entity decades ago, gives the award to people and/or projects that have contributed positively to the Tower Grove East and Fox Park neighborhoods. Nominees may include businesses, institutions, or even individuals that have demonstrated a commitment towards improving the neighborhoods.
The project, which won the award for the Oratory this year, was the renovation of the vesting sacristy in the church building, a renovation which resulted in the replication of a chapel built by St. Louis King of France. Although this represents just one of many projects in the restoration of St. Francis de Sales church and rectory, it was considered significant, especially because the sacristy project was involved in a Papal award, the Bene Merenti, recently given to Abbe Alexander Willweber of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.
When the Institute was first given the administration of St. Francis de Sales as an oratory three years ago, both the church and rectory — as well as adjoining schools and convent — were in serious states of disrepair. However, the church now displays most of its former glory as the "Cathedral of South St. Louis," and the rectory has undergone a thorough renovation. Although the adjoining school and convent buildings still await major updating, the work so far has greatly contributed to a general renaissance in the area. Indeed, the Fox Park Neighborhood Association regards the Oratory campus as the "anchor" of the neighborhood. Fr. Karl W. Lenhardt, Rector of the Oratory, Vice Provincial of the Institute, and Episcopal Delegate for the Implementation of the motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum" in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, received the Golden Brick Award on Wednesday, July 9, 2008, in a presentation ceremony.
Msgr. Gilles Wach, Prior General of the Institute, officially inaugurated the Institute's new Oratory in Milwaukee, St. Stanislaus. On Sunday, June 1, he celebrated a Solemn High Mass at the new Oratory, with the assistance of Father Olivier Meney as Deacon, and Abbé Kevin Kerscher as Subdeacon. Father Meney will be overseeing the new Oratory.
The 25th of each month is a day traditionally dedicated to the Infant Jesus, a remembrance of His Incarnation and Nativity. At the Shrine of Christ the King in Chicago, the novena to the Infant Jesus is said from the 17th to the 25th of every month.
Beginning in January, on the closing day of each novena, there will be a Votive Mass of the Nativity at the Shrine at 7:00 PM, followed by Adoration and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
The Most Rev. Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of Milwaukee, has graciously invited the Institute of Christ the King to serve the Traditional Latin Mass apostolate in his archdiocese. Priests of the Institute will be offering Sunday Mass at St. Stanislaus Church beginning in Advent.
Many thanks to His Grace, as well as to the Franciscan Fathers at St. Stanislaus.
With the gracious permission of the Archbishop of Newark, the Most Reverend John Myers, the Institute of Christ the King will be assigning a priest to the Latin Mass Community at St. Anthony of Padua Chapel in West Orange, Newark, New Jersey. Father Matthew Talarico, one of our newly ordained priests, has been appointed Rector of the Chapel by Archbishop Myers. Father Talarico, who has already gained good experience serving as deacon in other Institute apostolates and in carrying out many responsibilities in the Seminary will begin his work on July 17.
For the time being, Father Andreas Hellmann, Prior of the Institute’s House in Chicago, replaces Father Talarico, as well as Father Richard Munkelt, who is a priest in residence. Father Talarico will celebrate his first Sunday Masses on July 22, followed by the "First blessing" of a newly ordained priest.