News Apostolates
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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.
A Pontifical High Mass in commemoration of the first anniversary of the canonical erection of St. Francis de Sales Oratory was celebrated by the Most Reverend Raymond L. Burke, Archbishop of St. Louis, on Sunday, July 16. On this occasion, His Grace also solemnly installed a relic of St. Prosper at the side altar of Our Lady. St. Prosper, a fifth century saint, coined the phrase "Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi" meaning "Pray as you believe". This was the closing Mass of the National Convention of the Latin Liturgy Association, which took place at St. Francis de Sales Oratory that weekend. View Images
His Eminence Francis Cardinal George, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, June 23, 2006, issued the official decree of erection of the Institute’s church in Chicago as the Shrine of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. We are very grateful to His Eminence for allowing this Shrine, the first exclusively dedicated to the Traditional Latin Mass worldwide. The decree includes express permission for the celebration of all the Sacraments in the Traditional Rite, as well as the keeping of registers.
On Sunday, June 18, on the External Solemnity of Corpus Christi, was held the first Solemn Procession in the Institute's apostolate in Chicago. It was a very special occasion, as it was not only the first procession, but also the first use of our still-gutted church since the Institute of Christ the King arrived in Chicago. The procession commenced from the basement chapel in the priory building, where Mass is currently offered, from where Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament was solemnly carried to the street and into the church for a very moving Benediction. View Images
On the Feast of the Epiphany, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest was charged with a new apostolate in California by the gracious invitation of His Excellency, the Most Reverend Patrick J. McGrath, Bishop of San Jose. The Chapel of the Mother of Perpetual Help, now granted the status of an Oratory, will be functioning under Father Michael Wiener, Rector, who is also Episcopal Delegate for the Rite of 1962 in the Diocese of Oakland. Further details are found in this letter from Monsignor R. Michael Schmitz to the faithful of Our Mother of Perpetual Help Oratory.
On December 10, 2005, thirty-three young faithful of the Institute's apostolate in Oakland, California, received the sacrament of Confirmation from His Excellency Bishop Allen H. Vigneron, who offered a Pontifical Mass following the conferral. View Images
On December 2, 2005, His Excellency Bishop Thomas G. Doran conferred the sacrament of Confirmation on 144 faithful of St. Mary's Oratory in Rockford, Illinois.
On Saturday, October 15, 2005, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke conferred the Sacrament of Confirmation on thirty-four candidates at St. Francis de Sales Oratory in St. Louis. It was the occasion of His Grace's first official visit to the Oratory. Images of the event are available, and a DVD may be purchased.
Kansas City, Missouri, now has a daily Traditional Latin Mass. The Kansas City Latin Mass Community has been assigned a priest of the Institute of Christ the King through the gracious invitation of the Most Rev. Robert W. Finn, Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph. On October 9, 2005 the Institute’s inaugural Mass was celebrated by Father Denis Buchholz, pro-rector of the apostolate in Kansas City, who was introduced by Msgr. Michael Schmitz, Vicar General of the Institute, and welcomed by the Most Reverend Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Temporarily functioning at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, the apostolate will be moved to Old St. Patrick once needed renovations are completed. The task of restoring the historic church building, dating of 1874, has only just begun.
Upon the restructuring of the South City Deanery of St. Louis, Missouri, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke has assigned the church of St. Francis de Sales, known as the "Cathedral of South St. Louis,” to the care of the Institute of Christ the King, establishing it as an Oratory. Since January 2005 the Institute has had pastoral charge of the Latin Mass Apostolate of St. Louis, located at St. Agatha’s Church, which, as of July 1, 2005, is now transferred to St. Francis de Sales Oratory. Besides administering the sacraments and attending to the needs of the faithful of the Oratory, the Institute will operate its pre-seminary program from this location, where candidates from the United States will come for the first steps in their formation before entering our International Seminary at the Institute’s motherhouse in Gricigliano, Italy.
