News from West Orange, New Jersey

Confirmations by Archbishop Meyers

Pictures and news of the visit of His Grace, the Most Reverend John J. Myers of Newark, are available on the Institute's main Web site.

 

Visit of the Prior General on June 17, 2009

On Wednesday, June 17, 2009, Monsignor Gilles Wach, Prior General of the Institute of Christ the King, will visit Saint Anthony of Padua Oratory. Monsignor Wach will offer a Solemn High Mass at 7:00 PM in thanksgiving for the Institute’s new canonical status of Pontifical Right. Please join us also at the reception afterwards in the parish hall below.

 

Lourdes Pilgrimage with Archbishop Burke

In joyful gratitude to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the Institute, for having received the Pontifical Right status from the Holy See, the Institute organized a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France. His Grace, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature, offered a Pontifical High Mass in the Upper Basilica on Saturday, April 25, followed by Solemn Te Deum and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Later that afternoon, Archbishop Burke gave a spiritual conference together with Monsignor Gilles Wach and Monsignor R. Michael Schmitz, for the several hundreds of faithful who came from all over France, the United States, and beyond. Dozens of Institute priests and seminarians, as well as the Institute's Sisters Adorers wearing their blue choir mantle, led the large crowd of faithful in a candlelight procession in honor of Our Blessed Mother. On Sunday, April 26, Monsignor Wach celebrated a Solemn High Mass and offered Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in the afternoon to conclude this very beautiful Marian pilgrimage.

View Photos from the Lourdes Pilgrimage

 

First Holy Communions on May 3, 2009

A photo of the communicants.

 

Ordinations to the Deaconate

On the feast of Saint Benedict Cardinal Franc Rodé, Prefect of the Congregation of the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, ordained six  new deacons for the Institute of Christ the King at the seminary in Gricigliano, Italy.  View Photos on Our French Web Site

 

St. Anthony's is Erected as an Oratory

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.

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!

 

Pontifical Right for the Institute of Christ the King

With deepest gratitude to the Blessed Trinity, to Christ Our King, and His Immaculate Mother, to St. Joseph, to St. Michael the Archangel, to our patron saints, to the entire court of heaven, and with filial thankfulness to our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI and his faithful collaborators, we have the joy to announce a very important event: On the feast day of Our Lady, Queen of the Holy Rosary, the Vice-President of the Commission Ecclesia Dei, Very Reverend Monsignor Camille Perl, has read in our Seminary chapel the official decree by which, in the name of the Holy Father, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest was erected to the status of a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right. Also our Sisters Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus received the status of Pontifical Right. The Decree was signed by His Eminence Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos. A Solemn Te Deum followed the reading of the Decree. Born out of a profound union with the Holy Father in Rome and the Institute's founder and members having always lived in a continuous and unwavering spirit of faithful Romanitas, the Institute was granted the Pontifical Right after the formal time of experience and interrogation which is a traditional custom for the Holy See. Various positive Apostolic Visitations conducted by the Roman Curia and a very favorable consultation of all the Most Reverend Bishops in whose Dioceses we are invited to serve have finalized this canonical process. After this affirmative evaluation of our spirituality and our international presence and work, the Pontifical Right is an expression of the appreciation of the service of the Institute of Christ the King by the Roman Pontiff and his collaborators to whom we are deeply obliged. The Pontifical Right will make it even easier for the Institute to conduct its service for the Church according to its constitutions and gives to Monsignor the Prior General rights and duties that are in unison with our canonical lifestyle.

 

Saint Anthony Devotions on Tuesdays

Evening Mass is followed by devotions in honor of Saint Anthony of Padua, the mighty intercessor and beloved patron saint of our chapel.

Prayer to Saint Anthony

Good Saint Anthony, in God's providence thou hast secured for His people many marvelous favors. Thou hast been especially celebrated, good Saint Anthony, for your goodness to the poor and the hungry, for finding employment for those seeking it, for thy special care of those who travel, and for keeping safe from harm all who must be away from home. Thou art widely known also, good Saint Anthony, for securing peace in the family, for your delicate mercy in finding lost things, for safe delivery of messages, and for thy concern for women in childbirth. In honoring thee, Saint Anthony, for the many graces our Lord grants through thy favor, we trustfully and confidently ask thy aid in our present need. V. Pray for us, Saint Anthony, R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. O God, may it be a source of joy to Thy Church that we honor the memory of Thy Confessor and Doctor, Saint Anthony. May his spiritual help always make us strong in the Faith, and by his assistance may we enjoy an eternal reward. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration on Thursdays

Our Lord refused us nothing, but once He asked for one thing only: watch and pray one hour with Me !

Then Jesus came with them into a country place which is called Gethsemani; and he said to his disciples: Sit you here, till I go yonder and pray. And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to grow sorrowful and to be sad. Then he saith to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay you here, and watch with me. And going a little further, he fell upon his face, praying, and saying: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh to his disciples, and findeth them asleep, and he saith to Peter: What? Could you not watch one hour with me? Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh weak. Again the second time, he went and prayed, saying: My Father, if this chalice may not pass away, but I must drink it, thy will be done. And he cometh again and findeth them sleeping: for their eyes were heavy. And leaving them, he went again: and he prayed the third time, saying the selfsame word. Then he cometh to his disciples, and saith to them: Sleep ye now and take your rest; behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go: behold he is at hand that will betray me. Matthew 26:36-46

Therefore, will you at least come and

Keep Him company for one hour during His bitter hour?
Comfort His sorrowful, wounded Heart?
Make reparation for the terrible blasphemies against God, the saints and His Church?
Pray for the conversion of poor sinners?
Spend an hour praying for holy priests, religious and truly Christian families?

If not, who else will do it?

So, come and join us every week ! The Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration begins at 7:00 pm.

 

 

 

The Miraculous Medal Novena on Saturdays

Every week the Novena follows the Saturday 9:00 am Mass each week.

The devotion commonly known as that of the Miraculous Medal was made known by the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Catherine Laboure, to whom she appeared three separate times in the year 1830. At the second apparition, Saint Catherine records that the Blessed Virgin appeared standing on a globe, with rays of beautiful light flowing from rings on her fingers. Our Lady explained that these rays were symbols of grace which she sheds upon those of us who ask for them.

However, some of the precious gems on the rings were dark. The rays of heavenly grace are always made readily available, explained our Blessed Mother, but that they did not shine forth because no one had asked for them. Then an oval frame was formed around the Blessed Virgin, on which were written in gold: “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”

Then Our Lady said to Saint Catherine: “Have a Medal made according to this model. Those who wear it after being blessed shall receive great graces, especially if they wear it around their neck. Graces will be abundant for those who have confidence.”

Having obtained the approval of the Archbishop of Paris in 1832, the first medals were made and with their distribution, the devotion spread rapidly. Almost immediately, the blessings that Our Lady has promised began to shower down upon those who wore her medal. The Medal was first known as the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, but so many conversions and bodily cures occurred for those who wore it with faith and confidence, that it became popularly known as the Miraculous Medal.