From “The Epistle”, the monthly newsletter of St. Luke’s Ordinariate Parish, Washington D.C.

“The Epistle” is well worth a read, Here is just one of many interesting articles:

St Luke’s Choir Sings for Cardinal Sarah’s DC Mass

The choir of St. Luke’s Ordinariate parish was honored to be chosen to provide music for a special evening Mass sponsored by the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast and celebrated by Robert Cardinal Sarah, Prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, at Immaculate Conception on May 16. Cardinal Sarah was the principal speaker at the breakfast the next morning. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, outgoing Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, was also a concelebrant for the Mass, along with a number of priests from the Archdiocese of Washington, including Monsignor James Watkins, pastor of Immaculate Conception, and St. Luke’s own Father Mark Lewis.

The English Mass setting was Missa Portae Honoris by Charles Wood (1866-1926). Motets were also by Charles Wood “Expectans Expectavi” and “Jesu! The Very Thought Is Sweet.”

In addition to our choir’s being so prominently honored, one of the youngest members of our community received a special blessing from the Cardinal. As the priests recessed down the aisle, Cardinal Sarah spotted four-year-old Micah McNeil, the youngest person present for the Mass, who was being held by a family friend on the back row. The Cardinal made a beeline to Micah and imparted a special blessing. Micah is the grandson of our choir director, Carmen Delaney, and his mother, Camille Delaney-McNeil, and father Aaron McNeil are members of our choir.

Father Mark and a number of St. Luke’s parishioners were present to hear Cardinal Sarah at the Prayer Breakfast bright and early next morning at the Marriott Marquis. The breakfast drew a record crowd of around 1300 to hear Sarah, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and Little Sister of the Poor Constance Veit, who delivered a meditation. Father Paul Scalia, a priest of the Diocese of Arlington, Va., led a recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

CATHOLIC PRAYER BREAKFASTCardinal Sarah spoke quietly but forcefully about the challenges confronting Christians in advanced nations. “This is not an ideological war between competing ideas,” the Africa-born Cardinal told the ballroom full of Washington-area Catholics. “This is about defending ourselves, children and future generations from the demonic idolatry that says children do not need mothers and fathers. It denies human nature and wants to cut off an entire generation from God.”

After the talk, as Ordinariate members mingled in the crowded room, Father Mark, commenting on the clarity of the Cardinal’s talk, said with visible sincerity, “I am so glad to belong to this Church.” All his parishioners present that morning readily agreed. If you missed the Prayer Breakfast, a full transcript of His Eminence’s remarks are available.

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4 Responses to From “The Epistle”, the monthly newsletter of St. Luke’s Ordinariate Parish, Washington D.C.

  1. EPMS says:

    I take it that “demonic idolatry” is a code phrase for same sex attraction.

  2. EPMS says:

    Yes, having read the entire speech I now see that my interpretation would be a gross over -simplification. However, if I were going to take one or two sentences from the speech for purposes of a news item I don’t think I would have chosen this … easily misinterpreted excerpt. .

  3. EPMS says:

    Although it was not reported on here, several Ordinariate-related Facebook pages have linked accounts of Cardinal Sarah’s statement, at the Sacra Liturgia conference in London, regarding ad orientem celebrations, where he implied that these would become the norm as of next Advent. This seems to have been fairly definitively denied yesterday by the Vatican press secretary, citing the Pope’s communication with Cardinal Sarah. Many conservative Catholics have been encouraged by Sarah’s prominent voice as Prefect for the CDW. A passing reference to the Ordinariate liturgy as a “beautiful example” of a shared gift from a specific culture was widely quoted in Ordinariate sources. This apparent tug on the leash suggests that he cannot be taken as reflecting papal consensus.

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