Celebrating First Friday, First Saturday, and the Second Sunday of Advent at the Church of the Holy Innocents

With her arms down, she raised her eyes to heaven and then folding her hands over her breast she said, 'I am the Immaculate Conception.'

God bless my fellow Sanfedisti(1) and friends for participating in our second quasi-retreat during Advent filled with prayer, fasting and fellowship in preparation for Christmas and the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ. As always, it was a great joy to celebrate our faith and culture together.

Friday, December 6th — Celebrating First Friday and the Feast of San Nicola di Bari

Almighty, Eternal Triune God, before we implore Your servants, the holy angels, and call upon them for help, we fall on our knees and adore You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Be honored and praised for all eternity, and may all angels and men, whom You created, adore, love and serve You, O Holy, Mighty and Immortal God! ~ Excerpt from the Supplication of the Holy Angels

Our faith-filled weekend began Friday evening at the packed Shrine Church of the Holy Innocents (128 West 37th St.) in Midtown Manhattan. Following confession, Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form was celebrated by our Pastor, Fr. James Miara.

In accord with the four anonymous exorcists who requested a day of prayer and fasting in response to the rituals with the unsightly Pachamama idols in the Holy City, Holy Hour was offered in reparation for the sacrilege and heresies that took place in St. Peter’s Basilica, St. Maria in Traspontina Church, and the Vatican Gardens during the scandalous Pan-Amazon Synod.

In addition to offering prayers of reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the faithful prayed for the Holy Father’s good intensions, the Supplication of the Holy Angels, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and the Most Holy Rosary.

After going the whole day without eating, we finally broke our fast with a small pizza at nearby Neapolitan Express (512 7th Ave.). Due to its touristy location we weren’t expecting much, but the pizza was surprisingly good. Still abstaining from meat, we enjoyed a simple cremini mushroom pie. Evviva San Nicola!

Saturday, December 7th — Celebrating First Saturday and the Feast of Sant’Ambrogio

O most Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—I adore thee profoundly. I offer thee the most Precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ—present in all the tabernacles of the world—in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners. ~ The Angels Prayer

Returning to Holy Innocents the next day for the First Saturday Devotion, Low Mass was celebrated by Fr. Miara. Naturally, in addition to making confession and receiving Holy Communion, we stayed for Holy Hour and the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in order to fulfill the requirements needed to make reparations to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Fr. Miara led us in praying the Most Holy Rosary, the Fatima Prayers(2), the Litany of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. As prescribed by Our Lady, we also meditated on the fifteen mysteries of the Holy Rosary for a quarter of an hour.

Back in Brooklyn, we enjoyed a modest, but delicious luncheon (sans meat, of course) at Joe’s of Ave. U (287 Avenue U). Tempted to order everything on the menu, we resisted and shared a few Sicilian specialties: Insalata di patate e fagiolini, Mista polpo e calamari, and Bucatini con cavolfiore alla palermitana.

While I’ve steadfastly kept my no meat on Friday abstention, I shamefully failed to do the same on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I recently realized my negligence while researching the conditions required to obtain the Sabbatine Privilege of the Brown Scapular with my newly invested friends. Having confessed my unwitting transgression, I plan on keeping those days meatless from here on out. Evviva Sant’Ambrogio!

Sunday, December 8th — Celebrating the Second Sunday of Advent and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Allelúja, allelúja. Tota pulchra es, María: et mácula originális non est in te. Allelúja. ~ Canticles 4:7(3)

A Holy Day of Obligation, Sunday morning we attended both the 9:00am Tridentine Low Mass and the 10:30am Tridentine High Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Commemoration of the Second Sunday of Advent. Fr. Miara was the celebrant at both.

Between the two Masses, we took the opportunity to pray our daily Rosary and meditate on the Glorious Mysteries. Along with praying for my sick and suffering friends and family, I made my usual prayers of thanks and praise, as well as supplications for the poor and forgotten Souls of Purgatory.

After briefly mingling with parishioners at coffee hour, we considered going to St. Finbar Church (138 Bath St.) in Bath Beach, Brooklyn to support Fr. Michael Louis Gelfant’s efforts to establish the Traditional Latin Mass there. However, as much as I wanted to celebrate a third Mass that day, I needed to spend time with family, enjoy a delicious home cooked meal, kick the ball around a bit, and play a few games of chess with a couple of upstarts trying to unseat the family’s reigning champion. Buona Festa dell'Immacolata!

~ Giovanni di Napoli, December 8th, Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Notes:
(1) The Fratelli della Santa Fede (Brothers of the Holy Faith), or Sanfedisti for short, is a private traditional Catholic men’s society (società di uomini) devoted to spiritual combat, heroic acts of charity, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Kingship of Christ. 
(2) The Pardon Prayer, the Angel’s Prayer, the Eucharistic Prayer, and the Sacrifice Prayer.
(3) Alleluia, alleluia. Thou art all fair, O Mary, and there is in thee no stain of original sin. Alleluia. ~ Canticles (Song of Solomon) 4:7