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Evviva San Gennaro!
Photos by New York Scugnizzo
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Even though I was out late the night before (see: Celebrating the Feast of St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina), I made it a point to attend the Traditional Votive Mass of San Gennaro at Most Precious Blood Church in Manhattan’s historic Little Italy (Sept. 24th). It has been ages since a Traditional Latin Mass was celebrated at the storied church and I didn’t want to miss it.
Arriving early, I walked through the Holy Doors of Mercy and heard the orchestra warming up. I immediately knew we were in for something special. In keeping with my tradition, I made my rounds to the church's various shrines to the saints and said my intercessory prayers to San Rocco, San Gennaro, San Michele and the Madonna delle Grazie.
There was a terrific turnout for the Mass and I was happy to see many friends, including several members of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George. I was also honored to meet Officer Matthew Reid of the NYPD Holy Name Society of Manhattan, Bronx and Staten Island, who has been very supportive of our upcoming Michaelmas celebration (Sept. 29th) in honor of Law Enforcement.
Needless to say, the Mass was beautiful. Celebrant and homilist Fr. Richard Gennaro Cipolla, Pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Norwalk, Connecticut gave a heartfelt sermon about the martyrdom of San Gennaro, the struggle against secularization and the destruction of ethnic Catholic culture. For the complete transcript of Fr. Cipolla’s sermon and terrific pictures of the Mass visit the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny website.
Lead by David Hughes, the choir and strings performed a phenomenal Mozart program, which included the Prelude: Sonata da chiesa in B-flat (K. 212) (Mozart), Missa brevis in F (K. 192) (Mozart), Gregorian Mass of Several Martyrs: Salus autem, Motet at the Offertory: Justorum animae (Palestrina), Motet at the Communion: Venite populi (Mozart), and Postlude: Sonata da chiesa in F (K. 244) (Mozart).
God bless the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny, especially Stuart and Jill Chessman, for sponsoring this historic Mass in honor of San Gennaro, Patron Saint of Naples, and for their tireless efforts to promote the Traditional Latin Mass. Evviva San Gennaro!
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| Fr. Cippola next to the bye-altar with San Gennaro |
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| The processional statue of San Gennaro with flowers |
After Mass, my confratelli and I continued the celebration at nearby Margherita NYC, Pizzeria Napoletana for a delicious Neapolitan repast.
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| We started with a delicious antipasto |
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| Pizza Margherita |
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| Montanara pizza |
