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| My new Holy Innocents medal |
O ye glorious martyrs, St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Polycarp of Smyrna; O ye illustrious doctors of the Church, St. Athanasius, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Basil, who worked and suffered so much for purity of faith and the salvation of the souls entrusted to your paternal care, look down from heaven upon your beloved Eastern lands, which forgetful of your teaching and example, live now separated from the body of the true Church. By your powerful intercession, O ye holy Eastern Fathers, obtain for all separated Oriental Christians the grace to return to the center of unity, and to form with us one and the same family, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. ~ Prayer to the Fathers of the Eastern ChurchSunday morning members of the Fratelli della Santa Fede (Brothers of the Holy Faith) gathered at the Shrine Church of the Holy Innocents (128 West 37th St.) in Manhattan for both the 9:00 am Tridentine Low Mass and the 10:30 am Tridentine High Mass for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany and the Feast of San Catello Vescovo. Our Pastor Fr. James Miara was the celebrant at both.
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| My Grandmother's pewter statuette of the Infant of Prague and the back of the Society of the Little Flower membership card with the image of St. Thérèse of Lisieux |
Between the Masses we made Confession, prayed the Holy Rosary, and said our daily prayers of thanks and praise. Having just discovered my late Grandmother’s old pewter pocket statuette of the Infant of Prague and her membership card to the Society of the Little Flower, I visited the church’s statue of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. I lit some candles in her memory and prayed for the poor and forgotten Souls in Purgatory.
At the conclusion of each Mass, the faithful recited the prayers for the Church Unity Octave, also known as the Chair of Unity Octave. Beginning on January 18th, the Feast of the Chair of San Pietro, Traditional Catholics pray for the conversion of those outside the fold. In charity, we offered our Holy Communion and Holy Mass for the intention and prayed for the return of the separated Eastern Christians to communion with the Holy See. With a different intension each day, the devotion concludes on January 25th, the Feast of the Conversion of San Paolo.
After Mass, we joined our fellow parishioners downstairs in Holy Innocents Hall for coffee and refreshments. While mingling with friends, I was generously given a medal with Our Lady of Guadalupe on one side and the Holy Innocents on the other by a very affable couple I’ve recently become friendly with. As much as we wanted to stay and continue our celebration, we all had prior engagements and called it an early day. Evviva San Catello!
~ Giovanni di Napoli, January 20th, the Feast of San Sebastiano
