Photos 2006 - Holy Week: Holy Thursday

Holy Thursday at Assumption Grotto was very solemn, and very well attended, as was the Good Friday service, considering they were not obligatory.

Fr. Eduard Perrone, Pastor of Assumption Grotto wearing a rarely seen fiddle-back vestment in this Latin Novus Ordo.

Altar boys incensing the congregation just ahead of the Eucharistic Prayer. All rise as they approach, the altar boys bow, then incense in three directions, and bow again. The people respond with a bow.

"Ecce Angus Dei....."

The procession to the Altar of Resposition underway.

The sanctuary was emptied of everything, by the altar boys, not nailed down, as people remain in prayer until Midnight with the Blessed Sacrament reposed at the left side altar.

More pictures from Assumption Day 2005

Here is what the Grotto looked like at 6:45am on August 15, 2005, over twelve hours before the picture in my last post. We had a couple thousand pass through all day for various devotions and this was only one out of about 4-5 masses. People had to be bussed in and out from a Catholic school in the burbs because there was no parking. This is out behind the Church and is a cemetary/grotto - really!

PANIS ANGELORUM!

The elevation at the 9:30am Latin Novus Ordo held in Church with one of the Fathers of the Holy Cross wearing the same chasuble.





This was taken near the end of the Noon Mass, also held outdoors. Fr. Perrone is seen in cassock and surplice and associate pastor, Fr. John Bustamante is in the very beautiful and very old, Assumption Day chasuble. It was recently fixed up a bit. I think it is one of the finest chasubles on God's green earth and it is the only closeup I have.



This was taken about 3 PM when Fr. Perrone did Benediction and Annointing of the Sick. Fr. Bustamante holds the ombrellino over the Blessed Sacrament as Fr. Perrone carries the monstrance.




In the middle of the 7:00pm Mass, following the Homily, Detroit Auxiliary Bishop, John Quinn, blessed the new statues just added to the Grotto, one of Bernadette, and the other of an angel.



Bishop Quinn in a moment of solitude during Holy Mass as Communion is being distributed by 7 priests outside the view of this photo.




The 7:00pm Mass was ending about 8:45 and the sun was already going down fast. Fr. Perrone is seen kneeling at the Grotto as he consecrates the parish to the Blessed Mother on her feast day. The candles that people laid out all around the center of the grotto are beginning to glow nicely.




Night fell, the Mass ended, and then began a candlelight procession with hundreds singing Marian songs as they walked through the Grotto. They would stop, lift the candles high and sing, "Ave, Ave, Ave Maria!". Trust me, this was not your grandmother's procession as there were plenty of young people captivated by the experience.

A Sacred Moment in a Photograph

I am deeply into the photography of sacred moments and I hope to be sharing more of my photographs. This is one of many examples of my photography. It was a picture of a traditionally celebrated Novus Ordo at Assumption Grotto Parish in Detroit, Michigan.

This is not the pre-Vatican II Mass shown (commonly called a TLM or Tridentine Latin Mass). Rather, it is simply a priest celebrating ad orientem, or to the east. It also happens to be mostly in Latin - something done often at Assumption Grotto Parish. Contrary to popular belief, the ad orientem posture was never abolished as a result of Vatican II and remains a valid posture today.

Pictured, elevating the Host, is Fr. Eduard Perrone, pastor of Assumption Grotto Parish. It was taken on August 15, 2005 at the 7:00pm outdoor Mass where hundreds, if not a thousand gathered as part of our parish feast day. Bishop John M. Quinn, Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit is seen kneeling. He came to dedicate the statues seen in the foreground, which had just been set in place just a few weeks prior.

I will be featuring more pictures from Assumption Grotto, my home parish, along with news. In particular, I enjoy talking about the liturgy as it is celebrated in a traditional manner, and fully aligned with the rubrics.

The camera used is a digital Minolta DiMage 7i. No flash photography was used. I believe flash something which draws attention from God, who should be at the center of the Mass, to the person taking pictures.

This is the first entry of my first blog.

The title of my Blog,

Te Deum laudamus; te Dominum confitemur is latin for:

O God, we praise Thee: we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.

A little history is provided here, along with the prayer itself.

This blog will be dedicated to Catholicism and the Liturgy.
(when I get more time than I have at the moment).