Archbishop Burke of Saint Louis, MO, Ordains Two ICRSS Priests, June 15, 2007
On June 15, 2007, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke (Saint Louis, MO) ordained two men as priests in the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest in a Pontifical Solemn Mass in the Latin Rite. On the left is the newly ordained Fr. Matthew Talarico, from Pennsylvania. On the right, Father William Avis, of Wisconsin.
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Below, the procession into the august cathedral begins just after 1:00 p.m.
Bishop Finn of Kansas City receives a blessing from Father Avis, below.
The crowd desiring First Blessings after the four-hour liturgy overwhelmed the side chapel and the faithful and their new priests were directed to the sanctuary. As shown (in part) below, the First Blessing was highly sought by the attending crowd of over 1,000.
Below, while ordained on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Father Avis celebrates his first low Mass at the Oratory of Saint Francis de Sales on Saturday Morning at 8:00 a.m. Saturday was the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Father Talarico said his First Mass at 10:00 a.m. the same day. Father Avis' official First Mass was on Sunday, June 17 at 10:00 a.m.
Above, there was a great surplus of surplices in the procession.
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Below, Archbishop Burke proceeds to the altar.
Below, the ordinands lay prostrate on the floor of the sanctuary during a 30-minute "Prostration and Litany of the Saints" prior to their ordination.
Below, Archbishop Burke bestows the office to Father Avis.
Below, Archbishop Burke performs the Imposition of Hands on Father Talarico.
After Archbishop Burke had laid hands upon the ordinands, the other bishops and priests in attendance did the same. Below, Bishop Robert W. Finn (Kansas City--Saint Joseph, MO) lays hands on Father Avis.
Above, Archbishop Burke addresses the ordinands prior to the Investiture With the Priestly Vestments, which is shown in part below.
Above, Archbishop Burke addresses the ordinands prior to the Investiture With the Priestly Vestments, which is shown in part below.
Below, a shot of the altar during the Litany.
Below, after the Mass, and prior to the Recessional, a view of the cathedral.
Below, after Mass, all went to a side chapel to receive the First Blessings of the new priests, led by the Archbishop.
Below, the new priests bless one set of parents.
Below, Father Talarico gives a First Blessing to Archbishop Burke.
Below, Father Avis blesses the archbishop.
Below, Father Avis blesses the archbishop.
Bishop Finn of Kansas City receives a blessing from Father Avis, below.
The crowd desiring First Blessings after the four-hour liturgy overwhelmed the side chapel and the faithful and their new priests were directed to the sanctuary. As shown (in part) below, the First Blessing was highly sought by the attending crowd of over 1,000.
Below, at a reception, Archbishop Burke stands with Monsignor R. Michael Schmitz, the U.S. Provincial of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, as the archbishop tells those attending how much he appreciates the work of the Institute.
Above, the archbishop among the reception's crowd.
Below, a quick chat with a seminarian.
Below, while ordained on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Father Avis celebrates his first low Mass at the Oratory of Saint Francis de Sales on Saturday Morning at 8:00 a.m. Saturday was the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Father Talarico said his First Mass at 10:00 a.m. the same day. Father Avis' official First Mass was on Sunday, June 17 at 10:00 a.m.
P.S. This blogger hopes that the above pictures capture some of the beauty of the ordination Mass. It was an overwhelmingly beautiful liturgy. I will add more here about it later. Words are still coming to mind about it.
31 comments:
This is such a joyous occasion!
That church is so Beautiful!!!
Ave Maria!
WT, magnificent job on those photos. I really enjoyed meeting you and mrs. WT, too.
You missed a truly profound sermon at Fr. Talarico's first Mass today by Msgr. Schmitz. He hit it out of the park. I couldn't believe it, but the oratory was packed today for a 10 am solemn high Mass the day after a four hour marathon at the Cathedral.
I heard no complaints!
To borrow from field of dreams-- "Is this Heaven?"
"No, this is St. Francis de Sales Oratory"
Very nice pictures. But one correction: today is not the feast of the Immaculate Heart of the B.V.M. according to the old calendar (although my missal does have a Mass for the Most Pure Heart of Our Lady to be used "in some places" for today). It is, instead, merely a feria with the Saturday ferial Mass of Our Lady being said. The feast of the Immaculate Heart is August 22.
Scott
they celebrated a votive Mass of the Immaculate Heart of Mary today--same Mass as the feast day.
WT- funny we end up in the same places most of the time.
Great Pictures I wish I could have gotten some good ones but alas I had many a trouble yesterday.
the mass today was excellent and T.M. that sermon was really really good.
I hope every Had a great time and it was so beautiful.
God bless.
(Btw did I mention that Msgr's Sermon was REALLY good today?)
If only every ordinand were so lucky!
Andy: If you are a future ordinand, now is the time to make your own luck.
Christopher: Will you or Timman tell us what was said in this homily? Please!
WT
WT, summarizing Msgr. Schmitz is not an easy task, so forgive my retelling.
In short, he laid out the courage of priest in taking up the burden, in that, like Christ, he is simultaneously priest and victim. As from Christ's first moments from the incarnation, he was victim-- not just on calvary. So, too, the priest is victim from the first day.
He pointed out the difficulties--the solitude, mostly. No matter how surrounded by others, he is set apart. The devil, who hates the priests who can make Christ present, constantly attacks him. Not mere physical attacks, but spiritual, too. Which is why the priest must cling to Mary. She who crushes the head of the serpent. Satan cannot win if the priest does this.
Priest and victim--the demands on his time, the vexations, the total sacrifice of himself for his spiritual children-- for from the first moment the priest, however young, is Father to his flock.
But, Monsignor reminded him that all of this, the sufferings, loneliness, and sacrifice are NOTHING compared to what he receives. He is consecrated forever. He is able to ascend Calvary to remain, as Mary, beneath the foot of the Cross as the Blood and water flow in salvific springs. He is alter Christus, he is the mediator between God and man. Because of this, he said finally, the priest should never lose the joy he has today, the joy of his ordination.
Very, very moving, powerful sermon. Monsignor is an excellent speaker, as you know. I really think it is the best I have ever heard from him.
Very nice. I got a report from a mutual friend who was close to the action. I wish circumstances were such that I could have made it
Wolftracker...
1.) Great photos! The photo of the ordinands laying prostrate on the floor gave me goosebumps.
2.) Wish we could have been there. All day yesterday, I kept thinking about what we were missing out on.
3.) Glad you and Mrs. Wolftracker made it back safely. See you at Mass tomorrow.
4.) Thanks for all the wonderful coverage and explanations.
To anonymous immediately above, may I refer you to the comments from the Timman above, where he retells the homily of Msgr Schmitz. You want to talk of "fluff" and "lace." You want to ascribe motives to persons at this ordination and say it is all for the wrong reasons (are you omniscient?). You wonder how many souls will be saved with lace. Maybe none, probably none. But how many with priests such as these in surplice? Many. Perhaps not yours, but many.
It is all for precisely the right reasons...the greater glory of God. As I sat through the ordinations Friday, I let my mind wander to thoughts of what some may think of such a visually rich event. I concluded many might miss the point and focus on "men in costumes" parading around a stage. Then I shifted back to why such an effort is put forth and Mark's C.S. Lewis quote "http://saint-louis.blogspot.com/2007/06/cs-lewis-on-unusual-dress.html" about pomp and lost myself in the collective offering of all those present. In the end, it all gives glory to God.
Lace surplices aren't good? Hmmm....I guess it was wrong to canonize St. Josemaria Escriva then, since that's all he ever wore, and Opus Dei priests love wearing lace.
And by the way, S.M.N., "Fr." Wach is in fact a MONSIGNOR! As such, he is entitled to such privileges. Learn your facts before making such statements. I have no clue what you mean about their vestment style attracting the wrong sort of men. They seem to have attracted Archbishop Burke, by far and away the best Bishop in this country.
It seems that your comments about presumption and lack of charity could be applied to yourself as well.
I serve at the Institute's Chicago Shrine.
The Institute's ordo has the Mass of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on first Saturdays. The new ordinand using this Mass could be an extension of that.
Beautiful photographs! It makes the reader feel as if he is there.
Thank you so much for sharing this. I would have loved to have been there to witness this and hear the homily. Bishop Burke is a living saint and a white martyr for the faith.
There is nothing more beautiful than to witness a soul surrender to the will of the Lord and to consecrate his or her life to God. In the diocese of Wichita, we are never at a loss for vocations, which we attribute to our Perpetual Adoration chapels here.
St. Louis also seems to be a great area for vocations - at least from what I read and hear about it.
God bless you and Happy Father's Day!
gorgeous stuff......a good day to be a Catholic
Ladies and Gentleman:
I am quite surprised and saddened that the facts and photos of the post could spawn so many divergent and tasteless comments. It is as though someone has crashed a party and then complained about the food. Surely, any host in such a situation will be unamused, even if he remains cordial, as I intend to do (barring much more calumny).
Two men were ordained to the priesthood the other day. That itself is historic, if seen with spiritual eyes. The means by which they were ordained was historic for liturgical and geographical reasons. Thus, this post.
So some find the particulars of the day offensive and ridicule them as "fluff" and "pomp." So be it. Go tell it from the mountain, but wait in line, for that peak is crowded and has been for a long time.
As for me, I have learned in my short time as a member of a traditional community that those that hate beauty also hate truth--for truth and beauty are the same. (To say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder is to place truth at the whims of others as well.) We have seen this happen much in the last decades.
Now that the Mass of Ages and those that cherish it have the appearance of some ascendency, the party-crashers come forth.
The comments here portend much more of what may be to come. Thus, so far, they remain undeleted.
Peace be with you.
Wolftracker:
You are very correct in all you write and, as I fear it may have been my comments that helped spread the flames of this little fire, I apologize.
I certainly stand by my opinions, but see that expressing them in the way I did may not have been the most helpful way to correct the Anonymous that I was replying to.
Scott
Thanks, SMN.
WT, can I request you delete the comments anyway? They are an affront to charity, and the time needed to refute them, combined with the need to go into history irrelevant to this post would distract from the good news. Your comments are spot on, but the uncharitable comments could continue to rankle needlessly especially those with no idea where and whence they arise.
Beautiful! Thanks for posting this!
To correct a misstatement above...St. Josemaria only began using lace albs in the post-Conciliar era, when (and because) the rest of the clergy were tossing them in the trash. He only wore them on feast days. And the priests of Opus Dei to this day only wear them on feast days.
Hmmm. New priests. They will reverently say the Traditional Latin Mass. They will fearlessly promote it. They will zealously carry on Tradition in a special way. They will humbly feed their flock with the full undiluted teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
Can't imagine anything better than this. And many more on the way. I must be in Heaven. Jube, Domine, benedicere.
Thanks for the report! Those pictures are wonderful. I wish that I could have been there!
Wolftracker, thank you so much for your wonderful photographs. We have posted a link to them on Our blog. +[[[:¬)
thanks for the beautiful pictures and story of ordination. Gives me chills
God bless
I wept, I pray such beauty extend to all those that seek Our Lord. These are true men willing to sacrifice all for love, as did our Lord. May they have the frankness of our Lord tempered with charity for the repentant. I pray the Lord send more to the harvest!
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