Vibrant Community at Holy Innocents Prays for Persecuted Christians in Iraq and Syria (Again!)



The active and vibrant community of faith at the Church of the Holy Innocents (West 37^th Street in NYC) once again had a rally/vigil for peace to pray for those persecuted in Iraq and Syria.

 

Just as for the vigil on Monday, August 11, 2014, also for this one on Friday, August 22, 2014, there were many people in attendance for the Mass and for the rally at Herald Square. The rosary was prayed, hymns were sung, and the chaplets of St. Michael and Divine Mercy were prayed as well in front of Macy’s.

 

As is usual on Fridays, there was a nice (traditional) Mass with music and incense at 6pm. Then, after the Mass was finished, those who were going to join the rally for peace gathered outside of the church at around 7:30pm to make their way to Herald Square (West 34^th Street and Broadway).

 

Many people passing by were curious about what was going on and many were grateful for the pins/buttons that were being distributed for free.

 

Most of those who were part of the rally/vigil for peace were regular parishioners at the Church of the Holy Innocents. Some others were not parishioners, but heard/read about the rally and wanted to express their solidarity with the Christians who are being persecuted in Iraq and Syria.

 

Anyone who asked for these buttons (whether they were part of the rally/vigil or not) got as many as they wanted (for free!).

 

 

THE NEXT VIGIL FOR PEACE ORGNIZED BY THE ACTIVE PARISHIONERS OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS WILL TAKE PLACE ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2014 AFTER THE 6PM MASS.

 

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 Most of these photos were taken by Mr. Arrys Ortañez

 

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NY Observer piece on the Daily Traditional Mass at Holy Innocents and the Possibility that the Church of the Holy Innocents will be Consolidated

To express your valid worries and concerns to His Eminence, Cardinal Dolan, please write him: (1011 First Avenue, New York NY, 10022) or go here: http://www.archny.org/departments/index.cfm?i=860

The NY Observer has written an article on the ONLY daily traditional Mass at the Church of the Holy Innocents (which, as many already know, has been recommended for closure to the Archdiocese of NY).

Cardinal Dolan will make the final decision sometime in September. Let us hope that he will hear the worries, fears, and concerns of the parishioners of this very active and vibrant community of faith that Holy Innocents really is:
 

http://observer.com/2014/08/the-last-daily-latin-mass-in-new-york-is-facing-extinction/

 

Don't miss clicking on the link given in the article about Making All Things New because it has comments (mine included) left on the Archdiocese's website (section with the Cardinal's own psots): http://blog.archny.org/index.php/making-all-things-new-update/comment-page-1/#comment-189316

 

 

Holy Innocents Church Prays for the Christians in Iraq

The very active and vibrant community of faith at the Church of the Holy Innocents has parishioners who decided to organize a "Rally for Peace" in order to pray in solidarity for the Christians who are persecuted, murdered, martyred, and expelled from their very homes in the Iraq and Syria by violent and murderous people.

 

Many of these people who decided to attend this rally also decided to attend the 6PM Mass at Holy Innocents beforehand. This moved a lot of people and brought many more to the 6pm traditional Mass that takes place daily at Holy Innocents. There were 140 people in attendance for Mass, which was a good turnout as the reporter from NET (New Evangelization Television from the Diocese of Brooklyn) noted.

 

There were a couple of Priests, seminarians, and nuns in attendance! 

 

Below are pictures of the Mass and of the Rally for Peace.

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Holy Innocents and Vocations

John Figueroa, a parishioner at Holy Innocents in NYC, has joined the Wyoming Carmelite Monks of the Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

 

There was a reception for him on Wednesday, July 30th, 2014. Here is a short account of his desire to discern his vocation with the Carmelites in his own words, and the importance of the daily traditional Mass at the Church of the Holy Innocents in this process. 

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A CALLING TO CARMEL

 

Praised be Jesus Christ!

It is through the Immaculate Heart of Mary that one receives the call to serve her Son as a Carmelite. For indeed the life of a Carmelite is nothing more than an imitation of Our Lady’s contemplative life. My discernment to Carmel began after completing my novena to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel at the Carmelite Monastery of Brooklyn in July of 2013. Prior to making that novena would often assist at Holy Mass at the Brooklyn Carmel. I had been making visits there since entering the seminary for the Archdiocese of NY in 2012.

Divine Providence would have it that that Carmel would be a spiritual refuge for me filled with many graces and priceless friendships. I was able to witness the hidden life of deep prayer, penance, and genuine joy just by hearing the angelic voices from behind the iron grilles. The day after completing my novena Our Lady did not waste any time, she showed me the beauty of her “Garden” through the lives of some of her holy ones. The Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne and St. Mary Elias of the Blessed Sacrament are some of the Carmelites that Our Lady inspired me with. But Our Lady would not stop there. That same day I came across a website that would change my life forever.  As soon as I clicked the link for the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming, I felt interiorly as if this was Our Lady’s answer to my novena request. It certainly was since now at 32 years of age I find myself preparing to enter that Carmel!

 

It cannot go without saying however, how important Holy Innocents has been in discerning my vocation. It was in this very Parish that I would first encounter the Traditional Latin Mass; the Mass that has been so vital in forming my own spiritual life, the Mass that has become the cornerstone of my life. This parish continues to be a sanctifying oasis of prayer and devotion, where vocations to all states in life are born and nurtured; undoubtedly, mine was. Ave Maria!

 

Your devoted brother in Christ,

 
John Figueroa

Catholic photos

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Carmelite Nun

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Cistercian Prelates at Vatican II

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Abbot

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Episcopal galero

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White Biretta given to Pope John XXIII

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A Blogger posts Comments on Voice of America & Holy Innocents

The link below has a post on the article/video that Voice of American did on the closing of churches in the Archdiocese of New York with a special focus on the Church of the Holy Innocents.

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2014/07/voice-of-america-on-holy-innocents-in-manhattan-a-vibrant-catholic-community/

The blogger's comments are:

1) The closing of Holy Innocents is not official yet.
2) Priests could be found to say the Masses at Holy Innocents (this is already done daily and for Sunday Vespers)
3) Holy Innocents currently satisfies the spiritual needs of the people (Holy Mass, Confession, novenas, processions, prayers, Vespers, a monthly  all-night vigil, etc.)
4) Holy Innocents has no debts and pays its bills without having to have recourse to the Archdiocese for money
5) Holy Innocents is indeed a very vibrant community of faith.




In addition to that, I would add the following:



1) While it is not official that Holy Innocents will be closed, it is very factual to say that the Archdiocesan Advisory Group that recommended merging or closing churches to Cardinal Dolan thinks that Holy Innocents is not "an active, vibrant community of faith."

This we gather from a letter that Cardinal Dolan sent on July 3rd, 2014 to a concerned parishioner from Holy Innocents who had written him a letter to express her concern and surprise that a church like Holy Innocents would be considered for closure.

2) The Archdiocesan Advisory Group and the Reid Group (consultant group that led the Making All Things New process) had been provided with a Supplement of all the activities and the appropriate financial situation and the historical value and connections of Holy Innocents. For them and the Cardinal to claim that Holy Innocents is not "active" enough or not a "vibrant community of faith" is a little dishonest. One only has to type "Holy Innocents NYC" on Google and hundreds of posts, articles, videos, and photos of events at Holy Innocents will pop up.

3) Mr. Zwilling's comments are intentionally general and vague. While the Archdiocese may feel it does not have enough Priests and it helps many parishes financially, that is not the case with Holy Innocents and many of the churches in midtown Manhattan. The Churches of St, John the Baptist and St. Michael do not get financial help either. So, why are these churches being recommended for closure if the Archdiocese does not give them any money? Would it not make more sense to leave the churches that are financially solvent alone, and try to do something only with those parishes that are a financial burden to the Archdiocese?

At Holy Innocents, there are many Priests who willingly say the traditional Mass and some of them do not even want to take the stipend offered. Moreover, many of the younger Priests do want to say the traditional Mass in order to help the traditional Mass community because they see how neglected they are by the Archdiocese, but they are always afraid of being too open about it because the Archdiocese is always ready to pounce if a Priest expressed too much care and concern for the traditional Mass. So much so that the Archdiocese insists that the first Mass of the newly ordained Priests be a New Order Mass and that the newly ordained Priests kind of "must" have Concelebrants (this to make sure that it will not be a traditional Mass because there is basically no con-celebration in the traditional form of the Mass).