On Tuesday, St Brigid's in the east end of Toronto saw its first Solemn High Mass in probably 45 years or more. Fr Venette of the FSSP was the celebrant, and two transitional deacons from St Augustine's Seminary filled the roles of deacon and subdeacon.
All told, the celebrant and his assistants and we singers in the choir loft together with the people in the pews numbered more than a hundred. Not a bad turnout for a first-time event on a snowy night.
The occasion was Candlemas: in the 1962 Missal, the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and in the Ordinary Form, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.
When some of our family members attended a United Church service on Christmas Eve, the people processed around the church with lit candles. Our relatives hadn't heard of such a thing being done; surely this ultimately came from the Catholic tradition of a Candlemas procession.
Tuesday being the twentieth anniversary of my father's death, I found the Tract particularly poignant:
NUNC dimittis servum tuum, Domine * Secundum verbum tuum in pace: Quia viderunt oculi mei * salutare tuum Quod parasti * ante faciem omnium populorum: Lumen ad revelationem gentium, * Et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.
[NOW dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, * in peace, according to Thy word: For mine own eyes hath seen * Thy salvation, Which Thou hast prepared * in the sight of all the peoples, A light to reveal Thee to the nations * and the glory of Thy people Israel.]
For more pictures, see the FSSP Toronto Facebook group.
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