Report: Cardinal Zen Pontifical Mass in NYC 2020

On Saturday, 15 February 2020, Cardinal Zen offered the Votive Mass of St. Pius V at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer in New York City.  A member of Woodlawn Council 2161 was present, and provided the following report & photos.

There were at least 700 people in attendance at the Pontifical High Mass at the Throne at the Church of Saint Vincent Ferrer, New York City, celebrated by His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Zen, of the Diocese of Hong Kong. His Eminence was greeted at the West Porch of the church by the Honor Guard, made up of NYPD officers, and processed to the high altar amid solemn music by the Schola Cantorum and Brass Ensemble of St. Vincent Ferrer.

The Reverends Robert Pasley of Camden, Michael Novajosky of Bridgeport, Rufus Kenny of New York, and Richard G. Cipolla, DPhil, of Bridgeport served as assisting priest, deacon, subdeacon, and homilist, respectively. The Mass was part of the Third Annual Lepanto Conference, an event organized by the Pio-Leonine Society for young Catholics under the patronage of Pope St. Pius V, and was sponsored by the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny.

The Reverend Richard G. Cipolla, DPhil, of the Diocese of Bridgeport, opened his homily with lines from G.K. Chesterton’s Lepanto Poem, and went on to point out how the poem was not much read today. In fact, it was not much read because our postmodern society rejects such celebrations of chivalry, courage, and Christendom in Europe as offensive in this post-Christian age centered on the desires of the self and with distorted view of reality. He ended the homily by saying that too many Catholics believe the Crucifix is simply furniture of the Church. When Jesus Christ is no longer the center to how one lives, the Faith becomes mere religion. When Cardinal Zen, whose witness to Jesus Christ refuses to deny the freedom bought on the Cross, celebrates Mass at the altar it is not mere religion, it is an eruption of Heaven at this space and time. It is the Mass of Saint Dominic and Saint Benedict. The Church, grounded in regality, is the glorious embodiment of the Faith. Saint Pius V, pray for us.

Additional information and photos, including the text of Fr. Cipolla's sermon, can be found on The Society of St. Hugh Cluny website.