The next Mass in the Extraordinary Form to be offered at Holy Comforter will be on Sunday, Sept. 23 at 1:30 pm. This will be a High Mass. The propers for the 18th Sunday After Pentecost can be found here.
An additional Latin Mass this month will be offered on Sept. 30.
For information on other Latin Masses in the Richmond and Arlington Dioceses, please see the “Virginia” section of this page at the Coalition in Support of Ecclesia Dei.
Holy Comforter Catholic Church is proud to offer Sunday Masses in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. On a trial basis, we will offer the Mass every Sunday through December 2018. Father Joseph Mary will then assess relative levels of attendance, support, organization and participation when deciding whether to make this change permanent.
The Traditional Latin Mass is also generally offered on high-ranking Sunday feasts such as Christmas (Midnight), Easter and Pentecost. Holy Comforter also offers an Ascension Thursday Mass, a Requiem Mass on All Souls Day and, by request, Requiem Masses for funerals.
The Tridentine Rite is the form of the Mass published in the Roman Missal from 1570 to 1962. Though widely believed to have been abrogated and suppressed by the institution of the Mass of Paul VI in 1970, today called the “Ordinary Form,” this was actually not the case. Pope Benedict XVI in his 2007 encyclical Summorum Pontificum made it clear that the Tridentine Rite was never abolished and can and should be celebrated wherever the people ask for it.
Though a different form of the same Roman Rite Mass, the Tridentine Rite also follows a separate liturgical calendar. That means that certain feast days will fall on different days and certain feasts celebrated today are absent from the previous calendar. The Tridentine Rite also has the season of “pre-Lent” and uses ordinal counting between seasons instead of referring to “Ordinary Time.” That means, for instance, September 3, 2017, was referred to as the “13th Sunday after Pentecost” as opposed to the “22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.” Sundays following the Epiphany but before Septuagesima are simply referred to as the “Xth Sunday After the Epiphany.”
Click here for more information on the ordo, or liturgical calendar, for the Extraordinary Form.
For a more general overview of the Traditional Latin Mass, please visit Sancta Missa. The propers for Sunday Masses can be found here and the propers for each weekday can be found here, courtesy of Extraordinaryform.org
The Extraordinary Form of the Mass is celebrated on the 1st, 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month at 1:30 pm. Low Masses are offered on the 1st Sundays, while 2nd and 4th Sundays are Missa Cantata (Sung Masses). To receive all the latest information on the Traditional Latin Mass at Holy Comforter, including any changes to the usual schedule, please email John Noble.
Parishioners, non-parishioners and visitors are always welcome at this Mass and every Mass celebrated at Holy Comforter.
Getting involved in the Latin Mass at Holy Comforter
Because the Extraordinary Form is more complicated than the Ordinary Form, we are always looking for potential acolytes who are interested helping us celebrate this form of the Mass. Per the specific rubrics of the Rite, serving at this form of the Mass is open to boys and men. If you believe the Lord is calling you and/or your sons to serve at this Mass, please contact our Master of Ceremonies Chris Braunger via email or get touch with one of the older boys following Mass.
We now have Men’s and Ladies’ Scholas that chant at all Sung Masses. We also have a fledgling Children’s Schola as well. If you are interested in Gregorian Chant, please contact our music director, Daniel Kirkland, via email. You can also speak with him after a sung Mass to find out how your voice can add to the beauty of the sacrifice.