Dear readers, could you please pray for Fr. Joseph McGrath, as he was taken to the emergency room today after the High Mass. I know he had some serious blood clots in his leg, so he definitely needs prayers right now. Thank you. Update: Fr. McGrath didn’t go to the hospital like I thought, but he is under a physician’s care. So he is doing better, but prayers are still welcome! 
The only Latin Mass in this diocese that I know of for the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, which is a Holy Day of Obligation, is on August 15th, 2008, at 6:00 PM at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Hackberry, Louisiana.
Salve!
Father Rommel Tolentino, the new pastor of Saint Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Hackberry, Louisiana, has graciously decided to offer Holy Mass in the extraordinary form every Monday at St. Peter’s at 6:15 PM, unless he is unable to do so. It will be a Low Mass. All are welcome to attend. I will post on the blog when he is unable to celebrate Mass.
Also, he will celebrate a Low Mass every First Saturday of the month at St. Peter’s in Hackberry at 8:30 AM. The next First Saturday will be August 2nd.
I have updated the page “Latin Masses in the Diocese” accordingly.
Thanks to this blog as well as this blog for their posts about our recent and successful Solemn High Mass! Hopefully soon we’ll have more pictures to share too. Here’s what was sent to those blogs:
The Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul of this year was an historic one for the Catholics of the Diocese of Lake Charles, Louisiana: it was celebrated by the offering of the first Solemn High Mass according to the Extraordinary Form in the Diocese since the end of the Second Vatican Council. This alone would have been cause for rejoicing, but the faithful of Lake Charles had even more to celebrate. The Mass was offered in the Cathedral of their Diocese, with their Bishop, Glen John Provost, himself in attendance, in choir, attended by two chaplains; and the Bishop himself preached a fine, strong homily on the fundamental continuity of the Faith, echoing Pope Benedict’s assertion that “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too.” Over four hundred people attended the choral Mass, including many who are not regulars of the usual weekly Mass according to the Extraordinary Form. The diocesan newspaper sent a reporter and a photographer to cover the story; the Mass was also video-taped for posterity.
The history of the Gregorian Rite in Lake Charles in the past few years is a microcosm for the general movement of the Church in this time. The faithful there first had their long-standing “indult” Mass summarily canceled by their previous (and short-lived) Bishop; they suffered and agonized and prayed; and they then received — in the space of a few months — both the great gift of Summorum Pontificum and their present, and already much beloved, Bishop, who was ready to implement the motu proprio in accord with the mind of the Church. With these graces, they have rebuilt their community rapidly, organized a fine choir, and now split their time between the Cathedral and a local parish church; though many of the regulars hope eventually to have a more permanent, and regular, home, they are thrilled and grateful for the far-sighted generosity of the Bishop.
The spirit of harmony and good will was much in evidence at the celebratory Mass. The Bishop offered his own matched set of fine martyr-red vestments for use during the ceremony — how many Bishops have a spare set of Solemn High Mass vestments on hand, complete with maniples? The clerics were all diocesan priests. Fr. Rommel Tolentino — a young pastor who is one of the three usual celebrants for the weekly EF Mass — celebrated the Mass, chanting his parts with an aplomb born of enthusiasm and much diligent practice. The deacon was another young priest, newly ordained Fr. Nathan Long; while the role of sub-deacon was filled by a transitional deacon, the Rev. Mr. Scott Connor. These last two clerics are the first wave of a growing group of seminarians who have volunteered to take extra instruction in Latin, with the Bishop’s approbation and encouragement, from a classics professor at the local University — and lover of the Gregorian Rite — Barbara Wyman.
The Mass ended with a beautifully chanted Te Deum, perfectly expressing, in the Church’s traditional way, the great spirit of rejoicing — and relief — widely felt among the faithful that their Diocese is prospering under the piloting of its new Bishop, who himself is wisely responding to the guidance and spirit of Pope Benedict’s leadership of the Church. Deo Gratias!
Salve!
The Solemn High Mass celebrated by Rev. Fr. Rommel Tolentino as priest, Rev. Fr. Nathan Long as deacon, and Deacon Scott Connor as subdeacon was excellent. Seminarian Bryan Thompson did an impeccable job as the emcee.
His Excellency Bishop Glen John Provost gave a superb homily on the Catholic Church, the Papacy, and the Apostle to the Gentiles Saint Paul for the illustrious Feast of SS. Peter and Paul.
Around 400 faithful souls assisted at Holy Mass, which is a record indeed for the regular Latin Mass at the Cathedral! Many new faces were seen, and hopefully will continue to attend in order to strengthen their spiritual life.
The Altar servers ought to be thanked and congratulated for a job well done.
The choir sang beautifully, especially with the Te Deum chant sung at the end of Mass.
Lastly, those who do things behind the scenes, such as the women who prepare the snacks and drinks after Mass, the sacristans, and all who help out in any way are thanked as well.
I do have one request from anyone who reads this thing, and that is that you pray for the choir member who fell down the steps up to the choir loft and hurt himself. He was taken to the hospital before Mass began. And apparently he’s okay now, so that’s great!
The Mass was videoed since it was indeed the first Solemn High Mass celebrated in Lake Charles in probably 40 years. A photographer was present, so hopefully those pictures will become available sometime soon. There was also a short bulletin that I’ve uploaded onto the bulletin page. And remember, everything we do in this life, spiritually as well as physically, affects us in the next. Therefore we should worship God, not for ourselves, but rather ad majorem Dei gloriam!!
Dear readers, we are pleased to announce that a Solemn High Mass will be celebrated on Sunday, June 29th, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Lake Charles at 2:00 PM. A Solemn High Mass has not be celebrated in our area in probably over 40 years. Here’s some more information:
Celebrant: Rev. Fr. Rommel Tolentino
Deacon: Rev. Fr. Nathan Long
Sub-Deacon: Rev. Deacon Scott Conner
Master of Ceremonies: Mr. Bryan Thompson
In Attendance:
The Most Rev. Glen John Provost Bishop of Lake Charles (expected)
Rev. Fr. Roland Vaughn (Chaplain for the extraordinary form - expected)
Rev. Fr. Joseph McGrath (expected)
The Seminarians for the diocese (expected)
Feel free to bring your family and friends to pray at the august Sacrifice of the Mass. Confessions heard before Mass.
I just realized that this blog is over one year old. Now that is amazing how time flies! Anyways we’re slowly uploading some more pictures on our flickr page which can be viewed here.
Salvete! The Feast of Corpus Christi will be extended to Sunday, May 25th, 2008. Fr. Tolentino is planning on holding a Eucharistic Procession as well as Eucharistic Benediction. (Also in the works is a Solemn High Mass, but that’s unofficial news right now). 
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there! May Mary the Mother of God be your holy inspiration.
The ordination to the Sacred Priesthood for Deacon Nathan Long and Deacon Ruben Buller is Saturday May 10th at the Cathedral. Scott Connor will be ordained as a deacon. We should all pray for these men that they ever remain steadfast in their total sacrifice and surrendering to Christ.
The Cathedral around the 1920s or so:
The Cathedral High Altar around the later 1930s:
Msgr. Hubert Cramers, who is buried beneath the Sanctuary, right in front of where the freestanding “altar table” is located now.
In 1910, a great fire destroyed much of the city, including the original parish, and the Catholic school:
Before that, there was a church, convent, and school all on one campus and location:
The original church around the 1890s/1900s:
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