SEDSI receives letter and blessing from Papal Nuncio

Societas Ecclesia Dei Sancti Joseph traces its origins to the "Latin Mass Society of the Philippines" that was founded on December 18, 1987. As such, SEDSI is marking its 25th anniversary this year. Although SEDSI was not able to hold an anniversary Mass on December 18 of this year, it nevertheless received the following very important message and recognition of the legitimacy of its cause: 

The TLM comes back to Sto. Domingo Church!

The church of Sto. Domingo in Quezon City, also known as the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary La Naval de Manila, was the site of the first regularly-scheduled and publicly-accessible indult every-Sunday Traditional Latin Mass in the Philippines since Quattuor Abhinc Annos was promulgated in 1984. That Mass (according to the 1962 Roman Missal rather than the Traditional Dominican Rite) was offered by Fr. Manuel Piñon OP at the altar of Our Lady of the Rosary from 1990 until 1994 when it was suppressed by the late Archbishop of Manila, Jaime Cardinal Sin.  

On October 22, 2012, the Traditional Latin Mass will make its first appearance in the Sto. Domingo church since the 1990's. This time, the Mass will be celebrated, not at a side altar, but at the main altar. The Mass will be offered by Fr. Michell Joe Zerrudo at 7:00 P.M.

Providentially, since it is October, the image of Our Lady of the Rosary La Naval de Manila is also enthroned at the center of the sanctuary (see above), thus allowing for the Mass to celebrated right in front of her -- just like in the days of Fr. Piñon.

Our new home: Holy Family Parish

Beginning January 19, Thursday, the daily (and Sunday) Traditional Latin Mass in Parish of the Lord of Divine Mercy will be transferred to the much bigger Holy Family Parish (see above) in Roxas District, Quezon City. This is due to the assignment of our chaplain, Fr. Michell Joe Zerrudo, as the new pastor of Holy Family Parish. 

The schedule will continue to be the same: weekday TLM's at 8:30 A.M. and the Sunday Mass at 2:00 P.M. 

The information at the sidebar and on WikkiMissa will be updated in the next few days. Directions will also be posted. I also hope to be able to finish a post on our Advent and Christmas Masses and events. 

Parish of the Lord of Divine Mercy -- "PLDM" -- served as refuge for the Traditional Latin Mass from late 2006 (when Summorum Pontificum was but a rumor) until this month. The last regular Sunday TLM was offered today and the last weekday TLM will be offered there on January 18. This parish was the scene of some of the Traditional Latin Mass movement's greatest joys and triumphs and it will forever remain in our memories and prayers. 

This blog...

... will, for the meantime, act as the official website of Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph, a lay community of Roman Catholics in the Philippines who are greatly attracted to to the pre-Vatican II forms of the Latin Rites of the Roman Catholic Church. Among these forms, the best well-known and far and away the most widespread at this time is the "Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite" (see Summorum Pontificum, its accompanying letter, and its authoritative interpretation) which properly refers to the form of the Roman Rite that is celebrated according to the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal (see also this webpage). It is popularly referred to as the "Tridentine Rite". 

The organization now known as Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph was officially founded on December 18, 1987 after preparations that began in 1986. However, it currently takes its name from the Apostolic Letter Ecclesia Dei Adflicta promulgated by Pope John Paul II on July 2, 1988. Through many vicissitudes, and always maintaining obedience to the diocesan authorities, this society managed to preserve the celebration of the "Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite" in the Archdiocese of Manila and, after 2002, in the Diocese of Cubao.  I's current home is the Parish of the Lord of Divine Mercy in the Diocese of Cubao, where the parish priest -- Fr. Michell Joe B. Zerrudo -- celebrates the "Extraordinary Form" Mass daily. 

In 2010, Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph was formally accepted by Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce as its first (and, so far, its only) affiliated organization in the Philippines.