On May 31, 2012, at half-past eight in the evening, the Traditional Latin Mass was said for the first time in the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace in Grace Park, Caloocan City since the liturgical reforms of Paul VI took effect in the late 1960's. The parish was founded in 1947 and is currently the largest church in the Diocese of Kalookan. It is currently under the care of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI).
To my knowledge this is also the first non-private TLM to be offered in the Diocese of Kalookan since it was erected in 2003, and therefore the last diocese in the entire Ecclesiastical Province of Manila to witness the public revival of this Mass after Summorum Pontificum. (It is interesting to note that probably the last parish in the entire Archdiocese of Manila to cease the open celebration of the TLM in the aftermath of the liturgical revolution was located within the territory of what is now the Diocese of Kalookan. I am referring to the Parish of San Pancracio, located within La Loma Cemetery; the late Msgr. Melencio De Vera continued to celebrate the TLM even after 1969, reportedly doing so in the San Pancracio parish church until the early 1980's.)
To my knowledge this is also the first non-private TLM to be offered in the Diocese of Kalookan since it was erected in 2003, and therefore the last diocese in the entire Ecclesiastical Province of Manila to witness the public revival of this Mass after Summorum Pontificum. (It is interesting to note that probably the last parish in the entire Archdiocese of Manila to cease the open celebration of the TLM in the aftermath of the liturgical revolution was located within the territory of what is now the Diocese of Kalookan. I am referring to the Parish of San Pancracio, located within La Loma Cemetery; the late Msgr. Melencio De Vera continued to celebrate the TLM even after 1969, reportedly doing so in the San Pancracio parish church until the early 1980's.)
The Mass was a Solemn Mass offered by Fr. Rodel F. Lopez OMI, with Fr. Michell Joe Zerrudo (Chaplain of SEDSI) as deacon and Mr. Dennis Raymond Maturan (Founder and Chairman of SEDSI and an instituted acolyte) as "straw subdeacon", in accordance with the positive responsum given on June 7, 1993 by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei to the question of whether instituted acolytes may serve as straw subdeacons in Solemn Masses celebrated according to the 1962 Missal.
Adding solemnity to the Mass was the presence of Knights of Columbus in full regalia, led by Fr. Lopez's brother, Mr. Rommel Lopez.
Adding solemnity to the Mass was the presence of Knights of Columbus in full regalia, led by Fr. Lopez's brother, Mr. Rommel Lopez.
The Mass was organized as a farewell of sorts for Fr. Lopez, who is leaving for the missions in Mindanao (in the southern Philippines) in early June. Ordained in 2008, he offered the Traditional Latin Mass in the last few years as far as his busy schedule in the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace allowed; however, he was not able to offer this Mass in the Shrine itself until this historic day.
Another Solemn Mass will be offered in Holy Family Parish on June 3, 2012, Feast of the Most Holy Trinity.
H/t to Dennis Raymond Maturan for the picture.
