A Pontifical Solemn High Mass commemorating the tenth anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s motu proprio Summorum Pontificum will be offered at 1:00 pm this Saturday afternoon, April 28, 2018, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
Celebrant of the Mass will be His Excellency Alexander Sample, Archbishop of Portland. The Basilica choir will sing Missa Salve Regina by Victoria as the ordinary of the Mass, and several Renaissance polyphony motets by Palestrina, Ugolini, Monteverdi, Clemens, Manchicourt and Marenzio. Propers of the Mass will be sung by the Saint Mary Mother of God schola from Washington. Several preludes will be sung by guest choirs, including one from the Lyceum School in South Euclid, Ohio, and another choir from Saint John the Baptist Church in Allentown, N.J.
April 28’s solemn pontifical Mass will be the second such Mass in the upper church since 1969. It will be a votive Mass commemorating the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in the basilica dedicated to Our Lady. No tickets will be required to attend the Mass, which will also be broadcast worldwide on EWTN.
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is located at 400 Michigan Avenue NE in Washington. Ample free parking is available in the parking lot across Harewood Road NE. Metrorail service is available at the Brookland/CUA stop on the Red Line.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore has announced that all donations from the National Shrine of St. Alphonsus Liguori to the 2018 Archbishop’s Annual Appeal fundraising campaign will be rebated to the parish, tax-free. Typically a parish receives a 25% rebate of donations to the Archbishop’s Appeal until the parish has met its goal, at which point the rebate “flips” and the parish receives a 75% rebate of the rest of its donations.