January 29th, 2023

Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time

by Fr. Boniface Endorf, O.P.

Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,

This Thursday is Candlemas, also known as the Presentation of the Lord. It’s called Candlemas because there is a special blessing of candles at the beginning and then a procession. This year we’re re-introducing this special candle blessing and procession. We’ll bless the church candles we’ll use throughout this year, and you can bring your candles that you want blessed. It starts in McGuire Hall at 7pm, and after the opening candle blessing we’ll process into the church for the rest of the mass. I encourage everyone to attend that evening—it’ll be a grace filled night. We’ll still also have our normal 12:10pm daily mass that day too, but without the candle blessing. 

This Friday is the Memorial of St. Blaise. At our 12:10pm daily Mass we’ll have the St. Blaise throat blessings.

The 2023 Cardinal’s Appeal has now begun and I encourage you to pray about supporting the Archdiocese of New York this year. Details to come. If you give, make sure to mark St. Joseph in Greenwich Village as your parish.

Mass Tidbit:

At the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist the altar is set up. The server first puts the missal and its stand on the altar. The missal contains all the text and instructions for saying the mass, so the priest uses it to recite the mass. 

The server next puts the chalice stack on the altar. This first contains the chalice covered by a purificator (the white cloth the priest uses to purify the chalice after communion). On top of the purificator lays a paten with an unconsecrated celebrant host on it. The paten is the small round gold plate that the priest uses at mass to hold the celebrant host. The celebrant host is the unleavened bread that the priest prays the Eucharistic prayer over. It’s larger than the normal communion host because later in the mass the priest will break the host and being larger it’s easier to break in half or quarters. 

Above the paten with host is the pall, a white, stiff piece of linen that the priest sometimes uses to cover the chalice. Historically it was there to keep bugs out of the chalice, a situation that happens today in the summer when the windows are open and a bug may be buzzing around the altar. 

Then on top of all that is the chalice veil, a large piece of cloth that covers all below and that matches the liturgical color for the mass. Finally, on top of the chalice veil is the burse, which is the square shaped item that is the same fabric and color as the chalice veil. The burse holds the corporals, which are the white folded clothes that the priest lays over the altar. 

To set up the altar, the priest deconstructs the chalice stack: he unfolds the corporals over the space on the altar where the bread and wine will be consecrated, and places the other items where he’ll need them during the rest of the Eucharistic prayer. The server usually then takes the chapel veil and the burse back to the credence table, the table by the St. Patrick statue that holds these items when they are not needed at the altar.

God Bless,
Fr. Boniface