The first principle of the Ordinariate is then about Christian unity. St. Basil the Great, the Church’s greatest ecumenist, literally expended his life on the work of building bridges between orthodox brethren who shared a common faith, but who had become separated from one another in a Church badly fragmented by heresy and controversy. He taught that the work of Christian unity requires deliberate and ceaseless effort...St. Basil often talked with yearning about the archaia agape, the ancient love of the apostolic community, so rarely seen in the Church of his day. This love, he taught, is a visible sign that the Holy Spirit is indeed present and active, and it is absolutely essential for the health of the Church.

- Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, Homily on the Occasion of his Formal Institution as Ordinary

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Announcement from Saint Lukes Church, Bladensburg



My dear brothers and sisters--
Soon after Anglicanorum Coetibus was promulgated in 2009, many of us gathered rejoicing and worked for a day when there would be a parish for the Ordinariate here in the nation's capital.  When St. Luke's [Bladensburg] became the first Episcopal Church in America to enter the Catholic Church through Pope Benedicts XVI’s Apostolic Constitution, the decision was made that it would form the basis of that presence here in the DC metro area. Now, St. Luke's is planting its roots in the city. As of September 7th of this year, Sunday Masses using the Divine Worship Liturgy will be offered by St. Luke's at Immaculate Conception; Mass will be at 8:30 am with coffee hour to follow at 10 am in the school auditorium.
For those of you unacquainted with the beautiful Immaculate Conception Church, it is located at the corner of 8th and N Streets NW. Built in the 1870s, this Gothic Revival brick building contains an historic 19th century organ, a high Gothic altar of Italian marble, and Stations of the Cross painted by Franz Kaspar Huibrecht Vinck, a famous late 19th Century Belgian artist. Photos of the interior may be viewed at http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=Immaculate+Conception+Church%2C+Washington%2C+DC&ei=utf-8.
To begin our life together as a DC parish, an Ordinariate Day is planned for June 28th at 10 am at Immaculate Conception Church. We will begin with Mass, followed by a tour of the church, and discussion and fellowship. I urge you all to join us that morning and on each Sunday morning beginning this fall as we seek to build a community that will bear fruit for the Kingdom in our capital city. Please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns. We look forward to laboring with you all as we build a new urban parish for the Ordinariate in service of our Lord.

3 comments:

  1. That's great news. Wish that had been in place when our family visited DC a year ago on vacation. Might have been my one chance to actually be part of an Ordinariate liturgy (until someone decides to inaugurate one here in Silicon Valley).

    What does this mean in terms of Church polity though? This is merely an "extension" mass of St. Luke's, hosted in Immaculate Conception? Or is Immaculate Conception itself joining the Ordinariate as a new parish? If it's an extension mass, who is celebrating it? The clergy of St. Luke's, or of Immaculate Conception? (I ask because it was my understanding that the Divine Worship liturgy can only be celebrated by clergy of the Ordinariate. If that's not the case, then this might open up additional opportunities to promote the Anglican patrimony throughout the larger Church).

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  2. On the images at their Facebook Page the masses are being described as "St Luke's at Immaculate Conception"

    https://www.facebook.com/StLukesCatholicParish/photos/pcb.713293352065284/713293318731954

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  3. There is this blog post that says "As we reported yesterday the Ordinariate parish of St. Luke’s, Bladenburg, is moving six miles to downtown Washington DC."

    http://ordinariateexpats.wordpress.com/2014/06/05/some-background-to-st-lukes-move-to-dc/

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