Rorate Caeli

Summorum Pontificum anniversary Mass at basilica shrine

In 2010, a pontifical High Mass was offered in the upper church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., the largest traditional Latin Mass offered in the United States since the creation of the novus ordo liturgy.


Today, on the tenth anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, it has been announced there will be a second pontifical High Mass in the upper church there. It will be offered on 28 April 2018. Details are in the works, but here is the announcement from our friends at the Paulus Institute, which is organizing and funding the Mass:


The Paulus Institute for the Propagation of Sacred Liturgy is pleased to announce that the tenth anniversary of the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum issued motu proprio by Pope Benedict XVI on July 7, 2007, will be commemorated in the Great Upper Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. A Pontifical Solemn High Mass will be celebrated according to the 1962 Missal of St. Pope John XXIII, widely known as the “Traditional Latin Mass,” and formally as the Forma extraordinaria of the Roman Rite of the Eucharistic Liturgy. Because the Shrine is under construction for the remainder of 2017, the pontifical Mass has been scheduled within the tenth anniversary year of Summorum Pontificum, on Saturday, April 28, 2018, at 1 p.m. in the Great Upper Church. Information on a celebrant and other details will be posted at a later date. The Paulus Institute expresses our most sincere gratitude and extends our prayers on behalf of His Eminence Donald Cardinal Wuerl for his kind support of this pontifical Mass. We also express our profound gratitude and continuous prayers for Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI for his gift of Summorum Pontificum to the Church. We entrust this pontifical Mass to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, asking Our Lady to intercede to the Sacred Heart of her Son on behalf of all who are able to participate at the Shrine and others from a distance, and further on behalf of Holy Mother Church.