Saint Francis de Sales Oratory
2653 Ohio Avenue
Saint Louis, Missouri 63118
314-771-3100
12 July 2008
Email newsletter contains information about:
FIRST MASS-FATHER HENRIQUE FRAGELLI
MOZART MASS-“SPATZEN MESSE”
GOLDEN BRICK AWARD
3RD ANNIVERSAY OF FOUNDATION- ORATORY OF ST FRANCIS DE SALES
ARCHBISHOP BURKE-APPOINTMENT-PREFECT SUPREME TRIBUNAL OF THE APOSTOLIC SIGNATURA
Dear faithful and friends of St. Francis de Sales Oratory,
This Sunday, July 13, Fr. Henrique Fragelli, a newly-ordained priest of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, will celebrate his first Solemn High Mass at St. Francis de Sales Oratory here in St. Louis. Fr. Fragelli was recently ordained at the church of St. Michael and St. Cajetan, the Institute’s church in Florence, Italy, by our former Archbishop, His Grace, the Most Rev. Raymond L. Burke, now Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.
Our choir, under its director, Nick Botkins, will perform Mozart’s “Spatzen-Messe”. A reception in the church hall will follow the Mass, and all family and friends of Fr. Fragelli as well as all Oratory members and guests are invited to this reception.
Last Wednesday evening, July 9, Fr. Karl Lenhardt, Rector of St. Francis de Sales Oratory, was presented with the “Golden Brick Award” by Mr. Tom Pickel, Executive Director of the DeSales Community Housing Corporation, an organization which helps rescue and restore properties in the area around the Oratory. The award was given for the restoration of the Church, in particular for the outstanding architectural and decorative work done on the vesting sacristy, work masterminded by Abbe Alexander Willwebber of the Institute and for which he had already merited the Papal “Bene Merenti” award.
St. Francis de Sales Church, once known as “the Cathedral of South St. Louis,” serves as the anchor of the Fox Park neighborhood, an old residential area once blighted but now gradually being restored, house by house, primarily through the efforts of the DeSales Community Housing Corporation. During the ceremony that culminated in the presentation of the Golden Brick Award, Fr. Lenhardt graciously invited all members of both the DeSales Community Housing Corporation and the Fox Park Neighborhood Association to attend the Knights of Columbus annual barbecue in August, on Saturday the 23rd and Sunday the 24th.
This is truly a success story, considering that just a few years ago the Church had been recommended for closing and destruction. Archbishop Burke decided instead to transform the church into an oratory for the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite and to bring members of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest to administer this apostolate both in the oratory and in the Archdiocese as a whole.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008 marked the third anniversary of the foundation of St. Francis de Sales Oratory by our beloved former Archbishop, His Grace, the Most rev. Raymond L. Burke. Almost at the same time it is a year since the publication of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum. At the Oratory we have all reason to thank divine providence, the Holy Father, His Grace, the superiors of our Institute, our confreres and candidates, and everyone who has helped us so much over the last three years.
The new appointment of his Grace, the Most Reverend Raymond L. Burke, as Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura fills us with great joy and profound thankfulness toward our Holy Father because this appointment expresses, once again, the important contribution of Archbishop Burke to the good of the universal Church. Although, we cannot but feel a certain sadness over the loss of Archbishop Burke here in St. Louis, we are profoundly convinced that his work at the Holy See will even multiply the good fruits we have seen in our archdiocese for the whole Mystical Body of Christ.
We give thanks to Divine Providence that we at St. Francis de Sales Oratory in St. Louis, the congregation at St. Mary’s Oratory in Wasau, Wisconsin, and the many priests of our Institute, are among the fruits that the work of Archbishop Burke has brought forth. It seems to be very providential that the new appointment of Archbishop Burke was published on the Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, as he has also been very instrumental in the restoration of the Archconfraternity of Our Mother of Perpetual Help at St. Francis de Sales Oratory. We will continue to gratefully remember Archbishop Burke’s intentions in our prayers. After all Masses we pray three Hail Mary and the Memorare at the Altar of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in the intention of a new Archbishop of St. Louis.
We also pray for His Excellency, the Most Rev. Robert Hermann, Archdiocesan Administrator, who has frequently visited our Oratory and is most supportive of our work and mission. The change in the administration of the archdiocese will not affect in any way the operation of St. Francis de Sales Oratory or the presence or the work of the priests of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. We are very grateful to the offices and institutions of the Archdiocese of St. Louis for the trustful cooperation and helpful assistance the Oratory has received.
Please, continue to help and to support our Oratory and the work of our Institute in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Since the foundation of St. Francis de Sales Oratory we had 56 baptisms and only 16 funerals of our congregation. This reflects the enormous vitality and attraction of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite and its contribution to the life of our whole society. It also reminds us of our mission to preserve what we have received for future generations.
With my best regards and the assurance of our prayers in your intentions
Fr. Karl W. Lenhardt
Episcopal Delegate/Rector/Vice Provincial
Mr. Jon R. T. Rochê
Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest
St. Francis de Sales Oratory
2653 Ohio Avenue
Saint Louis, Missouri 63118
p. 314. 771. 3100
f. 314. 771. 3295
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