As with every Sunday for the last twelve years, my family drove the long 1.5 hour one-way drive up to Chicago for the Mass of the Ages on Sunday, February 6th, 2022. Despite it being a seemingly ordinary Chicago winter day, a blustery and frigid 20 degrees Fahrenheit with an accompanying wind chill, there was something in the air for Catholics drawn to the patrimony of the Traditional Latin Mass in the Archdiocese of Chicago. This was the first Sunday upon which Cardinal Cupich’s unjust edict implementing Pope Francis’ moto proprio, Traditiones Custodes, went into full effect.

For this reason, a grassroots movement of lay faithful organized a Rosary Rally for the Latin Mass in Chicago, to take place at 11am in front of Holy Name Cathedral, in order to pray for Cardinal Blase Cupich and for an end to his restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM). This first Sunday of February in 2022 is of great importance, as the vast majority of traditional Catholics in the Archdiocese of Chicago (outside of the SSPX Chapel in Oak Park), were to be deprived of the TLM as a direct result of Cardinal Cupich’s order.  Going forward, the order from Cupich stated that the first Sunday of each month starting in February 2022 is to be TLM-free.

Before diving in to the Rosary Rally, my family made our way to the regularly scheduled 9am Low Mass at the National Shrine to Christ the King, administered by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP) on the South Side of the city. The Shrine is currently having Mass in an old parochial school building adjoining their magnificent church, which is undergoing renovations from the ravages of a 2015 fire. Upon arrival, it was readily apparent that the already packed parking lot was overflowing. New faces could be seen everywhere, and the overflow room for the Mass started filling up once there was nothing but standing room in the chapel.

Photo by the author

An uneasy excitement and nervousness filled the air in the lead up to Mass, the same sort of feeling one might imagine patrons of speakeasies felt during Prohibition. It was a feeling that one should never have when attending the Mass of the Ages. This did not last long though, as the bell signaling the start of Mass cut like a knife through the anxiety, and the ancient representation of Christ’s Sacrifice began.

Beautiful silence soon permeated the air, as Canon Talarico offered the Low Mass exceptionally well and with the true love that only a deeply devoted servant of the Lord could. At the homily, Canon Zignego delivered a superb apologetic of the use of Latin within the Church’s liturgical and sacramental life. Such a homily could not have been better timed. In a very Thomistic style, he presented steel men arguments for proponents of the vernacular in the liturgy, and then systematically took apart these arguments and displayed how Latin is a far superior choice for the liturgy in the Roman Rite.

Upon the completion of thanksgiving to the Lord after the end of Mass, and the blessing of the throat for those that missed it on the Feast of Saint Blaise, parishioners exchanged pleasantries before many made their way to the Rosary Rally. It is here that parishioners (who wished to remain anonymous) confirmed to me that the schedule for the Traditional Latin Mass will remain as it has at the ICKSP’s National Shrine. There are no scheduling changes occurring due to Cardinal Cupich’s unjust edict, which he intended to apply to all Traditional Latin Masses within the diocese. In other words, everything is business as usual at the ICKSP in Chicago. With that said, if and when this story develops, additional reporting will certainly be needed on this topic.

Finding our way out of the Shrine parking lot, we drove from the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side to the River North neighborhood in downtown Chicago for the Rosary Rally at Holy Name Cathedral. Upon finding parking, we arrived fifteen minutes in advance of the 11am start time before the doorsteps of the Cathedral, constructed in 1874 in the Gothic Revival Style. Already, there was a large gathering of individuals and groups assembling. The Coalition for Cancelled Priests, the American Society for the Defense of  Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP); and of course the organizers of the event themselves, Danniel and Dolores Pribble, stood at attention with their rosaries, signs, a statue of Our Lady of Fatima, and bagpipes ready to roar!

Right up until the start of the Rosary, faithful Catholics kept on packing the sidewalk directly in front of Holy Name Cathedral, until there were well over two hundred supporters of the Rosary Rally, both young and old.  While the elderly were certainly represented, there was a significant showing of families with many small children, along with college aged young adults, underscoring the appeal of the Mass of the Ages to the younger generations.

The event started off with the singing of the Marian hymn, Immaculate Mary, accompanied by the pair of bagpipes. From there, the event organizer, Mr. Danniel Pribble, lead the Rosary on the loudspeaker. As the faithful added one rose at a time to the sweet bouquet of one hundred and fifty Hail Marys, the bitter cold stood no chance against the fiery love emanating from those praying to Our Lady for her intercession during this hour of need. Finishing up the intercessory prayers after the full fifteen decades of the Rosary was the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Maximilian Kolbe’s Prayer of Total Consecration to Our Lady, The Divine Praises, and the O Sanctissima hymn.

As the Rosary Rally in defense of the Latin Mass drew to a close, what was readily apparent was that the faithful displayed an undying love for the patrimony of the Latin Rite that was more than an indication of a liturgical “preference.” The faithful that endured numb toes and fingers on the frigid Chicago winter day were there for a liturgy and sacramental life that gives superior spiritual nourishment to them and their children. This rightful inheritance of Holy Mother Church will not be deprived without a spiritual fight invoking the aid of the Queen of Heaven, for the salvation of souls is too important.

The organizers plan to do this every month until the order is rescinded. Come join us! Your help is requested in the form of Rosaries and Mass intentions for the reversal of these restrictions and for the spiritual welfare of Cardinal Cupich! Your prayers for Our Lady’s intercession are greatly appreciated to help to ease this suffering and bring this all to an end quicker! May God save the Traditional Latin Mass!

For more information see the organizers’ Facebook page. The next Rosary Rally will take place Sunday, March 6th at 11AM outside of Holy Name Cathedral.

Photos by AMDG Photography, except where noted. 

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