Today, St. Patrick Church in Nashua took the honor of being the first church in New Hampshire to host a celebration of Mass in the Extraordinary Form since 1969. About 600 people attended, including many students from the nearby Thomas More College of Liberal Arts. Some enthusiastic supporters drove as much as 135 miles to attend the ceremony. Parishioners hope that the pastor Fr. Martin Kelly will start to offer Mass in the old form twice a month at St. Patrick's.
Music was provided by organist Chris Bord, while music director Michael Havay joined the parish choir to sing the Mass VIII ordinary. Members of Boston's Schola Amicorum joined local cantor Jim Gordon on the plainchant propers.
For pastors planning celebrations of the Extraordinary Form, here's a tip which I should offer to Fr. Kelly: you can compensate for the absence of a classic altar rail by setting up a row of prie-dieus at the steps to the sanctuary. They can be set up before Mass with a gap at the aisle, or put into place by the servers before Holy Communion. While many people will be able to kneel at the sanctuary steps even without any structure in place, having the prie-dieus makes the process easier for more people.
