Founded 1866 The Shrine and Parish Church of the Holy Innocents “The Little Catholic Church Around the Corner” at the crossroads of the world 128 West 37th St. (Just West of Broadway) New York City 10018 The Return Crucifix “Miracles on 37th Street” Week of January 6, 2019 THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD Mass Intentions SUNDAY, JANUARY 6 - The Epiphany of the Lord LATIN TRIDENTINE MASS CORNER 09:00 - Pro Populo 10:30 - Triantafillos Kassidis (d) Calendar 12:30 - In Thanksgiving to St. Jude January 6 - Epiphany of the Lord MONDAY, JANUARY 7 - St. Raymond of Peñafort, Priest 1st Class - Polyphonic Mass 07:00 - Jose Maria Morales Renteria (d) January 7 - Epiphany Feria (Mass of Epiphany) 07:30 - Kay Irudden (d) 4th Class - Low Mass 12:15 - Families in the Book of Life 01:15 - Ruza Zobko (d) January 8 - Epiphany Feria 06:00 - Family of David & Patty Haro (L) Conversion 4th Class - Low Mass TUESDAY, JANUARY 8 - Christmas Weekday January 9 - Epiphany feria 07:00 - St. Anthony 4th Class - Low Mass 07:30 - Arnulfo Endaya, Francis & Alfred Austria (d) January 10 - Epiphany Feria 12:15 - William Hugh Moffitt (d) 4th Class - Low Mass 01:15 - Sandee Denove (d) 06:00 - Concepcion De Lara (d) January 11 - St. Hyginus, Pope & Martyr 4th Class - Low Mass WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9 - Christmas Weekday January 12 - Saturday of Our Lady 07:00 - Justin Imperatore (d) 4th Class - Low Mass 07:30 - Thomas Gargam (d) 12:15 - Kevin Timothy Back (d) Next Sunday 01:15 - Constance Jerome (d) January 13 - Feast of the Holy Family 06:00 - John Bishop (d) 2nd Class - Chant Mass THURSDAY, JANUARY 10 - Christmas Weekday 07:00 - In Honor of the Holy Innocents Eucharistic Holy Hour of Reparation 07:30 - Dorothy C. Moore (d) in honor of the 12:15 - Forgotten Souls in Purgatory Holy Face of Jesus 01:15 - In Thanksgiving to the Blessed Sacrament 06:00 - Orlando Galias (L) Birthday Blessings Every Third Tuesday of the month Following the 6:00 p.m. Mass FRIDAY, JANUARY 11 - Christmas Weekday Next Holy Hour: January 15 07:00 - In Thanksgiving 07:30 - John Janda (d) 12:15 - Erlinda Chen Bona (d) 2000 HAIL MARYS 01:15 - Orson Williams (L) 06:00 - Braun Family (L) Health Intentions The next 2000 Hail Marys devotion will take place next Saturday, January 12 beginning at 6:00 and SATURDAY, JANUARY 12 - St. Marguerite Bourgeoyus ending with the 4:00 p.m. Mass. 12:00 - Dorothy Doyle (d) 01:00 - Family of David & Patty Haro (L) Conversion 04:00 - Teresa Marcellin (L) Altar Offerings Sanctuary Candle NEXT SUNDAY - The Baptism of the Lord Leith, Moore & Gerber Families 09:00 - Marlene Lopez Jacinto (L) 10:30 - Purgatorial Society Adoration Candles 12:30 - People of the Parish In Thanksgiving, In Reparation and for Conversion Altar Candles Dedicated to Fr. James Miara in his Priestly & Pastoral Ministry My dear parishioners, I wish to thank all of you for your generosity to Holy Innocents during this Christmas season. I am grateful to all who have made a Christmas gift to our parish. Your generosity continues to inspire me. Next week we will re- port the total amount for 2018 Christmas Collection in the Bulletin. On a personal note, I would like to thank all of those who have remembered me and the priests of the parish by send- ing cards, good wishes, food, and gifts. I am humbled by your generosity and thoughtfulness. I treasure all of the beau- tiful gifts I have received and each time I use them I remember the one who was kind enough to give it. I would like to highlight one of the unique gifts I received and share the story behind it with you. One of our weekday Sacristans, Brian Hilley, presented me with a fairly heavy package on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, after our full schedule of Masses was over, I opened it and found a small picture framed. It was a lightly worn antique Holy Card (refer to other page of bulletin to see a copy of it) of our Return Crucifix so highly venerated here at Holy Innocents, in very good condition. On the back of the card is a Prayer for a Happy Death with the Imprima- tur by Patrick Joseph Cardinal Hayes, who served as Archbishop of our beloved Archdiocese from 1919 until his death in 1938. I assume this Holy Card is probably from the 1940s during the pastorate of Msgr. Aloysius Dineen who was Pastor of this beloved church from 1931-1951 and who popularized devotion to Our Lord of the Return Crucifix. Need- less to say, I was thrilled to have this piece of history of Holy Innocents! I assumed that Brian, who has an interest in the history of Holy Innocents and is a great researcher, found it on e-bay, but that was not the case. On St. Stephen’s Day he told me how he came across this treasure. As you know from the Renew and Rebuild Capital Campaign, our sinking vestibule is in the process of being fixed. As a part of that process, a sizable section of the ceiling in the lower Church Hall had to be removed to discover the root of the problem. Brian told me that one day he went down to the Hall after the demolition crew left to lock up and dis- covered this very Holy Card lying near the entrance. It must have fallen from the ceiling and somehow for many dec- ades was caught in the section of the church building between the floor of the vestibule and the ceiling of the Church Hall, perhaps falling through a crevice in the floor or through a radiator. Only God knows. A second part of my gift from Brian was a package of about 500 of those Holy Cards reproduced exactly as the origi- nal card from the 1940s. I want to share these cards with you as an encouragement to venerate Jesus of the Return Cru- cifix and to pray before it for graces you are seeking in your lives. There is a weekly novena on Friday and many entrust their intentions to us to be prayed during this time of prayer. Perhaps you will join in this weekly novena if you are not already doing so. This particular crucifix (the story of which is located in another part of this bulletin) has been so high- ly venerated here at Holy Innocents for decades and should continue to be so. Please daily recite the Prayer for a Happy Death so that “we may meet merrily in Heaven” as St. Thomas More wrote in his letter of July 5, 1535 to his daughter Margaret Roper, and spread this devotion. Msgr. Dineen said on many occasions that the hand of God is felt here at Ho- ly Innocents and that prayers are answered here. Please take as many of these cards as you wish and spread this good news far and wide to your family, friends and loved ones. Be a recipient of the graces Our Lord of the return Crucifix wishes to bestow upon you! In Jesus & Mary, Fr. Miara Prayer to Jesus of the Return Crucifix Jesus Christ crucified, Son of the Virgin Mary, incline Thy sacred Head and listen to my prayers and sighs, as Thou didst listen to Thy eternal Father from Mount Thabor. Hail Mary, etc… Jesus Christ crucified, Son of the Virgin Mary, open Thy sacred eyes and look on me, as Thou didst look on Thy af- flicted Mother from the cross. Hail Mary, etc… Jesus Christ crucified, Son of the Virgin Mary, open Thy sacred lips and speak to my sad heart, as Thou didst to St. John when recommending to him Thy Blessed Mother. Hail Mary, etc… Jesus Christ crucified, Son of the Virgin Mary, open Thy sacred Heart, that seat of love and mercy; receive mine into It; make mine wholly Thine; hear my prayers and mercifully grant my petitions, especially those favors which I ask in this Novena. (Here privately mention your petition.) Hail Mary, etc… Perpetual Novena in honor of Our Lord of the Return Crucifix every Friday. Envelopes for you to write your petitions to be included in this Novena are located by the Shrine of the Return Crucifix. Deposit the envelope in any of the boxes in the church or send to the Parish Office. THE RETURN CRUCIFIX C One of Mr. Chambers’ most fa- O mous pictures, “The Return,” has an interesting history. Hap- P pening in at Holy Innocents’ Y th Church in 37 Street, New York, one evening at dusk, just at the beginning of the World War, his attention was arrested by a man O who knelt alone at the foot of a large crucifix. The contrition F expressed in the kneeling figure was inspiring, and by the light of a few candles on the simple votive stand, the artist made a hasty sketch on an envelope. A conversation later on led A to the man’s consenting to pose for the larger pic- N ture in Mr. Chambers’ studio, where comment on his unusual piety revealed a frank admission. That T very evening he had experienced true sorrow for a I dissolute life, and a return of the Faith he had not practiced since his boyhood in Brittany. He was Q leaving in a few days to join the French Army. U The end of the story is contained in a letter re- E ceived after peace was declared, in which he wrote that he had resigned command of his regiment to serve in the army of God in a monastery.