Cardinal Law expresses
his gratitude.

"I want you to know how much I appreciate your [all] being at Holy Trinity, Sunday after Sunday."

With these words, his Eminence Bernard Cardinal Law greeted Holy Trinity parishioner Michael Foley during the 11:00 a.m. Mass at Holy Cross Cathedral on December 31, 2000. Both the German congregation and Latin indult community at Holy Trinity had prepared a spiritual bouquet for the Cardinal and had recorded their pledges on a Louis Prang card made specially for the occasion (see below). They were intending to present the card to him quietly after Mass, but thanks to the assistance of former Holy Trinity administrator, Monsignor Frederick Murphy, and current administrator, Vicar Hugh O'Regan, they were invited to make a formal presentation to His Eminence during the Mass after the postcommunion prayer. Michael Foley had the honor of presenting the bouquet. After Father O'Regan introduced the bouquet from the pulpit, Cardinal Law warmly greeted Michael with the words quoted above. Michael then explained to the cardinal and the congregation the meaning of the card by stating that the front cover was a lithograph by Louis Prang, the father of the greeting card industry and a nineteenth-century parishioner of Holy Trinity. Cardinal Law then thanked both the German and the Latin communities of Holy Trinity for their many prayers and pledges.

The presentation of a spiritual bouquet to the cardinal was the culminating event of Holy Trinity's yearlong celebration of the tenth anniversary of the return of the traditional Roman rite to its altar. (It was Cardinal Law who granted the indult for the Latin Mass in 1990 and who assigned the place of worship to be Holy Trinity.) The bouquet also reflected both the German and Latin communities' gratitude for the Cardinal's commitment in keeping Holy Trinity open.

Both the parishes of St. James and Holy Trinity were well-represented at the cathedral that day. The Holy Trinity Latin Mass congregation was also well-credited by the Scola Amicorum, which sang several pieces of the Mass and which Cardinal Law thanked at the opening of the liturgy. After Mass many of the Holy Trinity parishioners in attendance were able to meet the cardinal in the vestibule of the church, where it is his custom to greet people as they leave.

Special thanks are owed to John Salisbury, choirmaster of the Scola, for bringing the traditional sacred music of the Mass to the cathedral, and for providing the copy of the Prang lithograph that was used for the bouquet. Thanks are also owed to all those who pledged so generously their prayers and pious works for their prelate and for the sake of Holy Trinity and its Latin Mass (see below for the total numbers).

Back Cover

Front Cover

Oremus pro antistite nostro Bernardo. Stet et pascat, in fortitudine tua, Domine, in sublimitate nominis tui.

Inset Page

Inset Page

In thanksgiving for his many kindnesses and beneficences, we, the German and Latin communities at Holy Trinity German Church, offer His Eminence Bernard Cardinal Law this spiritual bouquet.