At Marseilles, Saint Pius X celebrates twenty years

On January 11, the priory in Marseilles celebrated twenty years of the reopening of the church of Saint Pius X. Bishop Fellay celebrated the Pontifical Mass in front of an impressive crowd of faithful, many of whom were obliged to remain standing.

The polyphonic choir sang the Kyrie and the Agnus Dei of the Mass by Campra. An impressive flute quartet played at the Offertory and during Communion.

At the conclusion of the meal which followed the ceremony, the president of the Association of St. Pius X of Provence, M. Frédéric Gaud recalled the work accomplished by former members of the association, in order to have a place of worship in Marseilles, and who by dint of stubbornness, obtained from Gaston Deferre, mayor at that time, the old church of the Mission of France, which has thus never known the celebration of the New Mass.

In the afternoon, there were two slide shows. First of all, M. Jean-Michel Sanchez, art historian and author of a book on the church of Saint Pius X, gave a commentary on a series of old engravings, tracing the history of this church, one of the most beautiful in Marseilles, even though in need of extensive restoration. It is classified on the supplementary list of historic monuments.

Then Fr. Alain Nély, thanks to a montage of 300 slides, evoked the life of the parish: Masses, ceremonies, processions, pilgrimages, retreats, concerts, etc. He was helped by his two predecessors in turn, Frs. Beauvais and Héry, former priors of Marseilles, the former for seven years, the latter for three years; Fr. Nély occupying this position for the past ten years. The three priests recalled memories, and told anecdotes in an happy atmosphere, tinged with emotion.

At the close of this panorama, Bishop Fellay drew this conclusion : “We need “Marseilles” just about everywhere in the world! But for that we need a lot more priests!”

The day finished magnificently with Pontifical Vespers, followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in a church still packed with faithful.

The photographs of this anniversary are available on our photo galleries with photos of all the chapels served by the priory of Marseilles.