EWTN to Broadcast Memorial Mass on Memorial Day

Airs at 12:00 noon Eastern Time on Monday, May 25

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio delivering homily at Memorial Mass, Sunday, May 17, 2014 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of John Whitman.
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio delivering homily at Memorial Mass, Sunday, May 17, 2014 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of John Whitman.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A solemn Mass in honor of United States servicemen and women, living and dead, will air across North America on EWTN at 12:00 noon (ET) on Memorial Day, May 25, and again 12 hours later at midnight.

The hour-and-a-half Memorial Mass, sponsored by the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), takes place in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception before an all-pews-filled congregation including some of the U.S. Military’s highest ranking senior officers.

His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, is the principal celebrant and homilist with more than two dozen priests concelebrating, including: Auxiliary Bishop Robert J. Coyle; Msgr. John J.M. Foster, J.C.D., AMS Vicar General; Father Christopher Armstrong, J.C.D., AMS Judicial Vicar; and Msgr. Walter R. Rossi, Rector of the Basilica. Deacons Michael Yakir and Joseph Pak assist at the altar.

The Memorial Mass was pre-recorded at 4:30 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, May 17, the Solemnity of the Ascension. With television cameras panning the Great Upper Church, the Mass commenced with the pageantry of a Knights of Columbus (K of C) color guard as theChoir of the Basilica sang the opening processional hymn, followed by the posting of the colors and singing of the National Anthem.

The two-thousand member congregation included: Gen. and Mrs. Joseph F. Dunford, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps; U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. and Mrs. Christopher F. Burne; Adm. and Mrs. William J. Fallon, USN (Ret); and Adm. and Mrs. Thomas J. Lopez, USN (Ret). Also present were a contingent of American Gold Star mothers and wives who have lost sons, daughters, or husbands to combat, many other servicemen and women representing all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, members of the Catholic War Veterans (CWV) of the United States of America, and significant numbers of Knights and Dames of Malta and of the Holy Sepulchre.

In his homily, Archbishop Broglio called on the congregation to remember the sacrifice of Christ even as they remember the sacrifice those who died in battle to keep our nation free:

“To the extent that we die with Christ, we ascend and become liberated from the slavery to sin and, thus, more human. The wait for the glorious Christ can seem long, painful, and tedious when we limit our gaze to the sad pages of history or contemporary society. We must cultivate, like the early Christians the sense of immanence. That tension exists between losing sight and knowing how to gather our brothers and sisters in their need, filling their emptiness.

“That is why we pray for those who died on battlefields, those Veterans who have passed from this life since last Memorial Day, those who mourn and suffer the emptiness that comes from losing a loved one, and those who carry with them the burdens of their service. As an Archdiocese we also pray for all of those who serve our Country abroad in diplomatic and other missions. As a community of faith we cannot fail to lift those petitions up to a loving Father in this perfect prayer. I also include all of those intentions that have been sent to the Archdiocese for this celebration and will be carried to the altar in the offertory procession.”

Watch EWTN Monday, May 25, at 12 noon (ET), or exactly twelve hours later at midnight, to hear Archbishop Broglio’s full homily.

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