What takes place in a 5-hour consecration ceremony?

The consecration/re-dedication ceremony at Old St. Patrick Oratory will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 25, 2008 and probably won't end until about 2:00 in the afternoon. It is one of the most complex liturgical ceremonies in the Extraordinary form of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. (The photo above is of the consecration of the Sacred Heart Shrine at the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis - Archbishop Burke, celebrant. Photo credit: (Rome of the West).

Thanks to the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, here are some of the details of the ceremony which will take place in four parts:

1. The Lustration. This portion is essentially the liturgical "washing" of the entire exterior and and interior of the church to be consecrated. This part of the ceremony begins outside the church where the congregation is gathered. This "aspiration"  is done with a specially blessed mixture of water, ash, salt, and wine, called ‘Gregorian Water’. The entire exterior of the church is thus washed and continues inside where the entire interior and the altars of the church are also washed. For more information from the Institute website, click here.

2. The Translocation. This part of the ceremony involves the transfer and deposition of relics in the church. This is essentially a "funeral rite" for the saints whose relics are involved. More...

3. The third part is the Consecration involving the blessing of various parts of the church including the altars and Stations of the Cross. More...

4. Pontifical High Mass. The fourth and final part of the ceremony is the Mass celebrated by The Most Reverend Robert W. Finn, Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph. More...

All in all, it promises to be a beautiful and spiritual morning and early afternoon with much pomp and circumstance provided by the Institute at the Oratory and the culmination of three years of very hard work and fund-raising. It is the ultimate answer to the prayers of the Latin Mass Community...earnestly prayed since the early 1980s when Bishop Sullivan first allowed the Tridentine rite in the diocese. Alleluia!