Titular Celebration at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague

On the day of titular celebration of Ss. Vitus, Wenceslas and Adalbert Cathedral on June 15, 2011, Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, will be celebrating a divine service in Latin in the Cathedral at 6 p.m. The pontifical divine service will be accompanied by the premier production of Missa solemnis by Vojtěch Mojžíš.

Prague: The pontifical divine service on June 15, 2011 will be preceded by a divine service at the tomb of St. Vitus which will be celebrated at 7 a.m. by the cathedral parish priest, Fr. Ondřej Pávek. The Archbishop of Philadelphia, Cardinal Justin Francis Rigali is to come to the Czech Republic as a Papal Legate sent by the Pope Benedict XVI. to attend the National Pilgrimage in Honour of St. John Nepomucene Neumann. He will be the chief celebrant and preacher of the pilgrimage mass on Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 10 a.m.

The Archbishop of Prague, Dominik Duka OP, who is to give a homily at the pontifical divine service in St. Vitus Cathedral, has also invited the American ambassador to the Czech Republic, Norman Eisen with his wife. The apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Diego Causero, who is finishing his mission to the Czech Republic and will take office of apostolic nuncio to Switzerland and Lichtenstein, is also to attend the titular celebration.

The musical accompaniment of the divine service will be very special this time. Vojtěch Mojžíš is introducing his Missa solemnis written in 2010 for solo voice quartet, mixed choir, three brass instruments, bells, kettle-drums and organ. The performance features the Prague Cathedral Soloists and the Prague Cathedral Choire, led by Josef Kšica.