Sunday, April 20, 2008

Msgr. Richard Schuler - 1920 - 2007 - ooops. It is a Mass.

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Correction from the St Agnes Bulletin: It will be a Mass, lasting maybe two hours.

A memorial Mass for the late Monsignor Richard J. Schuler will be at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 22, at the Church of St. Agnes, 548 Lafond Ave., St. Paul. The Twin Cities Catholic Chorale will sing Mozart’s Requiem, which it sang for Monsignor Schuler’s funeral last April.

The Rev. William E. Sanderson, pastor of St. Mary’s and St. Francis of Assisi parishes in Omaha, will officiate and preach at the Mass. He is a graduate of the St. Paul Seminary and one of many men Monsignor Schuler inspired and guided to the priesthood.

Visitors are welcome at the memorial Mass, which will be in Latin and according to the 1970 Missal. Groups of 10 or more persons may reserve pews by calling the parish office at (651) 293-1710.

Monsignor Schuler died April 20, 2007. He was St. Agnes’ pastor for 32 years, and he founded the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale in 1956 and directed it until shortly before his death.

He also was the Catholic Aid Association’s chaplain from 1970 to 1999, and the association manages two endowments that continue his work. The Twin Cities Catholic Chorale Endowment, founded in honor of the 60th anniversary of his ordination, is intended to reduce the Chorale’s dependence on annual fundraising. The Schuler Seminarian Charitable Trust Fund assists seminarians with financial grants.

Contributions to these funds are always welcome and may be mailed to the association at 3499 Lexington Ave. N., St. Paul MN 55126.


Today is the first anniversary of the death of Monsignor Richard J. Schuler, pastor emeritus of St. Agnes Church in St Paul. Msgr. Schuler is probably the person most responsible for saving the music of the traditional Mass after the travesties carried out by some after the Second Vatican Council. He was also the person responsible for the sung 10:00 Sunday Mass at St. Agnes performed by members of the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra and the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale. Msgr. Schuler was a good friend of Cardinal Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI, and his brother, Msgr. George Ratzinger.


Father John Zuhlsdorf, a former member of St Agnes parish who occasionally says Mass there, has posted his tributes from last year to Msgr. Schuler on his blog, What Does The Prayer Really Say, here.

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