Nativity of Our Lady marked with Solemn Mass at Institute of the Good Shepherd’s Italian headquarters

The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was marked today with a sung Mass in the traditional rite at Casa San Clemente, the Italian headquarters of the Institute of the Good Shepherd in Rome.

The Missa Cantata was celebrated by Don Giorgio Lenzi, Procurator General of the Institute. Born in Sardinia in 1984 and ordained in Bordeaux in 2012, Fr Lenzi previously served as master of ceremonies at the Institute’s seminary in Courtalain, France. He later worked in the archives of Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos until the cardinal’s death in 2018, and edited an anthology of his writings. Today, alongside his role representing the Institute to the Holy See, he teaches liturgical history and practice to seminarians.

The celebration drew several close friends of the Institute in Rome. Following the liturgy, guests gathered for a buffet-style lunch with light refreshments. Among those assisting was Don Saphy, another priest of the Institute, who prepared food for the occasion.

Founded in Bordeaux in 2006, the Institute of the Good Shepherd was established with papal approval as a society of apostolic life of pontifical right. Its founding priests, formerly of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, were given a specific mission by the Holy See to promote the traditional Roman liturgy while working in full communion with the Church. From its mother house in France, the Institute has since expanded across Europe and South America, with seminaries, parishes and missions dedicated to priestly formation and pastoral care.

The Institute places particular emphasis on the celebration of the liturgy according to the 1962 Roman Missal, theological study and the pastoral accompaniment of the faithful. It also maintains a strong academic formation for its seminarians, with philosophy and theology taught at its houses of study.

Casa San Clemente, situated in Rome, serves as the Italian base for the Institute and a point of reference for its friends and benefactors in the city. It is also the closest place to the Vatican where the traditional Latin Mass is celebrated regularly without restriction, and has become a centre of liturgical life, hosting Masses and gatherings on major feast days such as today’s celebration of Our Lady’s Nativity.

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated on 8 September, marks the birth of Our Lady to Saints Joachim and Anne. Coming nine months after the feast of her Immaculate Conception, it is one of the principal Marian feasts of the liturgical year, rejoicing in the dawn of salvation that would reach its fulfilment with the birth of Christ.

Photo credit: Institut du Bon Pasteur