Name of Church Queen of Life Catholic Chapel
Address Located at the Busch Group Offices, 2532 Dupont Drive, Irvine CA 92612
Phone number 949-474-7368, ext. 216
Website www.queenoflifechapel.org
Mass times Monday – Friday, 11:50 a.m. The chapel is an oratory operating with the blessing of the Bishop of Orange; you’re welcome to come pray daily 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Check the website for the schedule of Masses, as well as other activities.
Names of priests Varies. Current celebrants include the Norbertine Fathers, Father Robert Spitzer, S.J. and Father Mike Pontarelli, OSM.
Special events The chapel periodically hosts cardinals, bishops and other clergy for retreats and spiritual talks.
Music The congregation sings.
Fellow parishioners Some business people, as well as people who live in the area. Masses are all in English.
Parking Plenty.
Acoustics Fine.
Cry room No.
Additional observations Queen of Life Chapel was established by Catholic philanthropist Tim Busch. It’s located in a business park not far from the Orange County airport. It is a quaint chapel, with traditional art and a pious community. Busch is a successful businessman who supports Catholic apostolates, including the Magis Center of Reason and Faith, Napa Institute, and Legatus. He founded two Catholic schools in southern Orange County, JSerra Catholic High School and St. Anne Catholic Elementary School. He’s a committed Catholic who has used his considerable professional talents to spread the message of the Gospel. If you go to Mass, you’ll see him assisting at the altar and serving as a Eucharistic minister.
This is a great community of people. They’re pious and prayerful; some work in businesses in the area. Probably not the place to bring your kids, but I don’t think they’d turn anyone away. Go on a Wednesday, and you might get Fr. Hugh Barbour of St. Michael’s Abbey. He’s a fine homilist. Enter through the side chapel door, not the main entrance. It’s on the left of the building as you face the front doors. The exterior is an office building, but the interior is nice. Nice art, nice pews; they even have the Blessed Sacrament there. I highly recommend it.
What a wonderful witness this chapel is, and this man, as well…and best of all, it’s right where people work and must enable them to keep God in their lives right through the workweek. I love the rich gold color of the interior. It looks so warm and welcoming. And to have Fr. Robt Spitzer? My goodness!
All Masses are in English…sad…especially when the Holy Father has requested the EF (traditional Latin Mass) to be offered in ALL parishes. We must return to our Sacred tradition.
i can’t seem to find my toga for this latin mass you want, but I do see that THIS IS NOT A PARISH.
it’s a little chapel for business people to stop in and pray and such and find the holy in th emidst of a very busy and hectic day.
not every place can do every thing.
if the pope wants every church to have tridentine masses, he’s got a lot of waiting to do. not many of our priests can manage, yet, that complicated rite.
Once again displaying your distain for anything Roman, why do you mock The Mass of All Times??
probably to get a reaction out of you.
it’s funny how people who claim to find such bliss and serenity in mass in latin become so enraged when anyone disagrees with them.
not very serenity=ish! :)
Latin masses are great for those who wish to have them;however, priests who do them well are rare.Also,in many places they are not for everyone.Some of the folks who make the most fuss about having them are unwilling to pay the expenses of the priest who does them..Mass is different for each person.As a youth ,I was an altar server for hundreds of Latin masses,going daily for years, the true meaning of the mass for me is reception of the Eucharist while in the state of grace love them English or Latin when done well.Still,it’s not the language ,it’s Jesus true presence in the Eucharist.
Nice Benedictine arrangement on the altar, central crucifix, six candles, just push the “peoples” table against the wall and then we can have the Mass of All Times, The Traditional Latin Mass as our Holy Father has asked be done!!!
In our times it is wonderful that Mr. Tim Busch actually exists!
Thank you for sharing this Good News!
Not only has he established the chapel BUT he FOUNDED TWO CATHOLIC SCHOOLS!
Praise God for this Good News!
God Bless Mr. Busch!
Max, I agree with you that it is impossible right now to have every church or oratory say the Extraordinary Mass, or even a newer Mass in Latin. Many Catholic churches are trying to get it started by putting Latin phrases into the venacular Masses. The Traditionalist SHOULD NOT complain about this since it is seeking to familiarize the laity with Latin and show them just how much of Latin they already really know. It is a good thing. Nevertheless, it does irk me when older people and priests, who should know better, say that the priest used to face the WALL. The priest NEVER faced or faces the WALL in the older Latin Mass, the Priest faced EAST, toward the crucifix of Christ, the SUN (note SUN ) of GOD. He said he was the Light of the World, so He meant he was the sun to us. EVERYONE faces Christ in the Extraordinary Mass. HE is the center of that kind of Mass and we are meant to follow Him. ALWAYS. A good read on that is The Spirit of the Liturgy by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict VII by Ignatius Press. You can buy it from Ignatius Press on line,,or from Amazon.com, either new or used probably, from a Catholic bookstore, or borrow it from a Catholic library or have a public library get it for you on request if they do not have it.
ANNE T., you make a lot of sense in pointing out that no one can magically expect every parish church, or local chapel, to instantly produce priests competenet in saying the tridentine mass.
like you, i appreciate the fact that our parish uses greek (kyrie eleison) and latin (sanctus) during our regular masses, thus teaching our people chants that they may have forgotten, and also exposing younger people more to our tradition.
as you point out, the idea was NEVER to have the priest put his “back to the the people,” but rather tio have EVERYONE (celebrant and congregation) facing east, which was a symbol of GOD and thus of good. when you left church, you headed west, back to the world — filled with no-so-good.
Thank God for people like the Busch family. They do numerous good works for the Glory of God.
The Chapel is marvelous and really shows your love of God.
May God Bless the entire Busch family.
I should clarify that in my last post I was saying that Traditionalist should not complain that some of the newer Masses have a small amount of Latin in them that might seem useless to them since this is getting people who are not familiar with Latin somewhat used to it. I did not mean that they should never complain at all if the complaint is reasonable.
Also, the above oratory is beautiful, and from what I have heard the Norbertines are a very good order in California. Thank you Mr. Busch and all the priests for having this.