Name of Church Divine Word Seminary and Retreat Center, Stone Chapel

Address 11316 Cypress Avenue, Riverside, CA 92505

Phone number (951) 689-4858

Website www.divinewordseminary-riverside.com  

Mass times Sundays, 5:30 p.m. (Latin Tridentine Low Mass).  Despite Pope Francis’ recent Traditionis Custodes, Bishop of San Bernardino Alberto Rojas has indicated he would allow the Tridentine Mass to continue in his diocese.

Confessions Daily after the 8 a.m. mass in the residence chapel.

Names of priests Fr. Paul Schmidt, SVD.  Fr. Schmidt is an older, Divine Word Missionary priest who began celebrating the traditional liturgy about a decade ago and who also celebrates it at San Secondo d’Asti Church in Guasti (Ontario).

Fellow parishioners People interested in attending the Tridentine liturgy.

Parking Ample spaces to park in front and behind the seminary.

Additional observations  The Society of the Divine Word (SVD for “Societas Verbi Divini”) is a missionary congregation founded by the St. Arnold Janssen (1837-1909) in 1875.  According to the SVD website, the three communities Janssen founded have over 10,000 members worldwide.  The SVD community bought the current site of the Riverside seminary and retreat center in 1956; its centerpiece stone house is a historic building built more than a century ago by a wealthy land developer, Willits Hole, for his daughter Agnes.  Hole died in 1936, the family eventually sold the mansion and 60 surrounding acres to the SVDs to serve as their seminary.   The grounds are beautiful and visitors are welcome; retired and active SVD members live at the site.  The Hole Mansion, as the old stone house is called, is a City of Riverside historical landmark.