Exclusive photos: Witness the breathtaking Mass of the Americas in Washington, DC

The first-ever performance of the new musical setting adapted for Mass in the Extraordinary Form.
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As the sun cast its first rays on the Capitol dome, thousands of faithful descended on the unofficial parish church of the United States’ capital, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, just outside the gates of the corridors of power, to raise their hearts to Christ in a prayer for the nation and a return to the sacred.
At a time when our great nation suffers an identity crisis beyond measure, devolving it to a nation divided against itself, and the Church in America is suffering in tandem a period marked by scandal and loss of the sense of the sacred, the Mass of the Americas plants its flag on the frontline in the nation’s capital as a beacon of hope and a call to a return to a deep sense of the sacred through beauty.
The Solemn Pontifical High Mass honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary under her titles of Our Lady of Guadalupe …