NYPD Green's Top Ten Reasons to Travel 200 Miles (Round Trip) to Attend a Latin Mass...
Yes, I made the trek up to our closest TLM parish today, a trip I would certainly make more often if circumstances would permit. Aside from my wife trying to get seven kids and an overgrown caveman who works shifts and sometimes has to be reminded what day of the week it is, I also teach Faith Formation which happens to start at 11:45. So we're usually blown out of the water before even getting off of the dock. My wife will sometimes make it up there without me, but not enough to suit either of our likings.
This week however, I was at least blessed with better timing than usual. No work(at least until this evening), no classes this week and aside from a couple of sick kids at home,all systems were a go for our journey. My wife took the hit for the team and stayed home with the little guys and went to the 5:30 PM Mass, enjoying our new 5:30 'accompanist', who looks and even scarier, SINGS like Edith Bunker...Yikes!!! Did I marry a good woman or what?
The Mass was just what I needed, as things in Novus Ordo-Land (isn't that the name of a Springsteen song...?) have been wearing me down lately. It got me thinking as to what is so appealing about the Latin Mass, that it compels one to travel so far for the Eucharist. I mean, I'm truly receiving the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord at a Novus Ordo Mass as well, right? So I had to justify, in my own dense skull, exactly why I'm playing Road Warrior with a bunch of other equally (if not more so) frustrated Traditional Catholics, to attend a TLM.
Here goes...
10. The company... Getting to spend quality time with the benevolent host of this blog, along with another upstanding, revered member of the Cape Fear TLM community on our ride up I-40. Gotta carpool on a trek like this, gas is expensive...
9. The conversation... Solving the problems of the Country, Church, school systems, RNC, etc, etc, on a long car trip with a couple of other cavemen? Where do I sign up?
...hmm..I wonder...does this qualify my kids who endured these conversations for early canonization...?
8. The Rosary before Mass... oh, right...we're Catholic!!! We actually pray before Mass!!! I almost started to wonder when rehearsal time was, I'm not use to praying without a sound check going on in the background!
7. Mantillas on the women... concealing over revealing...how womanly!
6. Ties and Jackets on the men... 'dudes' and 'guys' need not apply...men dress appropriately for the Lord. 'This ain't no party, this ain't no disco...'
5. Role models in abundance... okay, it goes without saying that a priest willing to do the Mass in the Extraordinary Form has got stones and is more than likely, a Man among men. But you also get to meet a lot of other folks who can no doubt make an impression. Two of my sons received the honor of meeting a young man who, in being handed a mighty cross, has picked it up graciously and decided to show us all what virtuous, Catholic courage truly is.
Thank you for the example you've given my boys Philip, you have made a lasting impression on us all. It was a privilege and honor to finally get to meet you.
4. Kneeling... what the hell, how does anyone act like they have a spine in our Faith, without a strong back?
3.Everyone receiving on the tongue(and on their knees!)... Really? I get to receive on my tongue and on my knees, without getting looked at like a freak by those who would desecrate the Eucharist by handling our Lord like a Costco free sample???
2. Prayers after Mass... You mean I get to say my St. Michael's prayer without getting to hear the blue haired ladies cackling about where they are going for brunch?
...and finally...my number one reason for driving so far for a Latin Mass...
1. The Eucharist is always best when consecrated by a priest that you know believes in the True Presence.
...so there you have it.
Needless to say, I'll be making this journey more in the near future, when classes end. Anything worth having is worth going the extra yard for (or extra 190 miles or so, in this case!). Hopefully our Bishop will rectify this problem for those in our deanery who desire the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. He has my faith and prayers in his endeavor to provide this for us.
Saint Michael the Archangel...
Defend us in Battle!!!
Yes, I made the trek up to our closest TLM parish today, a trip I would certainly make more often if circumstances would permit. Aside from my wife trying to get seven kids and an overgrown caveman who works shifts and sometimes has to be reminded what day of the week it is, I also teach Faith Formation which happens to start at 11:45. So we're usually blown out of the water before even getting off of the dock. My wife will sometimes make it up there without me, but not enough to suit either of our likings.
This week however, I was at least blessed with better timing than usual. No work(at least until this evening), no classes this week and aside from a couple of sick kids at home,all systems were a go for our journey. My wife took the hit for the team and stayed home with the little guys and went to the 5:30 PM Mass, enjoying our new 5:30 'accompanist', who looks and even scarier, SINGS like Edith Bunker...Yikes!!! Did I marry a good woman or what?
The Mass was just what I needed, as things in Novus Ordo-Land (isn't that the name of a Springsteen song...?) have been wearing me down lately. It got me thinking as to what is so appealing about the Latin Mass, that it compels one to travel so far for the Eucharist. I mean, I'm truly receiving the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord at a Novus Ordo Mass as well, right? So I had to justify, in my own dense skull, exactly why I'm playing Road Warrior with a bunch of other equally (if not more so) frustrated Traditional Catholics, to attend a TLM.
Here goes...
10. The company... Getting to spend quality time with the benevolent host of this blog, along with another upstanding, revered member of the Cape Fear TLM community on our ride up I-40. Gotta carpool on a trek like this, gas is expensive...
9. The conversation... Solving the problems of the Country, Church, school systems, RNC, etc, etc, on a long car trip with a couple of other cavemen? Where do I sign up?
...hmm..I wonder...does this qualify my kids who endured these conversations for early canonization...?
8. The Rosary before Mass... oh, right...we're Catholic!!! We actually pray before Mass!!! I almost started to wonder when rehearsal time was, I'm not use to praying without a sound check going on in the background!
7. Mantillas on the women... concealing over revealing...how womanly!
6. Ties and Jackets on the men... 'dudes' and 'guys' need not apply...men dress appropriately for the Lord. 'This ain't no party, this ain't no disco...'
5. Role models in abundance... okay, it goes without saying that a priest willing to do the Mass in the Extraordinary Form has got stones and is more than likely, a Man among men. But you also get to meet a lot of other folks who can no doubt make an impression. Two of my sons received the honor of meeting a young man who, in being handed a mighty cross, has picked it up graciously and decided to show us all what virtuous, Catholic courage truly is.
Thank you for the example you've given my boys Philip, you have made a lasting impression on us all. It was a privilege and honor to finally get to meet you.
4. Kneeling... what the hell, how does anyone act like they have a spine in our Faith, without a strong back?
3.Everyone receiving on the tongue(and on their knees!)... Really? I get to receive on my tongue and on my knees, without getting looked at like a freak by those who would desecrate the Eucharist by handling our Lord like a Costco free sample???
2. Prayers after Mass... You mean I get to say my St. Michael's prayer without getting to hear the blue haired ladies cackling about where they are going for brunch?
...and finally...my number one reason for driving so far for a Latin Mass...
1. The Eucharist is always best when consecrated by a priest that you know believes in the True Presence.
...so there you have it.
Needless to say, I'll be making this journey more in the near future, when classes end. Anything worth having is worth going the extra yard for (or extra 190 miles or so, in this case!). Hopefully our Bishop will rectify this problem for those in our deanery who desire the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. He has my faith and prayers in his endeavor to provide this for us.
Saint Michael the Archangel...
Defend us in Battle!!!
posted by Unknown at
8:35 PM
12 Comments:
I understand completely. We are searching now for the least annoying place to attend Easter vigil. Isn't it just the weirdest thing that you have to search for a Mass?
When we left church this morning I remarked to hubby how every church has developed it's own culture. NONE of that would happen if they would just do the Mass the way it was intended to be done.
& the most important reason of all: No Mime proclamation of the Gospel!
Ok, I love the Latin mass but not because I think that it's "magic."
I'm often made to feel like some kind of extremist for learning Latin, Gregorian Chant, etc.
I also don't believe in taking the Latin mass and forcing it onto a N.O. parish in a militant fashion. But I do want it to come back.
I also don't believe that the N.O. mass in and of itself wrong ~ it's what Liberal Catholics DO with the mass "in the spirit of Vatican II" that takes our focus away from Jesus in the Eucharist and onto us the people.
I do not agree with the lack of sacredness in the mass and also before and after mass ~ all of this chit chatting, dressing casual, etc. has cheapened the mass and made it more of a social experience then the worship of God. This doesn't mean that all N.O. masses are cheap and not real. But I do mean that the mass is deffinately cheapened by the way that Liberals abuse the N.O.
And so, I also feel that sacred art is very important in a kirk, be it statues, high altars, stained glass windows. I understand that some churches cannot afford this ~ such as the simple, beautifully humble kirk in my parish. We couldn't even afford to buy a processional cross and Father had one made out of an existing crucifix put on a metal pole. So I can see why *we* don't have much sacred art. But what of those kirks that have been gutted and "dumbed down" by Liberals?? That's deffinately cheapens everything! And for what??
And what of hymns? Shouldn't they teach us about the faith instead of evoking warm-fuzzy emotion?? Is it wrong to want grown-up hymns??
I can't help but feel that putting the mass into the vernacular has *divided* Catholics rather then uniting us. Instead of every race attending mass together, we're divided up into Spanish mass, Chinese mass, English mass, Korean mass... you get my point! How is this ok???? How is this "progress"??? We now have White People mass and Brown People mass instead of UNIVERSAL (Ca-tho-lic)mass.
Does any of this make me some kind of rebel that's causing trouble in the Church?? Am I sinning?? Am I wrong for wanting a grown-up Faith rather then this post-1960's watered down emotional, quasi-protestant nonsense??
Seriously, the cultural revolt of the 60's has turned just about everything into a childish warm-fuzzy experience! I long to be a grown-up in a grown-up world!! (Think I'm over exagerating? Just have a look at a picture of the Scottish Parliment building. Hello! It looks like a 1960's dreammobile preschool!!!!)
So, am I making God angry with my desire for "Latin mass" stuff?? Or do my reasons sound logical?
+JMJ+
Excellent post! I hope you're having a blessed, prayerful Holy Week. =)
NYPD, You and the rest of the gang should just go Protestant and buy a Bus, that way all of the Cape Fear TLM'ers could come together every week.
LOL, Simplex, they could paint "Extraordinary Form Express" on the side.
Since January we've had a TLM at my parish, Blessed Sacrament in Springfield, Illinois, every Saturday morning. It's the 7 a.m. Saturday Mass and it is wonderful. Nothing but THIS could move me to get up at 5:30 on a Saturday. Our own pastor hasn't learned to say it yet so he has graciously allowed a priest of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter to come say it for us. And that priest drives two hours every week from his own parish to do this -- a wonderful example of priestly generosity.
Simplex, did you see the big white van in the lot? That's the nypd green family wagon. We lease it out for Latin Mass pilgrimages! 12 seats, plenty of extra room for stranded Traddies! LOL! I was hoping to meet you as well, hopefully in the near future.
Thank you Enbrethiliel, may you have a blessed Holy Week as well!
Pax Christi!
Did you just quote a Sheryl Crow song in a discussion about the TLM?
Sorry I missed meeting you! Wouldn't you know it, this week I went to the Cathedral TLM instead and missed The Parish so much!
I own neither jacket, not tie. And I hate praying the rosary in church--the tendency is to race through the Ave's and Pater's so fast I can't keep up.
In fact before Mass, I prefer to prepare by prayers to the Father, and Most especially to Christ, for understandng on my part, mercy on his, and asking his grace to be abundantly bestowed in the sacrament of Holy Communion.
Does that make me a bad Catholic?
Cookie,
I think that was from The Talking Heads.
Missed ya Sunday
Redneck: Maybe it is rushed, but if you lead it, it can be any pace you prefer. Also, there is that indulgence thing about praying in a group rather than privately.
As Fr. Corapi says, there is no such thing as a BAD rosary. ;)
Yes, I am sorry I missed out on meeting the Greens, my namesake had to serve at the earlier Mass so we missed out this week.
We will catch up the next time.
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