Latin Mass attracting a younger generation of parishioners

The Virginian-Pilot ^ | Dec. 21, 2003 | STEVEN G. VEGH

[secret garden]

Hipster ping.

[NeoCaveman]

I make the Latin mass about once a month, it's great. And my parish's in English the rest of the time.

[ArrogantBustard]

Two things this article doesn't mention:

1) The Dreadful Diocese of Richmond is one of the most dissident in the country, rife with liturgical abuse, lousy music, and nearly heretical sermons. Several Chesapeake parishes are among the worst I've ever seen. Unsurprisingly, vocations in the DDR are nearly nonexistant.

2) The St. Benedict chapel began life as "Our Lady of the Rosary" (or something very similar), an "independant" chapel served by SSPX and SSPV priests. Fortunately, they had the good sense to get right with the Bishop, and affiliate with the Benedictines who run St. Gregory.

[Maximilian]

Bump for good news.

[Alberta's Child]

Common sense would suggest it’s only an ever-dwindling band of nostalgic, silver-haired Catholics who come to St. Benedict Chapel to hear the Rev. Damian A. Abbaticchio lead services in the dead language of Latin.

The utter irony is that as time goes on, it is becoming more apparent that the exact opposite is true -- the Latin Mass attracts people from every age group, while many parishes churches (particularly in older urban areas) end up closing their doors and selling the property once the last silver-haired parishioners pass on or move into nursing homes.

[COBOL2Java]

The Tridentine Mass will be celebrated tomorrow morning at Old Saint Mary's Church in Washington DC (9:00am). I'm planning to go.

[Maximilian]

it is becoming more apparent that the exact opposite is true -- the Latin Mass attracts people from every age group

It goes even beyond that. Traditional parishes often have an average age of around 10, as the pews are overflowing with large young families with an average of several children for each adult. Meanwhile the non-traditionalists are contracepting themselves into oblivion.

As you say, many Catholic parishes are following the main-line protestant example of serving a dwindling population of silver-haired elders. But these operations all stay in business for the same reason: that's where the money is. Main-line protestant congregations often have huge endowments and no parishioners -- an ideal situation for a vicar looking for a cushy sinecure. Same with more and more Catholic priests these days, especially those of a certain persuasion.

[ex-snook]

I'm for everything old being new again but in the language of the people. It's what I understand.

[Maximilian]

The Tridentine Mass will be celebrated tomorrow morning at Old Saint Mary's Church in Washington DC (9:00am).

Isn't that where Pat Buchanan goes to Mass?

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

If we had Bishops who stopped suppressing the Traditional Mass these numbers would explode.

You can't desire something you don't know.

[Maximilian]

I'm for everything old being new again but in the language of the people. It's what I understand.

If you think about it, you may come to realize that's not really true. If the true reality of the Mass is that it's a mystery taking place on a supernatural plane, and that it's an act of sacrifice and worship directed to God, not to man, then which language helps you understand that reality?

The evidence all indicates that the Catholic faithful understood the reality of the Mass back when it was offered in Latin. Catholics used to understand that the Mass represented an "unbloody re-presentation of the sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary." Today when the service is in the vernacular, they haven't a clue.

[NeoCaveman]

The Tridentine Mass will be celebrated tomorrow morning at Old Saint Mary's Church in Washington DC (9:00am). I'm planning to go.

Very cool.

[COBOL2Java]

Don't know if Pat goes there, but it wouldn't surprise me. It's a beautiful old church right smack in the middle of DC's Chinatown (click on graphic below to be taken to their website):

[ex-snook]

"If you think about it, you may come to realize that's not really true. If the true reality of the Mass is that it's a mystery taking place on a supernatural plane, and that it's an act of sacrifice and worship directed to God, not to man, then which language helps you understand that reality? "

Well I might be missing something but I do think this. Any language is not relevant in this inadequatcy. Even silence would suffice except for the Words of Consecration and the Liturgy of the Word.

[Land of the Irish]

Isn't that where Pat Buchanan goes to Mass?

Sometimes. Justice Antonin Scalia also goes there.

[NYer]

The only authorized weekly Tridentine Masses in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany are celebrated at the Tridentine Parish of St. Peter and St. Paul (the only parish in the Diocese of Albany established for those attached to the Traditional Mass), located

[ArrogantBustard]

If we had Bishops who stopped suppressing the Traditional Mass these numbers would explode.

How ironic ... that Bishop Sullivan was one of the worst supporters of liturgical abuse in the Novus Ordo ... perhaps he allowed these two chapels as an outlet for those totally disgusted with such abuse, in order to shut them up.

[ArrogantBustard]

Interesting ... Albany is another hotbed of Novus Ordo abuse. In Arlington, where the NO is almost universally offered "properly" there are no Tridentine parishes.

[COBOL2Java]

In Arlington, where the NO is almost universally offered "properly" there are no Tridentine parishes.

Guess that would explain why my wife and I cross the Potomac most Sundays...