I did go to catholic school. In fact, they opened the school when I was only five. There was insufficient enrollment to fill the First Grade class so they extended the cutoff to March 31. My birthday is midway through March so I essentially skipped Kindergarten and went directly to First Grade. Throughout my entire education, I was always the youngest student in the class.
Sunday morning was 9 AM children's Mass
Oh how I remember this so well! We sat with our classmates, not with the family. Sister took attendance ... at Mass! There was hell to be paid on Monday morning, for those who did not show up at the 9am Children's Mass.
The worse part was Fr. Mulz our Pastor. He had the children's Mass. If he saw someone talking, smiling or something not in accordance with the Church's rules, he would stop the Mass, have the Nun get the kid in the aisle to kneel for the rest of the Mass.
Fr. Mulz is a contributing factor to today's liberalized liturgy. His 'victims' did not want their own children treated this way and used the documents from VCII to ensure this treatment was not repeated. Of course, like you, with 'adult eyes', I can understand Father's objective and have a much greater appreciation of what he and the good sisters attemted to accomplish.
I went to communion once and had my elbows on the altar rail. We were only to have our hands in view with today's lost art of having our hands together in the prayerful way.
What would you or I now give to have this rule reinstated, given the blasphemous treatment now shown to our Lord in the Eucharist! Father meant well but pushed the limits a tad too far. Now the penduluum has swung and we are confronted with abject hostility towards proper form and behavior. Have faith! Penduluums have a way of swinging both ways :-)
After going through all of the previous, I wonder how I survived? I expect to meet Fr. Mulz and all the sisters in the future and thank them for their patience with my friends and me.
Don't forget that we were part of the post war baby boom. I attended Catholic School in Queens, NY. There were, on average, 55 students in each class (x3 for each grade) confined to the same classroom and teacher, throughout the entire school year. As we moved into the pre-teen years, the nuns grew stricter. Today, as an adult, I can't imagine how they managed us. May God have mercy on all their souls.
Fourteen Holy Martyrs, in Brooklyn? We had a Father Mulz.
>>>The worse part was Fr. Mulz our Pastor. He had the children's Mass. If he saw someone talking, smiling or something not in accordance with the Church's rules, he would stop the Mass, have the Nun get the kid in the aisle to kneel for the rest of the Mass.<<<
Being an altarboy, I escaped this particular discipline, but with the nuns, many infractions took place. Sister's pointer was a more than adequate weapon!