Replies

Check it out! Our local Latin mass parish made the news. And the Inquirer didn't even trash them. What's going on here?

Is the future of the Catholic Church to be found in its recent past, spurned by many for the past 40 years?

I'm sorry to say it, but your church is being portrayed by the article as "quaint", much like an Amish village would be.

The changes made by Vatican II are based on sound principles. Unfortunately, Vatican II has never been implemented correctly. Expect changes in the Liturgy soon (for example, the Sign of Peace will follow the Greeting, where it makes more sense). Further corrections to Vatican II implementation are forthcoming.

The only basis for saying mass in Latin is for tradition. I prefer understanding to tradition. I am just old enough to remember the mass in Latin. I appreciate the English version all the more.

I'm sorry to say it, but your church is being portrayed by the article as "quaint", much like an Amish village would be.

I know it. If you knew anything about the biases of the Philly "Stinquirer", you'd be amazed they didn't portray the priest as a racist, drug-dealing, Taliban sympathizer. I consider this a positive article, or at least as close to one as we're likely to see in that fish-wrapper.

The only basis for saying mass in Latin is for tradition. I prefer understanding to tradition. I am just old enough to remember the mass in Latin. I appreciate the English version all the more.

See post 52. As a Novus Ordo kid who never experienced the Latin mass until very recently, I found the reverence and seriousness of the Tridentine Mass very appealing - certainly moreso than the guitar / liturgical dancing masses I experienced in Catholic elementary school and college.

"I prefer understanding to tradition."

I prefer understanding the tradition. The Tridentine Mass was discontinued the year I started second grade. I've attended this church, and I can tell you, it's well worth the experience, even if you don't make it a weekly thing. Hard to make sense of where you're going if you don't bother to learn where you've been. The missals provided in the pews are easy to read with the latin liturgy and responsorials on the right hand pages and the english translations printed on the left.

Sure, it makes sense to conduct a Mass in the local language. But there's more to this traditional congregation than Latin. You won't see t-shirts, cut off shorts, halter tops, sweat suits, lacsadaisical staring or rude disruptive lateness and cross talk at this mass. People actually behave as if they are in the presence of God.

And one more thing - The article didn't mention that most of the congregation consists of young families. From what I was told, this one salient point was what piqued the bishops interest and may have gotten Rome's attention. The political and legal problems that this congregation has survived over the years might have closed most other churches permananently at the very outset. These people are homeschoolers and FReeper material. They don't back down from a fight.