Posts Tagged ‘religion’

Well I’ve attended my first Latin Mass…

Posted: October 4, 2009 by datechguy in catholic
Tags: , ,

…and it was interesting.

When we entered the church I had expected more people since it is the only mass of it’s type in the area but attendance seemed sparse, lower than what I would expect at the regular 8 a.m. mass at my own church. (then again Immaculate Conception is a weaker and smaller parish.)

There were veils available for the women at the entrance to Mass. I was unaware that women were expected to either wear hats or veils when attending, that caught me by surprise.

My mother attended ahead of us and unfortunately sat in a location that put me behind a pillar during most of the mass so it was harder to see what was going on.

A very helpful young lady gave us new Mass books with the Latin/English pages. I actually had two of the old ones from the 40’s on me. The old ones were useful because they had the reference reading for the particular week as opposed to a generic reading at the various locations.

There were a LOT of alter boys and they were kept busy all during mass.

Since there is no alter rail a series of kneelers were lined up at the front during communion.

The mass ran 90 minutes considerably longer than a vernacular mass. The sermon was long as well. The mass was celebrated not by the pastor of the parish but by another priest who I never saw before.

My impressions.

Most of what the priest said was inaudible, I’m still unsure if that was by design or just the acoustics.

The choir was nice and the changes echoed well.

I like receiving kneeling down it reinforces the solemnity of communion and the fact that we are getting the body of Christ.

But overall, I can REALLY see why they changed to the vernacular. It is VERY hard to follow and although my sons have both had either two years of Latin or are in their 2nd year they were constantly lost.

Other than the various standing and sitting on cue there was almost nothing to do. I remember reading this line from the reviews of the pass from my earlier post:

I had the distinct impression that Father, the altar servers, and the choir were actually praying (not acting out roles) as they solemnly carried out their offices with unaffected reverence.

That is true, but unfortunately that doesn’t extend to the people. The Mass is the single greatest prayer to God there is and the public who was there wasn’t praying they were attending, it felt like a mandatory meeting at work rather than the celebration of Mass. I can’t see myself going again and my wife and family are even less inclined to do so.

Now does that mean that the Latin mass shouldn’t be offered? Certainly not!

You have to remember the reasons for Mass:

To worship God

To receive communion

To preach the Gospel and to teach

And the overall purpose of all of these things is the saving of souls. That is the bottom line of the Church. All it does should be toward that goal. As Paul says:

Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew to win over Jews; to those under the law I became like one under the law – though I myself am not under the law – to win over those under the law. To those outside the law I became like one outside the law – though I am not outside God’s law but within the law of Christ – to win over those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it. 1 Cor 9:19-23

For some the Latin Mass bring them closer in their faith journey to the Lord, to others it may seem an obstacle. Remember what I said once before:

You know we Catholics have daily mass, we have the sacrament of confession, we have the Holy Eucharist, we have the Rosary, we have Sunday mass, we have the Blessed Sacrament, we have Sacred Scripture.

All of these things are there on a daily basis waiting for us to take advantage of them to bring us closer to Christ. How many Catholics take advantage of them?

The Latin mass has a place in bringing people to Christ as does all the other tools that the Church provides. If it is a useful tool for you than by all means take advantage of it. If not that’s fine too but lets not throw it away.

Update: Consider this:

“ ghorgh SoH tlhob, jatlh, ‘ maj vav Daq chal, may lIj pong taH polta’ le’. May lIj Kingdom ghoS. May lIj DIchDaq taH ta’pu’ Daq tera’, as ‘oH ghaH Daq chal. | nob maH jaj Sum jaj maj daily tIr Soj. | Forgive maH maj yemmey, vaD maH ourselves je forgive Hoch ‘Iv ghaH indebted Daq maH. qem maH ghobe’ Daq temptation, ‘ach toD maH vo’ the mIghtaHghach wa’.’”

That is believe it or not, the Our Father. In the end it doesn’t matter if you say it in Latin, English or as above in Klingon. If you say it in prayer to the glory of God, it will be heard.

The Latin Mass just a few blocks away, who knew?

Posted: October 1, 2009 by datechguy in catholic, local stuff
Tags: , , , ,

Just across the river and the bridge that spans from where I live is Water Street. It’s was once the Italian section of town known as “The Patch”. It is also the place where there are three Catholic Churches all within 600 yards of each other. The First is Immaculate Conception parish located right on the river and one of the most beautiful churches in the area. The second is St. Bernards, the oldest Catholic Church in Fitchburg. The Third is my parish St. Anthony di Padua, which just celebrated its 100th anniversary last year and is still about 50% made up of the children and grandchildren of the Italian Americans who founded it.

As you can see from the google map link barely 1/2 a mile separates the three.

With three parishes so close it is VERY likely that at least one and more likely two of us will get the chop with next years parish closing. Immaculate Conception buries more people than they baptize so it doesn’t look good for them.

St. Anthony’s & St. Bernard’s morning mass are at 7 a.m., due to the schedules of the wife and kids 7 a.m. is more tricky for me so for the indulgence I mentioned yesterday I went to Immaculate Conception as their thrice weekly morning mass is at 8:15.

A few weeks ago someone mentioned to me that they offer the mass in Latin there. I’m 46 so I have no living memory of it. (My mother tells me St. Anthony went to English before I was born. I’ve always wanted to attend one. It is a connection to centuries of Catholic tradition and history, both of my boys either took or are taking Latin in high school and frankly I’m curious.

So today after earning the Plenary indulgence for the Mother in law (if that doesn’t get you in her good graces nothing will) I asked the priest if the Latin Mass was offered. (I know the web site says so but it looks like that web site hasn’t been touched since the day it went up). To my surprise Fr. Thien confirmed it.

And apparently if I had been paying more attention I would have known it already. Fr. Z’s blog mentioned it here, and commented on the first Latin mass celebrated in June:

It is one thing to have A MASS celebrated, even at a convenient time and place. It is entirely another to have the whole life of a parish and access to all the sacraments with the older forms – in a community of people who have the same aspirations – opened up for you.

La Solette Journey Covered it as well.:

Father will hear confessions at 7:30am before Mass, and the Rosary will be prayed aloud at that time. Father will also hold spiritual conferences and traditional devotions, and administer the Sacraments according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Hmmm his name is Melanson, I used to live near a bunch of Melansons when I was 5 years old.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriem covered it too:

“I think it’s fair to call this the beginning of the restoration of the immemorial Holy Mass codified by St. Pius V to the church of the Immaculate Conception. I’m glad to say that our (my family’s) hopes were high, but we were entirely unprepared for the palpably sacred ambience that persisted in the church throughout the sacred liturgy and which accompanied us right out the door and into the church hall (where I spent most of my time talking about the Mass, I think). It brought back a flood of memories of the best days I’d seen when I was a boy and the blessed years we had the privilege of going to Mass at Holy Trinity in Boston (where our two girls were baptized). I had the distinct impression that Father, the altar servers, and the choir were actually praying (not acting out roles) as they solemnly carried out their offices with unaffected reverence.(emphasis mine)

That is the single most powerful statement that I’ve ever heard said about a mass. If that is not a reason to attend I’d like to know what is.

Ironically I would not have been able to attend that first mass even if I knew about it since I’m involved in a monthly parish activity at St. Anthonys that takes up my mornings on the last Sunday each month (all are invited).

While writing this post I called my 84 year old mother and told her about it, she mentioned how when she was younger everyone wanted it in English because the didn’t want to learn Latin but is very interested in going this week. She also reminded me of the fact that our pastor will be leaving for Italy for a week starting Friday and neither her nor my boys are serving this month.

If that’s not a sign I don’t know what is, so I think I’ll be attending Immaculate Conception this week and might consider going once a month for the Latin Mass.

This is a lesson. I should pay more attention to my own neighborhood instead of always concerning myself with the events of the world or the blogoisphere.

Who wants a Plenary Indulgence?

Posted: September 30, 2009 by datechguy in catholic
Tags: , ,

I wouldn’t mind it:

In this year dedicated to priests and prayer for priests, Holy Church has provided lay people with a special plenary indulgence on first Thursdays of each month.

For the faithful, a plenary indulgence can be obtained on the opening and closing days of the Year for Priests, on the 150th anniversary of the death of St. Jean-Marie Vianney, on the first Thursday of the month, or on any other day established by the ordinaries of particular places for the good of the faithful.

To obtain the indulgence the faithful must attend Mass in an oratory or Church and offer prayers to “Jesus Christ, supreme and eternal Priest, for the priests of the Church, or perform any good work to sanctify and mould them to his heart.”

The details involved are at Fr. Z’s site.

My family went to see the heart of St. John Vianney when it was in Boston a few years ago, it was quite the event:

Over 7,000 clergy, seminarians, religious and lay Catholics came to see the heart of St. John Marie Vianney, an incorrupt relic hosted by the archdiocese from Oct. 12-14, according to Father Daniel Hennessey of the archdiocesan Vocation Office, which organized the event.

The heart, encased in a reliquary of glass and gold with a wooden base, traveled from its home at the Shrine of St. John Vianney in Ars, France. It has only left the shrine on two other occasions — once for St. Vianney’s canonization in Rome and the other for World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne, Germany. During this trip to the United States, the heart was hosted in New York before coming to Boston.

He was an incredible priest.

This is an excellent chance to earn such an indulgence for ourselves, a loved one or maybe a forgotten soul in purgatory. All it takes is under an hour of your life to obtain this extraordinary source of grace.

You know we Catholics have daily mass, we have the sacrament of confession, we have the Holy Eucharist, we have the Rosary, we have Sunday mass, we have the Blessed Sacrament, we have Sacred Scripture.

All of these things are there on a daily basis waiting for us to take advantage of them to bring us closer to Christ. How many Catholics take advantage of them? How often do we ignore them for worldly reasons? Are we so perfect that we don’t need to strive toward the grace of God?

Just a reminder:

Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts,

How is it that a person who wouldn’t put off paying a bill for the sake of their credit rating would put off a devotion for the sake of their soul?

The deletion of the ICK factor Polanski style

Posted: September 29, 2009 by datechguy in catholic, opinion/news
Tags: , , , , , ,

This telegram story says a lot deletion of the ick factor.

I reread an extraordinary interview Polanski gave to the novelist Martin Amis in 1979, the year after Polanski went on the run.

The interview originally appeared in Tatler and is collected in Amis’s excellent book Visiting Mrs Nabokov.

Here’s a section of the first quote it contains from Polanski.

“If I had killed somebody, it wouldn’t have had so much appeal to the press, you see? But… f—ing, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to f— young girls. Juries want to f— young girls. Everyone wants to f— young girls!”

I have always maintained that the war on Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular is all about justifying one’s own sins. Andrew Sullivan doesn’t leave the Church for one that accepts gay marriage because deep down as a Catholic he still has the grace to KNOW what sin is and needs to have it justified by the Church.

This is all about trying to normalize behavior by an elite group of people who do not want to be judged.

“But DaTechGuy how can you possibly suggest this could happen?” Let me remind you of a post back near the start of my blogging days here:

Personally on a religious level I can’t support gay marriage but this is not a valid argument for a non-religious person. On a non-religious level it seems to me you can not rationally say that gay marriage is ok and should be legal without also allowing either polygamy and incest between consenting adults. Both have a longer and more accepted cultural history worldwide.

And PLEASE don’t give me the “ick” factor argument about these other things being accepted. Ick is just an argument about culture. It is the same argument that one would have heard concerning gay marriage less that 20 years ago.

Anyone familiar with the vast cultural change promulgated over the last decade and a half can’t be surprised by the elites reaction to the Polanski stuff without considerable idiocy. After all:

The idea that when you can’t always live up to your values you drop the values is the path of the coward and the fool. As the saying goes:

“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried.”

I’m sure the author would like to leave it untried. A lot easier to do what you want when there are no rules, isn’t it?

It’s all about allowing the sin. And nobody described sin better than Warren in his interview with Curry last year:

Mark my words this case and the elites reaction to it and the media’s reaction to the elites will be either a turning point or a breaking point in the culture wars, and No I’m not surprised we have reached this point, I just didn’t think it would happen this fast.

Update: Mark Stein on the Polanski comment:

What’s that from? The Mullah Omar Guide To Healthy Relationships? Personally, I prefer ’em a little older than 13, but no doubt that explains why I’m not as “grown-up” (in Polanski’s word) about this as his pals.

More interestingly how many of the people on the list that signed are women under the age of 21? That would be an interesting stat.

Update 2 Michelle and Driscoll comment. This is going to explode in a lot of people’s faces.

Older Entries
Newer Entries