We start this series of "You report" with reports of two Traditional Masses in two very different places: the Catholic world is united by the same Latin Mass.
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A written report from Front Royal, Virginia.
A written report from Front Royal, Virginia.
The Arlington Diocese was one of two in the country that had not gone in for altar girls in parishes, so there were none. Also, in my parish (Saint John the Baptist) as well as several others, over the years petitions were signed asking the Bishop to permit the Tridentine Mass in the parish. He did not, until the Spring of 2006, when the Bishop published this letter.
Our pastor said "no" to altar girls, first of all. But right away after the Bishop's letter came out, both the pastor and parochial vicar took a very serious and sincere approach to learning how properly to offer the Traditional Latin Mass. They got help from FSSP, among other sources. And our parochial vicar gave a class on the Traditional Latin Mass to any parishioners who cared to come.
Our pastor obtained permission from the Bishop to install an altar rail; we got a beautiful custom-made hand-crafted rail made of cherry wood. The parish purchased copies of the Latin-English Traditional Latin Mass booklet from Coalition in Support of Ecclesia Dei, and these were placed in all the pews, once for each Missalette and St. Michael Hymnal.
Since then, attendance at the weekly Traditional Latin Mass, at 12:30 PM every Sunday, has been quite regular and large. Our church holds 475 in the pews; I'd say at least 300 come to that 12:30 Mass each week, including a number from other parishes. There is one High Mass per month, the rest are Low Masses, but all are very well attended. especially the High Mass. In fact I would say attendance has been increasing, even during the summer months! Most recently, we have had guest priests from FSSP offering our 12:30 Mass. But both our pastor and our parochial vicar have been to Nebraska to get further training, and from the start they have both done a wonderful job of offering our Tridentine Masses.
This past Sunday it was announced that on October 28, Feast of Christ the King in the Old Calendar, our parish will offer a Solemn High Mass. I am very much looking forward to that.
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A photo-report from Natal, in northeastern Brazil
A photo-report from Natal, in northeastern Brazil
The old church of Our Lady of the Rosary (Nossa Senhora do Rosário) was built in 1706, especially for the service of Catholic slaves and the poorest in Brazilian colonial society.
Countless burials of baptized slaves took place in its grounds, in what then were the outer limits of the town.
This very simple church had not witnessed a Traditional Latin Mass in decades,but thanks to the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, the Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite has returned to this building.
For readers anywhere in the world who happen to stop in this corner of South America, our Masses will take place every Sunday, 9 AM local time.
Thank you, Pope Benedict! And please pray for our small community.
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Recess for a few days: relevant news may be posted at any time.
Recess for a few days: relevant news may be posted at any time.
