The Loneliness of Being a Traditional Catholic

[GScheid]

being labeled a religious fanatic?  Christian Right?

[Petertherock]

+1 fish for the OP of this article. It was very good. The only problem is how can one do First Saturday's when there isn't any Masses on Saturdays. Most NO Church's don't even have a "Saturday" Mass...they only have the Sunday Mass on Saturday.

[SearchingCatholic]

I guess I never thought of there being no Saturday masses on Saturday.  There are at least 3 churches within 10 minutes of my house that have Sat masses.  One of them has very long lines for confession every Sat because people recognize Fr. as a very holy priest.  We are also lucky enough to have a 1st Friday and Saturday mass w/ confesssion & benediction every month.

[Petertherock]

There is one NO Church near me that has a Saturday Mass. I wouldn't go there though because that's where I went to Mass and the heretic priest was talking about how there is no such thing as mortal sin any more and it was very damaging that the Church used to teach you could lose the Grace of God through sin. Then he went on to say that his father never went to confession and that was OK because he was a good guy.

Now I can understand he was probably deeply hurting because deep down he knows his father is in Hell if he never went to confession and this is probably eating at him but that's no excuse to send your flock to Hell along with yourself.

[SearchingCatholic]

The churches that I listed are NO, but those of us that know them know we are lucky.  All 3 priests are known for being very traditional, none of the liturgical abuses of the NO are EVER seen at their masses, they preach the traditional catholic faith, and are always! open for confession.  The one priest offers confession before and after every mass, as well as on Saturday.  He preaches confession constantly.  This is where I was lucky enough to get my formation before I even knew there was a Latin mass.  Fr.  also leads a Corpus Christi procession across town every year with these others priests and we have a perpetual adoration chapel.  It is because of Fr.'s preaching that I knew even to look for more catholic books like St John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Therese of Lisieux and others.  He also has a very strong devotion to Our Blessed Mother.  For a NO parish, I couldn't ask for better.  But I still want to learn and incorporate more Tradition into my life.

[Nic]

The churches that I listed are NO, but those of us that know them know we are lucky.  All 3 priests are known for being very traditional, none of the liturgical abuses of the NO are EVER seen at their masses, they preach the traditional catholic faith, and are always! open for confession.  The one priest offers confession before and after every mass, as well as on Saturday.  He preaches confession constantly.  This is where I was lucky enough to get my formation before I even knew there was a Latin mass.  Fr.  also leads a Corpus Christi procession across town every year with these others priests and we have a perpetual adoration chapel.  It is because of Fr.'s preaching that I knew even to look for more catholic books like St John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Therese of Lisieux and others.  He also has a very strong devotion to Our Blessed Mother.  For a NO parish, I couldn't ask for better.  But I still want to learn and incorporate more Tradition into my life.

The NO Mass in itself is a liturgical abuse.  Is there a supper table instead of an altar?  That is an abuse.  Do people recieve Holy Communion in their hands?  Abuse.  Are there little old ladies handing out Holy Communion, otherwise known as Extraordinary Eucharistic Ministers?  Abuse.  There are so many other little things that most people who claim themselves as being "traditional" don't even know because this revolution has been thrown upon us for so long (that is why I don't set foot in ANY N.O. church).

In my opinion, a priest cannot be truly "Traditional" unless he says the Traditional Mass.  Adhering to the N.O. Mass is giving in to the revolution in the modern Church.

[SearchingCatholic]

This parish still has a high altar (as well as the table).  Fr. will allow anyone who wishes to receive kneeling & on the tongue and encourages it.  And within the last 3 years I have seen "altar girls" dissappear.  Only Fr. hands out the Blessed Sacrament or the Deacon and the altar boy holds a  paten(?) under everyone's chin. 

[INPEFESS]

There are so many other little things that most people who claim themselves as being "traditional" don't even know because this revolution has been thrown upon us for so long (that is why I don't set foot in ANY N.O. church).

One of the reasons I will not enter one of these churches is that one can never know whether or not s/he is stepping on the Body and Blood of Christ. With so many people handling His Sacred Body by receiving Communion in the hands - hands which will later be touching other objects such as pews, doors, and door handles (assuming, of course, that the Host has been properly consecrated), with so little care being taken to contain these Sacred Particles, and with the innovations and abuses that are likely to have taken place at some point, there is no way to know which parts of the floor, kneelers (if they're even there at all), pews, doors, or Holy Water fonts contain Particles from spills, abuses, or disregard for the Real Presence. Due to the likelihood of abuse in these NO chapels where thoroughly cleaning up after a spilled Chalice or Ciborium is not a priority, the Body of Our Lord could by lying anywhere on the floor just waiting to be stepped on.

Some might say that this is ridiculous; that we can't prevent everything or refuse to walk into a Church because there is a remote possibility that a Particle could be resting there. Yet, at a traditional Catholic Church, one is usually aware of the meticulous rubrics in place for containing and preserving the purity of the Consecrated Species. Moreover, belief of the Real Presence is mandatory before receiving Communion, traditional practices of receiving Communion on the tongue are in place (so it unlikely that a recipient would be receiving Communion in the hand), and extreme care is taken to clean up the Sacred Species after any spill. Also, it is highly unlikely that anyone but the priest has been handling the Body and Blood of Our Lord.

[Petertherock]

There are so many other little things that most people who claim themselves as being "traditional" don't even know because this revolution has been thrown upon us for so long (that is why I don't set foot in ANY N.O. church).

One of the reasons I will not enter one of these churches is that one can never know whether or not s/he is stepping on the Body and Blood of Christ. With so many people handling His Sacred Body by receiving Communion in the hands - hands which will later be touching other objects such as pews, doors, and door handles (assuming, of course, that the Host has been properly consecrated), with so little care being taken to contain these Sacred Particles, and with the innovations and abuses that are likely to have taken place at some point, there is no way to know which parts of the floor, kneelers (if they're even there at all), pews, doors, or Holy Water fonts contain Particles from spills, abuses, or disregard for the Real Presence. Due to the likelihood of abuse in these NO chapels where thoroughly cleaning up after a spilled Chalice or Ciborium is not a priority, the Body of Our Lord could by lying anywhere on the floor just waiting to be stepped on.

Some might say that this is ridiculous; that we can't prevent everything or refuse to walk into a Church because there is a remote possibility that a Particle could be resting there. Yet, at a traditional Catholic Church, one is usually aware of the meticulous rubrics in place for containing and preserving the purity of the Consecrated Species. Moreover, belief of the Real Presence is mandatory before receiving Communion, traditional practices of receiving Communion on the tongue are in place (so it unlikely that a recipient would be receiving Communion in the hand), and extreme care is taken to clean up the Sacred Species after any spill. Also, it is highly unlikely that anyone but the priest has been handling the Body and Blood of Our Lord.

+1 fish for you. I too am concerned about the abuse of the Blessed Sacrament at the NO Churches. Also to add on to the abuses is altar girls. This is a feminst invention to pave the way to priestesses.