Bee posted this as a comment, but it is so edifying, it deserves to be a post:
Bee here:
The Cardinal suspended Masses in the Archdiocese of Chicago as of the vigil Mass on Saturday evening today.
St. John Cantius Church decided yesterday to have a Solemn High Mass and Eucharistic Procession at this morning's normally Low Traditional Latin Mass. They put the notice on the web site yesterday afternoon. The church was packed this morning.
After this morning's Mass (with Exposition, a Eucharistic Procession around the city block, and Benediction (I would guess around 800 people were there)) there will be no public Masses or large gatherings until further notice. St. Joseph's Table was cancelled.
The lines for confession were long. There were 4 or 5 priests hearing confessions.
We were told Masses on Sunday would be said in the priests' cloister (chapel) and would be live streamed on the parish web site, following the same schedule and form as the normal Sunday schedule: 7:30 am Low TLM, 9:00 am Ordinary Form (English); 11:00 am Ordinary Form (Latin); 12:30 pm Solemn High Mass (Latin). (USA Central Time Zone)
Also, we were told the church would be open for prayer all day, every day until evening vespers, confessions would be made more available during the week, and priests would be making home visits to administer the Sacrament of the Sick if requested.
I guess the best option for Sunday is to "attend" the Mass online at home, and reverently pray as if present in the chapel, making a spiritual communion.
What occurred to me most of all is that for many of us who attend St. John's, it's a place for us to meet and be with others who practice the Catholic Faith with devotion and seriousness, and is one place in this very secular disbelieving world where we can be with others who also believe, and be accepted and validated in our life of Faith. It is not a geographical parish, but people come from all over the region to be there. But without Mass, we are cast out into the wilderness, each to fend for ourselves, and we lose the support of being with those we have worshiped and prayed with for many years. And worst of all, we lose being able to receive Our Lord, which many of us find sustains us amid the daily whirlwind of the culture we live in. And we can't even go to a badly celebrated Novus Ordo to make due.
It is a huge penance for Lent, and maybe even beyond, because for all we know we may not have Palm Sunday, or Holy Week, or even Easter Mass. But I pray if we are able to suffer it well in union with Our Lord's crucifixion and death, we will experience the triumph of the cross as well. I offer these sufferings for the conversion of sinners.
May God bless you.
Bee
5 comments:
"WHAT IS IT ABOUT TRADITIONAL PARISHES THAT OFFER BOTH FORMS OF THE MASS WITH A TRADITIONAL WAY WITH THE OF MASS, THAT THIS HAPPENS!?!"
Remove the compromise element, they get their soul back.
Bee here:
Thank you Father, for your kind words.
And it should be "make do", not "make due." :-)
God bless.
Bee
We all know why. The bishops know why. Heck, the pope probably knows why.
The failed experiment of postconciliar "renewal" doesn't work.
THEY KNOW THE NEW STUFF IS A BUST AND THEY DON'T CARE.
Real Catholicism does.
They don't WANT Real Catholicism.
It's that simple. OUR BISHOPS (with a few pleasant exceptions) ARE KNOWINGLY AND DELIBERATELY REFUSING TO DO WHAT IT TAKES TO TRULY RENEW THE CHURCH. THEY ARE KNOWINGLY AND DELIBERATELY ROBBING THE FAITHFUL OF THEIR RIGHTFUL PATRIMONY BY BAPTISM.
May God have mercy on their souls.
Actually, Bee, I think it was said exactly right.
Well, all the more power to anyone who can still make it to Mass on Sundays even in these times---my pastor in 30327 plans to continue Sunday Mass even if almost no one shows up. I guess "virtual worship" is better than none at all, but it is hard to experience the Eucharist in such a setting. This is dated, but it reminds me of a poster I saw at an Episcopal parish festival in the Atlanta area a generation ago: "With all due respect to TV preachers, have you ever seen a SONY that gives you Holy Communion?"
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