This morning, instead of the usual 4.5 hour excursion to attend the Traditional Latin Mass, we instead went to Mass in town. With a myriad of afternoon scouting activities we decided it would be the only way we could fit everything into the day. I prepared myself as best I could, but I couldn't help gritting my teeth throughout the service.
While I am certainly not a Dressing With Dignity aficionado by refusing to wear anything other than skirts or dresses, I do think it appropriate to wear one to Mass. However, I counted less than 20 women wearing something other than pants in a crowd of 350+. I didn't realize how radical it is these days to look feminine, even to church.
The songs were the same dreary old 1970's stuff and the whole congregation blessed the children and the RCIA candidates with a Heil Hitler looking salute. The homily involved much audience participation, with the priest asking many times for people to raise their hands and mentioning several times that we needed to watch more TV. There also seemed to be two additional portions of the Mass: the lengthy offertory add-on where an army of little children fought to take up the money baskets, and the liturgy of the announcements, which took more time than communion itself (since they used an army of EEMs). After Communion the church was half empty with folks that mistook partaking of Our Lord Jesus's body with the drive through at McDonald's. Before Mass it was chat, chat, chat, and afterwards was the giant sprint for the door with little time for reflection or prayer. All in all it was pretty awful, but likely typical for today's suburban American Catholic Mass.
Next week we will resume our cross-country journey to attend Mass with prayerful silence, the recitation of the rosary, a solid homily, and a beautiful church with not a felt banner in sight. Unfortunately the parish seems to have its own share of problems, one of which is a dislike of any noise, especially from little children. Our next duty station will have multiple options for attending a Latin Mass, I am sure we will find one that is like St. Benedict's in Virginia. Sure, I appreciated our old parish, but it took today to make me realize how much I miss a community of like-minded Catholics who take their faith seriously as well as have smiles on their faces.
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2 comments:
Sorry you had to sit through that. I'll tell you though, they're not all like that. Maybe most, but not all. We have no:
1970's music
no salutes
no audience participation
no children's participation
no early dismissal
no chatting before Mass
we do have four EEMs, but as of late they do not even ascend the altar stairs.
I feel badly that there is such an acceptable range of protocol (is that the word?) at Catholic Mass. Many churches have lost sight of the Blessed Sacrament in their presence at all times. Sadly, not much direction comes from the clergy. Too much bible study (did I say that?).
It's sad that the Universal Church does not seem to have universal beliefs and priorities. What a blessing that you have the Latin Mass within your reach ~ I bet that drive will seem shorter than ever now!
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