We were blessed to have the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, with us at high Mass on Sunday. So nice for the Eldest Curmudgeon to see a couple dozen nuns in traditional habit. They certainly made an impression on her (I haven't the heart to tell Eldest that they only eat one meal a day during much of the year; that might lessen the attraction of religious life).
It was otherwise crowded at Mass--we had people on folding chairs in the back of the church again. I can't imagine how crowded we'll be when the chancery forces the 9:30am low Mass out of Blessed Sacrament in a couple of weeks (at least I hope we're crowded, and people don't just drift across the state line to Old St. Pat's or St. Vincent's). Of course, it's all for the good, whatever happens, right? After all, they just must have a fourth Mass in Spanish on Sunday am at Blessed Sacrament, even though Blessed Sacrament is already busy on Sunday, and it is surrounded by under-utilized churches with only one Sunday Mass. And the new Mass just must be in Sunday prime time, right?; Nevermind how far the Latin Massers are driving from, and nevermind how large the families are, and nevermind how poorly attended the new Spanish Mass is likely to be.
I'm still not convinced that the Archbishop even knows we exist. Then again, as I think about it, I'm even more convinced that the chancery fix is in: they're executing some part of the church closing plan (excuse me, the "pastoral plan") now, even though it supposedly hasn't been formulated yet. Here it comes....CLICK HERE to be reminded of what we'll be seeing in Wyandotte County soon.
Ahem, anyways, the Benedictines have got their website back up and running. CLICK HERE to see it if you need a dash of hope after that last link.
Curmudgeon
PS, hat tip, as always, to that master of church photography, Marcus Scotus of Rome of the West.
The Koreans have the advantage of the mass not being said in "Latin"....
ReplyDeleteIf they had asked for a "Latin" mass with the Homily to be spoken in Korean, then I'm sure they would be slapped down as well.
Whoever came up with the idea at Chancery for the Spanish Mass (I believe it was the Archbishop himself, who most CERTAINLY knows that we exist) was a genius; how naive we are!
ReplyDeletePerhaps the idea for a Spanish Mass came from Fr. Murphy, who wrote a "pastoral column" in "The Leaven" after finding a letter critical of illegal immigrants in his mail drop (Fr. Murhphy is the "Hispanic Animator," whatever that is, for the Archdiocese, and his office is at Blessed Sacrament). In his column, Fr. seemed to be having difficulty distinguishing between "illegal alien" and "immigrant." Translation: if one is against illegal aliens receiving the perks of legal immigrants, one is biased against an "entire race of people."
ReplyDeleteOh well, it reallly dosen't matter whose idea it was, does it? It's done, and that's what counts.