I saw the concerns of this piece first hand a couple of years ago when I attended a conference advertising a TLM Mass offered by Bishop Strickland. At that time, Bishop Strickland was not comfortable with the TLM ceremonials yet so he declined to do the TLM even with the guidance of the well-trained servers and MC. The organizers panicked but thought of a compromise to offer a Latin TLM. The choir of course was set to chant the TLM propers. Which they did. When I heard about this before mass began, I knew it was going to be a disaster. And a disaster it was. Neither the NO nor the TLM was honored that day. There were no congregational responses because there was no Latin text in front of them to respond. No handouts. No congregational singing even for the common Latin that you sometimes hear in the NO. Nothing. A thousand Catholics confused as to what was going on. Smh. B16 probably had good intentions to equate the EF and the OF by using those terms, and when SP came out it was frustrating because Gamber made such a good case for both Rites to be treated separately. I think B16 had psychological and sociological reasons for equating the rites, maybe to avoid the concerns of retrograde liturgy from the mainstream.
Tldr: for the traditionalist, a Latin NO is definitely not a solution, it's an insult, and exposing the liturgical ignorance of the one proposing such a solution.
And yet it's great to see bishops moving towards tradition and they should be encouraged to do so. I think Bishop Strickland's position towards the TLM is different now. Indeed I think I recall years ago, Bishop Schneider defending the Novus Ordo. If people are of good will, they will be open to public about turns on once previously held positions.
I don't think there was a shift in position with Bishop Strickland. Maybe I was not clear. The reason why he declined to do the TLM was not because he doesn't love the TLM, but he had only offered it publicly once or twice before and he was unfamiliar with the ceremonials. It's only prudent that he declined to do the TLM in a conference setting. Better to do the NO very well and according to rubrics then to do the TLM with all sorts of liturgical abuse mistakes. I'm sure you would agree.
Also, the Low Mass and even High Mass in the TLM are quite different a Pontifical with all the extra ceremonials. I had the experience of serving a pontifical solemn high Mass with Bp. Schneider and though I’ve had experience as a server and even straw subdeacon, I was pretty lost.
Ah ok, thanks for clarifying. I probably disagree though on your final point. I think a clumsy but we'll intentioned TLM will always surpass the NO in all of its possible manifestations. It's inherently artificial and a mockery.
I attended Mass in the Detroit Archdiocese two Sundays ago, a church I had attended many times before. The Pastor had offered the TLM previous to the banning by the Archbishop, so he is offering the NO Mass in Latin. 1) He celebrated ad Orientem aka vs Deum
2) He did his preparation prayers at the altar.
Following this the Liturgy of the Word celebrated 100% in Latin, Gregorian Chant etc. The readings were repeated at the end of this in English followed by a very brief Homily.
Everything following was in Latin. Communion was received at the Communion rail, on the tongue.
Afterwards, we spoke to Father. In the course of the conversation, we learned that his superior wouldn’t grant permission for him even to do this, but he had done his homework. Every jot and tittle was faithful to Sacrosanctum Conciliium and to the GIRM. So he appealed to the Vatican and was given permission.
He sees this as a way to remain obedient but still try to serve his flock. Interestingly, it wasn’t nearly as full as the TLM.
When fellow Catholics accuse trads of "making an idol out of the liturgy" or whatnot, it's telling how similar they sound to Protestants who say Catholics "make an idol out of Mary." The Catholic mind shouldn't pit these loves against our love of God. Our love for the Mass or Our Lady doesn't compete with our love for Christ; it's an extension of it, it enhances and magnifies it, drawing us towards a deeper devotion to Our Lord.
Yes. There is a plan in the works to send out periodic "What's New at Pelican" emails, which will of course include my articles. It will be a bit different but the point is, you will still be informed.
Hopefully as the platform's offerings expand, we'll gain some ability to curate notifications from certain creators. I've enjoyed perusing the Pelican+ offerings so far, but I can also imagine a scenario where my favorite creators get lost in a flood of notifications for a half-dozen other things I'm not interested in.
That quote from Paul VI is truly stunning. He concedes that he is trading the ancient perfected beauty of the Holy Mass for a "profane" version but it will somehow be better for man. He is utterly oblivious to the rights of God and how He expects and demands to be worshipped. The Novus Ordo in Latin will always be the Novus Ordo regardless of how much lipstick is applied.
Even someone from outside the church or someone new to Catholicism attending a NO, would look at this and say, "Who are they trying to fool? They want to 'appease' us and say that they are both the same Mass. If they are the same and interchangeable, then why the big push to cancel the TLM?" People are not that stupid, but many seem to want to be fooled so that they can keep pretending in their little bubble that all is well.
If the Novus Ordo and the TLM are "basically the same," as some continue to say, why bother to go after the TLM when it suits a minority better?
But if they are very different, then was the TLM broken and needed fixing? What does that say about centuries of Catholics (including great saints) who prayed with it and thought it was just fine?
If the TLM was not broken, then why does the Novus Ordo exist?
This article reminded me of how when TC first dropped, Catholic Answers hosted an "emergency" episode featuring a conservative bishop answering questions from the distressed faithful. Though he seemed well-meaning, I was flabbergasted at one point when the bishop said something to the effect of, "if Catholics attending the TLM were given a reverent Latin Novus Ordo, I wonder how many of them would even know the difference."
At the time, his comment struck me as horrendously out of touch and insensitive. He seemingly failed to understand either the TLM or its devotees well enough to actually comprehend their true concerns, supposing a superficial coat of liturgical paint was enough to sate the trad peasants.
Most bishops are very ignorant about liturgy. In a T&S article from a while ago, I told the story of a bishop - a really good one too - who was shocked when I told him that neither Vatican II nor the Vatican itself had ever mandated that the altars be turned around and the priest face the faithful. "But then, how could it be that EVERYONE did it? There MUST have been an order to do it!" And I was able to show him there had not been.
I recently attended a NO mass in Latin after almost exclusively attending the TLM. It felt like we were being yelled at in Latin. It was awful and definitely not the solution.
Thank you for this. I stopped attending Mass at the Benedictine Monastery nearby (in Vermont) because it is the NO in Latin. The remainder of their Liturgy is beautiful and proper Latin as in other Monasteries i.e. Clear Creek, but the NO in Latin left me hallow. It took me quite some time to recognize that.
(I was wondering why I couldn't comment on the Pelican page as I did transfer my membership yesterday)
Thanks. Yes, it's like a Bauhaus building that's gilded in a Baroque style. The thing and the language don't fit together.
There will be a community section for comments at Pelican+. Still being built. We needed to open it to the public in order to get it going but it's a bit like living in an apartment building whose upper floors are being added on! So many good things coming!
Indeed, there's nothing new under the sun... but it's surprising how slow some can be to admit what is right in front of their noses.
A point I did not bring out in the essay but might as well include here is the following:
It can actually be "adding insult to injury" to do the Novus Ordo in Latin. Why do I say this? Because when the Novus Ordo is in the vernacular, it feels like a different rite, as in fact it is (see my book "The Once and Future Roman Rite"); but when it's done in Latin, it's as if the country bumpkin is dressing up like the city gentleman; it's a kind of inferior imitation that reminds one viscerally of what it is not.
Moreover, the Latin we use in the Roman Rite goes back over 1,500 years; it itself is one of the most monumental witnesses to the antiquity of the rite. But the Novus Ordo was a committee construct from the 1960s, so an ancient language ill suits it. There is a disconnect that simply doesn't exist in a traditional ritual.
Everything you say is so true. Here in East Tennessee there is no FSSP or other group that can offer the Vetus Ordo. As of last Sunday, we lost the only TLM within hundreds of miles. So the marriage of the TLM and the NO will be tried (and found wanting, of course). But if I must choose an NO Mass with the tinkling, music hall/pop tunes yet again, I will always choose the least offensive so as to fulfill my Sunday obligation. I simply cannot skip Mass on the grounds that I can’t stand the NO Mass. I need to receive the Lord at least once a week. He is what keeps me bearing this situation. After all, He must bear it too... This has been the main the struggle of my spiritual life. I left the Church in 1969 as a of teenager because of the radical new Mass, and wandered for many years trying to find what the old Mass had given to me, and of course I never found it. Nearly 45 years later, I found the TLM again and returned with great joy. But it's always been a tenuous gift - snatched away, dangled in the distance beyond my reach, causing great spiritual suffering when I have to bear sitting through NO Masses for years on end. Maybe "40 years in the desert" will become my headstone marker. But I have hope still...
Oh yes, I have. But it’s not possible financially or family wise. I moved my 94-year-old Dad here primarily so we both could live with the rest of our family here. The TLM was a heavenly bonus, until it ended so quickly. My first responsibility is to God, of course, but I must also honor my remaining parent. I trust He will take care of my deep spiritual desires.
I am a convert circa 2017 Easter Vigil. I came into the Church in a Novus Ordo parish, the largest in the Archdiocese of my state. It had a wonderful truly holy priest (I can personally attest that he is extraordinarily holy and a genuine pastor, he spent the past 18 years trying to bring the parish back into holiness from it's very liberal 1960s origins). However, there remain mostly girl altar servers, led by two grown women. There are eucharistic servers, mostly women, sometimes wearing sports jerseys and jeans (the wearing of sports jerseys to Mass is apparently endemic to Western Washington; I have not seen it at NO parishes I've visited in other states). There is a lot of talking in the sanctuary before Mass. And some during Mass. There is applause at the end of Mass when the choir/musicians are particularly talented. Depending on the Mass time, the music is the exact same protestant praise songs we were singing before I converted. In many ways this NO Mass is similar to my past experience with Evangelical Non Denominational Protestantism, which is why my non convert spouse enjoys attending. This kind of Mass is all I knew until everything was shut down during Covid.
When they let us celebrate Mass again, the Archbishop decided to implement a restructuring, reassigning almost all the priests in the Archdiocese (including ours, who disagreed with the plan but went in obedience to the most remote tiny parish in the entire state) merging parishes so that 136 become 60. Lack of priests/seminarians and low attendance was the reason given (well, you suspended Mass obligation for 18 months, did you expect everyone would come back?).
In early 2022, five years into Catholicism, I found myself wondering what I'd signed up for; there has been so much chaos since 2020 and there seems to be so little reverence. In an effort to figure things out, I visited the nearest (30 minutes away with no traffic, an hour in normal traffic) Latin Low Mass. It was genuinely a revelation. I had no idea how reverent a Mass could be until then. It's an FSSP Apostolate, in a tiny 115 year old church located in a sketchy urban neighborhood, and it was packed on a Saturday morning with families. Lots of babies. Lots of older people too. Eight altar servers, all boys, all stunningly on point despite what is a quite complicated participation in the Mass (compared to my NO parish where the two or three girls serving at any given time can barely manage the most basic expectations without making obvious mistakes).
I've attended a High Mass there twice, and the experience was sublime.
I find it painful that I must choose between a reverent Mass just a bit too far from my home in a rough neighborhood, and the frankly sloppy irreverence of my home parish, where I really do love my fellow parishioners but where the liturgy is stripped down, casual, and the expectations so low. You showed up! Good for you! That's all that is expected.
It shouldn't be that way. I don't understand why it is, and it seems as much a theft of our inheritance as the way protestants have had their faith patrimony stolen from them by the actions of Luther and subsequent denominational splintering. You don't realize what has been taken from you until you experience it first hand. And then, if you're like me, you wonder what you're supposed to do about it.
I used to think that upon retirement we'd move to a neighboring state where I've visited an FSSP apostolate with a beautiful new parish church and a large thriving congregation. I guess that's no assurance though it will be left to continue TLM.
Believe me, I hear your pain! It is the same I hear from countless Catholics. And I've experienced it myself at various points in my life.
I've said before, and I think it's helpful, that we have been born into the middle of a gigantic ecclesiastical crisis, like the Arian controversy or the iconoclasm controversy, both of which lasted for well over a century. And so we must remain faithful in spite of the difficulties we face.
But it is definitely better to get to the TLM, even with some inconvenience. It is a powerhouse of grace and a revelation of divine beauty. And it is OUR INHERITANCE.
The best decision I ever made was to move to a city where I could be close to an FSSP chapel. Yes, it's theoretically possible the FSSP (or other groups like it) could be "canceled," but if that hasn't happened since 1988, under all the popes since then, it doesn't seem too likely that it would happen under Leo XIV.
Interesting to note: given we are discussing the varieties and relative merits of two (of 23) forms of the Most Blessed Sacrament (of seven) of the Church Jesus Christ founded for the purpose of helping the faithful members of the “mystical Body of Christ” to receive the grace to persevere in faith until death so that we might happily spend our eternity in heaven with Him, by enabling us to fulfilling his command that we eat His Flesh and drink His Blood, and adore Him appearing to us with His resplendent magnificent glory mercifully hidden from us behind a veil, appearing, smelling, tasting, as the humble creatures of bread and wine, that there is no mention of “Jesus” or “real presence” or “potential infinite grace”, or “sacrament” or “Eucharist”. It is all about the ornamental Pelagian wrappings and box delivering to us the Real Present.
Nor, importantly, is there any evidence to suggest that the infinite grace potentially available for us is more infinite in one form than another. It seems to me that by this most vital criterion both forms are equal in dignity and potential efficacy in helping us sojourn towards our eternal end.
What you are not taking into account is the subjective disposition of the attendee as well as the objective value of the liturgy as a work offered to God.
And, for a more extensive response concerning how the merit of Masses can differ (and this, according to entirely well-recognized theological principles):
""...and inspire no one." Correct, but there remains that breed of conservative Catholic, who would happily accept a smells and bells Novus Ordo, as long as they are in conformity with their local ordinary. Indeed, I expect that would be their first choice.
I saw the concerns of this piece first hand a couple of years ago when I attended a conference advertising a TLM Mass offered by Bishop Strickland. At that time, Bishop Strickland was not comfortable with the TLM ceremonials yet so he declined to do the TLM even with the guidance of the well-trained servers and MC. The organizers panicked but thought of a compromise to offer a Latin TLM. The choir of course was set to chant the TLM propers. Which they did. When I heard about this before mass began, I knew it was going to be a disaster. And a disaster it was. Neither the NO nor the TLM was honored that day. There were no congregational responses because there was no Latin text in front of them to respond. No handouts. No congregational singing even for the common Latin that you sometimes hear in the NO. Nothing. A thousand Catholics confused as to what was going on. Smh. B16 probably had good intentions to equate the EF and the OF by using those terms, and when SP came out it was frustrating because Gamber made such a good case for both Rites to be treated separately. I think B16 had psychological and sociological reasons for equating the rites, maybe to avoid the concerns of retrograde liturgy from the mainstream.
Tldr: for the traditionalist, a Latin NO is definitely not a solution, it's an insult, and exposing the liturgical ignorance of the one proposing such a solution.
Yes. It's the most awkward thing in the world: neither fish nor fowl.
I meant a Latin Novus Ordo. That's what Bishop Strickland offered.
And yet it's great to see bishops moving towards tradition and they should be encouraged to do so. I think Bishop Strickland's position towards the TLM is different now. Indeed I think I recall years ago, Bishop Schneider defending the Novus Ordo. If people are of good will, they will be open to public about turns on once previously held positions.
I don't think there was a shift in position with Bishop Strickland. Maybe I was not clear. The reason why he declined to do the TLM was not because he doesn't love the TLM, but he had only offered it publicly once or twice before and he was unfamiliar with the ceremonials. It's only prudent that he declined to do the TLM in a conference setting. Better to do the NO very well and according to rubrics then to do the TLM with all sorts of liturgical abuse mistakes. I'm sure you would agree.
Also, the Low Mass and even High Mass in the TLM are quite different a Pontifical with all the extra ceremonials. I had the experience of serving a pontifical solemn high Mass with Bp. Schneider and though I’ve had experience as a server and even straw subdeacon, I was pretty lost.
Ah ok, thanks for clarifying. I probably disagree though on your final point. I think a clumsy but we'll intentioned TLM will always surpass the NO in all of its possible manifestations. It's inherently artificial and a mockery.
I attended Mass in the Detroit Archdiocese two Sundays ago, a church I had attended many times before. The Pastor had offered the TLM previous to the banning by the Archbishop, so he is offering the NO Mass in Latin. 1) He celebrated ad Orientem aka vs Deum
2) He did his preparation prayers at the altar.
Following this the Liturgy of the Word celebrated 100% in Latin, Gregorian Chant etc. The readings were repeated at the end of this in English followed by a very brief Homily.
Everything following was in Latin. Communion was received at the Communion rail, on the tongue.
Afterwards, we spoke to Father. In the course of the conversation, we learned that his superior wouldn’t grant permission for him even to do this, but he had done his homework. Every jot and tittle was faithful to Sacrosanctum Conciliium and to the GIRM. So he appealed to the Vatican and was given permission.
He sees this as a way to remain obedient but still try to serve his flock. Interestingly, it wasn’t nearly as full as the TLM.
That's right.
1. It's a battle to figure out what you are allowed to do, and then a battle to dare to do it.
2. It's still not as full as the ancient rite.
When fellow Catholics accuse trads of "making an idol out of the liturgy" or whatnot, it's telling how similar they sound to Protestants who say Catholics "make an idol out of Mary." The Catholic mind shouldn't pit these loves against our love of God. Our love for the Mass or Our Lady doesn't compete with our love for Christ; it's an extension of it, it enhances and magnifies it, drawing us towards a deeper devotion to Our Lord.
Well said!
Will your content on Pelican be pushed to us via email, as it is on Substack?
Yes. There is a plan in the works to send out periodic "What's New at Pelican" emails, which will of course include my articles. It will be a bit different but the point is, you will still be informed.
Hopefully as the platform's offerings expand, we'll gain some ability to curate notifications from certain creators. I've enjoyed perusing the Pelican+ offerings so far, but I can also imagine a scenario where my favorite creators get lost in a flood of notifications for a half-dozen other things I'm not interested in.
Yes, we're aware of the need to make the whole thing easily navigable so that people can find just what they're looking for.
That quote from Paul VI is truly stunning. He concedes that he is trading the ancient perfected beauty of the Holy Mass for a "profane" version but it will somehow be better for man. He is utterly oblivious to the rights of God and how He expects and demands to be worshipped. The Novus Ordo in Latin will always be the Novus Ordo regardless of how much lipstick is applied.
Even someone from outside the church or someone new to Catholicism attending a NO, would look at this and say, "Who are they trying to fool? They want to 'appease' us and say that they are both the same Mass. If they are the same and interchangeable, then why the big push to cancel the TLM?" People are not that stupid, but many seem to want to be fooled so that they can keep pretending in their little bubble that all is well.
Precisely.
If the Novus Ordo and the TLM are "basically the same," as some continue to say, why bother to go after the TLM when it suits a minority better?
But if they are very different, then was the TLM broken and needed fixing? What does that say about centuries of Catholics (including great saints) who prayed with it and thought it was just fine?
If the TLM was not broken, then why does the Novus Ordo exist?
This article reminded me of how when TC first dropped, Catholic Answers hosted an "emergency" episode featuring a conservative bishop answering questions from the distressed faithful. Though he seemed well-meaning, I was flabbergasted at one point when the bishop said something to the effect of, "if Catholics attending the TLM were given a reverent Latin Novus Ordo, I wonder how many of them would even know the difference."
At the time, his comment struck me as horrendously out of touch and insensitive. He seemingly failed to understand either the TLM or its devotees well enough to actually comprehend their true concerns, supposing a superficial coat of liturgical paint was enough to sate the trad peasants.
Most bishops are very ignorant about liturgy. In a T&S article from a while ago, I told the story of a bishop - a really good one too - who was shocked when I told him that neither Vatican II nor the Vatican itself had ever mandated that the altars be turned around and the priest face the faithful. "But then, how could it be that EVERYONE did it? There MUST have been an order to do it!" And I was able to show him there had not been.
https://www.traditionsanity.com/p/seeking-the-origins-of-versus-populum
I recently attended a NO mass in Latin after almost exclusively attending the TLM. It felt like we were being yelled at in Latin. It was awful and definitely not the solution.
Thank you for this. I stopped attending Mass at the Benedictine Monastery nearby (in Vermont) because it is the NO in Latin. The remainder of their Liturgy is beautiful and proper Latin as in other Monasteries i.e. Clear Creek, but the NO in Latin left me hallow. It took me quite some time to recognize that.
(I was wondering why I couldn't comment on the Pelican page as I did transfer my membership yesterday)
Thanks. Yes, it's like a Bauhaus building that's gilded in a Baroque style. The thing and the language don't fit together.
There will be a community section for comments at Pelican+. Still being built. We needed to open it to the public in order to get it going but it's a bit like living in an apartment building whose upper floors are being added on! So many good things coming!
Thank you--I have been saying this for awhile!
Indeed, there's nothing new under the sun... but it's surprising how slow some can be to admit what is right in front of their noses.
A point I did not bring out in the essay but might as well include here is the following:
It can actually be "adding insult to injury" to do the Novus Ordo in Latin. Why do I say this? Because when the Novus Ordo is in the vernacular, it feels like a different rite, as in fact it is (see my book "The Once and Future Roman Rite"); but when it's done in Latin, it's as if the country bumpkin is dressing up like the city gentleman; it's a kind of inferior imitation that reminds one viscerally of what it is not.
Moreover, the Latin we use in the Roman Rite goes back over 1,500 years; it itself is one of the most monumental witnesses to the antiquity of the rite. But the Novus Ordo was a committee construct from the 1960s, so an ancient language ill suits it. There is a disconnect that simply doesn't exist in a traditional ritual.
YES!!!
Everything you say is so true. Here in East Tennessee there is no FSSP or other group that can offer the Vetus Ordo. As of last Sunday, we lost the only TLM within hundreds of miles. So the marriage of the TLM and the NO will be tried (and found wanting, of course). But if I must choose an NO Mass with the tinkling, music hall/pop tunes yet again, I will always choose the least offensive so as to fulfill my Sunday obligation. I simply cannot skip Mass on the grounds that I can’t stand the NO Mass. I need to receive the Lord at least once a week. He is what keeps me bearing this situation. After all, He must bear it too... This has been the main the struggle of my spiritual life. I left the Church in 1969 as a of teenager because of the radical new Mass, and wandered for many years trying to find what the old Mass had given to me, and of course I never found it. Nearly 45 years later, I found the TLM again and returned with great joy. But it's always been a tenuous gift - snatched away, dangled in the distance beyond my reach, causing great spiritual suffering when I have to bear sitting through NO Masses for years on end. Maybe "40 years in the desert" will become my headstone marker. But I have hope still...
It is so grievous that this is being done to you again.
I realize most people can't up and move; but have you thought about moving closer to a more stable TLM community like the FSSP or ICKSP?
Oh yes, I have. But it’s not possible financially or family wise. I moved my 94-year-old Dad here primarily so we both could live with the rest of our family here. The TLM was a heavenly bonus, until it ended so quickly. My first responsibility is to God, of course, but I must also honor my remaining parent. I trust He will take care of my deep spiritual desires.
I understand... He will indeed bless you for your fidelity!
I am a convert circa 2017 Easter Vigil. I came into the Church in a Novus Ordo parish, the largest in the Archdiocese of my state. It had a wonderful truly holy priest (I can personally attest that he is extraordinarily holy and a genuine pastor, he spent the past 18 years trying to bring the parish back into holiness from it's very liberal 1960s origins). However, there remain mostly girl altar servers, led by two grown women. There are eucharistic servers, mostly women, sometimes wearing sports jerseys and jeans (the wearing of sports jerseys to Mass is apparently endemic to Western Washington; I have not seen it at NO parishes I've visited in other states). There is a lot of talking in the sanctuary before Mass. And some during Mass. There is applause at the end of Mass when the choir/musicians are particularly talented. Depending on the Mass time, the music is the exact same protestant praise songs we were singing before I converted. In many ways this NO Mass is similar to my past experience with Evangelical Non Denominational Protestantism, which is why my non convert spouse enjoys attending. This kind of Mass is all I knew until everything was shut down during Covid.
When they let us celebrate Mass again, the Archbishop decided to implement a restructuring, reassigning almost all the priests in the Archdiocese (including ours, who disagreed with the plan but went in obedience to the most remote tiny parish in the entire state) merging parishes so that 136 become 60. Lack of priests/seminarians and low attendance was the reason given (well, you suspended Mass obligation for 18 months, did you expect everyone would come back?).
In early 2022, five years into Catholicism, I found myself wondering what I'd signed up for; there has been so much chaos since 2020 and there seems to be so little reverence. In an effort to figure things out, I visited the nearest (30 minutes away with no traffic, an hour in normal traffic) Latin Low Mass. It was genuinely a revelation. I had no idea how reverent a Mass could be until then. It's an FSSP Apostolate, in a tiny 115 year old church located in a sketchy urban neighborhood, and it was packed on a Saturday morning with families. Lots of babies. Lots of older people too. Eight altar servers, all boys, all stunningly on point despite what is a quite complicated participation in the Mass (compared to my NO parish where the two or three girls serving at any given time can barely manage the most basic expectations without making obvious mistakes).
I've attended a High Mass there twice, and the experience was sublime.
I find it painful that I must choose between a reverent Mass just a bit too far from my home in a rough neighborhood, and the frankly sloppy irreverence of my home parish, where I really do love my fellow parishioners but where the liturgy is stripped down, casual, and the expectations so low. You showed up! Good for you! That's all that is expected.
It shouldn't be that way. I don't understand why it is, and it seems as much a theft of our inheritance as the way protestants have had their faith patrimony stolen from them by the actions of Luther and subsequent denominational splintering. You don't realize what has been taken from you until you experience it first hand. And then, if you're like me, you wonder what you're supposed to do about it.
I used to think that upon retirement we'd move to a neighboring state where I've visited an FSSP apostolate with a beautiful new parish church and a large thriving congregation. I guess that's no assurance though it will be left to continue TLM.
Believe me, I hear your pain! It is the same I hear from countless Catholics. And I've experienced it myself at various points in my life.
I've said before, and I think it's helpful, that we have been born into the middle of a gigantic ecclesiastical crisis, like the Arian controversy or the iconoclasm controversy, both of which lasted for well over a century. And so we must remain faithful in spite of the difficulties we face.
But it is definitely better to get to the TLM, even with some inconvenience. It is a powerhouse of grace and a revelation of divine beauty. And it is OUR INHERITANCE.
The best decision I ever made was to move to a city where I could be close to an FSSP chapel. Yes, it's theoretically possible the FSSP (or other groups like it) could be "canceled," but if that hasn't happened since 1988, under all the popes since then, it doesn't seem too likely that it would happen under Leo XIV.
It’s says the “prayer app” is available if you subscribe to the 15.99/mo. Version. Is that correct?
Yes, that's true.
We have priced the platform very competitively, charging less than almost anyone else does for a similar spectrum of content.
To give an example, I pay $10/month for a classical music streaming service. That's all they give me: music.
Pelican+ gives articles, podcasts, ebooks, audiobooks, prayers - eventually, movies, university courses, children's programs, etc.
Interesting to note: given we are discussing the varieties and relative merits of two (of 23) forms of the Most Blessed Sacrament (of seven) of the Church Jesus Christ founded for the purpose of helping the faithful members of the “mystical Body of Christ” to receive the grace to persevere in faith until death so that we might happily spend our eternity in heaven with Him, by enabling us to fulfilling his command that we eat His Flesh and drink His Blood, and adore Him appearing to us with His resplendent magnificent glory mercifully hidden from us behind a veil, appearing, smelling, tasting, as the humble creatures of bread and wine, that there is no mention of “Jesus” or “real presence” or “potential infinite grace”, or “sacrament” or “Eucharist”. It is all about the ornamental Pelagian wrappings and box delivering to us the Real Present.
Nor, importantly, is there any evidence to suggest that the infinite grace potentially available for us is more infinite in one form than another. It seems to me that by this most vital criterion both forms are equal in dignity and potential efficacy in helping us sojourn towards our eternal end.
What you are not taking into account is the subjective disposition of the attendee as well as the objective value of the liturgy as a work offered to God.
I respond to your arguments here:
https://onepeterfive.com/is-the-mass-just-the-mass-2/
https://onepeterfive.com/all-that-matters-at-mass-is-jesus-responding-to-liturgical-heresy/
And, for a more extensive response concerning how the merit of Masses can differ (and this, according to entirely well-recognized theological principles):
https://unavocecanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/The-Merit-Of-A-Mass.pdf
Thank you for reading!
You cant put lipstick on a pig
""...and inspire no one." Correct, but there remains that breed of conservative Catholic, who would happily accept a smells and bells Novus Ordo, as long as they are in conformity with their local ordinary. Indeed, I expect that would be their first choice.