Michael Voris gave
a great run-down of what we shouldn’t be
experiencing at Mass, but which most parishes provide to us on an ongoing
basis. How are people dressed? Do they indicate reverence in their actions? What
type of music do you hear? Does the priest act like a priest, or a talk-show
host? Are there a lot of Obama bumper stickers on the cars in the church
parking lot?!
Voris urges us
to run from parishes that have too many of these indicators of “neutered”
Catholicism. I think that’s good advice…
…but…what
happens when your choices are limited? I mean, seriously limited, as they are in the Diocese of Baker – especially
way over here on the eastern hem. It’s not that there are clown Masses or
dancing girls in every parish; no, I don’t think either of those abominations
can be found here. But the parishes in this diocese, in my experience, are undeniably
and unashamedly…mediocre. They are
lukewarm. At best.
I haven’t been
to every parish in the diocese; I haven’t even been to many! But I have talked
to people who attend at different parishes – people who want the Traditional
Latin Mass, but are denied, and so are forced to go to the local Novus Ordo.
I also know a
couple of priests who have traveled extensively in the diocese; they have
visited most of the parishes and celebrated Mass there, and they know the other
priests. I asked one priest the following questions about the state of the
liturgy in this diocese; his smart-alecky responses are in italics:
Do you know of
any parish in the Diocese of Baker where Gregorian chant is sung on even a
semi-regular basis?
What's "Gregorian chant"?
Do you know of
any parish where Latin is used regularly, even for just a part of the (Sunday)
Mass?
Didn't the Church get rid of Latin at Vatican II?
How many/which
parishes have only male altar servers?
How sexist!
[Actually, I know of two parishes where the priest has taken action to ensure
that only males will serve.]
Which parish of
the Diocese has the most liturgically correct Mass, in your experience?
Probably least egregious: [He names a parish which I will leave unnamed, but
note that he uses the phrase “least egregious” – rather than “best”]
Sigh. Well, at
least we have plenty of room for improvement! We need some strong leadership to
move away from the Protestantization of our diocese, though. Look at this photo
which graces the Diocesan website under the banner, “Welcome to the Diocese of
Baker Website”:
About the only
thing I can see in this photo that says “Catholic” is the banners. (That’s a
joke, folks. Banners are the bane of our Catholic existence, and should be
banned in our churches. Let them adorn the walls of the parish hall.)
This photo
irritates the heck out of me every time I go to the diocesan website. It does
not say “Catholic”. It does not say “Cathedral”. It says, “Aren’t we a happy,
comfy community?!” The only reason you see so many nicely dressed people is
that the occasion was the episcopal ordination of Bishop Liam Cary. And that in
itself says something about our diocese. Why in the name of Heaven did that
ordination take place in this “liturgical environment” rather than in the
Cathedral of the Diocese?!
Which seems more
appropriate for the ordination of a new bishop? This:
Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.
Okay, that was
just a little side-trip down Memory Lane. What I’m getting at here is “what do
we do now?” What do we do when our liturgical options are so seriously
curtailed?
I’ll tell you what
the temptation is, in my view: it is to run to the nearest chapel that has a
Traditional Latin Mass. I’ll leave you to sort out the conscience issues if
that chapel happens to be an SSPX one.
But I have
another suggestion, especially for those who
want a TLM but have no access to one (including those who do not want to
attend an SSPX Mass). It comes from a correspondent, but these are my thoughts
and actions exactly:
Go to Mass at
your current parish, wear your chapel veil, bring your 1962 Missal with you,
and pray from your missal throughout
the Mass in reparation for the sins
of the world and the dishonor to God of
this and so many other Masses. The Missal will serve the purpose of
occupying your mind, your hands and your eyes. You can skip Holy Communion and
make a spiritual communion instead.
In other words, you won't have to watch what
is going on, you won't have to get involved in all the "hand stuff",
and your mind can focus on the prayers of the Mass in your Missal. In this way
you are honoring God in multiple ways, including obedience: you are praying,
you are actually participating in the Mass in a deeper way than those around
you, and your suffering has merit and means something!
I avoid the “sign
of peace” as much as possible, too. Having a missal in my hands and looking at
it throughout the handshaking phase of Mass is an effective way of saying, “It’s
not that I don’t like you; I’m just busy praying.”
My correspondent
adds:
You may choose
to receive Holy Communion or you may not, depending on a whole variety of
factors. The point of this method of participation at Mass is that you are
"keeping holy the Lord's day" in the
only public way available to you. You are giving witness to the priest and those around you by participating
quietly (and one priest says this makes priests uneasy, and that it’s good for
them!). The important thing is to not let what is going on around you
"disturb your peace." If you
were at Calvary, your participation would be silent and filled with grief. You
are simply declining to participate in the event of Calvary in a wholly
inappropriate way. You are choosing to suffer for Our Lord, in obedience.
Who knows? Such silent but public acts of reparation
may have the same effect that the Carmelites of Compiegne had on the French
Revolution: you will effect change through your suffering that could not be
accomplished in any other way.
This is a good
answer to “what do we do now” – when there is no other parish nearby that is
leading you to holiness. Everyone can do this in their current parish, no
matter how bad it is. Imagine the effect on an errant priest if a sizable
portion of the congregation stopped chit-chatting before and after Mass,
stopped glad-handing each other at the sign of peace, stopped singing the inane
ditties offered as liturgical music, etc!
But even more
than that, imagine the effect of those actions on your own soul. You will be “actively
(actually) participating” in Mass in the way intended by the Church. Imagine
how pleasing to God your actions will be as you join your suffering to that of
His Son on the Cross
After all, it’s
really about the Cross, isn’t it? And we much each bear our own, even if that
includes bad liturgy.
