Over at Meeting Christ In The Liturgy there are some new images of the Solemn TLM celebrated at Mount St. Mary Seminary on 8 December.
Here is a sample:
Solemn TLM’s in American seminaries…. who’d have thought it possible…
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Let’s call this progress.
“Who’d have thought it Possible?”
Those who have prayed for it.
Even praying for it, I never thought I’d see it, and I was born well into the Silly Season.
Lambeaux, my comment may have been too low key, but those who hoped to see it before they die, will appreciate my understatement and the power of prayer. I am not familiar with the Silly Season, please, elaborate. Blessings
The Silly Season refers to the period from mid- to late-summer when the news cycle slows down and silly stories rise to the top of the news.
Dating back to the 1800’s this was originally the time when parliament was not in session in Great Britain.
Here, it’s being used analoguously with the period after the council when silly behavior came to the fore.
Tempora mutantur.
Who is the celebrant, any other priest present and who ?
Thank God for Msgr Rohlfs
Wish my alma mater taught us orthodox theology and liturgy
The alumni of MSM are VERY fortunate indeed
Michael,
You are invited to visit the original post at http://mcitl.blogspot.com where you will find the information you seek. Thank you.
Michael — the celebrant was Monsignor Charles E. Pope of the Archdiocese of Washington; the deacon was Father Paul D. Scalia of the Diocese of Arlington; and the subdeacon was Father John C. Fritz (2000 Mount grad) of the Diocese of Rockford (studying at Catholic U.). All three priests say the traditional Latin Mass in the D.C./Arlington area. The homilist was Father Frederick L. Miller, a systemic theology professor at the Mount.
If my eyes do not deceive me, the subdeacon is Fr. John Fritz. He’s at Catholic U, and is an associate priest at the Latin Mass Community at Old St. John the Evangelist (Silver Spring, MD).
From: The Washington Times: (Not a promising report)…
Monsignor Steven Rohlfs, the seminary’s rector, said that interest in the Traditional Mass has “slightly increased” in the archdiocese, but “frankly, there haven’t been huge requests from the laity.”
“First, we make sure they know sufficient Latin,” Monsignor Rohlfs said.
Most of the seminarians prefer the English-language rite used in parishes today, “but they need to appreciate the extraordinary [Latin] form of the Mass.
“I’ve found the first time you do it, the church is full,” he said.
“The second time, it is half full, the third time it is one-quarter full and eventually you get to about 75 people who like that form of worship and want to stay with that.”
Daniel,
Thanks for the comments on the story in the Washington Times. I’ve posted the link to my blog, and I’ve asked readers to write a note of “thanks” to Monsignor Rohlfs. My “search queues” show just how desperately people search for the TLM in our area. Perhaps it would be helpful to let Monsignor know how many seek the Extraordinary Form!
D.v.
Now if only we can get Fr. Jack Lombardi, chaplain of the Mount’s National Shrine Grotto of Lourdes, to do the same. I bet he’d be open to it.
Only in dreams…sigh…
I thought about the following from Monsignor Rohlfs:
“I’ve found the first time you do it, the church is full,” he said.
The second time, it is half full, the third time it is one-quarter full and eventually you get to about 75 people who like that form of worship and want to stay with that.”
Is Monsignor Rohlfs’ experience with dwindling interest in the TLM pretty much the case wherever the TLM is offered?
Pope JP2 planted the seeds at the beginning of the new springtime in the Church. Now Pope B16 is watering an expanded garden. Just wait until the summer comes. In the springtime there are violent weather events – thunderstorms – when the weather changes from cold to warm, so too must we go through the storms until the full growth in summer, where the sun is bright.
If I hadn’t had 5 little kids in tow, I would have made the trip.
At Old St. John’s (Our Lady Queen of Poland)in Silver Spring this past Monday, Father Fritz mentioned that in honor of Our Lady of Guadelupe there will be a TLM at St. Bernadette’s in SS on Friday. I am calling them today to find out what time. I’m sure it will be the first TLM ever celebrated in that parish.
Daniel, I can only speak for Pittsburgh, where we’ve had the EF since 1990 under the terms of the old indult. When we started, we had around 75-100 faithful per week at our only Sunday Mass. As time has progressed, we have slowly, steadily grown and we now have two Masses every Sunday with about 700 to 800 total attendance. Contrary to the the experience of Monsignor Rohlfs, I usually see a few new people every week, and I notice very few dropouts. We do have people drive considerable distances to St. Boniface, so when Franciscan University in Steubenville or St. Vincent’s in Latrobe offer the EF, people local to those areas attend their local Mass (and I am glad that they support their local EF Mass).
Probably a lot of people show up the first week just to see it, or in order to show their support. These people may live too far away to go on a regular basis, or might even already have their own parishes. The second week, the people come who couldn’t make it the first week but want to see it or show their support. Ditto the third week. The fourth week is normal life.
I thought about the following from Monsignor Rohlfs:
“I’ve found the first time you do it, the church is full,” he said.
The second time, it is half full, the third time it is one-quarter full and eventually you get to about 75 people who like that form of worship and want to stay with that.”
Is Monsignor Rohlfs’ experience with dwindling interest in the TLM pretty much the case wherever the TLM is offered?
Comment by Daniel
That shouldn’t surprise anyone.
1. Douglas Kmiec, the former Dean of the Law Faculty at Catholic University endorsed the pro abortion candidate for President (Obama had a 100% rating by NARAL).
2. When a priest denied Kmiec Communion Cardinal Mahoney said the action was “shameless and indefensible”.
3. A few years ago Rhode Island, the state with the highest percentage of Catholics, also had the highest percentage of pro-abortion voters.
4. In the 2008 election the Catholics vote for the pro abortion candidate mirrored the general electorate.
5. Humanae Vitae and Contraception? That’s a distant memory. My guess is that in most large American parishes the number of people who have not habitually contracepted would not even reach Msgr Rohlf’s magic number of 75.
6. The truth is that the Church in the US has been a monumental flop in propagating Catholic life. The fact that not many are interested in Latin mass is only one component in the failure.
Is Monsignor Rohlfs’ experience with dwindling interest in the TLM pretty much the case wherever the TLM is offered?
Not in my … Well, frankly, rather vast … experience with TLM’s. What is true — and perhaps consistent with Msgr. Rohlf’ comment — is the first (in several decades) TLM or two in a particular locale draws all those within a large driving area who are interested.
This includes many who will not be able to come every week. Especially since most EF attenders these days are regular OF attenders and active members of their own parishes (rather than the stereotypical bitter trads who get much blogosheric attention).
So in the long-term situation you have a stable average attendance, but a good many different faces each week because many can come to the TLM only biweekly or monthly. At the smallish TLM Mass I attend, we see new faces almost every week, and then they return every 2 or 3 weeks, so the attendance tends to oscillate a bit but grow slowly over time.
To me, this seems an optimal situation if our goal is not really to “convert” people form OF to EF but to offer the EF to enrich the worship of both the people who attend it and their home parishes where they attend the OF Sundays or (as with many of ours) daily.
Kat:
I was also at Fr. Fritz’s mass on Monday. The mass on Friday is at 7:30 pm. This will not be the first mass at St. Bernadette’s. Msgr Smith celebrated a Solemn High TLM on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes in February. Msgr. Smith is the former pastor at St. Mary Mother of God. So, I would expect he will offer the TLM periodically.
Is Monsignor Rohlfs’ experience with dwindling interest in the TLM pretty much the case wherever the TLM is offered?
I thank each person who responded to my question.
Monsignor Rohlfs’ experience regarding TLM attendance is not universal. That is good to know.