Greensboro, NC – 21 June – TLM

It is a bit early for this, but here is a note from a reader:

I am writing you in the hopes that you will help me promote a mass in the Extraordinary Form done by Fr. Robert Ferguson FSSP at Our Lady of Grace in Greensboro North Carolina, Sunday June 21st at 4:00pm. It can be confirmed at their website at this link. This part of North Carolina rarely gets a mass in this form. The last one done here was almost a year ago with over 400 people in attendance. Please pray that this one will be a success as well and help promote it if you can.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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14 Comments

  1. RJM says:

    I lived in NC for about five years. After the release of the motu proprio, Bishop Burbidge started a monthly TLM celebration at the cathedral. Outside of these first Sunday celebrations, it was a difficult context for someone like myself, b/c, for the most part, the liturgical scene was rather deplorable. Bishop Burbidge is a solid leader, though, and I expect great things from that diocese in the future. I will be praying for this upcoming Mass. Hopefully, it will help to kick off a more regular TLM celebration in your neck of the woods.

  2. Sid Cundiff says:

    This part of North Carolina rarely gets a mass in this form.

    For the sake of clarity:

    1. I assume the writer means by “this part of North Carolina” the city of Greensboro and its county, in which case his statement is indeed correct.

    2. For a schedule of MEFs in NC, see http://honneurs.free.fr/Wikini/wakka.php?wiki=CarolineDuNord

    From the information that I have to date:

    1. It is not yet decided if this MEF will be either a missa cantata or a Solemn High Mass. The decision will depend upon the availability of clergy for the deacon and subdeacon.

    2. All enquiries about this MEF should NOT be made with Our Lady of Grace in Greensboro, but instead with Holy Angels church in Mount Airy, NC, the pastor Fr. Eric Kowalski. Enquiries can also be made with me.

    I thank the writer and Fr. Z for alerting folks about this MEF.

  3. Dove says:

    Fr Z, check your state abbreviation in the heading.

  4. Laura Lowder says:

    ohmygoodness!!! Father! I attended my FIRST MASS at OLG! It’s there it all became real to me!

    Anyone anywhere NEAR Greensboro – please go – the Church was built in the 1950s, has never been “wreckovated” – I cannot imagine a more glorious setting for the EF Mass.

    Greensboro is not part of the Raleigh Diocese, under Bishop Michael Burbidge, but Charlotte, under Bishop Peter Jugis, who has a great heart for the Traditions of the Church.

    They were offering the EF at Wake Forest/Winston-Salem, which is less than forty miles from Greensboro. Don’t know what happened if the last Mass in the area was more than a year ago.

    I’ve got this on my calendar now, and will be forwarding this to all my NC connections.

    Glory be!!!

  5. Laura Lowder says:

    Sid,
    Contact info for yourself, please?

    RJM,
    Sacred Heart, Dunn, holds the EF Mass daily. People come from all over the State to attend on Sundays. Rocky Mount and Fuquay-Varina also have the EF Mass. We hope to get in established in other locations as well. The desire is certainly present.

  6. RJM says:

    I was aware of the EF Mass in Dunn. Unfortunately, it was simply too far away for me to attend, b/c of family responsibilities.

  7. RJM says:

    Are the Sunday noon celebrations at Sacred Heart solemn high Masses?

  8. Sid says:

    Laura,

    I have forwarded my email address to your website email.

    The MEF at Davis Chapel at Wake Forest University ended a year ago when the priest, Fr. Samuel Weber, OSB, moved to St. Louis. Yet Fr. Kowalski in Mount Airy had already taken up the torch, and an MEF is available there most SA evenings at 630pm (1830hrs for some of you folks).

    For a list of MEFs in NC see the website mentioned in my first post, above. I am attempting to keep this site current, at least with respect to churches under the jurisdiction of the Raleigh and Charlotte bishops, inasmuch as I do not have the SSPX’s permission to edit their chapel’s schedules in NC.

    In keeping this website current, I depend upon clergy to inform me when changes occur and new MEFs begin.

    To make a correction: The MEF is offered in Dunn, NC, TU-FR. And it is available First Saturdays. It is NOT offered Mondays. Again, see the WikkiMissa site.

    I have posted here at wdtprs before that we have made considerable progress with the MEF in this state, and thanks goes to our bishops.

  9. Doyle Caudle says:

    Laura,

    I’m glad to hear that you find the TLM so inspiring. Many of us in your area do as well. The TLM is offered at Holy Angels Catholic Church in Mt. Airy as a Vigil Mass every Saturday evening at 6:30.

    It is also offered in Winston-Salem on the second and fourth Sundays at St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church. The schedule for this Mass in Winston-Salem is subject to change; Sid will keep you posted if you ask to be added to his mailing list.

    As Sid noted, we have a vibrant and growing community who love and are inspired by the TLM. The last Solemn High Mass was celebrated at Holy Family Catholic Church in Clemmons, NC, which is near Winston-Salem, last August for the Feast of the Assumption.

    I just wanted to clarify the point that the TLM in western NC is not nearly as rare as one might have been led to believe.

    Doyle Caudle

  10. RJM says:

    I apologize if my remarks caused some confusion. I lived in Durham and was mainly speaking in reference to the Triangle. Also, I moved from NC to St. Louis in August, so I was unaware of some of the more recent developments (by the way, Fr. Weber now assists regularly at St. Francis de Sales Oratory here in St. Louis). I am overjoyed to hear that traditional liturgical practice is picking up steam in the state.

  11. Sid says:

    RJM,

    The 1200hrs (12 noon to some of y’all) MEF in Dunn is usually a Low Mass and sometimes a missa cantata. You can get the full information from the parish office of Sacred Heart, Dunn, NC.

    A Solemn High Mass is a rare bird in these parts, because it obliges not only a priest but also a deacan and subdeacon — all of whom must be so ordained, all of whom must have the time, all of whom must not have offered already three Masses on the day in question, and all of whom must be within driving distance in a big state like NC. Yet we in NC have had indeed some Solemn High Masses: Epiphany 2008 at the cathedral in Raleigh, Fr. Paul Parkerson priest, Fr. Tim Meares deacon, Fr. Ferguson subdeacon; Assumption 2008 at Holy Family in Clemmons, Fr. Kowalski priest, Fr. Ferguson deacon, Fr. Christopher Davis subdeacon. I can imagine that as more clergy learn the MEF, more of them will be available for Solemn High Masses.

    Of course, sung masses also will need a schola. Our local Winston-Salem women’s schola, to whom much praise can be sung, sang in Clemmons last August. So: all’y’all who can sing (sort of), do think about offering your services in a schola!

  12. Laura Lowder says:

    RJM: Fr. Parkerson makes one Mass a month the Missa Cantata; however, the schedule is flexible to accomodate the liturgical calendar. I expect you could check the parish website or call the office to find out when May’s missa cantata will be celebrated (I will be getting an email from the music director, so I can come down and join the choir).

    Sid – the music director at Dunn had indicated to me that the daily Mass is in the Extraordinary form. I assume the schedule you offer, then, must be the schedule for the Daily Mass?

    Doyle – I’m 75 miles south of Greensboro, so Mt. Airy is a bit too far for me right now. I’m also surprised (and delighted!)to learn the High Mass was hosted in Clemmons; my impressions of that parish, from three years ago, were not of a nature that one would expect the EF Mass to be accepted there.

    I do sing in a schola out of Raleigh/Wake Forest, and join in your recommendation of the music form for anyone who can sing/intone. It is a joy.

    I dearly love Bishop Jugis. I think he has a lot of hardships in the diocese – I worked in a parish of the diocese for two years and was disappointed with much of what I witnessed during that time. Bishop Jugis is a good and holy priest, and I respect him very much. He and my own bishop, Bishop Burbidge, are daily in my prayers.

  13. Charlie says:

    I’m a teenage Catholic living in North Carolina. I love the extraordinary form, and can’t wait for this celebration in Greensboro. I was present for the Solemn Mass last year, and attended with several Protestant friends and my agnostic Latin teacher. We went up as a sort of “field trip”, if you will, from our (secular) high school’s Latin club. Everyone found it very inspiring.

    I’m hoping to get my youth group up to Dunn in the near future, but it would be awesome if we could also get to Greensboro in June. Here’s praying for the general success of the extraordinary form in North Carolina!

  14. kat says:

    I also was present at the high Mass at Our Lady of Grace last year. It was the most beautiful Mass I have ever experienced in the 7 years I have been a TLM attendee. I wish everyone in the world could sit through a Mass like this, we would have converts by the millions!

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