As we go into our weekend, let us know what your recent good news is – especially about grace working in your lives.
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About this blog…
“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
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YOUR RECENT COMMENTS
- on ASK FATHER: Kissing the priest’s hand in the Latin Mass v. the liturgical spirit of Judas. Wherein Fr. Z rants.: “Thank you Fr Z. Then there’s the scene of Pope Francis violently ripping his hand away from the faithful attempting…”
- on ASK FATHER: Kissing the priest’s hand in the Latin Mass v. the liturgical spirit of Judas. Wherein Fr. Z rants.: ““That’s just a remanent of an imperial court…” Sold! I’ll take a double order, please!”
- on ASK FATHER: Kissing the priest’s hand in the Latin Mass v. the liturgical spirit of Judas. Wherein Fr. Z rants.: “Beautiful post Fr.The poem is wonderful.I am 71 yrs of age and i thank God for the Latin Mass.You write…”
- on ASK FATHER: Kissing the priest’s hand in the Latin Mass v. the liturgical spirit of Judas. Wherein Fr. Z rants.: ““Liberals accuse traditionalists of clinging to the useless bowing and scraping of ancient court practices. They won’t kneel! No! They’ve…”
- on ASK FATHER: Kissing the priest’s hand in the Latin Mass v. the liturgical spirit of Judas. Wherein Fr. Z rants.: “When you got to “Sounds like a ritual to me,” it reminded me of the wonderful book by Thomas Edward…”
- on ROME 24/4– Day 28: bad news and good news: “I agree with the above sentiments, given that our government seems hell-bent (literally) on starting a war with Russia over…”
- on ROME 24/4– Day 28: bad news and good news: “Fr Z I agree with MaternalView above. The world situation is shaky and a trip to Poland… next to Ukraine…”
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- on Faith practice declining far and wide…. except…: “Lori announced massive parish closings, along with the suppression of the Latin Mass in diocese. Sure suicide by cutting off…”
- on ROME 24/4– Day 28: bad news and good news: “I think people have lost confidence in all manner of things, airplane manufacturers, airlines, FAA, government agencies who are supposed…”
- on Wednesday after the 2nd Sunday after Easter – traditional Solemnity of ST. JOSEPH! – Terror of demons, Protector of Holy Church!: “Aw, dear St. Joseph. I love him so much. I was blessed to go to a mass of this feast…”
- on ROME 24/4– Day 28: bad news and good news: “1. . . . . .. . . . . . . h7-h5+ 2. g5-h6(×h5) . f7-f5+ 3. K-g5 .…”
- on Faith practice declining far and wide…. except…: “Dear Masked Chicken, thank you for pointing me to your post of 22 March, which which I largely agree. My…”
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Still breathing. Thanks be to God!
I was worrying about something in the future, to do with my mom and got a specific reassurance about trusting God to take care of things, which has stopped me projecting my fears ( and therefore stopped my palpitations too!). Just about to go and say the Rosary now, in thanksgiving.
Possible job prospect. May Saint Joseph hear my prayer.
I made it to morning Mass today for the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The brother of a priest in our archdiocese was ordained priest at our local Benedictine monastery. At work, the technology that I’m helping develop is starting to show good results. God continues to provide me with blessings and graces both big and small!
My 18 year old sister had a recent conversion(self proclaimed atheist), and now attends Mass, sometimes the Latin Mass with my family.
Most wonderful eucharistic adoration hour this morning – insights, peace, and happiness.
I’ll be serving for the Bishop at the Eremitic Consecration of our diocesan hermit tomorrow; something which promises to be a wonderful morning!
Officium recitavi Beatae M.ae V.is de Monte Carmelo, Sanctae Missae interfui, perpulchram lectionem Leonis Magni Papae legi et nunc piscem coquo cum cepa et oriza ut prandeam.
I’ve been accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of Winona. Retreat in a few weeks, school starts at the end of August.
This Sunday will be my first anniversary as a priest!
Going to mass at the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph tonight. Our dear bishop will say a high mass. Woohoo. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is the patron of our homeschool. My 12-year daughter is helping me set up a beautiful altar for her for the octave. Teens are working hard in the cornfields of Nebraska to earn money…not for i-pods or whatever, but for their education. I’m very pleased with how hard they work and that they have a good, wholesome company to work for. God is so good.
I served my first Extraordinary form Mass a few weeks ago with a newly ordained priest of my diocese as celebrant.
My wife is 28.5 weeks pregnant with our first child (a boy)!! She is holding up well and our baby is healthy. Praise be to God!
Through Facebook (of all things) the Blessed Mother is bringing someone back to the church. It’s a long story, but it also involves a Youtube version of Salve Regina. God works in mysterious ways. :)
Pray for the 21 men entering the Novitiate for the Dominicans of the Eastern Province on 8 August: http://www.op-stjoseph.org/blog/meet_our_new_novices/
Discovered deceased cousins were in religion: two priests, three nuns (all five were siblings); one of the former being a Bishop and V II Father, expert in Sacred Scripture: may they pray for us all in eternity.
God bless!
With the arrival last weekend of three priests from the Society of Jesus Christ the Priest to St. Mary Church in Platteville, Wisconsin, there are not only daily masses in the Novus Ordo at 8:00 am and daily opportunities for confession, but also a daily TLM at 6:30 am. Catholics from the surrounding area, please come!
@ LizF My son and I and a new friend of mine will also be going to the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph for the Mass this evening. I’ve never been there, so I am really looking forward to it.
My blog stats are up after a recent dip: http://eccehomocatholic.blogspot.com/
Also it’s my patronal feast of OL of Mt. Carmel and I’m using the Traditional Form Carmelite propers in the office.
Thanks to the mixed blessing of a liturgical rite with two forms, celebrated my name day twice this week — with Mass in one form on one day, Divine Office in and on the other.
I have had the privilege of traveling the last two weeks to Kracow, Budapest, San Giovanni Rotondo, and now off to Rome tomorrow. I have attended some absolutely beautiful Masses at the cathedral and the Basilica of St. Francis in Kracow; the church in Wadowice where Pope John Paul II was baptized, the Basilica of St. Stephen in Budapest where a schola sang a gorgeous Mass for the Feast of St. Margaret; and, of course, at the Shrine of St. Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo. From what I have experienced at these sights, the Church is alive and well and certainly redicovering its roots in good liturgy. I look forward to the next week in the Eternal City, which, if the temperatures are anything like the temperatures here in San Giovanni, will be a bit on the “infernal” side as well!
I’ll be attending the Latin Liturgy Association (LLA) seminar in Detroit this weekend… looking forward to Dr. Tortolano’s talk
Thank you, WDTPRSers
I would like to thank ye who have prayed for me at Fr Z’s request at the beginning of the year. I’m just back from another round in the hospital and found out some good news. I’m much better. In fact, one department was a bit miffed with me since a healing not fitting into their normal scientific structures seems to have taken place. Cool! I mentioned this to another doctor and said that I credited the prayers of many. He said, “Yep! That could well be it!”
So, THANK YOU!
I’ve become friends with one of our seminarians-he goes to the same Adoration chapel that I also go to-and tomorrow I’m going to a ‘Men in Black’ soccer game that will feature him, his fellow seminarians, and priests in the diocese. The new Vocations Director-a 2003 graduate of Franciscan U. in Steubenville and ordained in 2005-has had basketball games with the ‘Men in Black’ theme, and this will be the first soccer game! They will compete against the soccer team from a small private Catholic academy-the only one in the diocese, I think. The goalie for the school team will be the newest seminarian come this fall.
And today is the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel! In my younger years I thought of being a Discalced Carmelite nun [but that didn’t work out] and from 1994 to 2000 was a member of the lay branch of the Discalced Carmelites. I ended up having to leave that on determination of the spiritual director and formation director-they believed that I didn’t have a vocation to the OCDS-even after six years! But I still consider myself a ‘Carmelite at heart’!
To those posters who live near the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Nebraska-oh, how I envy you! That is a wonderful community! You are soooo lucky to have those holy nuns as your neighbors!
A very good priest was recently brought back into town after being shipped out for a while and my wife and I just met with him yesterday for our first spiritual direction meeting. It was amazingly helpful and encouraging. Then, to top it off, he told us that he was going to be bringing the EF to his parish sometime in the fall, at 8:00 am, which is amazing because the only EF we have in town right now is at 12:30 pm and the priest is 94 years old! Deo gratias!
Things are very iffy financially for the family of late. Last week I was praying silently to St. Joseph for help in shephering my flock through this time-to be a better husband and father, and for help with the finances. Literally right when I was done praying, my wife asked me to get $300 cash we had squirreled, as we were planning to pay down some money on our girls school tuition. I got the canister out and pulled out the small wad of hundreds: one, two, three, four! I told my wife let’s put them back in, they’re reproducing! I looked in the canister laughing, and there was ANOTHER HUNDRED! So five total! Neither my wife nor I remember putting in anything beyond the original $300. Thank you St. Joseph!
I’ve been told that I have a ticket to the Beatification Mass of Card. Newman, I have an interview for an internship on Monday and the last obstacle to me entering the Religious Life next year has been removed- THANKS be to GOD!!!
@Irish girl wishing you a happy feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel from a fellow Carmelite at heart.
Jack Hughes-thank you, from across the pond!
You got a ticket to Cardinal Newman’s Beatification Mass? COOL! Oh, how I wish I could be over in England for that!
And even better to know that your last obstacle to entering religious life has been cleared! TE DEUM LAUDAMUS!
My mother and father have had a great trip to the Marian Shrine in Gietrzwa?d! (we’ll be going again together in September, I hope)
http://www.gietrzwald.3c.pl/index_en.html
I taught the Pater Noster to those who attend daily Mass today. We will use it until we have it memorized, and then I will teach them to chant it. It has never been used in Latin in this parish since Vatican II. Using the daily Mass attendees as a base, I will then teach it to the whole parish.
Nothing extraordinary, but definitely lots of grace. Tuesday’s homily might have been preached just for me – the message of Christ’s love was just what I needed to let go of a problem with another person.
We’re getting a new (as in brand new – not just new to us) priest who will serve his first mass for us this weekend. (He may have served mass already, this will be the first one he does at our parish.)
My sweet husband just built me a sewing table that should be painted in just a couple of days. I can’t wait to use it!
I came home last night after a 2½ week stay in the hospital for chemo treatment. Thanks be to God. When I get tested in a few weeks, may the results be positive so I can move on to the next phase of treatment.
After having a difficult time with the current crisis of my religious congregation, I have been accepted “ad experimentum” in a diocese and have just started working as associate pastor in a parish. The pastor and the other priests currently here are very supportive and the parishioners are welcoming. And there is Mass in the extraordinary form every week, from which I hope to learn…
Will be praying for you, Brian!
My wife (who was baptised at Easter this year) and I convalidated our marriage last week and were blessed to have a priest use the 1962 Missal (my wife had wanted to receive at least one of the Sacraments in the usus antiquior) and we were even more blessed to have him and two friars from our parish kindly join us for a very small wedding breakfast afterwards. Deo volente, we will get to see the Pope up close at the sposi novelli section of the general audience in Rome in a few weeks. So much for which to be thankful.
While things are difficult w. my marriage, our children are doing GREAT!
I have learned, a little more, to pray at moments of real difficulty, and offer that as sacrificial pray.
Lots of peace…I know He hears each one of us.
Last Sunday evening, I was curious whether there were any good news from Spain that did NOT involve winning the World Cup. Didn’t have much luck with that, but there was one article or blog post that started with a long catalog of past frustrations, mistakes, unlucky bounces, own goals, etc. But none of that mattered any more. “We are now starting fresh. Winning the World Cup is like going to confession!”
After several years of ill health without a diagnosis, I finally have a diagnosis, thanks to a great doctor found quite by accident(grace!) and a treatment that is working. I also celebrated my 50th birthday this week, one I wasn’t so sure I would see. Thanks be to God!
Hey Emilio – Well done to Spain ! Now the World Cup is over, what am I going to do for the next four years ?
As a result of two heart operations, and my subsequent tears after the final plug was put in, I joyously thanked God and decided it was necessary to “rack it up” (my spiritual life that is) one or two notches ! Not quite a Damascus moment, but a bit of a kick in the right direction from Heaven.
ANYWAY, I have today consecrated myself, in the method proposed by St. Louis de Montfort to our Heavenly Mother. I now hope and pray I can live up to it.
Deo Gratias.
i’m leaving in 1 hour for my very first TLM! at the Carmelite monastery in Philadelphia.
the entire novena has been such a source of grace, with daily Mass, recitation of the Rosary and Litany of Loretto at the monastery lead by the spiritual director of the St. Charles seminary.
Coincidentally, I also collected my first pay check today. God is good.
God granted me the grace to deal with a difficult lot of people at work in a manner befitting a faithful Catholic. A little girl who was given a poor prognosis last year after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of childhood cancer has been in remission and is thriving and back to living a normal life. Many prayers and novenas were offered for her intention. Tonight our beloved pastor is celebrating the Extraordinary Form of the Mass at the Carmelite Monastery in honor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. God willing, we will be able to get there.
My brother was accepted into the CFR’s as a postulant, and will enter on September 8! Laudetur Jesus Christus! I am renewing my Consecration to Mary on the solemnity of the Assumption. And, little by little, I’m making progress spiritually and personally. (Plus, this weekend is supposed to be gorgeous!)
I prayed a novena for guidance and I believe I received it– not at all in the way I was expecting, but in a way that makes it clearer that it’s God talking and not me making up signs.
The best news for me is the beautiful Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Dunn NC and Father Parkerson (just celebrated 11 year anniverary) – the liturgy, reverence and caring bring me closer to the person I could be. I am grateful.
I just found I’m going to World Youth Day in Madrid next August!
Well, my last good news concerned the pilgrimage with traditional Mass that was going to take place in Røldal, Norway, so I should really follow it up by saying that it did take place and was amazing! I’m sure graces will abound from it both in the life of the families and friends of all those who took part, in the Church in Norway and in the country. Thanking the organisers, servers, and Father Joseph Santos, who came all the way from the US to say Mass for us. I’m hoping he also got a bit of a holiday in Norway afterwards!
A photographer from a Christian newspaper was present, and they posted some photos from the pilgrimage to their website.
My bishop (D. Beaumont) recently accepted me as a seminarian and I’ll be beginning studies at Holy Trinity Seminary this fall! There are also two other guys that got accepted for this diocese and will be starting up studies soon, including a former Episcopalian priest who (God willing) will be ordained next summer!
Today I received an amazing gift of $5,000 to pay off my student loans so I can enter the seminary this fall. P R A I S E G O D ! ! !
This may seem like a strange thing to say, but…I am truly thankful that the Dutch priest who staged a soccer Mass has been disciplined. It is real suffering for the faithful to see abuse after abuse go uncorrected, liturgically speaking, so it seems hopeful to me that action was taken. Pope Benedict has created space for orthodoxy to grow.
I’ve got goose bumps and am a little weepy at all of this grace filled good news…thankful for all of it, especially the good news of the seminarians and the new priests. Thanks be to God.
Today is our 50th wedding anniversary and I hope Jim, who died 6 years ago, is enjoying our Lord, and that he is remembering the good, and not the bad and the ugly.
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us all. And thank you too.
Our good news: the St. John Vianney Priesthood cards – trading cards featuring the priests of the Archdiocese of Omaha. It was the project of four homeschooling moms who wanted to do something for the year of the priest. Their aim was to teach children to know and love our priests, and to foster vocations.
The cards are now on sale. Our kids love them! They can’t wait to collect all the cards. They will know more priests to pray for. An area swap meet is planned in August. All proceeds go the archdiocesan seminarian fund.
Check this out: http://www.stvianneycards.com/
My daughter had a high fever last night. We prayed to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to make her well. This morning…fever gone! AVE!
I will be taking three friends with me for their first (!) encounter with the traditional Latin Mass this Sunday.
Australia gets to vote out the ‘de facto’ (in government and current living state) Gillard Government on Aug 21!
Compared to some of these; new babies, conversions, accepted to seminary, my good news is nothing. [Never nothing!] I’ve been unemployed for seven months and got a call from the Coca Cola company out of the blue on Thursday and they are interested in employing me. What’s more, it’s in my hometown so I won’t have to sell my home and move. I’ll meet with them next week and hopefully pass muster with those who make the decisions.
I haven’t yet made the cut but still I thank the Blessed Mother, and St. Joseph the Worker for giving me a bit of Christian hope and optimism. And, of course, Deo Gratias. His will be done.
Reading here about all the wonderful blessings everyone has received is also a source of great joy and for me a call to humility and surrender. Thanks.
The Staph infection on my foot cleared up, so I will be able to go on my mission trip to Kentucky at the end of next week. Thanks be to God!
A young adult (just turned age 20) friend is starting to rebuild her life after a couple of disastrous decisions, and she has gone to confession (after 4 months of prompting) She can not have again what she has lost, but she is working to mend fences with her family and get involved in community, not relationships. Still a hard road for her.
Had 2 phone interviews today. Hopefully things will work out and I’ll have a job before fall. Keep praying as the interviews were quite challenging and I’m not sure how well I did. Still waiting to hear from some other companies. Rough road in Michigan; I may have to move out of state and sell my lovely home…
update: i am now finally home after my first TLM. I wish I had something more profound to say. but at the momen, all that comes to mind is “My Lord and my God”.
taleger123:
I was also accepted by my bishop (D. Austin) within the last month or two and will be attending Holy Trinity Seminary as well. Needless to say, I’m very interested in and pleased with the fact that another WDTPRSer will be there.
I heard that my friend, for whom I asked you to pray, “P”, who had brain surgery. Is doing well. I hope to have some more news of that soon!
We are having some seminarians and priests and young men over for cookout…and my Dad who can hardly contain himself. Salmon and Delmonico steack on the grill….yummm..conversation will be delightful..one just came back from a missionary trip from Brazil.
Legion of Mary members delivering parish evangelization postcards to every door in parish territory, Seeing new faces at weekend Masses and some to confession.
I have decided to do the Five first Saturdays as Our Lady of Fatima requested. Did the first one this month, hoping to be faithful all the way through all five.
Yesterday I met a soon to be postulant for the Nashville Dominicans. What a beautiful soul she is! Our Lord’s grace shone right through her.
Rose in NE, I didn’t see you (crowded!)at the Carmel, but I hope you were able to make it. Irishgirl, you really made me count my blessings (even with the air conditioning in our van didn’t work, we were sweaty with our hair blowing wildly about, shouting the rosary and worrying about what would I feed my crew etc.) However, the drive, gets really beautiful as you get closer and closer to the Carmel. The mass was beautiful from what we could see and hear, and it all worked out. Hubby had dinner ready and we all said some Hail Marys(without the wind!) in front of the statue of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Good day. Please pray for Bishop Bruskewitz…today is his 50th anniversary of his priesthood. God bless him and all he has done for our church. I’m praying for you all.
lux, perhaps we shared a pew and didn’t even know it! Your exclamation was right on and I would only add how edifying it is to see not only the tiny chapel packed on a stifling hot night but also the number of people who stood outside to watch the Mass projected on a screen who then came into the chapel to receive Holy Communion. When the nuns chanted the Flos Carmeli from behind the grille, I knew I came as close as I can to hearing an angel choir while still on earth.
I bought my plane tickets for my visit to the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit, NJ. My discernment process with the nuns there will really begin in earnest then, since this will be my first visit!
@ LizF I did indeed make it to Mass at the Carmel. In fact, my son was pressed into service as a torchbearer. He was thrilled! It was so beautiful, and as you said, crowded! One of our parish families lives on an acreage about 15 miles from there, and they invited us and some other families to dinner afterward. We had a great time getting to know them better.
Tomorrow I will have the privilege to celebrate Baptism in the 1962 Form for the second time in my priesthood.
The rites and prayers are so powerful and beautiful. It helps me to reflect upon the awesome reality of Holy Baptism: God claiming a soul for Himself; rejecting the power and lies of the Evil One and being freed from them; the beauty of a soul immersed in the Holy Trinity to be an inheritor of eternal life.
Deo gratias!
Update: I went to the ‘Men in Black’ soccer game today. What a blast! The priests and seminarians won on penalty kicks! The weather was superb-sun was warm and nice breeze, Deo Gratias! Took a picture of the team all together after the game, then saw my seminarian friend. He has a brother who is entering the seminary at Dunwoodie in August. And he took a couple of pictures of me with his brother, who will be the next priest ordained in our diocese! Even our Bishop came-he said a prayer before the match.
Father Z-I’m glad that your friend ‘P’ is doing well after his brain surgery. DOUBLE DEO GRATIAS!
Drove with my one daughter to our new home in East Texas (a three day trip), got her settled in – partially – unloading boxes, etc., and attended Mass at the little St. Joseph the Worker mission (FSSP – Father William Allen). Re-acquainted ourselves with some folks we met after Mass when we were on our property search. We have a wonderful base of friends and helpers already. I flew home to hasten things here for getting back with a disabled daughter, huge white German shepherd and small parrot (Pray for me)- again, driving, so as to get my car back there. The Texas inhabitant was invited for dinner at our new friends’. The husband does remodeling and repairs – so we also have HELP! I will miss the glorious St. Stephen’s in Sacramento – I repeat – but Father Allen is a dear, my daughter is attending Mass regularly, asked me for a chapel veil, and I’m sure, will be making her first confession in many years – soon! Deo Gratias.
The pastor at the churches where I work is adding a lot of confession time. Also, a young man whom I know was accepted into undergraduate seminary. His picture was in our diocesan paper when he won an award for his Latin a year ago too. :)
We started 24 hour Eucharistic Adoration at our parish on Thursdays each week! Before it was just once per month on First Fridays for 1/2 day. Praise God! Pray that parishioners will continue to grow in holiness and that Eucharistic Adoration in our parish will continue to grow! Thank you God for the leaders in our parish that helped make it happen.
@kathryns
I wish that would happen in my parish.
Went to confession this afternoon and got our new priest and am thoroughly impressed. He listened well, asked appropriate probing questions, gave good advice. Can’t wait to hear his homilies.
I recently received some money from an unexpected source which enabled me to finally pay off a longstanding debt. The people to whom I owed the money never bothered me about it but I felt I had a moral obligation to pay them back eventually. Thanks be to God for helping me finally clear that up!
My mother who died six years ago would have been 95 on the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. She wore the scapular every day of her adult life and was a devoted daughter of Mary under this title. This year on that feast and on that birthday, our middle daughter gave birth to her first child, a girl named Lucy, the name my grandmother always called my mother. Since Lucy was two weeks overdue, I prayed at our early morning TLM for my two mothers’ immediate intercession: Mary and Mom came through with a short labor: Lucy was born 45 minutes after her mother’s arrival at the hospital. What a beauty!
Wait! there’s more: while we were driving from PA to DC to meet Lucy, another daughter called to say that a job she had interviewed for last week is hers. This means both she and her husband-to-be will be working in the same school district.
I’m in application with the Mercedarians, and prospects are looking like I’ll be accepted :)
marthawrites, that’s amazing and touching. thanks for sharing!
girgabis,
i could not agree with you more RE the nuns chanting the sequence. it was truly breathtaking. They sounded so timeless and also so utterly ageless.
Thank you all for your posts about family members returning to the faith after many years have passed. it’s a beacon of hope for me and a little fuel to remember to always pray unceasingly for these things.
girgabis and lux_perpetua
please please stop; I’m actually getting quite envious living in the Novus Ordo wasteland with only occasional access to the TLM (not that wish you didn’t have access to such a wonderful service, simply that I wish I could be with you there); its almost enough to make one go back to the SSPX
Jack Hughes, sorry, but I was at the Mass at the Carmel, too. Definitely an experience I will not soon forget.
@GirlCanChant
did you have to taunt me? its bloody hard living in a REALLY secular country ,where in addition to being spat on by the majority of the intelligensia; most catholics are material if not formal heretics and being a traddie means looking over your back to watch out for your own side who are willing to stab you in the back at any opportunity.
From what you and the others have described it sounded like heaven, the nearest I can come to what you have thanks to the E&WBC is listining to recordings taken before bugini wrecked everything.
Jack Hughes,
I’m sorry things are so rough in merry old England. At least you have WDTPRS where you can come talk with traddies from all over the world. I hope that you will someday be able to find a little pocket where people love Tradition as much as us. In the meantime, I will keep you in my prayers. I’m not really a brat, it’s just that stupid Jesuit training kicking in every once in a while. ;-)
GCC
@GCC
sorry for lashing out but things are hard here, also it turns out that the obstacale to entering the Religious Life I thought had gone is still here.
Jack:
you are also added to my prayer list of those seeking to discern religious vocations. hang in there!
The most remarkable thing about my first experience with the TLM was how time seemed to stand still. Thanks to this and other blogs i probably was a little more prepared than the average first TLM-goer. But, after sitting in the heat for 3.75 hours [arriving an hour early to get a seat, then Rosary, then the 2hour Mass] having come straight from work and not having eaten since lunchtime, I felt as though I had just woken up from a full, refreshing night’s sleep and that only a moment had gone by since arriving.
I don’t know how I will go back to the NO
Jack, you are a gem!
And I say this with not only you in mind, but all kinds of everybody, but,yes,you are the focus here.
You have the wondrous example of the English martyrs and recusants; you are in their “lineage”; they are interceding for you, loving you, helping you and all those who choose to follow our Lord Jesus Christ in His Holy Catholic Church in the secular wasteland of England.
It must seem distressing to be in such darkness, alienation, and frustration.
Don’t give up; and don’t succumb to any “easy answers”. God is everything. He will, in fact, do everything for you. And our blessed Lady and good Saint Joseph are ever there at your side to give you the comfort and strength you need; they, did, live in exile for years. They know. They really do. Prayers.
Dear Jack,
I think you should stay in England, as the Church needs you there. Remember that Jesus had a hidden life for thirty years, which I imagine, were years of prayer and preparation for His ministry. You are in your hidden years.
@ lux_ perpetua – It aint’ easy trust me
@Supertradmom – I want nothing more than a calm, serene life of prayer and pennance in a Discalced Carmalite Monastary; something you won’t find in the UK
lux, you don’t have to go back to the Novus Ordo. The priest who offered Mass at the Monastery also celebrates a sung TLM every Sunday at 12 Noon at St. Paul’s in South Philadelphia. In fact yesterday at St. Paul’s I recognized many faces from Friday evening’s Mass. But, I should add that even the Novus Ordo Masses offered at the Monastery are stunning. If you can, try to come to the Triduum for St. Therese Sept. 29th thru October 1st. You’ll find out what I mean.
Jack, hang in there. I lived in my own vast liturgical wasteland and I still have no idea what I did to merit such favor. I asked the Holy Spirit to move the music director to ditch the Haugen hymns and the next thing you know, we had a schola and a weekly TLM.
I will pray for you and your path to the priesthood. I’m always amazed when I read of the difficulties some of the saints had in gaining entrance to the priesthood or religious life but thankfully for us, they never gave up. Hang in there.
girgabis,
transport is the issue for me getting to St. Paul’s. Still investigating various routes. had i not had a ride from the monastery it would have been about a 2 hour trek both directions via public transport and, as often is the case with bastions of orthodoxy, the monastery is not exactly an area in which a well-dressed solitary female wishes to wait for a bus late at night. that’s precisely why this novena was such a source of beauty and demonstration of how the Lord provides because, day after day, things worked out perfectly for me to get to Mass.
Agree with you on the beauty of NO Masses there, though, and thanks for the reminder about the triduum.