A pesky problem with the older, traditional form of Holy Mass

I spotted this great quote at the blog of the Mulier Fortis, who frequently posts about her vermin killing cats (that’s vermin-killing cats… cats which kill vermin…).

“Of course, just when you get a decent MC trained up, he leaves. We’re losing about three soon… That’s the trouble with the Old Mass… it keeps causing vocations…!”

Go spike her stats and tell her Fr. Zed sent you.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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

  1. NoraLee9 says:

    We lost our MC to the Dominicans in July.

  2. Daniel_Nekic says:

    Our MC isn’t going anywhere – he’s an instituted acolyte and father of three. :-)

  3. Mary Jane says:

    Lol, this is too true. One of my good friends says the same thing about trying to meet Mr. Right – she says, “Just when you meet one you think might be a potential Mr. Right, he ends up applying to and going to the seminary!” :)

  4. Josephus Muris Saliensis says:

    Dear Father,
    I think you mean “vermin-killing cats.” “Vermin killing cats” (as written) is to all intents and purposes the opposite, and not something of which MF, or anyone else, would be proud!

    L
    One likes the “Zed” though!

  5. APX says:

    @Mary Jane
    Yes, I think that’s correct. Right now anyone with any potential is either already a priest, soon to be a priest, married, or in the seminary. I think I just need to wait until some men discern out in a few years. Yes… That’s what my problem is.

  6. We started our weekly EF Mass in January, 2009, doing mostly low Masses (but we had a Solemn High Mass for the Feast of the Assumption). Anyway, eight months later, one of the two regular servers headed off to to the FSSP seminary in Nebraska — our parish’s first vocation in about 40 years. Deo Gratias!

  7. Mary Jane says:

    @ APX — I know a lady whose husband “discerned out” of a monastery; they have been married for about 5 years now, and they have 3 children. So, it does happen! :) Obviously we don’t want to hope or pray for young men to “discern out”, as we need vocations, but if they’re not meant for the religious life, well then… :)

  8. …and tell her Fr. Zed sent you.

    Who is Fr. Zed?

    :-P

  9. APX don’t give up hope! There’s men like me, who are happy serving the EF and doing a bunch of other Catholic things, are serious about their faith, stuggling with work, or having difficulty socially, but we do have marriage on our hearts and a deisre for families. We exist! just keep looking (that or try Catholic Match lol!)

  10. Reginald Pole says:

    Diane at Te Deum Laudamus says:
    Who is Fr. Zed?

    So close to the Canadian border and you don’t know Fr. Zed?

  11. haribo says:

    I don’t think the old rite fosters vocations; I think people who want to be priests are drawn to the Tridentine Mass. It would be interesting to see how many of these people were formed in traditional parishes as children and how many fled to them as adults or teenagers.

  12. Cricket says:

    Yeah, we lost our young Schola director to the Hong Kong diocesan seminary almost 3 years ago. Our loss, Heaven’s gain!

  13. The blog http://southernorderspage.blogspot.com/ of a priest and occasional WDTPRS contributor, has a couple of posts today about the fact that boys (and others) perceive the role of the EF priest as masculine, the OF priest as feminine. The OF priest is “ministering” (if not merely serving a communal meal), where the EF priest is actually “doing something” (offering sacrifice).

    I think this has a lot to do with the fact that a small EF community of a hundred or two is often observed to produce more vocations than an OF parish of a thousand or two.

  14. everett says:

    (I’m borrowing my husband’s login)
    My husband spent a year and a half in the seminary before “discerning out”. The following year we started dating and have now been married nearly 5 years, with 2 little boys and another little one on the way.
    We also know two couples who met their spouses on Catholic Match!

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