Rorate has a poll going for their readers about participation at Holy Mass in the Ordinary Form, the Novus Ordo. The way to know their readers, thought it is clearly gauged for lay people, not priests.
I think that is a good question and good motive.
I have a different, though related, poll.
I hope you will choose your best answer and then post a comment with your reasons.
Do NOT… do NOT engage others or mention others by name in your comment. Let everyone post freely without worrying in the least that others will attack. I will delete comments which stray.
Anyone can vote. Registered readers can post comments.
This is not about your theoretical preference, but what you actually do.
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We don’t get the Extraordinary form here. There are only a few people who would want it, and they belong across so many parishes that it hardly gets counted as a stable group who desire it.
So I nearly only go to the Ordinary Form because that is what is available and not because that is what I choose. After all, choosing requires there actually BE a choice.
We are truly blessed to assist at Holy Mass in our parish with a holy FSSP priest! The Rorate poll tells the sad story of how far we have gone in 50 years.
Apart from events like weddings or funerals I’ll sometimes go to a Saturday vigil if I have to travel on a Sunday for work. Otherwise, it’s extraordinary form all the way.
Only Ordinary form -no other offered. I don’t particularly care. We are a very small mission parish and are most thankful to have any form. The sacraments have not changed and that is what is important to both myself and spouse -we are over 75 and lived through changes in many things..
I “voted” Mostly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary because that is my circumstance. My immediate past Bishop suppressed all mention of the EF (along with many other apsects of traditional Cahtolic observance and life) whenever and however he could. So we only had one parish in the dicoese where the EF was available. It is also pretty obvious that the EF is best entiered into after some chatechesis; formal or otherwise. A relatively new Catholic, although I long for true devotion and reverence in Liturgy, and for the safety of centuries of devout Catholic tradition, I am unwilling to fly to those whose objections to the OF (and Vatican II) place them but a razor’s edge from schism. So, what I am left with is mostly OF, sometimes EF. God bless all and pray the Lord will send El Paso a faithful bishop soon.
I took this to mean Sunday Mass as very few have access to an EF daily Mass.
If I am within driving distance of my home parish, I feel that is where I belong on Sundays. We don’t offer the Extraordinary Form. However, when I travel, I almost always hunt the EF up. It is a double win: I love it and don’t have to worry about inadvertently stumbling into a tambourine and puppet show.
Ordinary Form, due to ease of access. Even in the large metro area I’m in (probably like most places), you have to seek out an EF Mass, but I’m in the process of researching my options there.
I chose “Only Ordinary and never Extraordinary “.
Like some others have mentioned, there is no choice. One would literally have to travel 100’s of miles to attend Mass in the Extraordinary Form .
Thanks to Fr. Z, I can now describe myself as “mostly Ordinary, but sometimes Extraordinary.”
Thanks for the laugh!
Only Ordinary, and I’ve never looked for anything else. I’m loyal to my parish. If my parish were to offer Extraordinary, I’d go.
I said EF, OF in case of necessity. In fact, at the moment it is usually necessary, since I’m stuck on a rock with no EF (and no other rite of the Catholic Church either) and am not someone who therefore considers myself freed from Sunday Obligstion.
I’m also happy with any other rite, but compared with the EF the OF – even in Latin, chanted etc. (which it isn’t here) – just seems lacking oomph. Of course, objectively, what happens – the Sacrifice of Calvary – is the same. Subjectively, however, it doesn’t have the same clout.
I go to NO every Sunday in a liberal parish. I treat myself about once or twice a month to a TLM about an hour away. I can’t really afford the travel each week, so a poorly celebrated NO fulfils my obligation. :-(
Mostly OF, though I do like to drop by the local EF on occasion. I’m deaf and since quality of music and ab libs from the priest are irrelevant to me, I go with decor: I’d rather sit in a church that looks Catholic. My OF territorial parish church provides that in spades whereas the local church that hosts the EF has been stripped.
99% of the time Ordinary, and I like it.
We have excellent, holy priests that do a great job here in Aggieland, though :) Whoop!
When at school, I go to the Ordinary Form Mon-Fri but the EF on Sunday. At home, if I go to Mass during the week, it is the EF, but on Sundays I go to the OF con il mio padre.
I chose Mostly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary. I’d go to the Extraordinary Form more often if critiques of the Ordinary Form were left out of it. My grandma always told me you catch more flies with honey that you do with vinegar. Just sayin’
Always Ordinary. Like others my home parish doesn’t have an option. Honestly until I found Father’s Z’s blog I didn’t even know there was such a thing as the Extrordinary Form. Fortunately we don’t have “weirdness” in my parish. I like Nora’s suggestion to seek out an EF when traveling. I’ve never had a chance to attend EF and I’m very curious about what I’d find. next week I’ll be in Naples, FL. Maybe there is something close.
We have a very nice FSSP parish that is just about the same distance from our house as our OF parish. My cousin (and coworker) sings in the schola there, and we attend as our choir duties permit.
But – our OF parish is great, we love the people, it’s a very reverent OF, and the music is excellent. And our rector was the man who took considerable time out of his busy, busy day to talk to two renegade Episcopalians that he didn’t know from Adam’s housecat, and make us very welcome.
Plus we are making progress incorporating Latin, chant and medieval & Renaissance polyphony into the Mass. I don’t want those wonderful things to be confined to one small parish in Mableton GA . . . and if we all go there, that’s where they’ll be!
Incidentally, neither one of them is our territorial parish, which used to be a scary sort of tambourine-and-emcee place, but has a new rector and has undergone a change for the better. I go to noon Mass there sometimes, as our home parish has daily Mass at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Mostly Extraordinary, sometimes Ordinary. If I can’t wake up in time for the EF, then I go to the OF, and since there is no daily TLM here (yet) I often go to the OF during the week.
I very much prefer the chant and solemnity in the EF on Sundays and go every once in awhile, but with a family that doesn’t appreciate it as much as I, it isn’t going to become a regular thing. Also, the OF at my parish has improved significantly since the new trasnlation came into affect (thanks to the pastor). I don’t particularly care for the daily EF (low Mass), and would only go to it if it were the only Mass I could get to that day.
Now, if we had an Anglican Use parish nearby, that would probably be my first choice.
I attend NO Mass every day and also EF Mass on Sundays, so I chose “Mostly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary”. There is not a daily EF Mass that I could get to.
Fr Z didn’t specify for his poll (maybe he should?), but the Rorate poll wanted that people’s responses should be in regards of the total Masses they attend, not just Sundays, thus if people attended Mass in the OF on weekdays and EF on Sundays the answer would be mostly OF and sometimes EF. It is sad some people would not even attend something other than their preferred form of the Mass to avoid mortal sin, and I can imagine that some rationalize about it and then don’t even confess it.
Mostly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary:
My parish is an OF parish, so I’m almost always attending Mass in the Ordinary Form. An EF Mass has recently become available close by in my diocese (Trenton), so I may visit there on occasion. I also want to experience the Eastern Rites more… I went to an Eastern Holy Thursday Divine Liturgy a couple years ago, but haven’t been to the DL since.
Ordinary Form during the week and on Sunday morning, Extraordinary Form on Sunday afternoon. All in the same parish, too – it’s the reform of the reform at work!
“Only Extraordinary but Ordinary in case of need.”
It’s not so much out of disdain for the Ordinary, when properly celebrated, as it is a preference. When I’m on travel, I look for a TLM. In fact, when visiting in Ohio, I usually serve Mass at a parish that tends not to have enough servers show up. Otherwise I look to attend a Byzantine Divine Liturgy. From the standpoint of outward participation, I much prefer the Byzantine, even though I was not raised with it. In this area, they seem to “get it” more than the Romans.
But when it comes to serving Mass, I prefer the Traditional Roman.
Mainly Extraordinary. I am blessed to belong to a full FSSP parish, which means the EF is available every day of the week. However, I work at an OF parish school. The schoolchildren attend the OF Mass every Thursday, and therefore, so do I.
Is the poll about Sunday Mass only? Always EF unless there is a blizzard, then nearby OF. Monday through Saturday I go to nearby OF.
Mostly Anglican Use of the Roman Rite with occasional visits to the EF. When travelling, I usually try to get to an EF since the AU is so hard to find.
I don’t think I’ve been to a “normal” Mass in the OF in several years.
“My Dream” would be to have a Vatican-Legislated variant of the Ordinary Form
called “Music-Free Ordinary” with the same kind of
encouragement as the Extraordinary Form.
Modern liturgical music promotes absolutely nothing in my worship. One can
legalistically point out that V-2 spoke approvingly of Gregorian Chant (am I correct?)
but what practical good does that text in the councilar document do me?
I voted “Only Extraordinary but Ordinary in case of need”. I’m blessed to be close to a FSSP parish, where there are only EF Masses celebrated, so I am able to attend there on Sundays, holydays, and times when I just want to get to Mass. I sing in both the parish choirs, the main and the polyphony choir. It has happened a few times that I’ve been traveling and couldn’t get to an EF, so I found an OF in those cases.
Yes, I think a common situation that should have been included in these polls would have been Extraordinary for Sundays, but Ordinary on weekdays (as often there simply is no easily available weekday TLM)
I attend both Forms at my parish, which thus far does not offer the EF outside of Sundays and holy days of obligation. If the EF was offered daily at my parish or one nearby, I would make an extraordinary effort to get there because daily Mass is very important to me and I prefer the EF. Not that I would attend, but the local SSPX chapel doesn’t even offer a weekday Mass.
I attend the EF on Sundays, but attend the OF on First Saturdays with my Lay Carmelite group that meets after Mass.
Mostly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary.
I think it is important to stay in your home parish. The parish lines have been laid out by the diocese for a reason and, like it or not, my local church needs the financial and social support of its parishioners. Unless something truly against Church law (not just my personal preference) were going on, I can’t see myself regularly opting out of my parish. Besides, how will liturgically awful parishes ever get better if everyone abandons them for the form of their preference?
Father,
I chose mostly ordinary, sometimes extraordinary. Our parish is literally two blocks from my house (for ordinary), and the nearest EF is about 30 miles from here. That is combined with my beautiful wife, who is comfortable with NO, and yours truly preferring the EF by far. So I go the EF when I can, but not nearly as much as I would like. Also, I often go to an NO near work several times during the week. Lately, I’ve been idly tossing around the idea of asking our parish priest about the possibility of having an occasional EF, and, if so, if I could learn to serve. I care a great deal for my parish, and I’d love to help, if I could.
I selected “Only Ordinary and never Extraordinary”. I have nothing against the Extraordinary form, I have just never attended Mass in the Extraordinary form. Although I am very interested in it and have mentioned to my wife that I’d like to do so before Lent. She is interested in it too and mentioned she’d like to get a veil to wear to the EF Mass. As a recent convert to the church she surprised me, but I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. :) I would also like to go because years ago, before I was married, when I started attending Mass again I became friends with an older gentleman who went by himself. Once he lamented to me that no one knows how to say the Tridentine Mass. At the time I only had a vague idea of what he was talking about. Recently I had mentioned to him that there is a local parish that offers the EF and that I will take him when I go.
We have one option for Extraordinary Form. It is offered on First Friday and every Sunday night. Holy Days of Obligation are also offered in EF. We attend the Ordinary Form for daily Mass (once or twice a week). We also choose vacations around available EF Masses.
Mostly Extraordinary but sometimes Ordinary. Sundays and holydays are always EF. I have a daily EF Mass available to me, but will also choose to attend a quiet weekday NO from time to time.
I said only EF, but NO if necessary, which is not necessary unless traveling, thank God. I was confirmed in the NO many years ago, because that is all there was, and I was catechized through RCIA, so obviously I wasn’t made aware that there was ever a choice other than NO. I am ever so grateful that our diocese offers the EF, at 1:30 mind you, but you take what you can get. I also find after participating in the EF, being so quiet and reverent, that the NO is noisy and in your face. There is one parish in our area that offers an NO that is the most reverent I have seen, with only altar boys, and only receiving on the tongue kneeling, which I am grateful is available. That’s not to say that the NO can’t be reverent. It’s just the EF is so much more so, and then some. I feel refreshed and renewed after an EF Mass. Thanks for the poll, Father. Keep up the great work!
For seven years I’ve driven my family 44 miles each way to an FSSP Mass. We’re blessed, courtesy of our former bishop, to be a canonical community, and have the EF Mass daily along with real parish life. My wife will attend no other, and my boys, now 14 and 17, love serving it. It is the foundation of their faith.
Our former parish is less than a mile from my house. I will attend the Novus Ordo out of necessity, but would no more belong to a Novus Ordo parish again were it Lutheran, which…
Since my recent reversion, I’ve kind of been all over the place. Over the summer while I was at home, I opted for the Ordinary Form as there were a lot of various reasons for me not going to the diocesan EF Mass. Mostly because it was way too early in the morning for me and literally on the other end of the city in some ghetto neighborhood.
Right now I have easy access to the EF Mass, and for me it just makes more sense for me to attend and fulfills my spiritual needs at the moment. That said, I’m not anti-OF Mass and I attend it when I need to.
Only Extraordinary for me and my wife. We usually drive 45 miles west to an FSSP Mass. If the times don’t work out for that then we drive 50 miles east to Masses celebrated by the Institute of Christ the King. Both are a bit of a drive but we are blessed to have these options. OF Masses are within 10 minutes of our home.
The last OF Mass we attended was last year when our grown daughter (who lives in another town) was joining The Church. At the OF Mass the band (better suited for a cantina) was up front. During one of their more rousing numbers the deacon grabbed the Sanctus bells and joined in. Sigh…
Almost always Orinary Form, but I have been to one Extraordinary Form mass and a couple of Byzantine Catholic Divine Liturgies as well, and I would certainly be open to future opportunities to attend both the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite and such other valid and licit rites as may be available to me in the future, and will most likely be attending additional Byzantine Liturgies in the not to distant future. I would like to gain a greater understanding, appreciation, and experience of the liturgical tradition of the church, both west and east.
I voted only Ordinary and never Extraordinary because I’d have to travel for about 14 hours by car to reach the closest EF Mass.
Texana,
Yes, it’s a sad tale indeed! We have gone from Sacrifice to meal, from Proselytism to ecumenism, from Deicentric to anthropomorphic, etc.
Only OF here. Not by choice, really, as there are no nearby Masses in the EF that I’m aware of. There’s an SSPX parish maybe half an hour away, but I’d rather stick to a parish in full communion. There is an FSSP Mass probably 45 minutes away, but with 3 kids under 6 and another on the way, my wife and I have never “found” the time. I would love the opportunity to attend the EF if it were more convenient.
I voted only ordinary, never extraordinary. In fairness, there’s only ordinary form available near where I live. I used to live in a place where the EF was an option, but so was a well-celebrated OF, so I still only went to OF. I would go to EF and not OF if EF was available and well-celebrated OF was not.
Sadly I only get to assist at the EF 4 times a month, and for one of those times I have to take a coach (5 hour round trip) to London.
I chose “Mostly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary”. I used to attend Mass in the Extraordinary Form every-other-Sunday for about a year or so until it was moved to a different location and earlier time. Now it just isn’t feasible. I’ve attended Mass in the Ordinary Form my entire life. My personal preference would actually be for the OF Mass in Latin with Gregorian Chant, but that seems to be rarer than the EF Mass nowadays!
Only ordinary, as there is no choice in this area. On the very rare occasions when I have been travelling, I have sought out an EF mass.
Since I go to daily Holy Mass I said “mostly Ordinary” but if you meant just Sunday then it is “Extraordinary or, in an emergency Ordinary.” It is a matter of what is available on weekdays. Wish I could assist at EF every day!
We usually attend an Extraordinary Form (Low) Mass said by a dedicated diocesan priest here in Memphis. When we lived in Ohio our parish offered a High Mass that we attended. Bells, smells, really great.
Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, in search of an organ for our daughter to practice on, we attended a neighboring parish’s Ordinary Form Mass. They chanted the Kyrie in Greek and Gloria in Latin, and altogether is was a beautiful Mass. Nice organ too.
Also must agree with folks up the thread on Byzantine Divine Liturgies. Very beautiful, and with the right congregation some wonderful singing–very full and active participation.
No EF anywhere close to where I live. I try to attend EF if/when available when I’m out of town.
I actually attend slightly more EF Masses than OF Masses, but selected the “equal” option. I am very blessed to have the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter in my city but I live less than five minutes from a parish which only has OF Masses. That parish has a most orthodox pastor who has made many great changes including the Benedictine arrangement on the altar to the use of Gregorian Chant and also some small amount of Latin. We are also installing an altar rail as well! We are very fortunate!
I attend in equal portion Sunday Masses in the OF and EF. The tipping of the scales goes to the EF because of daily Mass attendance, predominantly in the EF, which is my preference. I pray for the day my close-by parish has the EF. That will be my Mass of choice. The pastor and I have spoken many times about it and he has learned how to say it. I am patient. As you say Father…. “Brick by Brick”.
I voted only EF, but OF in case of need. I actually can’t remember the last time I went to the OF, it’s been months for sure.
As so many indicated above, none of the voting boxes fit my particular circumstance. So I refrained from a vote.
Only the Traditional Latin Mass.
I don’t understand how, after studying the liturgical changes, the prayers in Latin, and the individuals responsible, I’m supposed to sit through the new order of the Mass and pretend everything is OK.
I would only go EF if I could but sadly don’t know how to drive and can almost never get to it :(.
I chose; Mostly Extraordinary, sometimes Ordinary. I am very fortunate and extremely grateful that there is a parish within a 20 minute drive that offers the Extraordinary Form of Mass every Sunday. This parish also offers weekly Benediction with Holy Hour, weekly 24 hr Eucharistic Adoration and First Friday 24hr Eucharistic Adoration.
The parish nearest me is less than a ten minute walk. This parish offers none of these things. I still attend this parish for confession and occasional Ordinary Form Mass on Holy Days of Obligation and daily morning Mass if I’m off work and just occasional visits to the Tabernacle. However the difference in these two parishes is night and day. Actually, may God forgive me for this, but the difference for me in these two parishes has become more like the difference between Catholic and Protestant.
At any rate, I am now registered through a letter of transfer at the first Parish that offers the Weekly Extraordinary Form Mass and Adoration. Yes, very fortunate and extremely grateful indeed!
I deleted a couple comments because they mentions other commentators.
Stick to your own expressions and thought, please! Thanks!
Good comments, btw.
Nowadays usually ordinary, sometimes extraordinary. Presently the round trip to the EF closest to my usual home base is 220 miles, a journey I seldom make. When the round trip is 150 miles, I occasionally make it; when 90 miles, I usually make it on Sundays; when 40 miles I almost always make it on Sundays.
Only Ordinary Form, because that is what my parish has. We are also fortunate to have priests who celebrate very reverently.
Mostly OF – Sometimes EF. But…
EF on the weekends, but not available early enough on a daily basis before work. I attend the OF each weekday morning at my parish, and the EF on Sundays, Saturdays, & 1st Fridays of the month at an Oratory – about 15 miles from my home.
However, if the EF were available early enough on a daily basis, I would attend it exclusively, and the OF only out of need.
I wish I had a choice. I don’t, without driving a considerable distance.
It was a toss-up between “Mostly Ordinary and Sometimes Extraordinary” and “Always Ordinary and Never Extraordinary.” I chose “Mostly Ordinary…”
Our closest EF parish is an FSSP parish in Closest Major City, 120 miles away. I’ve been to the EF Mass there only twice, definitely by choice and having planned my weekend trip to that city around doing so, and I hope to do so again. In fact, in my travels, few as they are, I will probably seek out an EF Mass wherever I will be visiting.
Mostly NO because TLM not available though we have asked for it. When traveling we do look for TLM.
voted “Mostly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary”
For me, it comes down to practicality. I love both forms, but all the Masses at my one parish (at this time) are OF, and at the other, there’s one EF on Sunday at 7:00am, which is not an option for me. However, if I can’t attend my normal Sunday Mass, and I have a free choice of Sunday Masses, I’ll occasionally drop in to the EF Mass. Also if I have a chance to attend at special events such as retreats, lenten missions, or the like, I usually try to. But when the pastor at my parish 5 miles from home learns the EF, I’ll probably attend the EF frequently, if the times are convenient.
I too answered both equally but probably should have said, More Ordinary than Extraordinary, for the simple reason that when I attend a weekday Mass it is in the OF. If we are just talking about Sunday’s it would be, only EF and OF out of necessity.
NO because the EF is not available in my area :( *snif snif*
I chose: Only Ordinary, but Extraordinary in case of need
There is a parish in the area that offers the Latin mass. There have been a couple times when EF was the only convenient option for a holy day, but generally I choose not to go for two main reasons:
1. I understand very little Latin. I know it’s awful, but I struggle to pay attention during mass as it is. When I can understand very little of the language, this struggle is greatly exacerbated. I’m 30 and never learned the Latin prayers.
2. I am hearing impaired, currently without hearing aids because I can’t afford them yet. When the priest has his back turned to the congregation (he does not use a microphone for EF), I can barely hear a thing.
I leave EF feeling as though I have gotten nothing out of it. I would be VERY happy to try EF in English (is that possible?) with microphones being used.
I voted mostly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary. This is solely because of the fact that there is no Extraordinary Form of the Mass offered close by for convenient trips. Plus I serve at my college chapel, and we have fairly reverent Masses there. If I could easily make the trip though, I would attend the EF every weekend.
I am beginning to feel a stronger pull toward attending the EF of the Mass more frequently than I do now, perhaps always on Sunday when it is offered in my diocese. And continue with the OF for daily Mass because it is convenient and available and the EF is offered only on Sundays approximately 15 miles from my home at 7 AM. I am even reading AB Marcel Levebrvre’s books to try and understand his positions directly from the source.
Mostly NO, rarely extraordinary, mostly because my young kids are not used to going and my husband doesn’t really want to if there is a great NO available. I want to learn it but we found a beautiful NO mass with a schola and reverence, and altar crucifix, candles, incense , , ,we go there once in a while but we will move to their geographical boundary if we stay here more than 2 years. Glad we rent. (We will move if they don’t quit clapping after the Mass – I told our priest it is not a good thing that my two young kids are clapping “yay, all done! along with the rest of the congregation – we love the guy though and the other priest prayed his part to the Father in latin during mass once and stunned us all)
Extraordinary form every Sunday and whenever I can drive the 40 miles to and from Phoenix on weekdays. The only Ordinary masses we attend are when we’re traveling and that’s the ONLY one available. I’d drive 100 miles out of the way for an EF. On our last trip, we found EF masses in Wichita and Dallas. Neither priest was as comfortable with the Latin or the rite as our FSSP priest in Phoenix, but they were REALLY TRYING. Bless ’em!
I wish that I could attend the EF exclusively but, alas, only the OF is possible most of the time.
I didn’t mean Dallas — Dallas is FSSP. I meant AUSTIN.
If circumstances permitted it, I would only attend the Extraordinary Form.
If the only available options were the Ordinary Form in Latin or in English, I would attend the Ordinary Form in Latin.
If there were an Anglican Use parish within 30 minutes of my residence, I would go there, if the Extraordinary Form were not within an hour’s drive from my residence.
I chose Only Extraordinary and never Ordinary but ummm I must confess that I completely missed the— Only Extraordinary but Ordinary in case of need— which i would have chosen.. My bifocals obviously need updating :) i’m sorry. I travel about 20- 30 miles or so to a neighbor state for the EF. I live about 2 blocks away from a huge modern looking structure that professes to be Catholic but it just breaks my heart to go in there and see where they have placed our Lord. The Tabernacle is a wood and glass thing relegated to the back of the building. Our Lord is behind a glass wall, behind the Altar but no one can see Him because there are always either potted trees or some ridicules decorations in front of the glass wall. The space where He is kept can only be called a corridor and there are also folding chairs kept there. Talked myself blue to the Priest sent pictures and emails to the diocese but nothing. Finally i had to stop what the complete lack of respect for our Lord, the talking before during and after Mass, the people sitting on the First Step at the Foot of The Altar after Mass talking etc… where doing to my child. His fledgling love and respect for our Lord was being poisoned not nurtured. So now whatever has to happen to make sure we have enough gas, in the ole jalopy, to get to the EF Mass, happens no doubt by the intercession of Our Lady. And what a blessing! The first time i heard a Full Choir of Priests and Seminarians, at the FSSP Seminary, chant a Missa Cantata i closed my eyes and easily imagined the Choirs of Angels and Saints kneeling around us singing Holy!, Holy!, Holy! “…eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him. ” 1 Corinthians 2:9 In the Extraordinary Form for the first time ever i caught a glimpse and it keeps me running the race. And that is what i want for my child.
I voted Ordinary, but Extraordinary in times of need, because that seems to capture my infrequent attendance at the EF. I don’t, however, attend in times of need, but in times of interest, or when a friend invites me to go, or to have a break from OCP music that occasionally shows up at my parish. I sometimes attend Anglican Use for the same reasons.
To say that the Masses I attend are “only Ordinary never Extraordinary” says nothing at all about my preferences. If Mass in the Extraordinary form were available reasonably near to us, my wife and I would be likely to attend that Mass much – probably most – of the time. But there is not one near us. (Being wheelchair bound doesn’t make things any easier.)
I chose “Mostly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary” because the Extraordinary Mass nearest my location is a 4-hour drive away (8 hours round trip). Usually, I get to go to the Extraordinary Mass only once or twice a year because of the distance. If an Extraordinary Mass were offered closer to me, within a distance of 30 miles, I would go to that form of the Mass exclusively.
I am privileged to have the Institute of Christ The King Soveriegn Priest and the Fraternity of St. Peter so close by. And when working in the city, I have the privilege of attending OF masses celebrated reverently by Father George Rutler. God is truly wonderful to me!
I ticked “Mostly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary.” That might change, however, at least as far as Sundays go.
I don’t feel tied down to my own home parish in any way, which is just as well because their liturgies are pitiful. So I’m forever “Mass shopping” on Sundays, driving from parish to parish, hoping to find a Mass in the Ordinary Form celebrated well, somewhere that isn’t too far of a drive. I have to concede with a sorrowful heart, however, that that’s not really working out for me too well. The best I’ve come across so far is at the cathedral, on account of the choir and the architecture and the fact that there’s some semblance of ceremony to be found there. But things still aren’t nearly what they should be, for a cathedral.
Only at one nearby Carmelite Monastery is the Mass celebrated just about perfectly…the way the Pope celebrates it…they way the Franciscan priests celebrate it on EWTN. You know…no EMHCs, no sign of peace, all the propers are chanted in Latin, people kneel to receive, their chapel is gorgeous &c, &c, &c. Alas, they close their doors to the public on Sunday mornings (otherwise they’d rob worshippers from the parish a block away).
At any rate, by last Sunday I had had quite enough of all the variety so I decided to attend Mass in the Extraordinary Form at one of two local parishes that offers it every Sunday (there’s also an SSPX chapel here, but that’s hardly an option). I do not prefer the typical Tridentine Mass to a Mass in the Ordinary Form that is done right; it’s all whispers interrupted by “Dominus Vobiscums”. Unfortunately, however, I cannot find an Ordinary Form of Mass that is done right, at least not on Sundays, so I may find myself returning to the Extraordinary Form more often on Sundays.
When it comes right down to it, interrupted whispers beats the other nonsense I’ve had to contend with on Sundays. The “Gospel” Mass I endured two weeks ago was what really pushed me over the edge. That marked the end of my parish-by-parish shopping expedition…and I’m running out of parishes, in any case.
I shouldn’t complain. The church in question is truly magnificent, architecturally speaking. It’s Italian baroque to the nines and has just the most magnificent retablo you’ve ever seen behind the altar. There’s a statue of every Italian Madonna you can name (it’s an Italian-American parish), and one of every saint ever canonized, I think. So even if the Mass is too quiet, the decor, at least, is nice and loud.
And I discovered one more thing about this church: another Mass in the Ordinary Form begins not long after the “Latin Mass” ends, so the “traddies” don’t linger afterwards…they’re outta there, tout suite, just as soon as Mass ends. As they’re all rushing out the door to avoid all the “Novus Ordo”, I can linger and make my thanksgiving in peace. Win, win.
voted “Only Ordinary and never Extraordinary” but it should be “Mostly Ordinary in Latin, with some Ordinary in English and some Anglican Use (you know, on feast days…)”
I voted “only Ordinary, never Extraordinary” simply because of the instructions – this is the reality of my life, not my preference. I would prefer the other way around, or probably “Mostly Extraordinary, sometimes Ordinary.” But where I live half the year in Mexico, there are no Extraordinary form masses offered anywhere nearby. Where I live in Canada in the summer, there is one parish about 40 minutes away. Since my wife and I have two kids (a third on the way) and we depend on a borrowed car from family members who aren’t Catholic and attend other churches Sunday morning, we’re very limited as to picking and choosing. We usually end up going Saturday evening (to the closest parish, about 10 minutes away), and the only Extraordinary form mass is at 1 pm on Sunday.
This summer, we’ve decided we’ll make it a point of pulling some strings to make it happen once, but it will almost certainly be a one-time deal (perhaps twice if we’re lucky.) I’m really looking forward to it, though.
I’ve thought about pestering my priests down here in Mexico to see if there’s any possibility (one of them is fairly old, and I’m sure in his early years our current Ordinary Form didn’t exist yet.) Would that have to go through the bishop? (Because of Fr Z’s request for no engagement, I won’t expect an answer for that question; I’ll send an e-mail later.) In any case, I feel kind of sheepish doing this; I’ve been a member of the Catholic Church for less than a year, and I kind feel like I’m asking old veteran, probably life-long Catholics, and priests at that, to be more Catholic. Kind of awkward.
Only Extraordinary but Ordinary in case of need
except these last few months in ukraine where its only greek rite usually in a basilian church
I voted mostly EF, sometimes OF. I go to an SSPX chapel out of need. I don’t share their theological differences with Rome. My love of the EF is probably partly due to the greater (perhaps perceived) reverence, and partly due to it being a different, and therefore more beautiful (also partly subjective) form of the Mass. The same subjective sentiments apply to the Eastern rite liturgies. I am lucky to have an SSPX chapel I can attend much more easily than a normal Catholic parish church. I fully believe in the validity and appropriateness of the OF.
Another point I can make on the experience I’ve had with the SSPX chapel. There’s a joke that sadly reflects the truth. “What is the difference between Baptists and Anglicans?” “Anglicans greet each other at the bottle store.” What is the difference between Baptists and Catholics?” “Baptists greet each other at church.” Here the SSPX chapel doesn’t conform to this experience I’ve had at normal Catholic parishes.
I can’t vote in this poll, because I have no options: only the Ordinary Form is regularly available within about 300 miles of home. But if I had a choice, I would attend the Extraordinary Form exclusively.
I voted “Mostly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary”. BUT if my parish offered the EF, I would have voted “Only Extraordinary.”
ghp
By and large I assist at the TLM. It would likely be exclusive if my wife was more on board with the TLM, but she is not at this point, and is also more attached than I to our parish of registration. I converted from Protestantism and no longer wish to protest or participate in a protest against the Catholic Faith.
I Go to OF Most of the Time,but given the unwanted hardships of distance and unpredictable blowups of tropical weather,I go to an EF every last Thursday evening of the month at a Jesuit University which is NOT known for it’s orthodoxy.(and NO,it’s in the Philippines where I am from,NOT Santa Clara University and the like )
EF first and foremost. I go to St Michael’s Church in Annandale, Virgina every Sunday morning at 0615 for the EF Mass. I will attend the OF whenever EF is not available – for example, I will be travelling this President’s Day weekend, so it’ll be the OF in St Mark’s in Stratford, CT.
I haven’t been to a Mass according to the 1962 Missal since – well around 1965, when I was about 8 years old, and we started going over to English. I grew up with the Ordinary From English Mass never had any complaints — even about lack of reverence, which I have run into only in rare instances. Most trads don’t believe this when I tell them — they always say I’m suppressing something!
But it’s true: I have been lucky enough to be in dioceses and parishes where the nonsense was kept to a minimum. I can commend the Archdiocese of New York especially. I haven’t even run into many guitar Masses in recent years, except when I go to a Spanish Mass. And I don’t mind guitars in the least. At the same time, I’ve been more and more drawn to the more traditional Masses Pope Benedict celebrates in St. Peter’s, though they’re still the OF. But I have never felt a burning need for the EF. And it mostly hasn’t been offered where I live, so that was that.
But reading Fr. Z’s blog, I’ve learned where the EF Masses actually are in Manhattan, so I may attend someday.
I chose “Mostly Extraordinary, sometimes Ordinary”. When I go to Mass with my parents they choose the OF. They are simply conservative, and EF seems to them a too great innovation. What strange times we live.
I selected “Mainly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary”. Through 2010 and 2011, I mainly attended Extraordinary – every Monday and occasional Sundays, and Ordinary the remaining Sundays. My family circumstances have prevented me from attending the Monday Mass the last month or so and the priest is now moving to another parish. “Mainly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary” is where I’ll probably be in 2012. My children are NOT keen on the Extraordinary so I will mainly fulfill our Sunday obligation Ordinarily.
The Extraordinary is offered at 2pm on Sundays in the next parish, about 20 minutes drive away, one of only two such Masses in a diocese of 17450 sqare miles (according to Wikipedia). I am, however, quite stubborn about doing things normatively in my own parish. I’m very particular to take a “vow of stability” nowadays for the Sacred Triduum, always attending within my own parish.
Actually, what I’d like is envisaged in Summorum Pontificum…. an EF Mass offered on Sundays and Feast days in my own parish.
Living in Central Massachusetts, we are fortunate to have 3 chapels within a 45 minute drive that offer the EF, all of them associated with the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (MICM). Therefore we attend the EF while at home. The only exception is my wife who has to work every 3rd Sunday and will attend either a Saturday night or Sunday night OF mass at a nearby parish which is reverently done in a beautiful church. Also we occasionally travel to eastern Maine where one is lucky to find a Catholic church at all, yet alone an EF, so it is the OF then.
I voted for “Both Ordinary and Extraordinary form equally”, as this represents most closely my attendence. I attend the EF oven once every two weeks on Sunday mornings, but depending on other commitments, I go to weekly atendance e.g. in Advent and Lent. I also attend the OF most Saturday evenings in my own parish, occasionally missing when I have other commitments that evening and I know I’m going to the EF on the Sunday morning.
There is no provision for EF where I live or nearby. One of the first things I do when travelling is try to find a church with an EF Mass I can attend. So I had to vote ‘Only Ordinary, never Extraordinary’. If there was a choice in my Diocese, my vote here would have been different.
I love the TLM and would go consistently. I tried to get it started in my home parish, learned the servers part and got a priest involved but alas it didn’t work out. Now, we have an option here in my city, but I have four children and a wife who are a little bit like navigating a big cruise ship – one doesn’t want to approach too close to the rocks, blow one’s own horn, etc, etc…
“Only Extraordinary, never ordinary”
As the father of two young boys under age seven, I refuse to expose them to the OF primarily because of the radical feminism that is rife in that form. It is scandalous to have “altar girls”, and a sanctuary full of women (lay female readers, cantors, EMHCs, greeters, etc…). Where would I even begin to explain such a vile spectacle at their age?
I have no desire to confuse their minds and rob them of their innocence. They are growing up to be well-formed, masculine leaders. In time, they will learn about the horrors that go on outside our FSSP parish, but I see no reason to introduce such chaos to them at a formative age. Catholic fathers of good will can come to different conclusions, but I have determined, as the head of my family, that the risk of scandal to the young is too great to ever attend any of the OF Mass with my family.
Mostly OF, sometimes EF – My current Parish, supplies the priest to an oratory that is inside its boundaries… so sometimes we will go to the Chapel where the EF is celebrated – Its more a personal disciplining thing – When I find alot of noise in my life..I will get to an EF FAST because it helps to ground me – Our Ordinary mass is wonderful, as they are monk priests , who tend to get things right, just I find the Extraordinary form to be regrounding to me personally.
I’d love to attend EF only, but the distance to the only parish in the archdiocese at which the EF is to be found is too great. I pray the SSPX will again be in full communion with Rome, as there is an SSPX chapel only a couple of miles from my NO parish.
I voted Ordinary never EF mostly because there is none available here within a reasonable distance. I have gone when out of town, but that is a rare circumstance.
I have to go to the NO as I cannot physically get to the EF. However, if I could I would have voted only EF and not mostly NO and sometimes EF. I wish trads would pick up people who want to go, but I live in an area where there are no trads. The only one died a few years ago and he would spend 60 euros a Sunday for a taxi to take him.
Still waiting for more EFs. Some of us cannot move as we would like in order to attend a daily EF, or even regular Sunday one.
I could go to an EF mass more often, I suppose, but the main factor that gives me pause is the congregation. It can be a very unwelcoming environment, and I know the conduct of the people towards newcomers drives the priest and other leaders nuts sometimes, even to the point of having to publicly chastise (on the EF blog) the flock for their conduct towards newcomers:
http://www.unavocetoronto.blogspot.com/2011/12/note-of-thanks-and-fraternal-correction.html
OF almost exclusively, EF rarely.
There is no EF within a logistically practical distance – especially with my family – or I would go regularly. This is made more tolerable by the fact that the way the OF is celebrated in my area is generally very good. The only “funny stuff” happens when there are visiting priests. Heck even the lifeteen mass I attend sometimes is very much “say the black – do the red”!
Ordinary Form. No routine and weekly Extraordinary From in Jakarta. The Bishop’s against it and all our priests choose to avoid confrontation.
BTW, you may not be able to “assist” exactly, but if you’re interested in witnessing an Extraordinary Form Mass, there’s one on the internet from a FSSP parish in Sarasota, Florida, that you can watch at http://livemass.net/LiveMass/Live.html.
My parish does the OF in Latin with chant and a reverential hymn or two. My wife and I love it! An EF is offered as well although we’re rarely up in time for it :P Solid OF or solid EF … we love them both! And we love our pastor and our deacons! I think that the two rites are mutually enriching.
Mostly NO, because where we are going now the preaching is excellent. I am open though to the EF and to Eastern Rite liturgies and do attend these on occasion. I am trying to prepare the youth of the household to appreciate and be able to pray the EF.
Although I explained why I choose not to go to an EF that is conveniently located, I am realizing from all the comments that I should have more appreciation for the fact that it is available as an option at all (particularly since I live in a rather sparsely populated area). I feel sad for all the people who prefer EF and are unable to attend. Sadly the priest in my area met with quite a bit of resistance, including from diocesan leaders, when he wanted to introduce EF to our area. As long as it is not forced on people (there are reasons why it may not work for everyone), I am all for EF. And who knows, maybe as I grow and learn, I will come to prefer it.
I had to vote mostly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary, because the only time we go is when travelling. There is only 1 EF in our diocese and it is 2 hours away. The closest Anglican Use is 3 hours (and 2 dioceses) away in the other direction. We are stuck with a very mediocre OF, and I don’t think it will be changing any time soon, at least not until we get a new bishop (who knows when that will be).
Father, I do think it would be interesting if you had a poll that asked if those who attend the OF mostly do so because there is no EF within a reasonable distance. (The OF parish which we attend is the closest one to us and it is 1/2 hour away. I think that is too far to be “reasonable” since it is difficult to participate in parish life activities such as daily Mass.) I think it would be instructive to see how many people would want to attend the EF, but must attend the OF because they have no choice.
Father,
I was received into the Faith as an adult convert through the Rite of Conversion in an EF “community” domiciled in a diocesan parish in a neighboring state. To attend there was my regular habit. In recent years we (my wife is a cradle Catholic) have made ourselves a presence in our local NO parish so as to plant the flag for Tradition. Our parish priest, who knows the TLM, is thus far resistant to celebrate the TLM BUT accepted my invitation to attend the TLM mass for All Souls in 2011 at my EF parish. He went subrosa because he did not want to be in choir but he sang most of the Mass, both celebrant and responses. Brick by brick.
I went with only EF and OF only if in need as for Sunday mass we always attend the EF though when I was out of state for a family wedding, we did go to an OF for Sunday mass as it was the only choice. Also, for daily mass, there is no option for EF during the week except for some days of obligation. As daily mass (or as many days as possible) are a necessity for me in my spiritual life, OF it is though I would attend an EF daily mass in a heartbeat if one was available.
When I lived in Orange County CA, the Extraordinary Form was offered at the Norbertine Abbey on Sundays about 8 miles from my house, but it conflicted with the times of Masses at at my local parish 1 mile from my house. I went once in a great while to the EF, since I have very fond memories of many of the Norbertines as my teachers at Mater Dei High School. Here in Southern Oregon, the nearest licit EF is in Bend, once a month, and it’s a 3 hour drive. (There is a SSPX parish nearby that offers Mass once a month.) I haven’t been yet and I’ve lived here 6 years.
I go strictly to the Ordinary, but not because I am shunning the Extraoridanry Form, but because the nearest place with a Tridentine Mass is hundreds of miles away. I have actually been chomping at the bit to go to one, and I think I will have the opportunity to do so a few months from now, when I will be in another city. I am looking forward to it!
It’s amazing how many people would go to the EF if they could. Maybe that is why so many Bishops are so afraid of it. There is a lot of support in countries that were polled; almost half of English and Welsh Mass-goers would attend the EF every Sunday, according to a Catholic Herald poll; a German poll had it at around 43% for that country. These figures are astounding, and suggest that we may see big changes if the EF becomes more available. I wonder what the numbers would be in the US–I suspect that they might be a little lower, because of the influence of protestant ideas and attitudes, but I could be wrong.
I am content assisting at any ancient liturgy, but as a Latin who tries to live the calendar as best I can and because it is most available, I go to the TLM the most. I love the Byzantine Rite and other Eastern Rites as well and assist at Ukranian and Ruthenian DL’s some times. I’ve been to a Carmelite Rite Mass and would be quite content with that or the other Order Rites and non-Roman Latin Rites (Ambrosian, Lyonese, etc.) as well.
When it comes to NO-I go if I have to. I even go to the NO on weekdays, but if I had any one of the above options at a time I could swing it I’d pick them over the NO every time. I go to the NO because it is a valid and licit Mass even though historically, liturgically and theologically it is an aberration that should have never seen the light of day let alone get promulgated by the Holy See.
Also, I don’t care how much it gets “tradded up”, its still lipstick on a pig. I don’t say that to be insulting, I mean that you cannot make something that is inheritantly flawed better by merely draping it in the trapings of Catholic liturgical ritual tradition. Even if you have birettas, ad orientem, incense, Latin, etc. etc. etc. at the end of the day its still the NO.
I chose ‘Extraordinary, never Ordinary’.
I’ve been going to the TLM on a regular basis (for Sunday Mass) since about 2003. I couldn’t take being at a vernacular Mass dominated by women any more.
I wanted reverence, silence, and only the priest handling the Blessed Sacrament.
My work necessitates that I be “bi-ritual”, but were I free of external constraints I would be nearly Extraordinary Form exclusive…gotta allow for the occasional Eastern liturgy. ;-)
In 988, the emissaries of Prince Vladimir of Kiev sought out the worship and theological life of the choices of the religious alternatives. When they entered the Hagia Sophia of Constantinople, they were so caught up in the chant, the incense, the icons, the liturgy, and the sense of the holy presence of God, that they were overcome. In their report to the Prince they said they did not know if they were in heaven or on earth — they had never seen such beauty! They could not describe it except to say, “there God dwells among men…”
We regularly attend the Divine Liturgy. On First Fridays, we attend Eucharistic Adoration & the NO Mass at a local parish with our Catholic homeschool group.
I was just saying to a friend this morning how I missed the TLM but the nearest one is 80 miles from me with the FSSP. It is rare I have the opportunity to assist at it. At one time a FSSP priest came to our town a couple of times a month and I sure did apprectiate that.
Ordinary form most of the time. EF when I can get to it, usually once a month on a weekday. There are regular EF Sunday Masses within 15-20 miles but they are at 15.00hrs and 17.00 hrs which are unfortunately not convenient with my Family situation.
I have preferred the EF for the last year or two. In the poll I said I usually go to the OF, and sometimes the EF. The problem is that the place and time of the EF is not especially convenient.
Between the two, the only thing I miss from the OF are the readings, which are never repeated in the vernacular from the pulpit at the EF daily mass here (is that even allowed by the rubrics? I don’t know).
The other issue is that if I want to go to the EF, then I miss out on being a part of the culture of my own parish, as well as my connection to the “mainstream” experience of the Church. Please don’t misunderstand that last comment! In some kind of ideal world for me, all parishes would suddenly celebrate only the EF beginning tomorrow morning. However, for me to travel to another church exclusively just so I can attend the EF would remove me from my normal parish community where I have a lot of relationships, activities, etc. My parish is otherwise a perfectly good place that follows all the rubrics, etc., I should note, so I’m pretty lucky.
I would prefer to go to the Extraordinary exclusively, however, my diocese has very limited Masses in that form. I live in it’s largest city, Manchester, NH, and in this city there are none that I know of offered. I HAVE to go to the Ordinary. I know there are some sometimes in Nashua and Portsmouth, NH, as well as Boston, MA. I just wish I could walk down the block to Mass and not have to drive more than throty minutes. How I pray that Manchester will get one on a Sunday….
For several years I have attended the Byzantine DL, attending the OF whenever necessary. I go daily when my schedule permits since my parish church is 3 miles from home. My only interest in the OF would be to check out the mass done with vernacular chanted propers if that ever became available. My only experience with the EF is a rare low mass.
I went with EF and the OF when in need. Its a 50 mi. drive one way to the EF and 4mi to the OF. Probably not a intelligent use of valuable resources.
I really only attend the NO because there is no EF/TLM within a six hour radius of where I live.
I make it a point to attend weekday NO Masses celebrated by Opus Dei priests, at a church right around the corner from my office. And I go out of my way to attend EF Masses on Sundays. Kind of an odd combination, but it works. I think of it as the “total” Summorum Pontificum experience!
As I have a significant involvement in my parish’s Masses (OF only) as either a cantor/song leader or lay reader (lector), I chose “Only Ordinary and never Extraordinary”. I would like to get involved with the EF more, as I have been bitten by the chant bug two years ago. I know of an EF Mass in the area where I would like to offer my services to sing the Propers, if the priest is interested. I just need the courage to introduce myself and start the dialogue.
This poll doesn’t appear to be open any more. My answer is, mostly Eastern Rite. I have joined an Eastern Rite parish, and I love the Divine Liturgy.
There is a Sunday EF low mass in my area, but it is at 7:30 am about 35 minutes from where I live, and I am not really an early riser. Also, although if I were going Roman rite I would choose the EF over the OF for the reverence, I really like the chant in the eastern rite. I like making the responses in chant. I still experience the EF, when I go, as trying to follow the Latin and finding again and again that I am paragraphs behind the priest. I am not very good at interior participation, I don’t think. Yes, I get the idea and certainly have the intention of joining in the offering being made. But I have enough trouble keeping my mind from wandering even while I am making responses. If I weren’t trying to follow the Latin, and were just kneeling there, my mind would be all over the place. At the Eastern rite there is reverence and also outward active participation, which I still seem to need.
I go to the EF about as much as I go to the Anglican Use, which is a couple of times a year.
When I do go to the OF, I carefully choose which parish to attend. Although recently due to car trouble I had to attend my local parish. Perhaps I attend the OF three to five times a year.
Susan Peterson
EF, but OF in case of need. “Need” in my case recently is to schedule mass attendance (which I take very seriously) in such a way as to watch/attend NFL games. Remember, Father asked not to attack.
I usually go Ordinary, sometimes EF. Whenever I travel I look for an EF to attend and have found them in Front Royal, Va, Washington, DC, and Wilmington, Ca. Where I live the closest one is two Sundays/month, at 4PM, 100 miles away. I go during the months when it doesn’t get dark early because I can’t see well to drive far at night.
I am moving in a few months and will have to decide whether to join the typical California parish two miles away or the parish with the weekly EF run by the Norbertines which is nine miles away. I think that it probably won’t be a difficult choice.
It would be nice if there was a category: “I am a priest and I celebrate only the extraordinary form except out of pastoral need which happens almost every day.” Given the fact that I celebrate the OF almost daily, it doesn’t seem correct to put “only the EF except out of necessity,” but in celebrating daily OF Masses, this is my mindset. At this time, I can still say that I have never celebrated a private Mass in the OF.
I wish I could have voted that I at least sometimes go to Mass in EF…but, alas, the closest parish in my diocese that offers the Mass in EF is eight hours away from where I live. So, I had to vote that I never go, even though I’d like to have a viable option to, especially since there are many liturgical abuses that go on in the OF Masses in my new diocese.
That being said, when I lived in a parish that had the EF said every Sunday, I still mostly went to the OF Mass…the OF Mass there was celebrated with chanted propers (in Latin & English), incense, bells, proper vestments, etc…the way Vatican II intended it to be celebrated. I didn’t find any difference in reverence and “mystery” between the two forms celebrated at the parish, so there was no real need to choose one form over the other to attend.
I guess I somehow failed to notice the big “for lay people” part of the title. Sorry.
I only go to the Ordinary, because our Bishop Administrator has inhibited the only priest eligible to perform the Extraordinary from holding Mass outside of his hermitage. Maybe he has a point. If the priest wants to be a hermit, let him be a hermit. But I strongly suspect ill will from the B.A.
How I wish that I could have answered ‘Only Extraordinary and never Ordinary’, but I had to answer ‘Only Ordinary and never Extraordinary’ because I am unable to get to one. I have been a Catholic for about 3-and-a-half-years, and I have never been able to get to one. Hopefully this will change.
I attend Extraordinary form only. Why? Because I was around (I’m 64) when the NO was introduced and witnessed the accompanying clerical insenstivity, lies, and brutal suppression of everything traditional, everything beautiful, good, and true, that I had grown up with. It frankly made me sick. I remember the day the organ was banned (it was a wonderful organ) and guitars and pianos were brought in and the choir disbanded. The organist and I sat on the steps of the choir loft and cried. This was how it was done in most parishes, as I found out from acquaintances at the time, above the objections of the parish at large. I will not attack the NO, but it’s not the TLM and it was instituted with brutal Stalinist tactics that have left me cold to it for life. Thank God, I have easy access to two diocesan churches and one SSPX chapel that regularly celebrate the Extraordinary Form, so I can attend daily. That’s why I voted the way I did.
Mostly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary. EF available Sun. and Mon. (2 different parishes) 1 hour away. Prefer the Transcendent nature of the EF. OF only available at family of origin parish, 1/2 the distance. Hope to support the EF’s more regularly and an obedient OF 20 mins from my home more often.
It’s not offered anywhere with in a hour drive, except by breakaway chapels
Hmmm. The question is not really very clear; I have thus not voted.
I would go to the EF form every week if it were offered in town. But we only have it once a month (and two other weeks per month at inconvenient times around 45 minutes to an hour away; given that the priest saying all of them gives the same homily every week, I decline to go to that much trouble ). So my preference would be “only Extraordinary, but Ordinary in case of need,” but the reality of my situation is clearly “mostly Ordinary and sometimes Extraordinary.” Which is the poll asking about?
Well, if I had read the post a little more clearly, I would have seen, wouldn’t I?. I’ll go vote now.
I have been to one EF mass in my whole life and I pray everyday that I would be blessed with the opportunity to attend regularly. Oh, for an EF mass nearer than 110 miles!
I chose EF only, although I did attend a wedding and a funeral last year in the OF. Our EF Mass (FSSP) is about 50 minutes from our house and we pass several other parishes on the way there. We only attend the EF because nothing else answers our spiritual longings anymore. We adore it and we feel it has brought us all closer to Christ. My boys love to serve. My non-Catholic husband went to the OF with me and the kids for 15 years. After 2 years of the EF he was talking to a priest about converting (a total surprise to me), which he did last year.
Right now, because I can, I normally go to the Extraordinary Form on Sundays and have been doing so for twenty-some years. The only exceptions have been while travelling where there is no EF available, although usually one can be found with the help of the Ecclesia Dei pamphlet. However, I also have been aiming for daily Mass for longer than that, and the EF has almost never been available. Also, the demands on my time have been irregular all that time (I drove around a lot on my job–to different places which could not be planned ahead) so I just go wherever and whenever I can, and think myself fortunate to go at all. Right now, a young priest in our diocese offers an EF once a week when he can, and I attend when I can. So I put EF and OF both equally, giving extra weight to the regular Sunday attendance. Also, figuring that I do, in a sense, value the two forms almost equally in externals (if well done) and think both of inestimable spirtual value.
Mostly Extraordinary, ordinary sometimes out of necessity. I have tried to worship and enter into the rhythm of prayer at the Ordinary form following the revisions. The EF Mass is over 100 miles away – gas is expensive – times are tight. But I find the OF depressing because it is so disjointed and distracting away from prayer. The EF flows beginning to end- one continuous prayer. Not so at OF, even with a good priest. I admit I know ONE Priest who has offered OF in a seamless prayer. But he is further way than the EF. This week I applied for a part time job in order to cover the cost of gas to EF. I can’t survive at the OF.
Mostly Extraordinary, ordinary sometimes out of necessity. I have tried to worship and enter into the rhythm of prayer at the Ordinary form following the revisions. The EF Mass is over 100 miles away; gas is expensive; times are tight. But I find the OF depressing because it is so disjointed and distracting away from prayer. The EF flows beginning to end- one continuous prayer. Not so at OF, even with a good priest. I admit I know ONE Priest who has offered OF in a seamless prayer. But he is further way than the EF. This week I applied for a part time job in order to cover the cost of gas to EF. I can’t survive at the OF.
Mostly OF, but also some EF. I used to go to the EF almost exclusively (and served it for a number of years, which was a great experience), but I found that as I grew in my faith the externals of the liturgy (which are of course important) mattered less and less.
The Eucharistic life Jesus offers us in the Mass is what’s most important…no matter what form or rite. Of course, any celebration of Mass should be dignified. But even when it’s not, I try and focus on nourishing my body and soul with the Divine Life of Christ that alone can defeat my sin and death on Calvary. Receiving that in Mass is the most powerful thing anyone can have. The more and more I came to understand that, the less and less I cared about ritual distinctions. While they have their proper place in our tradition, they are, as Bl. Marmion says, “the hem of Christ’s garmet.”
Also, I pray the Liturgy of the Hours, and its nice to be able to attend Mass according to the same calander.
I voted only Extraordinary but Ordinary in case of need based on Sundays and Holy Days of obligation. I attend the OF during the week because there are not EF available. If I was lucky enough to be near a parish that offered the EF daily, I would in a heart beat. I did luck out and was able to attend a few special daily masses that were offered, but those were rare treats.
It is much better for my spiritual life that I attend mass daily (or as close to daily as possible) so OF it is 6 days a week, but Sundays are a different matter. Other than a Sunday when an out of town family function precluded attending the EF and the Feast of All Saints, when I made the mistake (which I won’t repeat) of not rearranging my work schedule to be able to attend the EF the only other OF masses I attended last year were daily ones.
I voted “Mostly Ordinary, sometimes Extraordinary” which comes the closest to my experience. I have attended the EF once when if was offered for a special event at my parish and I will do so again if there is a good opportunity, but otherwise it’s always the OF.
Only OF – there are no other options without an extreme time commitment. We only have Sunday Mass available, and I am personally very thankful when I arrive and find that we have a priest for Mass (which we have had every Sunday for about 1 1/2 years now), since the first 6 months of attending this particular parish church, and discerning whether or not to return to the faith, we were lucky to have a priest more than 25% of Sundays. That experience has changed my perspective and, I suppose, my expectations.
I miss the Mass of my youth! I loved the Latin Mass, which is not available in my area. Instead
I attend the new Litergy-which is lacking reverence in my parish. The priest seems totally indifferent and far too casual-almost irreverent! The whole meaning and SACREDNESS of the Mass seem lost!
We go to the nearest typical Ordinary Form parish. It’s what the rest of the family is used to so I deal with it.
As far as I know there is only one EF mass a Month and one Latin OF Mass a month in our area. I went to the EF mass and it’s a low Mass, sung over with hymns that are sometimes in Latin and sometimes in English. I guess typical for the old-timers. Solemn High Mass is the way that agrees with me most though, or a low Mass that’s just Mass. Same with the OF, I can handle it as a low Mass with no singing whatsoever better than with the bad hymns, but the best is all sung with propers.
I am hoping to convince my wife to go to a Divine Liturgy though because subjectively that just feels better to me than even a full-on EF High Mass. I know it’s the same Christ at them all, but the one I went I felt like the whole Church was really praying and the Lord was there.
“Only Ordinary and never Extraordinary,” although that isn’t completely by choice. The closest EF Mass is 65 miles away and it’s Low Mass with the priest scolding anyone who might dare to respond. (Don’t blame the bishop of our large and sparsely populated diocese for the lack of EF Masses because most of the priests are “say the black, do the red” types in the OF so people are satisfied.) I used to attend with my parents when I was younger, but as the congregation has gotten older, it’s gotten less child friendly. Plus, my children don’t react well to spoken Masses so we’d spend the whole Mass in the vestibule, hearing and seeing nothing.
Ordinary and Extraordinary, equally.
I am lucky enough to be able to attend the Extraordinary every Sunday. The first and third Sundays, I travel a half-hour to a nearby parish, where a priest comes in to offer that Mass. The other Sundays I travel an hour into the hills to another state and attend the Mass at the Priory of the Canons of the New Jerusalem, where they are completely dedicated to the Tridentine customs daily full-time. Unfortunately the weekday Masses are too early for me to attend at that distance.
During the week, I go to daily OF Mass in my parish in which I am registered. Three days a week are school Masses where the kids do the readings and bring up the Gifts, and such. Can’t stand it [wish priests would understand that less grace comes from laypeople’s actions and readings than from a priest’s ordained actions], so I sometimes travel to 2 other parishes to avoid the distracting children’s Masses [which also may involve yucky music choices]. The other desire I have is silence after Mass to remain recollected and listen as hard as I can at that intimate time after Holy Communion, so I might go to the extra-early Mass further away to swim in the silence and presence of God following Mass. Most parishes around here have group rosary and prayers after Mass, which is nice and I often join, but that doesn’t allow focused recollection for that too-short and precious time after Communion. I’d much prefer the group rosary before Mass.
Its an extra effort to get to Masses, but I thank God that I have the time and the ability to do so for now.
I’m blessed to be part of a parish where the Ordinary Form is always offered with reverence, particularly on weekdays. The music is sometimes hit and miss, but I’ll live. I went to an EF once, thoroughly catechized, but did not find it the powerful experience I had expected based on what I had read here (though I do not suffer through the liturgical abuses that some commenters here do!). So I stick with my home parish and I’m happy.
Everything locally local is NO. My home parish is even more folky i.e. Mass in Spanish (this Sunday we’re singing Santo version jazz). Local enough (10 minutes south) TLM is now offered every Sunday at 12pm the next city over. 20 miles north we have our pick of Byzantine DL (Melkite and Ukranian). Holy Qurbana every other week, And the local CKingSPriest offering Low Mass daily and Sunday High Mass. I’m planning my work schedule around CKingSPriest Mass Schedule soon.
Oh and I’m sure 50 miles south there’s plenty to choose from (reverently speaking).