I had a note from a priest that St. Joseph the Worker in Berkeley, CA is going ad orientem as of Advent.
What I found most interesting, is something that the pastor wrote to the people before he gets into explanations of the changes. Here is something from his bulletin. I had to capture it:
I’ve heard this again and again. There is a knock on effect when the priest knows what he is about. He communicates it through his ars celebrandi. The congregation and priest support each other mutually. People come from all over. The average age of parishioners starts to drop because young families are coming.
And they want the Catholic Faith, unadulterated by cowardice.
Loading ...
Stories like this one make me thank our God again and again for our diocesan Traditional parish.
A large swath of our membership are reverts (especially men) who were ran off by liberalism, feminism, and gooey trite music that made them feel silly rather than holy. Everyone God has put in my path with this same story has returned and most have brought their families.
More to the point of this story, kids (and frequently adults) who come from the average “modern” parish are easy to spot, whether you want to or not. Mostly because they talk before, during and after Mass. Mind you I’m not complaining. It’s far easier to roll out the welcoming committee when you know who needs to be welcomed.
One of the most striking non-liturgical difference in my previous parish and the Traditional parish is that in the “modern” one, people can’t wait to leave, even receiving our Lord and rushing out without offering thanksgiving. In the Traditional parish, the parish hall is frequently packed-to-the-walls for two hours after high Mass.
I used to live within diocese of Oakland, and would go to St. Clement’s Church on Thursdays for their weekly holy hour.
I learned from a holy-hour regular attendee that now-Father Kenneth Nobrega (now pastor of St. Joseph the Worker in Berkeley) used to attend the holy hour at St. Clement’s as he was discerning his vocation.
And I read this on November 23rd, 2016, on the optional memorial of Pope St. Clement I :)
God is good! :)
(Pope St. Clement, pray for us.)
At St. Peter’s Church (the former Cathedral) in downtown Richmond Virginia the pastor will be celebrating ad orientem this Advent as well. A good young priest who just did a magnificent restoration of the interior of the church, and who I’m working with at another of his churches to move the tabernacle back to the center of the apse.
Brick by brick right?