Too many people today are without good, strong preaching, to the detriment of all. Share the good stuff.
Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at the Mass for your Sunday obligation (jabbed or not!), either live or on the internet? Let us know what it was.
What was attendance like?
Tell about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass. I was getting reports that it is way up.
Any local changes or news?
And there’s this.
For those of you who regularly viewed my live-streamed daily Masses – with their fervorini – for over a year, you might drop me a line. There are developments. I think the video issues are pretty much sorted. I still need audio solutions, since the room is pretty “hot”. Wall hangings, maybe.
I have some written remarks about the TLM Mass for the 2nd Sunday of Advent – HERE
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Not “mass attendance” exactly, but I was astonished at the number of people attending rehearsal for the Traditional Latin Confirmation at our Cathedral, yesterday. Considering there were only four parishes represented, and it was just the rehearsal, the place was already half as full as at the entire diocesan ordinary confirmation was two years ago, which represented dozens of parishes.
God bless our archbishop; all glory and praise to Christ; I can’t help feeling especially blessed here, despite all the persecution elsewhere. I know this could all change by fiat with the next change of bishops, but as our Lord says, “Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof”, so until then I rejoice.
Regarding actual mass attendance, I frequently do count heads at the communion rail, and average attendance is up year-on-year by about 75%. There was an immediate uptick after T.C. by about 20% which has not dissippated, but I suspect all T.C. did was bring forward some attendees who had been “on the fence” and would have arrived later in the year anyway. We’d need a much larger sample size to tell for sure.
Pingback: Your Sunday Sermon Notes: 2nd Sunday of Advent – Via Nova Media
My pastor’s homily:
https://michaelrennier.wordpress.com/2021/12/05/stopping-is-the-key-to-movement/
I went Saturday and the retired Irish Monsignor was filling in, he always has a good homily. He spoke about Barney Casey, a streetcar driver from Superior, Wisconsin who was so moved by a crime he saw that he acquiesced to a call to the priesthood. He wasn’t the brightest fellow so they only allowed him to become a simplex priest, he couldn’t preach or hear confessions. Yet people came to talk with him when he was an abbey door keeper and Bl. Solanus Casey became a miracle worker. He had been a prison guard, engaged, a farm worker, and finally a street car diver before his call to religious life. His paths were crooked, but he finally made a straight path to the priesthood, a straight path to prepare for the Lord as we are told to do in the Gospel.
At First Saturday Traditional Mass Father preached about the 5 First Saturday devotion.
He also covered the need and meaning of reparation.
Well attended.
On a side note –
A few weeks past we attended a NO Parish in a newly built Church in Scottsdale AZ.
A Communion Rail was part of the furnishings and was in use.
They do offer one Traditional Mass on Sundays.
Mass attendance (FSSP parish) continues to improve by the week. The 7 AM mass was very full, and I know several who arise very early to travel from afar. Don’t know about 9 AM. We have a brunch after the 11 AM mass, and we sold out the food, so that attendance is great too. I don’t have the numbers, but there are many new faces each week. Daily mass also quite well-attended every day too. Both priests are also speak Spanish fluently, and we are now getting a large component of Spanish-speaking parishioners as well. We even have Spanish masses now (Latin with Spanish sermon, that is).
Mass attendance was back to standing room only for the first time since pre-pandemic days, which was great to see. Father even commented on it during his homily. A number of good points, including that one needs to spend serious time in prayer if one ever expects to hear God’s voice.
Saturday was the Rorate Mass – fitting for a First Saturday. Well-attended as was Sunday. Hard to give a good idea of how much attendance is up since there are multiple Sunday options, but the financial report said Sunday contributions were up 50% this year over last year.
Father’s homily for the first-Sunday-only TLM was lovely, but I have to say I was a bit distracted. Above the altar is a beautiful circular stained-glass window of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. Several times during Mass, the silhouette of a pigeon (or could have been a real dove, who knows??) was seen fluttering and flapping through the glass. It was very impressive (though hopefully Father doesn’t have an infestation problem).
I am a teacher of theology in a Catholic high school and on this particular occasion 25 students responded to my (incentivized) invitation to witness the Old Mass, most of them for the first time. :)
Attendance seemed about what it has been, but many young families with a number of children and many veiled little girls and moms.
Father spoke about John the Baptist and how he plays such an important role in Advent readings as he prepares the way for the Lord. Also he discussed how the baptism John the Baptist gave is very different from our baptism, since the first baptisms were for repentance and the baptism we receive now actually changes us.
I visited an Anglican Ordinariate parish for the first time in about eight years; the Solemn High Mass was beautiful! The deacon preached on giving the time we usually spend on social media or prepping for the holidays back to God in things like mental prayer, adoration, and daily Mass. Very solid. I was disappointed by the attendance, though – I was expecting the place to be packed, but it was pretty sparse. Barely any teens or young adults, though there was a good percentage of big young families and little kids.
On that note, I have a question about the use of the Organ in advent. At most FSSP parishes I’ve been to, the organ is suspended during advent. However, literally everywhere else seems to have had no qualms about using the organ, whether or not there’s a strong schola. So, was the abrogation of organ during advent something struck down by VII and largely forgotten about? The organ has immense joyful powers – (contrary to the popular belief, the organ is not a scary instrument; that’s a century-old American stereotype).
Finally, I also wanted to point out this article: https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/archbishop-gomez-reflections-on-the-church-and-america-s-new-religions
Before Mass, the deacon led a Socrative discussion forum for young people on the issues of our day, and handed that out. I don’t even remember where on the conservative/liberal scale that Gomez sits, but his letter to Spain is very worth reading. He hits the nail hard on the head about secularism, and it had me cheering. However, his proposed solution to the problem is characteristically VII-style incompetency – “be creative” about spreading the Good News of the Gospel. I could rant (as Fr. Z often does) that Tradition is the cure, but I realized something profound here. We all know that secularism has been on the rise for the past 100 years, and whatever the Church was doing over those 100 years did not effectively combat it. So, that’s a very logical reason that Gomez and co. look for some new weapon. In fact, you could say that anyone who is concerned about the decline of the last century would look for something new in the face of this sterility. “The TLM was around for the first half of this last century, right? That obviously didn’t work either!”
We need to point out that the decline of the Church did not just start with VII; that was more of a catalyst of things that had already been spreading. Even a hundred years ago, even the TLM was starting to be taken less seriously, and the ideologies began to creep. My conclusion: not just a restoration of the TLM will be the fix; a restoration of the entire Christian culture that was still prevalent in some areas over a century ago. Not only going back to the missal of 1962, but at least of 1954. Better yet, pre-protestant-revolt.
Our Latin Mass was standing room only. Father has acquired a Nativity scene for our parish and asked us all to do the same for our homes and yards if possible. Last week, we processed from church to crèche with the St. Joseph figure. Next Sunday he will bless our Baby Jesus figurines on “Bambinelli Sunday” as part of our effort to recover our Catholic culture.
Our pastor preached on one of Fr. Z’s favorites – “Go to Confession”. It was quite informative as he offered tips on making a good confession and incorporated the receiving of the sacrament into our preparation for Christmas.