I need to open this one up to the readership.
From a reader…
QUAERITUR:
Thank you for all the instructions, rants, and articles. Out here in the trenches, it is becoming untenable.
My health has been in recovery mode all this year. I had hip replacement surgery in late March and still am not driving because of lightheadedness. At 76, I sure wish there was an owner’s manual.
Btw, I have been looking for a retirement community close by a stable TLM. Do you have any clues on that? After VII stole my heritage when I was clueless (Baptism, First Holy Communion, daily Mass in grammar school, first Confession), I am only able to attend the TLM. Since I can’t find a ride at either the FSSP parish or the SSPX chapel, I spend quiet time, and sometimes attend Mass online. It’s been harsh. My friends mostly moved out of state in 2021, and those remaining are aging, like me.
Any concrete (not wishful) suggestions?
The best feedback I can offer is hedge bet in a few directions. I don’t want to encourage people post Econe 2026 to make that a home base but the Society presence can create a stable corporate struggle environment like CVS vs RiteAid. I say this to say anywhere that has both SSPX and ICKSP and Diocesan TLM has to effectively nuke their entire phone system by fielding calls for the next 5 years to handle that much cancellation in a short period. We do see a slow cancelation occurring to avoid this but I really think the three can be lodged as a “best bet” scenario. I see these three in a few places (North Jersey and Phoenix AZ are a few that stand out) Apart from that moving to a Benedictine community (Our Lady of Guadalupe in Silver City NM for the SSPX continuity or Clear Creek in Oklahoma for a regular/normal communion of stability with Traditional monastics). I hope that feedback helps! We’re all looking for the best of a very difficult situation in the US
Is a personal parish established before TC safe from the restrictions of TC? There is a personal parish in Huntsville AL that is thriving (4 masses every Sunday and daily masses). It was established in 2008 and moved into its own building in 2013.
An acquaintances of mine who assists there (former grad student) has told me all four Sunday masses are packed. Website: http://ourladyhelpofchristians-al.org/?page_id=674
One of my daughters has attended Mass at this church in Taylors SC. They do both Masses.
https://princeofpeacetaylors.org/about-us/
I am sorry if leaving out info on retirement homes rules out this info. I am 75 so I understand, sort of his plight. But retirement homes in Alabama in the south are relatively inexpensive.
Someone wrote to suggest RiverPointe of Littleton (Colorado) a short distance from Our Lady of Mount Carmel (FSSP) in Littleton.
I second the suggestion of Our Lady Help of Christians in Huntsville Alabama. There are retirement and assisted living homes in 3-5 miles and a number of people willing to help you get to Mass.
I would visit the following areas. They have SSPX priories, a priory means multiple priests, multiples daily masses, confessions and great stable parish life on a daily basis with many many families and faithful of all ages.
Our Lady of Sorrows church, Pheonix, AZ
St Thomas More church, Sanford, FL
Our Lady of the Angels Church, Arcadia, CA (LA area)
Our Lady of the Assumption, Walton, KY (near Cincinnati)
Christ the King, Ridgefield, Connecticut
Immaculate Conception church, Post Falls, Idaho
St Isidore Church, Watkins, CO
And there are many others locations these are just a few https://sspx.org/en/list-sspx-chapels
There are senior apartments across the street down the block from St Mary’s in Wausau, Wisconsin (ICKSP) A few parishioners walk or wheelchair to Mass. The apartments are tied to income, and a friend is on the wait-list (9+ months). Our winters aren’t for the faint of heart, but the community is stellar.
also in Littleton, Colorado – and closer to OLMC – is Libby Bortz Assisted Living. that is where my father lived out his last few months. they were excellent back in 2002.
No location is completely safe. It all depends on who may be appointed in the future as the next bishop.Our parish TLM was terminated by our new bishop, leaving only a single TLM personal parish for the entire diocese and I’ve heard rumors that when its pastor retires in the near future our bishop will claim that he has no one to replace him and use that as a basis to end even that TLM. Our bishop has told us that Pope Benedict was wrong, Pope Francis was right, and that the goal of any allowed TLM should be solely the temporary pacification of the remaining misguided holdouts. . The only fully reliable TLM is probably an SSPX Mass, I suspect that having the availability of an SSPX TLM in an area would pressure most bishops to allow a Diocesan TLM.
I know that there is a housing project going on around St. Joseph Shrine in Detroit right now. It’s a growing parish (look up De Sales Park), and the housing is pretty much adjacent to the church, or a VERY short walk (0.1 miles or less) It might be worth looking into. St. Joseph’s Shrine is one of the best parishes I’ve ever seen. They have tons of events and talks taking place ALL the time. I wish I could attend more of them than I am able to.
There will be no ‘stable’ diocesan TLMs going forward. The goal is to eliminate them. The FSSP and ICKSP will one day be targeted. We live for the present when we can have the most beautiful thing this side of Heaven (the TLM) but realize that more of them will be suppressed. Even Institutes such as the Children of Mary who have been most Eucharistic and are even Novus Ordo are being suppressed. All things that ‘lean traditional’ will not no place in the synodal religion. Am I being pessimistic or realistic? In the meantime, I attend the local Novus Ordo and will continue to do so as long as Our Lord is present there. If words of consecration are changed and the Mass becomes some sort of ecumenical service, I am out.
Retirement? It is not the business of those journeying on the synodal path to take rest and respite of this kind. Rather, together we must continue to walk with people in the margins on a pilgrims journey, accompanying especially the poor, needy, and outcast in the spirit of listening. We must, in short, become athletes of synodality.
I am not retired but I wanted to build on Professor Covers suggestion:
Huntsville Alabama sounds reasonable and cost effective. I have been to the Space Center there and it seems like a good place to live. It probably also has some decent medical facilities too which for a retiree is something to look at. Huntsville is a medium sized town and also has a university.
I am contemplating retiring in a few years and I do want to live somewhere where I can get to an airport and a decent hospital within a few hours. I am sure Huntsville has these facilities and it’s good to hear some decent parishes (I think it’s in the Birmingham Diocese). I hope this post is productive.
“After VII stole my heritage when I was clueless (Baptism, First Holy Communion, daily Mass in grammar school, first Confession), I am only able to attend the TLM”
We all have a free will, so to say one is “only able” to attend the TLM seems to be inaccurate. Unless perhaps one lives nowhere near any other Catholic parish at all? Not sure. Perhaps what the writer really means is he/she only wants to attend the TLM. That’s fine, and I understand that, but here’s the problem: that isn’t always possible. So what is a practicing Catholic to do now?
Catholics are required to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. The obligation remains unless the particular Diocese dispenses it for a certain Feast Day. There is no obligation if one is sick, unable to drive (as in the writer’s case), or there happens to be some other serious circumstance that prevents one from being able to attend.
If a Catholic misses Mass through some fault of their own, like laziness or simply not wanting to go, this is against the 3rd Commandment.
God knows there will be times we cannot make it to Mass through no fault of our own. The important thing is that we give our best effort to attend each week. So, my concrete suggestion to this writer is to attempt to fulfill the Sunday obligation at another Catholic parish. Perhaps call around to other local parishes and see if anyone can help arrange a ride for Sunday Mass. The Sunday obligation is able to be met at any of the 24 rites in the Catholic Church.
To add to hwriggles4 there is a medical school in Huntsville AL.
Analogies limp, but an earlier one comparing chain pharmacies tripped and fell.
RiteAid went bankrupt and closed all their stores. Walgreens is still alive.
I think there is a new analogy to be had with Costco vs Sam’s Club.
The Oratory of Sts. Gregory and Augustine in Richmond Heights, MO. It’s a suburb of St Louis. Very safe. Very lovely. It was started by Cardinal Burke when he was Archbishop. It’s located in the parish that used to be St Luke the Evangelist. It’s a beautiful gothic building. I used to be a parishioner about 14 years ago before the oratory. Declining population forced the archdiocese to combine the regular parish with another parish in a neighboring suburb. The archdiocese has left the oratory alone. It’s a thriving community.
https://stlouislatinmass.com/
It’s a stones throw from Trustwell Senior Living at Richmond Heights and St Mary’s Hospital.