Sure you didn’t go to Mass in the Los Angeles area? ALL of this happens here and more.

I’d say you had a good run Dan. At the mass I went to on Christmas eve, the altar servers wore no Albs, kids read out the lord have mercy part and the priest changed heaps of the words. Poor old bloke thinks he is making it more accessible or something. I couldn’t disagree with him more.

Our parish is nice BUT the priest never uses the new collects, I don’t
Know where he gets the ones he uses. He still uses “for all” in the
Consecration.  The sermons are on a high school level
Theologically.  However, rest of mass is beautiful and prayer
Reverently.  Music is top notch with pipe organ only.  So I
Guess we have it better than others.  There are no
Monasteries near us.  There is silence after communion.

It sounds as though you and your family did not have a good spiritual tour of the areas you visited. Some of what you experienced I have never experienced in my 39 years as a revert. Some of what you have written is nearly unbelievable. Applause during Mass? Catholics holding hands during the Our Father. Improper respect for Christ’s Real Presence in the Tabernacle, changing prayers (But I’ve always thought the priest had discretion in choosing which Mass prayer he said. Am I wrong?)I’ve never seen people scrambling around the sanctuary to make the sign of peace. As a matter of fact, we don’t have to make the sign of peace any longer, do we? I only get to see Mass on EWTN and I don’t see any sign of peace made on there. These folks need some Catholic education, don’t they. And you need a bit of English instruction. It’s not “me and my family,” it’s “my family and I.”

We recently changed parishes after putting up with many of the same things you experienced. I have also seen a priest saying Mass with only a stole over his clericals and another apologizing for the content of the Gospel reading!
What compelled us to change parishes were two things that happened within a month of each other. The first was the Parochial Vicar and the deacon having a water fight with the Holy Water on the altar (and this same priest sprinkling the altar boys when they brought the water for the priest to wash his hands).  The next was the Parochial Vicar adding what only can be thought of fundamentalist healing rite of some sort during a Sunday Mass.  That was it, no more.
Of course the bishop’s office didn’t reply to both notes sent to them and trying to find out who to complain to is not the easist thing to ascertain either.
After many years in the military, I’d like to offer a suggestion. The Inspector General’s office was always a way to ask for an inquiry of things that seemed amiss.  Why not have something similar in each diocese, especially since many/most bishops don’t seem to want to hear or do something about these (and other) abuses?  Something needs to be done and should have been done a long time ago!

Would it be rude to print out the words of Pope Benedict regarding applause during Mass and then stuff them under every windshield wiper in the church parking lot? I’ve heard less applause at a Tony Robbins seminar than at a typical Mass at our parish. We even applaud the tone-deaf cantor (but maybe out of gratitude that she’s done singing for the day).
God bless!
www.MerryCatholic.com

Actually, Linda-Mary, it should be “my family and me” because “me” is in the place of the direct object. “I” is used in the subject place.

OK, I know we’re not supposed to hold hands, and I am the first one to complain about abuses, but I DO hold my boys’ hands (ages 12 and 16) and pray as fervently as I can while also trying to memorize the feeling of their hands in mine.  I know the day is coming when I will sit in mass by myself (my husband is an usher), and I will no longer have a boy on either side of me, and I want to remember holding their warm hands as we prayed together to our Lord.

Careful Mr. Burke. You are starting to sound like Michael Voris. And we know how your colleagues at the Register feel about him.

Applause and hand holding during the “Our Father”—both have been done at my parish throughout the year.
Along with applause for individuals or groups doing something, there’s also been applause for our adult and childrens choirs (depending on the Mass time) when they finish singing a post-Eucharistic hymn. It seems as if the choir is in concert mode as they sing it! I’d love to jump up and say “Folks, this is Mass and not the local performing arts center or your child’s school auditorium!”

In the past few years, our music ministry fell apart, so no choirs.

There are plenty of these abuses going on everywhere. I wish I were as sheltered from it as much as Linda-Mary Sigley. (You are definitely lucky to not have seen any of this.) It goes on in nearby parishes in my area quite frequently. Our current parish priest follows the rules “pretty well”. Although he doesn’t think anything of holding hands during the sign of peace. He told me that was okay. I guess we just need to be grateful that with all of their errors they are all still ordained by God and the Mass is still the mass despite their wrongdoings. This is why we need to pray daily for our priests. Keep praying. God’s Will will be done.

The term “liturgical abuse” is used so frequently that it betrays underlying problems with the mass itself. When 90% of masses at Catholic parishes are completely lacking in reverence, dignity, or sacredness, it is time to dig deeper than liturgical abuses, and look at the mass. We need to ask ourselves if there are inherent problems with the mass of Paul VI. I believe there are.

I am convinced that the new mass by its very nature lends itself to lack of reverence and freedom of expression—-which inherently leads to abuses. I could detail my reasons for this further, but it is tragic to say the least.

Like you, my wife and I are converts to the Catholic faith. I was very disappointed as a Catholic to find that the Anglican church I had previously attended had much, much better liturgy than the Catholic parishes we visited.

After continual vexation, we eventually gave up on trying to find a liturgically “faithful” or reverent parish. They are extremely hard to find. We eventually began attending a latin mass parish because reverence and sacredness and knowledge of the miracle that is taking place is built into the culture. Yes, latin is hard to get used to, but ultimately, it reminds me that the mass is not about me, but rather the worship and praise of God.

It is my hope that the extreme “reforms” of the new mass can themselves be reformed to a place where the Catholic faithful no longer have to lament liturgical abuses almost constantly, to a place where dignity and reverence are restored and due honor is given to God.

The bottom line is this:  What can we do to get these awful things fixed?  If pastors won’t obey the Holy Father, they won’t give our critiques any serious consideration.  We’ve changed parishes 3 times in 9 years and still endure Holy Mass celebrated with the congregation’s entertainment as the prime objective.

Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Kazakhstan gave a speech on 15 January 2012 in which he listed “five wounds” of the liturgical mystical body of Christ.  His whole address is on Paix Liturgique.

His basic premise is that the rupture in our liturgical worship that has resulted in abuses after the Council and because of going beyond the Council’s 6 clear mandates in Sacrosanctum Concilium about liturgical reform, have resulted in wounds to Christ’s Body the Church.

Then he goes through “five wounds” of the liturgical mystical body of Christ.

You can read his explanations on your own, but here are my bullet points based on Bp. Schneider’s text:

1.Mass versus populum.

2.Communion in the hand.

3.The Novus Ordo Offertory prayers.

4.Disappearance of Latin in the Ordinary Form.

5.Liturgical services of lector and acolyte by women and ministers in lay clothing.

The five wounds of the Church’s liturgical body I have mentioned are crying out for healing. They represent a rupture that one may compare to the exile in Avignon. The situation of so sharp a break in an expression of the Church’s life is far from unimportant—back then the absence of the popes from Rome, today the visible break between the liturgy before and after the Council. This situation indeed cries out for healing. 

For this reason we need new saints today, one or several Saint Catherines of Sienna. We need the “vox populi fidelis” demanding the suppression of this liturgical rupture. The tragedy in all of this is that, today as back in the time of the Avignon exile, a great majority of the clergy, especially in its higher ranks, is content with this rupture.

AnnF wrote: “I know the day is coming when I will sit in mass by myself (my husband is an usher), and I will no longer have a boy on either side of me, and I want to remember holding their warm hands as we prayed together to our Lord.”

You can do that at home.

Glad to know I’m not the only one that sees the errors committed….I live in a parish like those you described.  When I asked about the “changes” my priest makes in the Eucharistic Prayers….his response was - he does them intentionally….since he sees the changes as a “train wreck” - and those are his words NOT mine….I continue to pray for him and that Mary will lead him to her son and he will have a change of heart….in the mean time - God have Mercy on Us All…..

I’m so tired of this theme of “community involvement” in the liturgy, especially in the music.  To me, this is one of the worst abuses.  “Make it YOUR mass”, Life Teen, choirs with horrible voices blasting us with the most insipid Glory and Praise in the book.  No one would listen to this craptastic “music” in any other situation.  In fact they’d be embarrassed.  The music style is extremely dated; turn on a soft pop station and you’ll hear the same emotional 70s chords.  As for the musical “talent”: Little Mermaid voices (on the best of days) for soloists, kids with drums out of beat, do you really think this is the best welcome that we humans can provide for our Lord?  Seems to be more about making people feel good and “involved”...do we abandon all taste and decorum when we enter the doors of church?  Once upon a time, didn’t you have to have some musicial talent/experience/inclination to join a choir/bang a piano?  Please if you’re a priest with a G&P choir full of old hippies trying to be relevant and get rid of what they think are the old stereotypes of the harsh God of the old mass, start phasing them out, they’re taking too long to die out.  (Mean, hyperbole, but it’s TRUE!  They’re going to last forever up there and they’re only resonating with their own age group so hire some real vocal talent, I’ll pay for it! Maybe we can shame them out when they hear a real musician with a voice.)  Oh yeah, and dust off the organ, find an organist, and can the jangling piano…it’s so much more “churchy” and it helps all the parents by drowning out their kids and all the old ladies who have forgotten how to whisper if it’s loud enough.

Rant over.

6:47 in the video by Cardinal Arinze.  Some of what you experienced are liturgical abuses, and legitimate ones.  Some of what you experienced are simply things you do not like.  There IS a difference. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iix5v1ytwBA&feature=related

@Sam: I may not properly understand your perspective but at face value, I do not share your sentiments and believe them to be inherently rooted in the same problem as those who create liturgical havoc. Said another way, to question the council is no less protestant than to simply implement the liturgy in whatever way we please. If I were you, I would dig into the documents of the II Vatican council. There you will find instruction and perspective that was simply ignored or misinterpreted. Your approach will lead down the same path of destruction as those on the liberal side. Be very careful about how you understand the magisterial work of the Church. The Holy Spirit has not taken a sabbatical. I had the opportunity to be in the presence of Cardinal Arinze recently. He scoffed and laughed at the idea that there were no abuses in the Mass prior to the reform. There was real need for reform then. There were real problems addressed by the council. The issue is how to implement what the Holy Spirit has given us. This is the central issue - catechesis and implementation.

I am surprised it only took 12 comments before someone blamed the Novus Ordo and that terrible second Vatican Council.  I am always amazed at how folks who hold faithfully to the rubrics, teachings and Traditions of our church are the often the first ones to deny Her authority to convene a Council and to change said rubrics and Traditions.

I, too, am a convert from Protestantism (26 years now).  I have YET to receive our Lord kneeling or at an altar rail (as a Protestant I regularly was able to kneel at an altar rail).  The “New Mass” IS the problem - it creates these very abuses to which you are speaking.  That being said, the “Old Mass” no doubt had its fair share of abuses but I dare say that Paul VI’s Mass has led to the further disintegration of Catholicism and the Catholic culture as was once practiced, especially in the home.  I am a homeschooling mother and teach/practice/live the liturgical year at home and then “have to” attend the Mass of Paul VI with all its abuses and errors since there is no Tridentine Mass within two hours and the possibility of having one locally or closer is met with “negativity”. 

When you take away the Mass, you take away Catholicism (the Devil is HAPPY!)!  I didn’t become a Catholic to remain a Protestant…  Unfortunately, the reverence and respect due to the Mass is sadly lacking…

Let’s all attend the Michael Voris Lenten cruise!  Just be sure to visit the buffet at least an hour before mass starts!

Dan,

Thank you for your response. I understand your position, and I am aware of what Vatican II actually called for. If you look at what Vatican II called for, however, and what the changes in the mass of Paul VI, they are radically different. The changes Vatican II requested were relatively minor revisions to the latin mass. That is not what the faithful were given in the years following Vatican II.

There certainly did need to be reform and the mass, and I am not ignorant of the fact that there were abuses beforehand.

I feel as if you believe I am sort of sedevacantist because I dare to question the new mass. You are making many assumptions about me that are not true. If one is a borderline protestant for questioning the state of things,  then Pope Benedict is a dangerous traditionalist because he has criticized it far more clearly and cogently than I could have. He says the things I have said and much more as a Cardinal and as Pope.

The point is, it is not heretical or protestant to question the state of the mass. The mass has been abused and reformed many times in the Church’s history. To accept the status quo without question as the work of the Holy Spirit is misguided. We must look at things objectively and ask if things are truly honoring to God. If they are not, we should fix them.

@Naysayer - you are on target with your concern about someone blaming the Novus Ordo - this is no less egregious than those who play havoc with the liturgy. Both are protestant in sensibility.

Solumn High Traditional Latin Massat St. Anthony Church in Trenton, N.J.
Brand new sub-deacon.  Maidens of the Miraculous Medal processed.
Beautiful.
Ahhhhhhh.

I’m surprised it only took 13 comments before someone uncharitably mocked Michael Voris in a thread citing legitimate liturgical abuse.

This lecture faithfully shows the historical ideas the influenced the new mass. Anyone who is honestly seeking for more information should give this a listen. (PS: These are not “traditionalists” speaking)

http://www.instituteofcatholicculture.org/the-holy-mass-reform-ruin-restoration-october-14/

@Sam: Touche - I don’t think you are a sedevacantist. We are probably pretty close in approach. My frustration lies on both ends of the spectrum - both of which don’t seem to have a solid grip on how to understand the leading of the Holy Spirit through the council…

@Merry: Let me know how it turns out!

“Hand-holding during the Our Father — with one extraordinarily silly, though I am sure well-intentioned, contortionist even reaching backward while facing forward in order to connect the two rows of pews. (This is forbidden on the basis that we are not allowed to add or change the Mass.)”
As much as I dislike this practice, I think you are overstating the case against it.  Based on your argument, you must also say that the “prayers before Communion” that can be found in so many approved Catholic prayer books are FORBIDDEN because they do not appear in the rubrics.  No; I think a distinction must be maintained between the things that take place during the Mass and the things that are a part of the Mass itself.  If anyone thinks that holding hands is a part of the Mass, he is mistaken, as you say, but the hands have to be somewhere, after all.  The rubrics do not say to let the arms hang straight down; they do not say to fold them in the traditional manner for prayer; they do not say to grab the pew in front of you.

@Jason - good video. I have seen it. The key is that the Cardinal is clear about “proscribed” actions and those that are not. Holding hands is not and should not be proscribed. This means that we are free to do it individually as we see fit. It does not mean that it should be imposed on others outside of our families. In my case the contortionist wouldn’t remove her hand from someone’s face until they were forced to take their hand and join in the silly and distracting behavior.

What I find bothersome about this conversation is the willingness to throw their fellow brothers and sisters overboard with a holier than thou attitude.

So a parish lacks in it’s faithfulness. Is it charitable to mock them safely from afar? Or maybe it would be helpful if you could get involved in the parish and change the culture, if you think it is so horrible.

I realize that you were a guest at the parish, and as such you could have kept your mouth shut and prayed for an increase in conversion for that parish. If your own parish lacks in it’s faithfulness, can I beg you, as one who works at a parish TO GET INVOLVED?! Be Christ to your fellow parishioners. Get on the music committee and bring a sense of the traditional to people, help to educate them, help by showing the the joy of deeper conversion, not the crankiness of disappointment in the stupid people at Mass.

If you want people to have reverence at Mass-and by this I do mean the NO-YOU have to be there and be a witness. You HAVE to get involved. This sitting on the sidelines kvetching (that is my nice word) about it does little good to build up the kingdom.  Be leaven in the bread. Love people into the kingdom. Teach at RCIA, Religious Education, youth ministry-whatever your charism is, go do that at the Church and be a light of joy to the truth. Just don’t sit here and criticize without being willing to be part of the change.

@Jen: Don’t know who your energy is aimed at but we are very involved. At times it is important to have public discussions to encourage faithfulness and discourage the opposite. Your claims of throwing folks overboard and “holier than thou” reflect counter-attack hyperbole that you yourself decry. Otherwise, your admonitions for involvement are very good.

This is the sad reality in 9 out of 10 parishes in Belgium (a traditional catholic country). All of the abuses you mentioned above we witnessed (and still do) My husband and I converted from protestantism two years ago, and have attended 3 parishes in and around our university city thus far. Out of more than 100 parishioners, only three dare to kneel, and are looked upon as ‘catho-fundi’s’. But we have a wonderful new archbishop since last year and while he is constantly openly attacked and ridiculed by our national media ànd most of our remaining ‘catholics’ (protestant hearts and minds, yes), he is standing firm and responding to the needs as much as he can. Meanwhile, young people(mostly students) are trying to bring back Latin masses in some of our larger cities. Let’s pray…

@Cleo: Bringing back the Latin mass won’t solve your problems.

I am thankful that my parish offers the Traditional Latin Mass at midnight and during the day at Christmas… I have had it and I know a many number of people who are tired of the “piano bar / broadway musical ” liturgies… offered in some parishes in NYC ....

This is what I had posted on my Facebook about my experience at my local parish, which I have left but they were the only ones offering midnight Mass.

Happy Birthday, Jesus. I went to Mass to celebrate You, on YOUR extra special day but when I got to Your Church, the view to Your Tabernacle was blocked by a saxophone quartet. I thought to myself that I could overcome that distraction, which took away from the reason of our coming to Mass but I was wrong. When I knelt down to pray, I was startled by the applause that broke out after each piece that the quartet played and that made it difficult to concentrate on YOU, Lord. The organist seemed overly zealous to play for You, though. So much that she started playing even when the priest hadn’t finished speaking. Finally, Holy Communion! Forgive the girl who was dressed in what looked like wrapping paper that only covered the intimate areas but didn’t leave much for the imagination, I’m sure she doesn’t know what she does…. or who she is about to receive. I guess not many quite understand or accept Your Presence in the Eucharist because I highly doubt they would of approached you with such lack of reverence. I hope you didn’t mind that while we were in Your house and celebrating Your birthday, in front of You, everyone (at the priests request)clapped for the priests, deacon, alter boys/girls, and the choir. I guess all those in attendance were so happy to have fulfilled their obligation that they had to hang out in the aisles and chat with each other… not about you, though. Some of them didn’t chat but left promptly without saying “good-bye” or “thank you” or even genuflecting towards You. Happy Birthday, Jesus. I love You!

I applaud your comments. . . but not at Holy Mass.

@John: Ha!

Posted by Dan Burke on Friday, Dec 28, 2012 12:33 PM (EDT):@Cleo: Bringing back the Latin mass won’t solve your problems.
***********************************
Did she suggest that it would??

@Dan you gave little to no indication of involvement, nor an admonition of your own to do so to help correct these problems. It would have been helpful to have known this information.

But I stand by my post. I see far to many people complaining-both online and in real life-and too few being involved. I work full time at a parish as the coordinator of Discipleship and Evangelization. My point being that we who have the treasures in our heart need to behave as such and draw others in to it instead of the condemnation I so frequently see/hear.  I would love more help for what I do than people who complain. I can put helpers to work, complainers-not so much.

@Jen: It is not possible to include every possible thought in a post. Scripture points out two ways we deal with these issues 1) we expose the works of darkness, and 2) we overcome evil with good. Both are important and necessary. I applaud your engagement and emphasis to do so. I am not a fan of folks who simply sit back and criticize.

When the children at our parish leave for Children’s Liturgy during Liturgy of the Word, the priest asks us all to say a blessing over them. Everyone extends their hands while he adlibs a blessing. I haven’t done any research and am ashamed to say I’m not sure if this is OK or not, but it sure doesn’t feel right. I’ve never been ordained with any ability to bless anyone in such a way, not that I know of at least. Does anyone know anything about this? I’d appreciate any info you have.

To Jen:  Our family (and 7 other families), who were all VERY active in our progressive parish, LEFT said parish for a wonderful, traditional, reverent parish, about 1-2 years ago.  We ALL had been on boards, taught RE, contributed large sums of money, etc.  We ALL saw the irreverence, abuses, and flat out lies from the pulpit, and could take the distortion and heresy no more.  We ALL fought to bring change to this parish.  We ALL prayed very hard for this parish.  The doors were closed in our faces, and we had no other choice but to leave.  We ALL thank God for an alternative, and it is an amazing one at that.  Our families are being re-educated, and understand our faith in a way that the progressive parish ignored.  It is not a “holier than thou” attitude…it is a “thank God our eyes were opened, thank God for a beautiful traditional parish to turn to”, AND, “through God’s help we will still try to open our friend’s eyes to the truth”.  Progressive parishes pull people away from the truth.  When you put the tabernacle off to the side, out of view, in a chapel, (where is it anyway?), where people do not reverence it in any way and throw their coats on the kneelers before the tabernacle…you are not in a true Catholic Church.

@JJMK: Very much appreciate the battle you fought. It is amazing how faithful Catholics can actually be displaced from their parishes because they desire the fullness of beauty and truth of the Church.

“Bringing back the Latin mass won’t solve your problems.”

Are you serious? Ask anyone who actually is able to attend the traditional Latin Mass how much liturgical abuse they actually experience, and this is not to mention the music, the postures, the reverence that naturally go along with this form of Mass. It may not solve any problems for the Novus Ordo Mass down the street, but it certainly can help solve quite a number of problems for at least the services in which it is utilized.

Dan thanks for the Benedict quote and for your clarity. Something to calm your nerves: I was blessed this Christmas to sneak in the bells and even incense at the elevation of our Lord during the words of institution. Adding great dignity to Christ’s Mass on Christmas. And, I even received lots of positive feedback. One unfortunate thing this Christmas to fuel your fire; the song “Mary did you know?”. Although it is a beautiful song every time I hear it I want to say ... Yes Mary did know the angel Gabriel told her confirm Luke 1:31-33. God’s blessings! I like the response to the oft heard question “Why does it really matter?” ... “Because I am not a protestant.”

jjmk,
I believe you are right, ultimately it does come down to truth. Parishes that are more likely to abuse the liturgy are also likely to teach heretical things from the pulpit. Those who take Catholic teaching and truth seriously, and teach it in its fullness, are far more likely to take the liturgy seriously and worship with reverence. Lex orandi, lex credendi. How we pray is how we believe.

I am so happy to hear that you found a parish that is faithful to the teachings and traditions of the Church. Tradition is not optional, but is integral to the Catholic faith.

@Brennan - read the documents of the council.

@Fr. Jacob: Thank you for your faithfulness and encouragement. Good priests and bishops generally have no idea the effect they have on those of us who truly love our faith. You are fuel to the fire of love.

Priests and 10,000 lay communion servers (men, women and teenagers dressed like they were making a midnight run to the grocery store) using Antibacterial Hand Sanitizer AT THE ALTAR. I almost died.

when our new young priest said, “happy holidays” after Mass instead of “Merry Christmas”, you know something is seriously wrong…..praying for our Chruch!

@Dan,
Have you read Summorum Pontificum, and not just the documents of the council? Pope Benedict has restored the 1962 missal to full dignity in the church. It is no less relevant than the new mass. I don’t know all your motives for being critical of the tridentine mass, but I think in general, at least for a lot of people, they fear what they do not understand.
There seems to be a fear that the rites are in competition, and the fact that many people are choosing the latin mass (a perfectly legitimate thing to do) worries a lot of those who prefer the new mass, as if somehow these people are being unfaithful to the council and the magisterium. This simply is not true, as Pope Benedict has made perfectly clear.
I will tell you why many, many families are choosing the latin mass. It is because they are tired of fighting. The mass should be a SANCTUARY in both a literal and figurative sense. It should be a place of safety, peace, and calm. A place to be silent before God, adore him, and receive him in an intimate way. It should NOT be a place of battles and combat and constant vexation. We have enough of that in the anti-Christian world that we live in.
So when people find safety and peace and ancient beauty in the latin mass, it is a clear choice. To those who have never been active in a latin mass parish, they may not understand. But they should not judge those who love the latin mass as unfaithful Catholics who ignore or look down on the magisterium. This is emphatically not the case.
So in short, please stop judging those of us who have found a haven of rest in the Latin mass as unfaithful Catholics, or at least borderline. The latin mass is just as legitimate as the new mass, and it is a source of refreshment to many, many Catholics.

I could tell you some really scary horror stories about a former parish of mine. I served on the liturgy committee and was involved in music ministry but it did little good when it came time to address liturgical abuses that no one else thought of as problems. I know they were doing the best they knew how to do, but I’m disappointed that they still chose to do wrong even when given more information. I’m fortunate to have left that parish, but I still cringe every time I think about receiving communion at the 3:30pm Christmas Eve mass from an extraordinary minister holding a bread basket lined with a napkin. Hopefully no one from that parish will recognize my comment. Despite my opinion of the liturgy I still wouldn’t want to offend the folk. But I don’t think many of them read the Register.

“@Brennan - read the documents of the council.”

Dan, I am well aware of what Sacrosanctum Concilium said regarding the liturgy and what it called for. I do believe where the rubber met the road is not so much in that document, which can be interpreted fairly conservatively (or not), but in the committee which actually reformed the Mass after the council and were able to alter the liturgy as they saw fit as long as it was ultimately approved by the Pope. And I do stand by my statement that one can solve an awful lot of problems with liturgical abuse, overuse of extraordinary ministers, lack of reverence, etc. through the use of the traditional Latin Mass, at least at the times and places it is used.

I *hear* ya.  We suffer many abuses even in our small, rural parish.  Our pastor is a very good man, and means well… but…  {{{sigh}}}  And the “choir”?  Oh.  my.  gosh.  Anyhow, last Sunday my family got to assist at a TLM (took nearly an hour on the freeway to get there) and there was a pipe organ and a real choir and the Mass was SO beautiful and reverent—worship befitting our King, Jesus!  Yet not only can we not afford the gas for a mini-van to drive that far weekly, we also feel we need to “bloom where we’re planted,” and we would miss our tightly-knit parish family.  Three of our four sons serve at our 9 o’clock Mass every Sunday (our youngest isn’t quite ready yet), I am a reader, and we are very plugged-in there.  But oh how I wish we could assist at a TLM each week!  Or even a correct and *reverent* Novus Ordo!

@Dan, thank you for your words.
@jjmk, thank you for your work at the parish. I absolutely get how frustrating it can be. But I think being unloving and uncharitable can be just as damaging as liturgical abuses. I’m not saying you or your family were, just that we cannot be unloving in our desire to have the fullness of the good.

Evangelization takes time. It just does. And sometimes it means getting in the mess and being patient and loving and just moving forward as much as we can with the good that we know we want others to have. My point is that in everything we do we must be Christ, we must approach it with a desire for the good of others and a love that Christ has for them. THAT can change hearts, esp when they see how much we love them.

The more I hear about this sort of thing.  The more I know this prayer was ment for our time:
Fatima Angel’s Prayer…
Oh Most Holy Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
I adore Thee profoundly.
I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity
of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world,
in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and
indifferences by which He is offended.
By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I beg the conversion of poor sinners.
Amen.
Pray it often.

@Brennan: We are probably very similar in sentiment. However, I believe that turning to the Latin Mass as a solution is simply skirting the problem. The Latin Mass needed reform - thus it was reformed. We need to properly implement the reform.

We are very fortunate in the Diocese of Arlington.  It is a conservative diocese.  I am happy with my home parish of St. Louis, and have attended Mass at several other parishes in the diocese.  Now, I’d like to say a word about the Tridentine Mass:  (or maye a question) Whay can’t the Tridentine Mass be celebrated in English or the vernacular?  The prayers are beautiful!  For me, having them in Latin causes a major disconnect between my heart and what is taking place at the altar.  When I understand the language, the words jump from my ears to my heart.  Otherwise, I have to synchronize the Latin with English, then read the English.  I am no longer in communion with the congregation.  I grew up with the Latin Mass and never realized what was going on (beyond the very basics).  Now, when we “lift up our hearts” I can comprhend it as sort of a “pay attention now - we are entering the most sacred part of the Mass.”  Imagine a stranger walking into a Latin Mass.  How would he know what’s being said?

And yet throughout all these human frailties and faults,  Jesus is present every single time. Joy to your world!

Wow.  Just, wow.

Talk about polishing the brass on the Titanic.  While you all are “outraged” by the “abuses” committed by priests who fail to follow extreme, narrow interpretation of The Rules Catholics are leaving the Church in droves.  And another thing, how dare you throw the word “abuse” around like this.  Irony doesn’t begin to define how sick it is that a church that covers up widespread molestation of children is quick to cry “ABUSE!” regarding a misspoken chant.

How sad you all must be, how far separated from God you are.  Keep shaking those fingers, I know it must feel amazing to wallow in all that man made, manufactured redemption.

@Sam: Yes I did read it. I am NOT critical of the Latin Mass - I only echo what the counsel has said about it. Careful. Don’t confuse a pastoral provision for a long term solution. The accusation that I have judged you is ridiculous on its face. I have friends who attend the Latin Mass and I understand why. I just don’t believe it is the answer. Disagreement is not = to judging or condemnation.

@Bill: Your ignorance runs deep. The term “abuse” is a technical one used as a norm to describe situations where the rubrics or guidance of the Church is abandoned. May you get beyond your delusion and find the truth. You are off topic. Go find another thread to rant in.

@Ann-Marie: AMEN! In fact, though I was frustrated by all of this, I was also given the grace to be very present with our Lord in all of these situations. My frustration surfaced outside of Mass. God is good.

I am extremely grateful to our 2 newly ordained priests who made a pact last year NOT to applaud for or recognize the musicians during Christmas Masses.  I am the organist and my family is the choir, and I greatly appreciate having the attention on the Mass, NOT the musicians!

All I can say is welcome to our world. It has been just in the last 2 years that we have gotten a faithful priest who is joyful and wants to return all to the church. All that you describe is common practice in SE Iowa on a regular basis. I believe when Fr leaves and goes to a new assignment it will return so I just enjoy these days because I know the norm will return.

God Bless
Linda S

@ Kevin: Thank you for reminding us of the prayer at Fatima!  AMEN!

Midnight Mass with our Polish priest presiding correctly and reverently.  The music - the songs were traditional - was exquisite, the church was decorated beautifully.  Bells at the consecration (and wonderfully, the church’s bells rang out at midnight, just as Mass began!).  No incense that I can remember.  Some people held hands for the Our Father; there is waaayyyy too much time spent on the extending the Peace of Christ to each other…both actions that Father has spoken about but parishioners do not hear, apparently. Aaannnnnddd, at the end of Mass people clapped.  Ugh. (These things are very common, unfortunately, to every Mass I’ve been to in this diocese, except the Latin Mass.)

The abuses you mention, Dan, are so commonplace in the archdiocese of Boston these days, I didn’t know they were abuses! Unforuntately, the AoD is a shrinking diocese desperate to infuse any kind of sense of community into its dwindling numbers of active participants. It prompts the question: If a liturgical abuse occurs and no one is in the pews to witness did it really happen?

(No surprise) there is a tension between fundamentalists and moderates in the Catholic Church. There is especially a conflict between the need for community vs the need for reverence. They are frequently at odds.

I don’t disagree with you about the need for uniformity and conformity for the liturgy. I too have been shocked by the things said and done at mass, by priests, no less! I’ll never forget a priest saying at my friend’s child’s baptism, that baptism isn’t about original sin but rather a welcoming to the family. Oh and Adam and Eve weren’t real people.

However, in the real world, one has to guard against pedantry. Come on, is holding hands during the our father the worst problem in the Catholic Church right now? At a time when 7 out 10 American Catholics don’t even come to mass anymore? is pre Mass chit chat the worst problem facing the Church when in my diocese, 40% of parishes can’t support themselves through weekly collections? I’m not dismissing these and other problems you’ve written about just trying to prioritize, like if you’re car was totaled in an accident, you wouldn’t fix the rearview mirror first.

Aren’t you being a wee bit like the apostles when they tried to keep the unruly children away from Jesus?

I think children’s masses and Lifeteen masses would horrify you! But they do the near impossible: Getting people younger than 50 to go to mass.

When I attended Latin Mass I was amazed at the lack of charity (my wife had no head covering so we were frowned upon), the elitism, the smug attitude of the sedavacantists, and yes, the disdain for Catholic teachings (Vatican II).  I also have spoken with older Catholics who talked about the pre-Vat days when the women all thumbed their rosaries during mass because they didn’t know what was going on, and the men stood outside on the church steps and smoked.  I then spent years following the Legionaries around, sending my boys to their camps and school and listening to many of the same arguments that fill these comboxes.  The Legionaries did not allow female altar servers, knelt for communion, and practiced all kinds of holy and pious things.  What did that get them?  Even after being named the “worst abuser of the 20th century” they are still recruiting 12-year old boys.  But don’t let us see anybody holding hands during the Lord’s Prayer!  Oh the Humanity!

Petronella, please remember that evangelization is not the primary purpose of the Mass.  The use of a sacred language reserved for worship speaks to a universal human sensibility about how man ought to approach the Divine.  One of the truths that was lost with the reformation of the Mass is that the priest isn’t (or anyway shouldn’t be) talking to you.  Grasp that and the “problem” of intelligibility vanishes.

@Kate on Friday, Dec 28, 2012 12:32 AM (EDT):
“Sure you didn’t go to Mass in the Los Angeles area? ALL of this happens here and more.”
————————————————————
This is true.  I live in the Los Angeles Area and couldn’t find a faithful mass.  I could not stand the abuses that I saw every week, I actually found it creepy and the need to shower crossed my mind many times.  I had someone say to me how “boring” the mass was and we needed to get rid of the bible; I didn’t let it pass and she was properly chastened I believe. 
I ended up finding a Latin Mass every Sunday in Alhambra and couldn’t be happier.  I grew up on the Novus Ordo and can say after attending the Latin Mass the Novus Ordo seems to be lacking depth and soul.  When I am at the Latin Mass I never want it to end.  Really.  I’ve made it a practice when I travel to look up where to find the Latin Mass in that city and have no qualms about driving a little extra to attend.  This is what I would suggest to all who are searching for a faithful mass.

Mr. Burke, thank you for your article, and for your measured comments on the Latin Mass. I think that the Latin Mass is a great treasure, and I second your caution pitting the TLM over and against the Novus Ordo.  I attend both the TLM and the Novus Ordo, and I’ve attended the Novus Ordo in several languages other than English, including Latin.  I have experienced reverent Novus Ordos as well as awfully banal Novus Ordos.

I used to go to the Sunday Vigil at my home parish and then take a 20-minute walk to a parish where the priest knows how to celebrate both the Novus Ordo and the TLM, and the latter influences his celebration of the former. Since I moved and got married, I can’t attend as often, but once a month if I can swing it:  having a husband who doesn’t love it as much as I do, but at least doesn’t hate it has been a blessing—I can see that it has now taught me patience and charity, since I had come back to the Church in a big way just before we got married, had been discovering the faith all over again, including the TLM, and just when I’d embraced the TLM, it was, well, “taken away” from me, as it were.  It would’ve been easy to hide behind the TLM, and the temptation was certainly strong. But the TLM isn’t meant to be hidden behind so that one circles the wagons.  It is meant to be humbly shared.

I think the trick is to use one’s TLM-honed sensibilities, if one has them, and bring them to the Novus Ordo with one.  While I am no expert on the liturgy (I only claim to have read Ratzinger, Spirit of the Liturgy and hope to read Guardini), the new translation was a blessing for making clearer what the Eucharist actually is. But thereafter, it seems to be a matter of focus.  The TLM showed me where and how to focus, as it were.  And as such, I have learned to tune out an awful lot. I do have problems with stuff like drum kits and holding hands during the Our Father during Sunday Mass, and what I also have a problem with is how the Novus Ordo gets treated like an iPod playlist:  many a time, “stuff” is just slotted in at particular intervals, and if it’s shallow poppy-sounding music, then it breaks up concentration as well as the linear structure of the Mass, which is meant to lead us deeper into the Sacred Mysteries.  That is a recipe for spiritual incoherence on many levels, it seems.  But the daily Novus Ordo—with NO music at all, and which are usually attended by people who care about the Mass at all, anyway—is more than fine with me, because then, the focus (and being allowed to focus) becomes clearer.  To someone with TLM-honed sensibilities, one could say it becomes obvious, even.  But what I tend to do is to essentially plug the TLM into the Novus Ordo, and watch the Novus Ordo unfold and unpack itself.

But speaking of focus, this should hopefully cheer you up, and perhaps it’s something we all might do:  we were at Christmas Vigil Mass at my sister-in-law’s parish, and it was noisy.  It was also one of the weirdest churches I’d ever seen—one of those theater-in-the-round types where even the Crucifix looked weird (it looked like one of the Lord of the Dance thingies instead of a traditional crucifix), and people were yakking up a storm.  My husband and I didn’t know whether we’d have time for the Rosary when we got home, so we chose to say it before Mass (yes, surrounded by all the noise).  We made sure we were audible to each other, and the deliberate, calming rhythm of the Rosary allowed me to stay calm and to focus, and not be distracted.  I was not focusing on the noise at all or letting it unsettle me.  The rhythm of the Rosary drowned most of it out.  Perhaps if more people did this at Mass, say, starting out with a small group with potential for growth, it seems to me it might do two things: 1) prepare people internally for Mass 2) impress upon others that there are people who wish to pray before Mass, so perhaps they should be quiet (and who knows, maybe they’ll get curious enough to join in.  Our Blessed Mother has a way of working in the heart).

Naysayer, I am not sure what point it is you’re trying to make.  I hope you are not suggesting that we need to accept hand-holding hootenannies because our only other choice is sedevacantist child-abusing pious frauds.  That would be an example of a false dilemma, wouldn’t it?

I feel your pain. We went to Mass at my in-laws’ Church…no silence before Mass, no kneelers, a huge Christmas tree in front of the cross so you could not see it, calling up of children to hold hands on the alter, some woman preparing the alter before the consecration (!!!) even though there was a Deacon present, Eucharistic ministers wearing crosses labeled ‘bread’ and ‘wine’ (real resence anyone), the use of brown bread chunks, after communion they (not thePriest or Deacon) dumped all of the Blessed Sacrament together right in the middle of the Church and stacked up the bowls and carried it out the side entrance with no regard to the many crumbs (again,real presence), everyone bowed at the alter, but to what? No cross to be seen, no tabernacle…I actually went home afterwards and looked up to be sure it is really a Catholc Church.

I envy your home parish :( you are saying those still exist somewhere???????

I expected you to list much worse, sadly. I can’t believe I’m that immune :(

Yup, we got most of those abuses listed here in Denver. Lots of “Johnny Carson” masses. I shouldn’t complain, though. I get $25.00 per mass to hold up two signs at the “appropriate” times. One sign says ‘laugh’ when the priest cracks a lousy joke from the altar, and the other one says ‘applause’ for those “special” moments. I’m fulfilling my Sunday obligation, and paying my phone bill at the same time. BISHOP CONLEY, PLEASE COME BACK!!!!

Throughout all of advent I saw a glass chalice, and a priest who is having power struggles and clashes with several parishioners openly discussing these clashes from the pulpit during his homily(at more than one mass, even - not that it’s ever justified, but you might understand if someone had a bad moment during a particular homily.  If he repeats the same complaint 2 weeks later from the same pulpit, its an issue). At a different church on Christmas eve, the homily was replaced by childeren rushing our creche, where father pointed out the out of place plush panda in the stable, explaining to the children that, even though it seems not to fit, Jesus came for EVERYONE, so ALL the animals deserve a place in the stable of God’s love.  Oh, and although techinically it goes back before the recent season, just before advent at another different church, a priest used the Feast of Christ the King to explain that in addition to being King of the Universe, Jesus is King of the Road, and his entire homily was spent giving us traffic tips, such as Jesus wants us to signal our lane changes, and don’t slow down at a yellow to keep the guy behind you stuck at a red.

We can love our fellow parishioners all we want.  We can be as charitable as we can.  But you are subject to the pastor in charge at the moment.  If he chooses to run a circus rather than a parish, then it’s time to write the bishop, and vote with your feet.  Hundreds of letters have been written to the bishop about our former parish.  Until progressive-ism is pushed aside, we will be faced with division between those who want a creative, progressive liturgy, and those who cling to the beauty of the truth.  And it’s really hard to know about the two extremes, until you’ve seen both.  As I said before, I thank God our family had an alternative.  If not, you can believe I would have fought harder.  But it’s hard to fight a pastor who chooses many routes away from true Catholicism.  My family’s faith formation was at stake, and that is something I will not compromise.  Our new seminarians coming up will be the light for us all…you won’t find many progressives there.  My prayers, love and charity for the clergy and friends at my former parish will never stop.  Who wouldn’t want truth and love for their friends?  Jesus is in their tabernacle too.

Dan, simply because hand-holding hasn’t been proscribed doesn’t mean it’s ok.  It’s an accretion on the Mass, a novelty with no authoritative source and several dubious ones.  It disorients the worshipper at a particularly sacred point in the Mass.  It reduces the transcendent to the sentimental.  It’s an all-around bad idea.  The Church can’t possibly foresee and proscribe every kooky stunt someone thinks would be cool to import into the sacred liturgy.  That doesn’t mean they should be embraced or even tolerated.

In the liberal parish to which my family belongs, I have been labeled a “reactionary” for asking for mere tolerance of traditional piety (scapular, veil, etc.). Of course my greatest heresy is abandoning the community-focused NO for the God-focused TLM whenever possible. As I have stated many times, I’m not judging the NO crowd, I’m just following the Holy Spirit’s call as I hear Him. I dearly love the people and the priest at the NO. But I don’t feel like I’ve been to Mass until returning to the TLM. Either way I would gladly have the Mass described by VII.

Because of a physical disability, I am rarely able to attend the Holy Sacrifice. Although I share your sentiments completely, remember that, whatever the imperfections even abuses, you are at least able to be present for the action of Christ offering Himself to our Father.  The time may not be far off when that may not be very readily, so rejoice in the ability to share in the Sacrifice, however imperfectly rendered.

Are priests *still* ad-libbing the words of the Mass? I thought the new translation was supposed to put a stop to this…. :(

A Council convened to address the current state of the Church in 1962 decided to make some adjustments to the Liturgy. OK.
A select committee then took on the task of incorporating said changes.
The original, as i remember it, Missal published in 1965 was very close to the 1962 with a few exceptions. Some were not happy, naturally, but the organic development was clearly noticeable to all. at the time the ass of 1962 was quickly, although not officially approbated to the closet.
Then we received the Mass of Pope Paul VI. 1969 to 1971. Novus Ordo to be used exclusively. No deviation. No 1962 missal. Get on board. Then the train wreck followed. Versus Populum, Communion in the Hand, stripping of Sanctuaries, dumbed down catechesis, pitiful hymns, lay ministers of this,that and everything else, Eucharistic ministers, many, many Eucharistic ministers.
40 plus years of hodge-podge, make it up Masses and you wonder at what you saw over Christmas? Really? You have accused questioning the Council and the Liturgical reforms as protestant. In all Charity i would counter that what has been done to OUR Mass is Protestant. Where is the Reverence? The God Centered, Christ Centered Adoration? Where is the Sacrifice? The Begging for our transgressions to be forgiven?
Unfortunately too many Catholics today do not know what was left behind after 1971. And no one is teaching them. Some are now using the internet resources to see the history we dumped, and realize they have been cheated of the totality of the Faith. I pray that this awakening continues.
Pax

I recently e-mailed the USCCB committee on many of the concerns you saw. Partifularly, I expressed concern about standing when clearly reverence and the example of the Holy Father calls for kneeling. The answer I received from a priest working on the liturgical committee at the USCCB was rather discouraging. My concerns were nicely discounted. I was informed that this priest travels all over the country and does not see any of these abuses going on but “thank you for your input.” He then went on to exhort me that outward reverence is not an indicator of inward holiness. SO FRUSTRATING!

@NaysayerWhat did that get them?  Even after being named the “worst abuser of the 20th century” they are still recruiting 12-year old boys.
————————————————————————

I’m not sure many people properly understand the abuse scandal.  Blaming traditional priests is way off mark and I would suggest doing some reading on the subject.  There are many books available and one I would suggest is Goodbye Good Men by Michael S. Rose.  It is the reformers who brought this on and they should properly own it.  People need to know and understand the truth. 

@nina “Careful Mr. Burke. You are starting to sound like Michael Voris. And we know how your colleagues at the Register feel about him.”

Because being popular is more important than worshipping God.

I live in South Jersey and there are VERY few priests who pray the Mass without abuses.  Our latest pastor advised a few years ago, at a meeting for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, that even though the magisterium directs that only priests and deacons are to purify the vessels, we were free to do so if we chose to, because “that would give me the time to greet parishioners after Mass as they exit the church.”  I spoke up at the meeting, and asked him why he would direct us in any other way than the magisterium would, and he replied that I did not have to do it, he was not directing me to do it, but he would appreciate it if anyone else chose to purify the vessels for him.  What???  This is only one particular abuse - there are several for which he is responsible.  Taking all into consideration, I chose not to return to my parish to worship; however, I still contribute, and also contribute what I can to the parish where I have been worshipping since (St Michael’s in Atlantic City - a breath of fresh air!).  Problems abound, but we have no choice other than to hunt out good and faithful priests, and to pray for the others.  I also pray St Therese’s Prayer for Priests every day:

O Jesus, eternal Priest, keep your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart, where none may touch them.  Keep unstained their anointed hands, which daily touch Your Sacred Body.  Keep unsullied their lips, daily purpled with Your Precious Blood.  Keep pure and unearthly their hearts, sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.  Let Your holy love surround them and shield them from the world’s contagion.  Bless their labors with abundant fruit, and may the souls to whom they minister be their joy and consolation here, and in heaven their beautiful and everlasting crown.  Amen.

And of course I pray for priestly vocations!

@Jen, “If your own parish lacks in it’s faithfulness, can I beg you, as one who works at a parish TO GET INVOLVED?! Be Christ to your fellow parishioners. Get on the music committee and bring a sense of the traditional to people, help to educate them, help by showing the the joy of deeper conversion, not the crankiness of disappointment in the stupid people at Mass.”

I agree to some extent, but how long should I subject my young boys’ sensibilities to awful “music”, an irreverent liturgy, and wishy-washy at best/borderline heretical at worst homilies and teaching from religious ed instructors while I try to change my parish for the better? Change will likely take years, even if there were a sizeable contingent willing to take this on. Should I spend their formative years either letting them soak in this awfulness or contradict my own attempts to teach them respect for authority and the Church’s hierarchy by correcting and re-interpreting what went wrong each week? If I didn’t have children, or if mine were HS age and already well formed, I might consider taking one for the team and attempting this, but my concern is first and foremost my children’s souls and I think sending them to one of these type of parishes will imperil both their souls and my family’s responsibility to be their first teachers in the faith. Instead, I choose to drive a few more minutes away to a faithful, traditional church with beautiful music and solid priests—perhaps the suburban churches will get the hint when the diocese sees how many families bypass the closer, hippy churches to drive downtown to the Cathedral or one of the other faithful, older parishes. On another note, I wish I could help with music ministry! I love chant and Latin, but I am completely tone-deaf. Seriously, my husband cringes when I sing :) So maybe some of us cranky folks would be willing to help out, but providing music just isn’t one of our talents.

“Because I am not a protestant.”  I think that is an nifty response.  Things like applauding and holding hands at Mass are acts of protest. People who wouldn’t speak to or look twice at each other at the mall hold hands and applaud each other at Mass.  If the altars weren’t turned around to look better on tv, then why were they turned around?

I don’t disagree with the author at all - the abuses are real and widespread.  My problem is the same old blame-game of the Trads who think all HE double LL broke loose at Vatican II.  These folks are no different than the Medjugorje crowd seeing Mary in every burnt piece of toast and oil stain out there.  Abuses existed long before Vatican II, as did heresy, apostasy and all the other problems.  Trust me, I try my darndest to be a faithul Catholic, and I used to fill up internet chat rooms with all my pious rantings about this kind of stuff.  Then I realized that the Trad crows is just as hostile and unfaithful as the very people they critcize.  In the end, I think I would rather be in the crowd with the well-meaning Catholic holding my hand than the angry Trad staring me down because my wife doesn’t have a doilie on her head.

Have anybody ever read the Didache?  It’s description of the Liturgy is closer to the Novus Ordo than Tridentine.  And they had the kiss of peace in the 2nd century.  Imagine that.

Naysayer—yes, I have read the Didache.  It is a very interesting document, though we don’t know much about its authorship.

Given your seeming unawareness that the kiss of peace figures prominently in the TLM, I suspect I am far more qualified than you to comment on the shortcomings of those who’re devoted to it.  I have attended a traditional Latin Mass most of my life, including virtually all of my adult life.  I’ve assisted at TLMs in New York City, Washington DC, Jacksonville, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, St. Louis, and Oakland—as well as in London, Rome, and elsewhere in Europe.  I have never encountered the cartoonish bitter zealot you describe.  Perhaps your experience is limited to Low Mass at an illicit chapel, from which you draw unwarranted and ill-informed inferences about the TLM and trads in general. That would be unwise and unjust.

The 70s-style bourgeios easy-listening Mass is dying out and will be extinct in another generation.  The traditional Latin Mass is the real youth Mass.

Having gone through the anger and outrage phase, having verbally attacked a priest with a “this is a disgrace” outburst, having struggled to keep faithful - I have now reached a place where I try and do as the Angel of Fatima told the children “console your God” - I say the prayer of the angel, I receive on the tongue, I stay after Mass to give thanksgiving and as time has gone by, the noise of the chatter of those who are leaving the Church, sound to me like a flock of geese. When St. Peter asked Jesus about John Jesus said to him “you follow Me” Jn 21:20 - this I feel is also directed at me, “never mind what he is doing ‘you follow Me’”  - But a thing I have noticed lately is that a handful of others are doing the same. - Blessings - Rene

Pat,
Sadly enough, I have come to understand that attending Msss at any parish in my area—besides my own—will most likely subject me to some form of liturgical abuse. Even at the cathedral.

I think it sad, but I simply realize that I’m taking a step downward from the grandeur that Mass can be whenever I leave “home”.
..Unless, of course, I visit the parish administered by FSSP. Then I see the traditional Mass. I would be attending there if I hadn’t come across my current parish first.

Have many of the same issues, except when attending the Tridentine Mass, where everyone actually understands that God is on the alter under the appearances of bread and wine, although the priests locally do know the difference between being struck blind and dumb.  In addition the Christmas program at my grandchildren’s Catholic school conducted in the church in front of the Blessed Sacramento included making moose antlers for “Adoremus”, and repeats of songs from Sister Act 1.  After complaining have been assured this wont happen again.  It won’t with my family.  I won’t permit the kids to participate in that behavior again.

Stop placing yourself a pay grade or two above the local bishop!  Within the parameters laid out in the G.I.R.M. and norms issued by the USCCB and ICEL, the local bishop has some latitude to direct the liturgy in his own diocese. For example, two areas where he exercises specific options relate to hand-holding at the Our Father and determining liturgical postures atsome points in the Mass.

I am looking forward, sometime in the near future I hope, to participating in a Mass of the Anglican Ordinariate recently formed by Pope Benedict XVI. Right now, I don’t know of any in or near New Jersey.  I do attend the EF of the Mass on Sundays. Weekday Mass is offered reverently without abuses, thank God.

This is purely due to the understanding of what the Holy Mass is,  Is it the celebration of the community and centered on it? Or is it the worship and adoration of Alighty God?  When I was in seminary, the former view was en vogue.  Priests themselves need to be re-taug ht what the Holy Mass is really about; what the timeless tradition of our Holy Church actually is, and not the blink in time that occurred in the false applications of Vatican II that were prevalent in the ‘60s through early ‘90s. I have always sought to offer the Holy Mass in a solemne and dignifies manner.  I have also rediscovered the glories of Catholic Tradition and offer a Mass in the Extraordinary form each Sunday at 10:00 A.M.

Naysayer,
Funny post. Thanks.
I have to agree with a previous comment, though.I attended Latin Mass in another diocese & sang in the schola & didn’t encounter the uptight folk you describe.We had a number of college kids from the nearby art school join us & even the head of the local NAACP chapter.Maybe it’s different here in the Deep South.I guess we’re just glad to have a Catholic Church nearby, period.When I lived in another rural Southern area, there was not one Catholic church in the entire county.Not even a mission.
Catholic means universal & I think there’s room for the uptight, the untidy,those who wear “doilies on their heads(like me) & those who don’t.
I think the bottom line is our charity towards each other.When that’s missing, it all unravels.

I live and worship in the most beautiful, faithfully traditional parish, I think, in the country.  None of the abuses mentioned takes place here.  Rather, the Mass is a wellspring of the beautiful Catholic tradition and sound Catholic catechesis that has been missing of late years….no, you can’t have our Pastor but I’m sure you wish you had.  If that were not enough, our Pastor provides every Eucharistic adoration and Holy Hour, every novena, every Vespers, every extra liturgical celebrations that the Church provides.  He does this so that our parish has the opportunity to come before the Blessed Sacrament and work on sainthood!  So happy to live on the East Coast.

Grateful…...to be able to so far still worship freely.  Has anyone noticed what has been happening to our brothers and sisters in other countries lately.

Gradchica, I agree with you 100%. I got involved, joined the liturgy committee, became a catechist, spoke my mind, etc. and only ended up disappointed.

On top of the abuses at Mass, our religious ed staff shoves this awful touchy-feely, youtube curriculum at our kids in an effort to “entertain” them, but in reality, it accomplishes nothing (and which of course the kids mock b/c there’s nothing more lame to a 12-year old than adults trying to be cool and hip!). Like you said, maybe I can save the world once I’ve raised my children, but for now, I need to save my kids. Next year we’re sending them to an RE program at another Parish where (surprise, surprise) they actually teach the catechism of the Church.

You can do all the right things, be faithful, get involved, but if the Pastor, the liturgical director, and the RE staff refuse to open their eyes, nothing will change. I do keep praying, though!

Karyn:
Linda-Mary is right. “I” was the subject, not the object. Mr. Burke was saying “Me and my family should be added to the ranks….” when it should read “I and my family (or my family and I) should be added to the ranks….. “

I was given a cardboard calling-size copy of the quote by the Pope on applause during Mass. I made copies and laminated them and asked our pastor if I could hand them out. He opted to put it in the bulletin instead, but it seems nobody has read that particular bulletin. I’m going to ask him again (since this abuse still continues) if I can hand out these copies or perhaps staple them to the bulletins.

Thinking about the “new evangelization” as a convert to the faith. I was an Assembly of God minister. I came to the Catholic Church for the Truth and beauty of Catholicism. While I hate to critical I have to ask, “Why do we have to make the Holy Sacrifice of the mass seem so protestant/evangelical? I can tell you from experience the protestant denominations have much more experience in making music that is catchy/happenin/ dare i say dynamic?
(Referring to our feeble attempts at new Catholic music ditties sung so often at mass) The Holy SPirit empowered magnetism of our faith is in the traditional truths of Catholicism. The bloodless sacrifice of Calvary at the mass, the communion of saints, confession, traditional prayers. If we want more people to be drawn to the Church go back to extreme reverence to our Lords True Presence. Go back to music that emphasizes the awesomeness of a Holy Loving Lord. Go back to the roots of Catholicism. We might as well face it, we will not draw hungry souls by trying to outpreach, outsing, or come up with more fancy programs than the protestants. I hate to say it but we are not as good at it as they are. Our new music is not as inspiring. i.e.- singing about blackbirds and about “us”. etc. While it may be true the bishops have the freedom to suggest postures/music etc. that is less reverent why should we??? I came home to ROME. When bishops differ from Peter who has the keys GIVE ME THE LEADERSHIP OF PETER!! He is giving us clear direction led by the Holy Spirit. Thank God we are seeing the Holy Father slowly but surely putting in Bishops who are more traditionally Catholic. You want a new evangelization then let’s go back to old fashioned Catholicism. That is what drew me to the truth of our faith and that is what will draw many more.

Wow, Phil. Amen! As a convert, I wholeheartedly agree. The more protestant Catholicism becomes, the less reason protestants have to convert, and the more Catholics question why Catholicism is unique. Why NOT go to a protestant Church if your local parish is doing its best to be protestant itself.
The more truly and traditionally “Catholic” we are, the more we will draw folks who are hungry for the beauty of holiness. Thank you for pointing that out.

“Why don’t you hold hands at the Our Father?” “Because I am not a protestant.”

Sure, but it’s also not because “because you are a Catholic”.

The reason I don’t hold hand at the Our Father is because the mass is not about “us” but about the fact that we are at the foot of Calvary witnessing the Son of God giving himself as a ransom for our sins. It is all about Him and not about us. What exactly does holding hands with each other have to do with being at the foot of the cross with Jesus? What does it have to do with our union with our crucified/risen Lord. I know what the answer will be to my comment it will have to do with community, unity with each other, us supporting each other , etc.To that I say it is not about us but HIM.

“What exactly does holding hands with each other have to do with being at the foot of the cross with Jesus?”

But this is just narrow thinking. I used to hold hands with my family during the Our Father. It was never explained, but I always understood: it was a sign of our family’s unity, an expression of a desire that this unity be rooted in a common love of what is good and holy. Perhaps there are a few other sensitive children like myself who intuited the meaning of this action, that what is worthy of worship brings us together in what is ‘right and just’, that loyalty to the family is implicated in loyalty to God. Perhaps a few children have learned to associate the holy Mass with the love of parents and siblings in part due to simple gestures just like this.

You just don’t like it because its too “warm” and “fuzzy” and you think the holy ought to be cold and disinterested. Solmenity has its place, but I prefer the Church regulate the far side of the “altar rail”. Let the laity receive what happens there in accordance with what seem to natural and fitting to them.

Otherwise you are just participating in the same hostiity towards lay devotionalism– which was such a vital and rich part of Catholic life for so long– that lead the post-conciliar period to flatten out Catholic life in the way it did.

You said it well my brother.“What exactly does holding hands have to do with being at the cross with Jesus?” The answer-nothing. Not going to argue . I stated my opinion. You don’t have to agree. God bless you brother.

When I attended Mass on Christmas Eve, our priest, in addition to excluding the penitential rite, put on a santa hat during the announcements after communion and made everyone clap and laugh. We are there for God, not to be entertained by the priest. I probably will be writing my bishop soon, over this and all the clapping that goes on. I get the impression that our priest doesn’t really take the Mass seriously.

Write to your Bishops, people….and if the Bishop is involved, write to your Cardinal….and if .......yes, you get it! Sometimes people who should know better, don’t, and this should be brought to the attention of the Bishop for the sake of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church (Charity in Truth). The CCC (907) states that the laity “have a rightand even at times a duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church….”  We are ALL the Body of Christ.  Liturgical abuses should never be accepted. The Mass should be as perfect as is humanly possible. It’s the least we can offer to Almighty God.

Yours in Christ.

Take comfort—at least atheists don’t pollute your parish by attending mass.

It is no wonder there is so many problems and abuses associated with the Novus Ordo. I have seen Fr. Anthony Cekada’s “Work of Human Hands”. Fr. Cekada shows how the modernists in the Catholic Church worked to remake the Holy Mass to mirror Protestantism. A deliberate act of false ecumenism that has destroyed the Faith in so many places.

@Tjtm_25: You win the award for the best response. AMEN

thank you for the excellent article, it is only YOU the lay people who can make a difference, we clergy can’t do much, please keep fighting and fighting hard against abuses.
may i add a concern? if they are not going to stop commmunion in the hand, at least teach people how to properly receive communion in the hand. what happens usually is a scandal. please talk to your pastor and beg him to do something.

Such a radical difference for me just in the last two Sundays: Since I just moved, fining a new parish has been a top priority for me. On my first Sunday, I naturally go to the nearest one. I didn’t know what to expect other than ugly architecture, having seen the church on Google maps. Going to Mass there turned out to be a time warp back to the 70s. Guitars and tambareens were everywhere, and the priest gave me the creeps.

Fortunately I live within a reasonable distance of Our Lady of Walsingham (The principle church of the Anglican ordinariate in the US) and as you can probably guess, that experience was much much better. They even chanted the Kyrie in Greek and the creed in Latin. They also had and used a communion rail. No incense though :(

@Romulus:  I know the priest isn’t talking to me.  I am mjust saying that when he prays, for instance “Heavenly Father….” my heart is right in it also.  I am with him in prayer.  I am in communion with that portion of the congregation who is also praying with the priest.  I don’t see the problem with using the vernacular in the Tridentine Mass.  I also remember that when Mass was in Latin, the women would pray their rosaries during Mass and many people would daydream because they didn’t know what was going on.  God sent His only son so that we would All have access to Him.  When Jesus spoke, I’m pretty sure He wanted people to understand what He was saying.  He did not speak to them in a foreign tongue.

I remember Latin being spoken, too and it wasn’t that hard to participate with your missal (which I still have): Latin on one side, English on the other.  After all, 1500 years or so of the Mass in Latin versus 50 in the vernacular.

The good news is that there’s tremendous potential for growth in discipleship as the leadership begins to change.

@Fr. Jeff - I share your optimism. Our Lord has not and will not abandon us. We have much reason for optimism.

Nancy, honest atheists at least share the following with honest Catholics: a hunger for the truth and unwillingness to settle for childish ideas of what we mean by God.  In fact, I’ve gotten rather fond of the term “Flying Spaghetti Monster.”  Because the God Catholics worship is no Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, or Flying Spaghetti Monster.  The atheists who aren’t theologically and intellectually lazy or childish and smarmy (and thus boring) know that what we believe or don’t believe about God matters.  I have also seen some atheists and non-believers who are far more respectful of a Catholic Mass than many Catholics who don’t care about the Mass, probably barely even know what it is, and/or who insist on perpetuating various sundry abuses in the name of “progress.”  I have one such friend who at least knows that belief in the Eucharist is central to the Catholic Faith, and what outrages him is hearing about or seeing Catholics who won’t get involved with Perpetual Adoration because God forbid that it should ever make them miss their football game.  One other such non-believer/atheist/agnostic was at my wedding:  he told me that it was the first Mass he’d ever gone to, and that he found it powerful.  So atheists can come to Mass if they want.  We should welcome them.  I don’t doubt the ability of the Holy Spirit to work in anyone’s heart.  And anyone who searches for the truth searches for God, whether he or she knows it or not (thank you, St. Edith Stein).

Secondly, I forgot to say that I like Mr. Burke’s response of “because I’m not a protestant.”

@Bob:  Perhaps it wasn’t difficult for you, Bob.  It was, and still is difficult for me.  I don’t see the big deal in using English.  Can you explain that?know14

I noticed a congregation filled with so many people i had never seen before, and that goes to show you that not too many Catholics attend Mass every week, outside of Christmas and Easter. But i have to say that I was happy that they were there, trying to connect with God, if only for the one Christmas Mass. At least they came. I don’t expect everyone to know exactly what is appropriate and what isn’t. I myself am still learning as a convert of only 6 years. I will say that I take it upon myself to keep up with what the Pope asks of us all, and do hold hands during the Our Father with my only living child….we are all we have…his Dad left us 6 months ago. We don’t mean any disrespect by it at all. We are grateful to God for allowing us to be together, for what little time we might have left. I know that applause is also controversial, and I am certain that if Our Priest knew about the Pope saying that about applause, that he wouldn’t allow it. However,sometimes after a long Christmas service schedule, our gratitude to those who sacrifice their time and talents to fill our worship services with such lovely music is shown by modest applause. I don’t think anyone means any disrespect towards God at all by it. I guess thats’ all I have to add…..God Bless you!

@Petronella: The Catholic church is (and means) universal and Latin is still the official language of the Church. One could attend Mass anywhere in the world and hear the same words and know where in the Mass you were. As St. Peter would have used Latin in saying Mass in Rome, what is wrong with continuity? Though it seems that it was not Pope John XXIII’s wish to do away with Latin, VII seems to have been used to make changes that remain, unfortunately, with us today.

Take courage Dan! You have a right to the unadulterated Liturgy of the Church. Change is coming. I can look back through my 20 years of ordination (and seminary days), I see change for the positive is happening. Today, you will see priests celebraet the Mass ad orientem, Latin chant and Communion rails being used. Just 5 to 10 years ago, that was impossible in most places. Those who want what we receive from Holy Mother Church are beginning to take the reigns, the others are beginning to see sunset. We are crossing the threshold of hope!

In my own parish, there is hand holding during the Our Father, people running around the alter, extrodinary ministers used when priests or deacons sit it out during Holy Communion and priests who come down off the sanctuary area to walk or stand in the center aisle to give their homily.  In other parishes, I have found hosts made with honey added and standing for the consecration.  I have attended a couple of masses where the people stood in the sanctuary area during the consecration.  Then the dreaded everybody running around to make sure they shake everybodys hand for the sign of peace.

We have a couple of stellar priests who do beautiful Masses with parts in Latin, no sign of peace, homilys where they actually discuss SIN, have the option for people to kneel to recieve Holy Communion on the tongue with a patton under your chin and one holy priest who has suffered a stroke about 9 years ago and whose right arm is limp, but celebrates Mass 6 days a week in the Assisted Living facility where he lives.  He is my mentor and confessor—I consider this priest a living saint!

At least you were not told to sit for the Gospel. And, then have it adlibally narrated by a priest not wearing vestments followed by thunderous (and I do mean thunderous) applause. (To be fair: It was a childrens’ Mass). The homily also followed by thunderous applause (even more thunderous than the pseudo-Gospel, but again to be fair, it was an amazing homily of astounding orthodoxy, by an elderly priest wearing beautiful vestments, actually owned by the priest not wearing any, who has not said a Christmas Mass in nearly ten-years.) Mass ended with more… applause.

Elby,  You really struck a cord with me.  On Christmas this year (and perhaps every other year)we were stuck with the “b-team” choir who sing off-key for both soloists and in the “choir”.  It is embarrasing to hear this and go to other Churches where there are such beautiful choirs and wonder why we don’t seek out those who can actually sing!!  It seems to me that the whole purpose of the singing is to raise our hearts and minds to Heavenly contemplation—instead of wondering if we were in Hell!!

Dan, you need to relax. Jesus isn’t upset about people not kneeling or holding hands when saying a prayer, the church is.  They want to get in your head and stay there. Once you realize that the ritual of attending church is more about strengthening community, you won’t have a problem with breaking arbitrary rules. In fact I would go as far to say that Jesus would laugh at your critique of His worship. He was not about adhering the details and had one commandment above all others: love your neighbor as you love yourself.

@Ian: The Magisterium of the Church is part of what makes us Catholic. The rules are not arbitrary, but your approach to how we, as Catholics, are to adhere to our rules and “details” is capricious and, dare I say, Protestant at best and reflect how many Catholics think today.

“@Brennan: We are probably very similar in sentiment. However, I believe that turning to the Latin Mass as a solution is simply skirting the problem. The Latin Mass needed reform - thus it was reformed. We need to properly implement the reform.”

Dan, I find the idea that the idea that the Mass “needed” reform to be specious at best. Certainly the Council and the Pope had the authority to reform the Mass, but that does not mean the reforms were needed. And, as I’m sure you know, the Vatican II document on the liturgy stated that “There must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them.” This is not to mention that we certainly did not need a complete overhaul of the liturgy by a committee, a reform so far reaching most Bishops at the Council probably did not even anticipate it.

And we have been implementing the reform for 40 years now. The Novus Ordo seems far more prone to abuse than the Gregorian rite. Since having in place the traditional Latin Mass seems to instantly resolve the issues people have with abuses and lack of reverence it is not “skirting the issue”, it is solving the issue for people fortunate enough to have access to it.

One thing that will never go away is many people’s desire for deep, serious, rich, God-centered worship which is organically consonant with the way previous generations of Catholics worshiped. Can the Novus Ordo fulfill that desire? Perhaps in a few select places where it is deliberately made to resemble the traditional Latin Mass. But in general it seems to be lacking in this area in most parishes and I don’t believe it can be reformed or implemented enough to fulfill this desire. It simply was not crafted to be a mere tweaking of the old Latin rite. I believe it was designed with the intention of appealing to “modern man” and with the desire to attract Protestants by bringing the Mass closer to their form of worship.

There is no Traditional Latin Mass where I live here in the Philippines.  So I must endure what “abuses” and other prayers and rubrics(added, substracted) that happens at Mass.  There are no altar boy girls, thankfully. There is no receiving of both Sacred Species, which is good.  There is no genuflection by the ministers of the Sanctuary (servers, EMHC,  priests, etc.).  Communion in the hand is the norm but done carelessly. I observed some people take the Host and bring it back with them to their pews or who knows outside on their way home.  Once I observed a woman go back to her pew and share the Host with her small child.  Is the the priest and bishop aware of what goes on?  Hardly I would presume.  During the procession at the beginning of Mass, the lead sacristan holds the Crucifix backwards as he walks to the altar.  I mentioned this to this person and he said this is the way Father wants it.  Same as they process at the end of the Mass.  One great aberration is at the Consecration, at the Words of Institution of the Chalice:  Right after raising the Chalice to the people, one of the priest immediately goes to the “Mystery of Faith” invocation, the congregation is given no chance to adore the Precious Blood.  I could go on…

“But this is just narrow thinking.”
” You just don’t like it because its too “warm” and “fuzzy” and you think the holy ought to be cold and disinterested.”

To be frank, Jordan, these kinds of comments are precisely the reason why I’ve long since quit attending Mass at most churches where such liturgical abuses reign supreme. Any well-reasoned objection tends to be summarily spat upon by too many who stubbornly insist that they must be allowed to define what will be “interesting” to all and what will not. ..And by doing so, such persons routinely refuse to comprehend the theological meaning behind most of the Mass. This mentality DOES, in fact, make it that much more “Protestant”; not the act alone, but the mentality BEHIND that act that insists that anything else “doesn’t make sense”.
In some cases, I might not object to holding hands during the Our Father IF it might be a case of my own childhood family holding hands together in praise of God.
Sadly, this is NOT the frame of mind that I ever saw connected with this practice. I generally came to understand it as a “you’d better do it, otherwise people will wonder what’s wrong with you”. It WAS introduced and promoted as a genuine socially acceptable and necessary act, even if the rubrics—which I didn’t know about at the time—didn’t mention it.

I object to this attitude that everything must be what I refer to as “cutesy, happy, fluffy”, meaning that someone thinks it’s the greatest idea ever, but to me it’s boring as the dickens and actually obstructs the average person’s path to God.

Before you worry about what’s “cold and disinterested” and what’s not, you need to learn WHY we do what we do during the Mass.
We don’t have prayers and offerings merely by happenstance. There IS a logical order and meaning to everything; it DOES aim to bring you closer to God. You simply need to be willing to understand what’s going on and why.

Get a life my friend. You have to enjoy the presence of the Lord. You spent more time criticising than enjoying the gift of His presence to us. Relax!

“Get a life my friend. You have to enjoy the presence of the Lord. You spent more time criticising than enjoying the gift of His presence to us. Relax!”

Who is this speaking to?

I’m very lucky.  Our parish does the Mass with reverence and no abuses.  Our priest does not ad lib.  The songs are, for the most part, very good.  We have communion helpers, but again for the most part they know what they are doing and are not distracting.  We have our share of handholders, but I know who they are and avoid sitting by them.  There are a bunch of people who practice the orans position at the Lord’s prayer, but they are easily ignored.

Or if I want to go to a VERY traditionally said Mass, I go to the Fathers of Mercy down the road.  They do the Mass and they do it right.

I feel you Dan.  I’ve written about the exact same kinds of experiences and abuses several times now…it’s so frustrating. 

http://ascentofcarmel.blogspot.ca/2012/12/if-you-dont-stop-going-to-that-parish.html

Hang in there - and report the abuses when they happen!

Jason

I wonder what your reason was to go to those different churches for Christmas Day Mass, in three different states - three different dioceses. All I perceive in this article is critique of your brothers and sisters on Christmas Day. I have a feeling that if Joseph and Mary would have knocked at your door, you would have never open… and perhaps said a few choice self-righteous comments on the process. My humble suggestion for you, JUST STAY IN YOUR OWN PARISH! Remember the words of Our Lord in the Gospel of Matthew 23: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted… Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites… You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing!” This article is a very sad comment on the state of our Catholic Church in America.

@Rev. Alejandro Roque, OMI: I guess I don’t understand your point of view. Are we to just accept the abuses and do nothing, since anything else would be “a critique of our brothers and sisters” and “self-righteous”? Rejecting liturgical abuses is the same as not opening the door to Jesus and Mary?
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I think Dan Burke has offered a measured critique here, giving particular examples. He doesn’t attack the priesthood or tear anyone down. Sometimes fraternal correction is necessary, and problems in the Church should be brought out in the open. Not all criticism is self-righteous.
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“This article is a very sad comment on the state of our Catholic Church in America.”
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I couldn’t agree more. It is very sad that so many priests have a distorted or incomplete view of what the liturgy really is, and I feel sorry for all the laypeople who don’t know any better. As Vatican II so eloquently says, the liturgy is the source and summit of our faith, so it’s very important that it not be distorted by anyone.

Most fortunately my boys and I attend a Parish run by Oratorians in Oxford, England, a more faithfully orthodox congregation it would be hard to find. I regret that the standard of singing by the lay participants is weak as is typical of Catholic parishes in the UK. However both Novus Ordo Latin and English Masses are supported by very good choirs / organ playing & / or orchestra. We are blessed indeed, however a part of me dreads a future move of house and change of Parish for all the reasons outlined in this article! God willing I will have learned sufficient humility to engage and support any future Parish and its Priest in the journey through and to orthodox Catholic worship!

This is all very, very sad.  Certainly, during the octave of Christmas there are better things to do than to engage in a conversation about how poorly the rubrics are being followed.  Would it not be a bit more in keeping with the season to spend some time in quiet reflection at a creche?  Or maybe to spend some time taking care of the Christ-Child, The Virgin and her Spouse through practicing the corporal works of mercy?  There is a reason why people have stopped going to Church.  It is because they see in us such a lack of charity and kindness towards one another.  May God have mercy on us all.

@Ian. In fact the highest commandment given to us by our Lord is to love the Lord our God and then to love our neighbour as ourselves.  Quite simply, liberals seem to get this wrong by paying insufficient attention to God’s Truth whilst emphasising His Love.  Conservatives often give the appearance of forgetting the commandment to love whilst over emphasising truth . Both are essential and fruitfulness in all things Catholic flows when both are pursued diligently.

I have experienced almost all of these abuses in the many parish’s I have belonged to.  In Grand Rapids, MI I was a member of a parish that actually allowed women to read the Gospel and proclaim the homily. I called the Archdiocese on this one, although I know one should always go to the Pastor first; I guess at that time, I did not want to be pointed out as someone that was ‘complaining’.  Age and wisdom! I would not hesitate now!  Thanks be to God, I belong to a wonderful, faithfilled Parish in Plymouth now.  There is occasionally applause for a particular group, event or person, but it is always initiated by the Priest and done just before the final blessing.  Raising or holding hands out during the Our Father is another one that should not be done by the lay people.  Only the Priests and Deacons…and our Pastor has tried to educate people on that. He has also made a point of the hand holding; he feels there is no strict rule against it, but it is something he never was in favor of and does not feel that it is necessary. Thanks for this post Dan!!

earlier this year one of our priests gave a courageous homily on the evils of contraception and abortion, and this was around the time Obama and Planned Parenthood were in the news, probably discussing the new mandate but I don’t remember exactly, but after his homily we applauded and stood. And it was startling, especially in our orthodox parish, but I don’t think it was meant to praise the priest over Jesus or take away from Jesus. Rather, I think most every heart seated at Mass that day heard a good truth and our hearts leaped inside us. We’re bombarded by trash from Obama and we often don’t have a voice, and our outburst was a kind of unity amongst we faithful Catholics who recognize a new kind of oppression. it was a way of thanking this good priest for boldly speaking the truth in a world that prefers its own ignorance.

As the comments indicate, this kind of article isn’t helpful to the Catholic Church in the USA. The Church is our Mother. Yes, there are lines that can’t be crossed (E.g., priests cannot make up parts of the Canon etc) but there’s also a ‘wide range of normal’, as physicians say. Publishing an article like this is akin to taking pictures of Uncle Ralph without his toupee at Tgiving dinner. Might give the picture-taker a laugh (or a feeling of superiority) but at someone’s expense.
  Dorothy Day, an atheist-turned-Catholic, said that she “didn’t love the Church for what She is but for what She claims to be.” That’s a much healthier attitude.

I am wondering if my experience in our parish is common:  the music played throughout our Spanish and bi-lingual Mass is lively spanish dance music, complete with bongo drums and other kinds of drums, and including “solo” drum performances. Many of the people in the pews dance, and clapping in time to the music is encouraged.  I am told that this is the traditional way that Spanish Masses are conducted, it is what Spanish Catholics expect at Mass.  What is perplexing to me is that the English-only Masses are reverent and the music is beautiful and prayerful, nobody dances or claps and there are no drums.  It is like attending two separate churches, all rolled into one.  Is it true that Spanish Mass is routinely celebrated so differently?

@Fr. Michael Bechard
Sadder still is the fact that so many priests and laity have such a distorted sense of the liturgy that they would think they know better than the Church. Sad that liturgical abuse is more tolerated than calling out the abuse.

I have seen a Monsignor, during the words of consecration throw his eyeglasses on the alter. Frankly, friends shouldn’t let friends go to the Novus Ordo. You just don’t see this stuff at Extraordinary Form Masses. They are solemn, reverent, and at no place are the abuses you see in the Novus Ordo really possible. Gregorian Chant and polyphony are commonplace. There is no guitar, flute, piano, or other instrument other than the organ. With the aforementioned music there isn’t even a requirement for instruments.

As to reverence, the priest during the Extraordinary Form genuflects 54 times in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. The alter boys genuflect every single time they pass in front the the tabernacle, which is located properly in the center of the alter. The cross is reverenced in the procession with the sign of the cross and the priest is reverenced with a bow as he passes, thus acknowledging his consecrated nature, the only one that can confect the Blessed Sacrament and our forgiveness.

The people don’t just bow, if they do anything at all in most parishes, but genuflect and kneel at the words of the incarnation in the Credo and the Last Gospel (John 1 1-14). From the Sanctus till the Pater Noster we kneel. From the Agnus Dei we kneel till we go to receive the precious gift Our Lord give to us and we kneel to receive him, out of due reverence for Whom we are receiving. Our unconsecrated hands never touch Our Lord, for we are dirty and stained with sin, and He is the spotless Son of Man. We kneel the rest of the Mass, in reverence to Whom we just consumed. We do rush back and hurry out of the Church, in complete disrespect to Whom we worship. As one priest said “Judas was the first to leave too”. After Mass, the Church is quiet as everyone prays, in thanks for the great gift Our Lord has given us in the Blessed Sacrament and the Mass of the Saints, the Extraordinary Form. No one talks in the sanctuary, we wait until outside to talk.

Books could and have been written on the differences between the EF and OF of the Mass. Cardinals Ottavianni and Bacci I think covered it best. That said, if you want to see reverence, if you want to see the Mass the formed the Saints, if you want to see the timeless Mass of the Ages, go to the Extraordinary Form and see that which should never have been changed. Learn through the liturgy your authentic Catholic faith.

I attend a TLM parish near my parents former home when I can. The people of this parish volunteered! to attend the requiem masses and burials of both of my parents, people who did not know my father drove hours so their kids could sing at his mass. These folks prepared everything, sang beautifully, and volunteered to do any job and give our family anything at all we might need following their deaths.
They clearly, daily LIVE the admonitions of our Lord. I have NEVER seen these people act rudely or ‘look down on’ anyone. While the Traditional Mass Catholic can be his own worst enemy in terms of getting people to understand why it is good, my guess is there are far more TLM parishes where people simply try to live the gospel.
The big difference in tone between these parishes and NO parishes, in my experience, is the gentle self-effacing attitude of parishoners. It is not a social club, it is a place to worship God.

Sorry about your experience… However, some of us live everyday with these abuses…and the persecution that comes with making any constructive criticism…  Just inquiring whether a thing is preferred or recommended brings out the defensive accusations… To say anything is judging someone… “We should not judge and just love…”

I grew up in the 70s and this is par for the course in most Catholic Churches in my area… It just makes me want to cry sometimes… We just need to pray… and hope that we will get more holy and faithful priests and Bishops to lead us away from these crazy practices…... In the mean time… we suffer and not in silence sometimes…  Merry Christmas!

Here’s what I’ve seen over the years (not necessarily at just Christmas time).

-altar dancers.  I kid you not.  Older women dressed in flowing lyrical dancer type get ups with leotards underneath dancing around the altar.

-the priest walking all around infront of the altar and tabernacle giving his homily.

-another priest walking down from the altar, after consecration, to shake hands with parishoners during the sign of peace.

-a band, full drum set, bass, guitar, etc.

-a Eucharistic minister leading a communion service, complete with going up to the tabernacle to take out the consecrated host.

My church is pretty faithful to the liturgy; many people hold hands during the Our Father but I’m one who doesn’t.  But there is one thing we do that drives me up the wall: when Mass is starting the priest asks us to “turn and greet our neighbor.”  That’s right.  So it ends up being like a pre-Sign of Peace as we all awkwardly say “hi” and shake hands.  Annoying as all get out, unnecessary, and destroys any sense of spiritual readiness that you may have for the Mass.

Outstanding. Sets forth my frustrations also with what I call the evangelical and charismatic usurpers of the Mass. Also, walk into almost any Catholic church built since 1980 and you will not know if you are in a Catholic church or a Baptist meeting house.

Sorry, Karyn, but you are not correct.  It should be “my family and I” since it is subject of the verb “should be added.”

I found this article to be petty and highly distasteful. Here is my response.

http://pomeraniancatholic.blogspot.com/2012/12/fisking-grumpy-liturgista.html?m=1

Priests who jack around with the mass do not realize how disconcerting it is to people who understand the mass.

If you are a priest reading this, I hope you will reflect on this. The mass is a group worship; not a show.

Not to be mean, just sayin’. . .

So this is what it sounds like when you take your superstitions too seriously, sad.

Dan - please read and understand a) Sacrosanctum Concilium, b) the GIRM, c) Faith and Inculturation (1988) and other Vatican documents and consider the patience required in America where so many milions of Protestants are or will be coming into the Catholic Church.  Things like holding hands and applauding and chatting and praising are probably Protestant in nature, but do they not have charity as their basis?  If so, then what harm is it in allowing these charity-based indiscretions to persist for a time in order to allow healing to occur?  Healing takes time…

@Hughes T.: There are things that cannot (and should not) be changed in the Mass. Making “accomodations” for potential Catholics negates the fact that many Protestants become Catholic precisely because we do things differently (and I daresay correctly). Imagine their chagrin when they find there are so many Catholics who, by their actions, should be Protestants.

@Hughes: I am very familiar with all of these documents and they are the primary sources from which I make my judgements along with clarifications from the various congregations of the Holy See. I couldn’t disagree with you more. I suspect you missed the quote in my post from the Pope?

@Bob:  The point of view that “no matter where you go, if the Mass was in Latin you would always know or understand what is going on,” favors the traveler.  Most of us are not travelers.  Is it the SOUND of Latin that you prefer over the SOUND of English?  Would you go to confession in Latin?  There is something wrong with saying how beautiful the Tyridentine Mass is, and then restricting access to it.  It smacks of hypocrysy, elitism, and snobbery.  I sincerely believe that we should be able to attend Mass without the encumerance of having to translate each passage.  Each translation requires an interruption of the flow of Mass; a breaking of communion with celebrant and others.  It DOES take away GREATLY from the spiritual benefits.  Still, I love to hear the Kyrie, the Sanctus, and the Agnus Dei… just not the ENTIRE Mass in Latin.  Other than continuity or consistency, is there any other reason not to have English as the language for Tridentine Mass?

@Father Michael Bechard:  This is the proper time to have such a discussion when the memories are still fresh.  I would imagine that it is beneficial for those who are subjected to the abuses to know 1) they are not alone and have recourse, and 2) there are certainly several parishes that are in agreement with the magesterium.  To me, what is sad is that there are churches where the kneelers are missing and there is nothing being done to correct that.  Wise men brought gifts to a BABY.  They knelt down.  They recognized Him as King of Kings.  We also recognize Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the consecrated host.  Should we not also kneel down?  Who is it that prevents this?  Should they not be corrected?

One way to slow down the hand holding during the Our Father is to start in Catholic schools. They usually have a School Mass. Give the instructions before Mass and practice there. The explanation should be one children can share with their parents. The practice will then spread to the Sunday Mass.

If you want to avoid holding hands at a Mass where most do it (at the Our Father), hold a handkerchief.  If you presumably have a cold, others will see the hanky and leave you alone.  This also avoids others shaking your hand at the “Kiss of Peace”.
TeaPot562

@Geoffrey

I read your response. I found it “petty and highly distasteful”.  ;)

FWIW, I found Mr. Burke’s article informative and interesting.

Perhaps a reading of the following paragraphs from Redemptionis Sacramentum (a document on abuses of the Sacred Liturgy released by the CDW back in 2004) would be helpful to the readers of this thread.

Hopefully Mr. Burke will consider doing as paragraph 184 below says and contact the local bishop where he encountered such abuses.

CK

6. Complaints Regarding Abuses in Liturgical Matters

[183.] In an altogether particular manner, let everyone do all that is in their power to ensure that the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist will be protected from any and every irreverence or distortion and that all abuses be thoroughly corrected. This is a most serious duty incumbent upon each and every one, and all are bound to carry it out without any favouritism.

[184.] Any Catholic, whether Priest or Deacon or lay member of Christ’s faithful, has the right to lodge a complaint regarding a liturgical abuse to the diocesan Bishop or the competent Ordinary equivalent to him in law, or to the Apostolic See on account of the primacy of the Roman Pontiff.[290] It is fitting, however, insofar as possible, that the report or complaint be submitted first to the diocesan Bishop. This is naturally to be done in truth and charity.

@Catechist Kev: Your recommendation is warranted. In the diocese with the most significant problems I have contacted them and have provided specific documentation and a video from Cardinal Arinze directly addressing the clear violation of norms. It was all explained away of course. The good news is that change is coming soon. I can’t reveal more.

The solution is very simple - let’s go back to the Tridentine Mass. Most, if not all, of these problems will disappear immediately.

Oh goodness!  Back to Trent and most, if not all, of these problems will disappear immediately!  Have you been to a Tridentine Mass lately?  Beautifully reverent but utterly remote and cold, even for those of us qui linguam maternalem intellegimus. 

Let’s have a real, genuine toughening up of the rules that foster respect for the Liturgy, which the Holy Father, the Vatican congregations and the bishops are already doing, and let’s have perhaps a pointed insertion of Latin into the consecration of the Mass, but otherwise we’re going to have to wait for these priests who were ordained in the heady days following Vatican II to retire.  They’re the problem.

But look at all the positives in our wonderful, beautiful Church—the defense of the poor, of the unborn, of the elderly and the sick, of the emigrant and his family, of marriage, of chastity!  Let’s rejoice.

“Beautifully reverent but utterly remote and cold, even for those of us qui linguam maternalem intellegimus.”

Right. So for hundreds of years the Church’s liturgy has been utterly remote and cold. Thank God the committee which completely overhauled the Mass after Vatican II finally got it right. I guess it helped inspire the greatest works of art known to mankind by accident. And yes, I have been to the Gregorian rite a number of times and it is beautifully reverent. And if you go to a TLM with the parts proper to the laity sung in Latin as Vatican II called for, along with a good choir, it is about the farthest one can get from “remote and cold”.

@Brennan: Your straw man conflation of Tom’s argument doesn’t lend credence to your point. You have good points to make but they are buried in your hyperbole.

We can’t be a faithful Catholics and deny the work of the council - the real solution lies elsewhere…

@Dan,

And pray tell how the preference for the extraordinary rite of the Mass denies the work of the Second Vatican Council?

@Brennan: It doesn’t on its face. Just a precautionary comment. It may not apply to you, but many have an overly idealized view of the TLM which in essence, does deny the concerns and work of the council by the de facto assumption that TLM is always and everywhere practiced without abuse and needs no reform. There is no doubt that the rubrics of TLM and those who attend both lend to a much more reverent experience. However good this may be, it doesn’t solve the problem of need for a proper implementation of the Mass specified by the council.

I don’t like it when people gesture toward a priest while saying, “and with your spirit.” As if it were an instruction in the missal. Along the same lines, pantomiming that you are lifting your heart in your hands while saying, w"We lift them up to The Lord.”  Meanwhile, hardly anyone bows furring the middle of the creed. All seems a little prideful to me.

This article has brought a wide cross-section of comments. As always, a few radicals on the right have chimed in with their displeasure of Vatican II, the ordinary form of the Mass, etc. And some radicals on the left—even a couple of priests—have made comments which smell of a false spirit of Vatican II.

I am 72 years old, and I have endured liturgical abuses for many years. Yet I was determined that I was going to know the rubrics of the ordinary form of the Mass. I bought and studied the Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite by Peter Elliott, one of the foremost true liturgists in the world and now a bishop in Melbourne, Australia. I read the different liturgical documents promulgated by the magisterium, especially the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. And I always kept handy the statement from the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, number 22, paragraph 3: “Therefore, absolutely no other person, not even a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority.” I would suggest that one show that quotation to any priest who is engaging in real liturgical abuse—holding hands at the Our Father is not truly in this category, although I do not do it. A great argument to use when confronting such a priest is: “I as a layman have a right to the Mass as given to me by the magisterium of the Catholic Church, and you have no authority to trample on my right!”

By the way, I used to serve the Latin Mass, and I became quite proficient in this language. However, I have attended the ordinary form of the Mass since it has become the norm. I recently went to a funeral Mass in the extraordinary form, but I still prefer the ordinary form in the vernacular for many reasons. I like the use of so many different Scripture texts in the First Reading of the Mass—nearly the entire bible is covered over a three-year period, the wide use of the psalms in the Responsorial Psalm of the Mass—which has resulted in my using phrases or clauses as ejaculations during the day, to participate externally in the Mass through the different prayers said by the congregation, the ability to view the chalice and ciborium or paten on the altar and thus adore Jesus Christ present on the altar, etc. Of course, I am blessed to belong to a parish in which the priests are faithful to the rubrics as given by the magisterium.

God bless those who prefer to attend the Mass in the extraordinary form, but please do not come onto blogs and denigrate the ordinary form of the Mass, the popes, or the Second Vatican Council. There is a traditional Latin Mass in my diocese, and many excellent Catholics attend; however, some who go to this Mass are very critical of Blessed John Paul the Great and of the Second Vatican Council. One will only be pleasing to Jesus Christ if one is humbly obedient and docile to the magisterium of the Catholic Church.

@Dan,

I think that your latest reply marked “@Brennan” was really addressed to me so let me respond to it. You wrote about “the de facto assumption that TLM is always and everywhere practiced without abuse and needs no reform” as if this assumption was somehow wrong. Can you provide any examples of such abuse? I am not saying that your statement is untrue, I just would like to see it substantiated. Now, about the abuses of the Novus Ordo Mass - well, that’s what your article is all about. When we compare the two forms, which one is clearly less abuse-prone? I would also like to add a general observation about the Catholics who try to defend Vatican II at all cost - they desperately ignore the elephant in the room while at the same time painting themselves in a corner. Even if Vatican II cannot be directly held responsible for all the mess that’s followed it, we certainly can ask the vital question: how did Vatican II make the Church better? If we have no real, tangible answer to this question, all the talk about ecumenical councils being by definition inspired by the Holy Spirit becomes just a poor authoritarian excuse.

On a positive note. I have been traveling half an hour from my home to go to mass. I have found a priest who is very traditional in the way he does a novus ordo mass. He is very traditional and bold in his homilies also. We sing and pray key parts of the mass in Latin with beautiful organ music and a choir. Strange but I didnt feel “cold or disinterested or distant”. Thank God for holy priests and wonderful liturgies that draws us closer to the Lord. Dare I say? I felt warm and fuzzy without modernistic fluff and in a Novus Ordo mass. :)

Having returned to the Catholic Church most immediately through the gateway of Eastern Orthodoxy, and faintly remembering the Latin Mass, I greatly sympathize with those who deplore abuses of the Novus Ordo and the “spirit of Vatican II.”  The Eastern liturgies of Ss. Chrysostom and Basil are beautiful and reverent indeed, and celebrated in the vernacular (English, mostly—though not in some ethnic parishes). But I also spent many years in the liturgical wasteland of evangelical protestantism. I witnessed and participated in much shameful infighting about matters that were assumed to be of paramount importance, but which ironically dealt with the inherent inferiority of what was invented yesterday as compared with what was invented the day before. I see objections about guitar music and communion in the hand. As one who is neither liturgical scholar nor canon lawyer, I wonder whether some purists are mistaking their own favorite traditions for Holy Tradition. For example, your Eastern Catholic brethren would be surprised to learn that communion under both species is suspect. At any rate, for all her flaws (and there are many!), I am grateful to have been led back to the Holy Catholic Church, by the grace of God.

@Mariusz: My comments weren’t aimed at you specifically. Looking past your attempt at passing a red herring for a valid argument, your last line is very revealing “all the talk about ecumenical councils being by definition inspired by the Holy Spirit becomes just a poor authoritarian excuse.” I smell a liturgy loving protestant in Catholic clothing. If you are the judge of which council is inspired and which is not, you are clearly outside of the fold.

@Phil - “Like”

@Dan,

“If you are the judge of which council is inspired and which is not, you are clearly outside of the fold.”

Ah, that means that you have no good answer to my valid question. By their fruits you will know them (and this obiously applies to you, too.) Sad.

@Phil: We have the Novus Ordo Mass our parish and the priests are very reverend.  We often sing the Mass parts in Latin.  We also have incense at the 10:30 Mass and a perpetual adoration Chapel.  There is a Tridentine Mass twice a month for those who wish to attend.  I couldn’t be happier.  What I am most afraid of is a return to the all-Latin Mass.  I really don’t understand why people would prefer to hear Mass in Latin.  Why can’t the Tridentine be in English?

@everyone: Why can’t the Tridentine be in English? If the prayers are so beautiful, let us hear them in our own language.

@Petronella,

“What I am most afraid of is a return to the all-Latin Mass.”

Not willing to make an intellectual effort for your religion, are you? The faithful attended the Latin Mass for close to 2,000 years and it didn’t kill them. All the saints attended the Latin Mass until about 50 years ago and it didn’t estrange them from God. Shall I continue or do you already understand your pettiness and laziness?

@Mariusz:  It is not petty or lazy on my part.  I’ve taken graduate courses in Theology until I had to stop because of illness.  I have a hugh library of Catholic literature - spritual, instructional and reference which I use regularly.  I am an active member of the Legion of Mary for 13 years, and taught CCD for 6 years.  I NEED to HEAR the Mass in English.  You can hear it in Latin if you want, but I have yet to hear a reason why the Tridentine Mass cannot be offered in English.  You don’t offer any reason.  According to your argument, we should read the Bible in Latin and confess our sins in Latin.  It does not make sense.  Can anyone else come up with a valid reason?

Rev. Alejandro Roque, OMI said:
“I wonder what your reason was to go to those different churches for Christmas Day Mass, in three different states - three different dioceses. All I perceive in this article is critique of your brothers and sisters on Christmas Day. I have a feeling that if Joseph and Mary would have knocked at your door, you would have never open… and perhaps said a few choice self-righteous comments on the process. My humble suggestion for you, JUST STAY IN YOUR OWN PARISH! Remember the words of Our Lord in the Gospel of Matthew 23: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted… Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites… You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing!” This article is a very sad comment on the state of our Catholic Church in America.”

WOW, harsh words and judgmental on your part. It was not the article itself, that shows the sad state of our Catholic Church,
but your reaction that shows the sadness that we are subjected to.
In the first place Mr. Burke did not go to all these Masses on Christmas Day.
Re-read his article and you will see it was during the course of his trip during the Christmas SEASON.
The Mass is the Holy Sacrifice of His Body and Blood and therefore we MUST give Greater Glory and Honor to God.
It is THAT, which we lament. GOD is first and we have lost sight of that when the liturgy is abused.

Father Michael Bechard said:

“This is all very, very sad.  Certainly, during the octave of Christmas there are better things to do than to engage in a conversation about how poorly the rubrics are being followed.  Would it not be a bit more in keeping with the season to spend some time in quiet reflection at a creche?  Or maybe to spend some time taking care of the Christ-Child, The Virgin and her Spouse through practicing the corporal works of mercy?  There is a reason why people have stopped going to Church.  It is because they see in us such a lack of charity and kindness towards one another.  May God have mercy on us all.”

You claim to be sad about our postings on this thread
The saddest part is that both of you fail to see that we posters are coming in defense of The Greater Glory and Honor to God.
Secular Humanism has invaded the sanctuary where God, The King of Kings, Creator of Heaven and Earth, Creator of
of us, His creatures must bow down and give Him honor. Even the pagans (at the time of His Birth), The Magi had
the humility, who being kings and wise men bowed down and gave Him due Honor fit for THE KING OF KINGS.
We MUST do the same. Why can you not see this. 

Reverend Krimuel Bilderpendle seems to be the only cleric here, who grasps the intent of this article AMDG.
(For the Greater Glory of God) through proper rubrics and focus on HIM, who alone deserves it.

@Petronella,

Why the Jews in Europe always conducted their religious rites in Hebrew while speaking Yiddish, Ladino or the local language at home? Why Hindu rituals are performed in Sanskrit which is hardly a spoken language anymore? Think!

Petronella:
“Can anyone else come up with a valid reason?” quote

I prefer (but unfortunately do not get) the TLM in Latin with the English translation at its side for the following reason:

Latin is a “dead language” That means that it is not subject to change by words used in the “plebeian” world. Eg “Gay” “Choice” “making merry” “deck the halls” and many, many more take on different connotations in the everyday world. Latin remains to mean what it means. I prefer it that way .

Christmas Eve Virginia:
We had to applaud the band Choir for a job well done before and during the Mass? The singing and music was beautiful but for a concert not one of the holiest nights of the year. My daughter and her boyfriend were at the service. They were both confused as I was over the sermon. The priest spent a lot of time explaining how easy the delivery was. He went on that Mary had to deliver the child herself because her spouse was not allowed to assist? Somehow, the SON of GOD was missed. The Bible as I know it was rewritten a lot. The facts given to the pews lacked any bible reference.  They thought they were confused, I was totally lost! The church was decked out in holiday fare, the service was to. I want to go home. The private revelations they can keep.
In Christ

@Don,
As for me being, in your charitable expression, “a liturgy loving protestant in Catholic clothing” because I do not believe that the Holy Spirit inspired Vatican II, you may want to read this:

“It must not be mistaken that since the council was attended and called by the Pope that it would automatically be lead by the Holy Ghost or that it automatically is guaranteed to be infallibility of the Ordinary Universal Magisterium since only the definitions and condemnations of an ecumenical council are guaranteed by infallibility and not (necessarily) its pastoral exhortations, the Church does not hold as infallible in a council whatever is outside the solemn teachings.
 
Many erroneously hold the idea that convocation of a Council is somewhat automatically a sign that it’s inspired by “the Holy Spirit” when in reality it is quite the contrary for “to call a council is a practical decision of the Pope. A person may piously believe that God inspired it. But no one can say that this is an object of faith.” Catholics may rather affirm with Cardinal Manning that “to convoke a General Council, except when absolutely demanded by necessity, is to tempt God”

Please all! Read all the comments as I have just done and see if we all are not falling into the Devils work with anger, personal attacks,and not really solving the problem.  Our Bishops and Priests are the only ones who can possibly bring the Church and its Liturgy to do what is right and what is right comes to us ONLY THROUGH THE TEACHING AUTHORITY of the Pope and the Bishops in union with him.

FIRST PRAY WITH ALL YOUR HEART FOR THE HOLY ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH and then get out your pens and paper or email and start writing to the Bishops and even the Pope and never stop.  Do not worry if you never hear back from them.  Study the Catholic Catechism and go on line and download the “General Instruction to the Roman Missal”.  Go immediately to your Priest and tell him over and over about the disobedience practiced in your Church.

Our personal opinions have no baring here!  We have the truth available to us and it is up to us to insist that our Bishops and Priest honor their vows and one of them is OBEDIENCE!  PW

@Petronella,

You may find Pope John XXIII’s Apostolic Constitution Veterum Sapientia useful as to why it is beneficial to use Latin. The constitution is here:

http://www.adoremus.org/VeterumSapientia.html

Also, I would say that I would take the traditional Latin Mass in English over the Novus Ordo in Latin in a heartbeat.

Further, I believe scripture and the gospel probably should be read in English in the TLM. One could also read the changing parts of the Mass in English as well. I do think, at the very least, the unchanging parts of the Mass should be in Latin. One can certainly grow more and more familiar with the Latin for the unchanging parts of the Mass, especially as the English translation would be side by side.

Plus, we know recent popes have talked about the importance of priests learning Latin (which I would agree with). Yet if none of the liturgy is ever in Latin I believe it takes away a major reason to do so since for all practical purposes they don’t really need to learn Latin.

Sacrosanctum Concillium was one of the Vatican II documents approved by the Council (with only four bishops voting against) where it plainly states the primacy of Latin in the Mass.
Paragraph 54: “In Masses which are celebrated with the people, a suitable place may be allotted to their mother tongue. This is to apply in the first place to the readings and “the common prayer,” but also, as local conditions may warrant, to those parts which pertain to the people, according to the norm laid down in Art. 36 of this Constitution.
Nevertheless steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them.
And wherever a more extended use of the mother tongue within the Mass appears desirable, the regulation laid down in Art. 40 of this Constitution is to be observed.”
The fixed parts of the Mass, therefore, were (are) to remain in Latin.  It seems abundantly clear that there was never any intent (nor “spirit”) of Vatican II to do away with hundreds of years of tradition and history.  This same document sets forth other directives that have been forgotten (e.g., the primacy of Gregorian Chant and permitting Communion under both species in only limited circumstances).  Nowhere do the Vatican II documents call for a priest to face the people during Mass, change facing East, to move the tabernacle from its central position or to do away with kneelers and altar rails.
What seems to have happened was a great disinformation program that depended on many not reading what the Council had to say with the result being so many priests and sisters leaving ministry and a laity that just plain left.
It plainly seems that this remains true today.

Dear Petronella,
-
I mean this gently and hope you will take it that way…
-
I do not have a preference for one or the other, really.  I have also been to NOs that were beautiful.  English is also easier on my ears than Latin being butchered because people haven’t been taught the pronunciation.  But I think we are making this language thing overblown.  I’m not saying throw anyone in the deep end overnight, total-immersion style.  I want to believe you, but color me skeptical that it is so prohibitively difficult to learn to substitute ‘Gloria in excelsis Deo’ for ‘Glory to God in the highest,’ etc.  Every action requires practice to make it a natural habit.  Can you imagine how difficult it must have been to be an infant and to have to go from being carried everywhere to rising up on two legs, balancing, propelling oneself?  And yet now, we all do it every day.  Also, why is it a given that a stranger would be turned off by an unfamiliar language, and not more intrigued?
-
Why do I have a feeling it is primarily English-speakers—and maybe particularly late generation Americans, insulated as we are, unlike Europeans who in my experience have a greater tendency to be bilingual, having other national borders on practically all sides—who have this problem.  English is not one of the Romance languages, although we do borrow many words, and you will hardly find Latin taught in public schools.  This is unfortunate.  Latin is useful; if one is going to learn French, Spanish, or Italian it helps to have the foundation already there.  Is it that Latin favors the traveller, or that the vernacular favors the most sedentary inhabitants of one spot on a map?  I think that argument can cut both ways.
-
I believe that in a subtle way, when we make excuses for people’s daydreaming, we are condemning them to ignorance.  There is an insidious assumption that they are too hopelessly stupid (I tried to think of a better word) to learn.  I know you didn’t say that, and that you are speaking as an intelligent person, but you might want to re-examine what the “between the lines” imply about a lot of people who are not you.

Sloane: From time to time I recall, with some chagrin, that one of the things I used to like so much about the Mass I attended was apparently an abuse—we were small enough that the priest actually could extend the sign of peace to each of us individually.  I didn’t know at that time.  I have noticed he doesn’t do it anymore.  Oh well…I will live. :)  Maybe my experience as a musician can speak to your question: I find that disciplined ensembles thrive, grow in reputation, and do not lack for prospective members.  Why?  They take what they are doing seriously enough to excel at it, and it is evident across the board.  People are drawn to and, in fact, compete to be a part of such groups.  Social activities are there, but reserved for breaks or other appropriate times.  “They don’t mess around” is a compliment.  I think this world is starving for something meaningful, lasting, and real.  Watering it down would be a disservice to many who have not yet discovered what they are missing.  I’m just saying, maybe the problems you (rightly) draw attention to are more related than you think.
-
Naysayer:  Yeah, you have some fair points.  I have been saying for a while that some folks seemed inordinately excited over the new translation as if it were a panacea or miracle pill for all that ails us.  I’m not saying it isn’t a good development, but there is heavy lifting still to be done. 
-
Phil: I think it has something to do with the imagination of the Last Supper.  I have no idea how accurate that is, of course. 
-
Nancy:  Are you completely serious or do I detect sarcasm?  What do I care if an atheist attends Mass, as long as he is informed and conducts himself respectfully - if not for God’s sake, than for the sake of not being an ass to other people.
-
Rev. Alejandro Roque, OMI: I also have family in several states.  If I was visiting any of them for Christmas, I would not be in my ‘home’ parish.  It’s not so uncommon that anybody needs to insinuate some kind of alterior motive on Mr. Burke’s part, as if he went to great effort to go around to a bunch of churches specifically to find things to criticize.

I am not a spammer.  Please accept my comments! Thanks! :)

I agree that in some cases churches are becoming to social. We have many other churches in our community that the sole purpose of thier services surrounds the individual and not God. With that being said, instead of complaining about these issues what are some of the ways that they can be fixed. I had no idea that you were not supposed to hold hands during the Our Father. I believe the people need to be reminded of these things in some ways. By the way, our priests etc, do a great job.

I should send this to my Bishop.  I have been seeing all this and more for years. The priest hurries through prayers, starts thumbing through the lectionary while still saying prayers.  At the beginning of Mass one priest has us all shake hands and say ‘hi’ and comes down from the front and shakes our hands.  The homilies are so awful - and yes - I hate to say it, but its true.  The parishioners do something I never saw before…they all turn towards the center aisle as the priest processes down at the start of mass.  Anyone ever see that before?  I have been to many many churches, never saw that.  The church is so loud before Mass there is no way to concentrate and pray.  Full conversations in the aisle, in the rear, in the pews.  Very few people genuflect and it is to the point where my kids get run over by people leaving Mass as my kids genuflect on our way out.  I could go on…But I am just so upset with my Church on so many levels these days - a church I love and care about but I see so much that is wrong.  In 12 years, not once, has a priest in my parish brought up the crime of abortion.  I was told a few times that our church is ‘liberal’, but it is just sad.  Diocese of Allentown….  Wish there were some changes…

@Brennan,

“I believe scripture and the gospel probably should be read in English in the TLM.”

In my church they are read first in Latin and then repeated in English just before the sermon.

Thanks for all your feedback. Time to close this post. Here’s the followup: Glad Tidings of Liturgical Beauty and Joy - http://www.ncregister.com/blog/dan-burke/glad-tidings-of-liturgical-beauty-and-joy