Tag Archives: FSSP

TLM Atlanta: Mother Loves Us

Posted on June 5, 2022 | Leave a comment

We departed our beach house yesterday morning and headed for home. This morning I woke up in a hotel room in Atlanta, GA.

This morning began early. That’s because it’s Sunday. This was both a travel day (meaning, for us, we would drive about 800 miles) and the Lord’s Day (meaning we would move Heaven and earth to find a traditional Latin mass).

In the suburb of Mableton, GA, we attended the 8AM low mass for Pentecost in, drumroll please…

Another St. Francis de Sales parish!

Have I mentioned he’s the patron of writers and I think he’s stalking this writer?

This parish is run by our old friends, the FSSP and has been ensconced in this current property since the early 2000’s. I actually attended a daily mass here a year ago. The parish church is not huge but not particularly tiny either. So it surprised me that there was a sign in the parking lot indicating mass would be in the gym. After some searching we found said gym. Down a hill. A very long bill.

I surmise that the interior of the church building might be undergoing some renovations as the gym has, in addition to a few hundred folding chairs, a semi-permanent sanctuary space made out of finer polished oak and complete with a proper rail on three sides.

St. Francis de Sales, Mableton, GA. Picture taken last year on a different trip.

The priest who said mass preached a phenomenal homily, as is now expected by me of all Fraternity priests.

What really caught my attention, though, was the fact that every single person in attendance was properly attired. I will be writing on proper mass attire soon. But especially the men…

Suits.

Ties.

Hair neatly parted.

Like men.

Grown men.

Strong masculine men who love their wives and children and aren’t trying to show off but simply to look their level best for Christ and His sacrifice.

As I said, more on that to come. Just remember, this was Atlanta and there was a certain Gone With the Wind vibe to be felt.

I loved it.

And I truly loved that the great Mother of God, Mary Most Holy absolutely came through for me. I mentioned I had asked her prior to this trip to make Latin mass available to me every day. That she did.

Never doubt the love of a mother for her children. She wants only good things for us. She is happy when we want to kneel beside her as her Son gives Himself for our sins. I think of the many times in my life when my own ingratitude towards her Son’s sacrifice must have pierced her Immaculate Heart.

Never again.

Mother, give me to worship thy Son every day in His sacrifice!

And she did. And she will.

And He is only too happy to oblige anything she asks of Him.

Turn to her. She loves you.

Virgin most powerful, pray for us!

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Let Us All Step Backwards!

Posted on June 3, 2022 | Leave a comment

The incomparable Fr. Z. has a link to a video of a newly ordained FSSP priest giving his parents his first blessing. Check that out here.

Zulhsdorf accompanies the video with a bit of snarky editorializing. I happily expect nothing less. In his commentary, Fr. mocks the sentiments of those modernists who refer to us trads as “dangerous backward-steppers”.

This got me to thinking of a couple of important things.

1.) This is the first Friday of the month of June. June is the month of the Sacred Heart. MAKE THE DEVOTION OF THE NINE FIRST FRIDAYS! Start today if you can. Make reparation to His Sacred Heart by receiving Him worthily in Holy Communion. This month has been co-opted by sodomites under the direction of Satan himself. They call it “pride”. We must empty ourselves and practice ever more the virtue of Calvary – humility.

2.) Our Lord died on the cross to give Himself to us. He awaits us daily in the tabernacle. He even allows His priests to place Him in a monstrance for us to come and adore. Fr. Malachi Martin once remarked that what sets the Catholic apart from all others is his intimacy with the divine. Again, MAKE THE DEVOTION OF THE NINE FIRST FRIDAYS! Go to Him. Console Him in His agony borne for our sins. Tell Him your troubles. Honor His Mother. Give Him thanks. Spend an hour simply gazing upon His loveliness and wonder how the King of the Universe made Himself to be present for you in this way.

3.) When you visit our exposed King and it comes time to take your leave…

STEP BACKWARDS away from the monstrance. For heaven’s sake, if protocol demands we never turn our back on the Queen of England, how much more fitting to keep one’s eyes fixed on the Lord? Be a true “backwards-stepper”. You see, the more the enemies of Christ ridicule us for our devotional life and practices, the more we ought to serve it right back up at them.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

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She Never Disappoints

Posted on May 31, 2022 | Leave a comment

Never.

At the start of this long cross-country road trip, I asked Blessed Mother to make it possible to keep my promise to come to worship Her Son at daily Latin mass every single day.

So far, so good.

On Sunday morning I attended a 7AM low mass at St. Benedict’s parish in Chesapeake, VA. This parish is run by the FSSP. The pastor took the time to approach my son and me after mass to introduce himself and welcome us. This was a beautiful place and a much needed respite on a Sunday morning. Granted my son and I drove an hour and a half to get to this mass even though a dear friend, a priest, had offered an anticipated Novus Ordo Sunday mass the previous evening at the house where we are staying at the beach.

I explained to my teenage son that the Novus Ordo is valid and that this fulfilled our Sunday obligation. So at 5:15 in the morning on our way to Chesapeake I asked him, “Son, in your own words, why did you want to get up so early and go to this mass?”

His reply was perfect.

“Dad,” he said, “I have a preference for the TLM. And it’s Sunday and I go to mass on Sunday.”

God bless my boy. I pray he is called to the holy priesthood one day.

And even since then, Blessed Mother has come through. Without going into any details, another dear friend decided to vacation with us and to offer a daily TLM in our vacation rental.

He asked me to serve for him. I explained that, although I have been present at daily Latin mass for almost four years, I have never served one proper. He put his trust in me and allowed me to use the red book. It went fine.

This morning, still a little incredulous that I had served a Latin mass the night before, I served again. This time I had a bit more awareness about me. After the consecration I could not take my eyes off the Host. “That is Him,” I thought to myself. “That is the Victim Par Excellence.” I had a better vantage point than I have ever had, kneeling beside my old friend as he offered the sacrifice. I witnessed him in a whisper speaking to God Almighty, commanding that bread and wine be transubstantiated into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of His Son. The Host lay on the corporal. The Body of my Lord was on the altar being offered for my sins. I could not take my eyes off of Him except for a moment to look out the window, distracted by the Atlantic Ocean.

“You made that,” I thought to myself. “You made that vast ocean for love of me. I don’t know why this thought came to me but it did. This I believe, is the true personal relationship with Our Lord to which we are called.

I thanked Blessed Mother for answering my prayer.

God is far too good to me.

Mary, Star of the Sea, pray for us!

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TLM West Virginia/ Harrisburg: Finally Saw a Canon in Action

Posted on May 24, 2022 | Leave a comment

I’m combining yesterday and today into one exposition.

Yesterday the kids and I drove through the town of Charles Town, WV. This eastern panhandle hamlet had been previously known to me as the home of a horse racing track and that’s about it. Mass is offered here by the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem.

“So what’s a canon?” you ask. Short answer: canons are priests who live in community following the rule of St. Augustine. These canons were established by Cardinal Burke when he was Archbishop of St. Louis and somehow made their way to West Virginia. The church, a small-ish structure on a quiet tree-lined street downtown is unassuming from the outside. Stepping inside, though, I found a structure that was a tribute to the people who had transformed it into the home of Our Lord.

A couple of oddities(?) I noticed. First, this was a dialogue mass. These aren’t common in TLM communities. Typically the people only chime in at a high mass. Personally, I tend to follow along in my missal, silently (or at least extremely quietly) praying along the whole mass. There were only four other congregants this day. This was also unusual to me. I come from a large parish where the infants on hips outnumber the elderly (and there are many of them too). I dutifully followed along, brushing up on my Latin responses along the way. I’m hoping to learn to serve mass myself. You never know when it will be necessary. Humility will direct me to ask my 7 year-old nephew for help when I return home. The final quirk here was that the priest read the Epistle and Gospel in English from the altar. I suspect this is a TC thing and I don’t like it. Enough said.

Notice the canon hiding in plain sight. Priory of the Annunciation of the Blessed Mother, Charles Town, WV

Today my guardian angel violently woke me at an ungodly hour. I had asked him to do that so I had to comply. Mass at St. Lawrence in Harrisburg, PA was only at 7:10 and it’s a 20 minute drive from here. Fortunately I’ve been coming here for a few years whenever I visit my sister and I not only know some of the parishioners but also the parish well. This is a beautiful church one block in from the Susquehanna River and one block out from the State Capitol. The diocesan cathedral sits between the two. This parish has a full mass schedule (Sunday-Saturday) and is run by the FSSP.

It is what happened right before mass that I want to tell you about here. I try to go to frequent confession. Even though we were running late, we made it in the door at 7:05. I prayed a priest would be in the box. I find Our Lord tends to answer these prayers quite favorably. I noticed a woman exiting the confessional so I quickly stepped in the door. I imagine Fr. was hoping he’d be free to step out and vest for mass. Instead he got me.

Fr. gave me a manly penance. I LIKE MANLY PENANCES. I do not like “Think about something nice about someone…” Still wonder why I tradded?

Again, St Rita makes her appearance (first window on the left). St. Lawrence, Harrisburg, PA

And then Fr. invited me (not as part of my penance) to consider practicing daily mortification. He even suggested some tips. In mass I have been meditating of late on Our Lord’s passion. I find myself saying, “Lord Jesus, let me take you down from the cross. My sins put You there. This isn’t fair.” Then I remember His words to Peter when Peter scoffed at the idea of Our Lord’s crucifixion.

“Get there behind me, Satan.”

He called him Satan. Clearly, I can’t take Him down. This is how He satisfied the debt of my sins and still gives Himself to me daily. Instead I have come to understand that He is inviting me gently to be drawn up to the cross with Him. These daily penances, these “mortifications” will be the way. Thank you, my Lord! Give me to suffer with Thee for my sins, my family, the world!

Then Fr. finished by saying, “Go in peace, but let me go first.” You see, he needed to get to the sacristy but didn’t want to see any of his penitents. Good man.

May your days be penitential, folks.

Mother of Sorrows, pray for us!

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TLM Lexington, KY: Saturday is for Our Lady

Posted on May 21, 2022 | 1 comment

Woke up this morning in Lexington, KY. This is horse country, friends, and didn’t see a single horse. What I did see is a Latin mass in another church named for St Francis de Sales.

By the way, de Sales is the patron of writers. I’m sensing a pattern that the patron of writers is following this writer around.

This parish, in horse country, in Lexington, KY, named for the patron of writers, is run by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. Side note: YouTuber Anthony Stine of “Return to Tradition” continually refers to the FSSP as the “Fraternal Society of St. Peter”. Wrong. It’s from the Latin for their name: (Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri – Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter). But I’ll allow it since I generally like his daily content. What’s interesting here is that the “parish” is more of a Latin mass mission run out of a Novus Ordo parish. It was a little jarring that there was a Cranmer table set up between the priest and me. What can you do?…

Most interesting of all was what happened after mass. I had just stepped outside when a man in his 20’s approached me. “Sir?” he said. “Can I ask you a question?” I love questions. I have kids. I’m game. “This is my very first Latin mass. I noticed you making the sign of the cross a few times and kneeling and standing… How do you know when to do that?”

Austere, yes, but Godly in its simplicity.

I saw he had the infamous “red book” in his hand. I asked him a few questions. Turns out this was his very first Latin mass ever. He had been “looking for something more traditional” after years of attending NO masses. My advice, which isn’t too important; was to simply keep coming. “Give it a month,” I said. “You’ll have it down in no time. In fact, put the book down and just pray. Watch the priest. You’ll figure it out.”

What I loved about this exchange is the hope that even one man is here. One man who wanted something more. He’s here. And I bet he’s in your TLM parish too. Get to know him. Show him what to do. Build it back up.

Virgin most faithful, pray for us!

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