Una Voce San Bernardino

I am pleased to announce the first extraordinary form Confirmations for the Diocese of Columbus, OH in more than 30 years. Holy Family Church will host the Chancellor of the Diocese, Msgr. Maloney, who will confer the sacrament in the name of Bishop Campbell who is recovering from surgery.
 
Fr. Kevin Lutz, pastor of Holy Family, at the urging of many parents, sought approval from the Diocese and was well-received by the Chancellor. Interestingly, all of the youth wanted the extraordinary form- students from both our English and Latin communities at Holy Family…
 
Confirmations are this Wednesday, April 29th; a huge step forward for our community. Pray for these young Miles Jesu.
 
Bill Heyer
Una Voce Columbus

• Conservative vs. Traditional Catholicism - Fr. Chad Ripperger, FSSP, The Latin Mass Magazine, Spring 2001
• When More Equals Less - Ed Snyder, The Latin Mass Magazine, Summer 2008
• Philosophy - D.Q. McInerny, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, OL Guadalupe Seminary, April 2002 FSSP Newsletter
• What Is a Traditional Catholic? - D.Q. McInerny, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, OL Guadalupe Seminary, January 2009 FSSP Newsletter
• Making a Good Confession - Fr. Eric Flood, FSSP, December 2008 FSSP Newsletter

• The Last Supper: No Layman’s Blessing ~By Ed Snyder. Eucharistic consecration as priestly, descending blessing.

• Inorganic Liturgy: The Procession of Gifts ~By Ed Snyder. Ed resurrects the Rev. George Booth’s doctoral dissertation, demonstrating that the lay offertory procession is foreign to the Mass of Pope St. Gregory.

• This Is My (Weary) Body ~By Ed Snyder. A linguistic insight into the institution of the Eucharist.

• Inorganic Liturgy: The Offertory ~By Ed Snyder. Analyzes the need to restore the traditional offertory prayers.

• What’s in a Name? ~By Ed Snyder. Understanding the Sacrament of the Eucharist by the names it has been called though history.

This weekend the Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus for the entire state of Georgia met at the FSSP parish of St Francis de Sales in the Atlanta Diocese. In a 2 hour ceremony they conferred the Fourth degree on 113 men. Both FSSP priests at the parish are Fourth degree Knights. Following the ceremony there was a solemn high mass with honour guard. This was a fancy black tie affair. After mass 300 fourth degree Kights and wives attended a banquet at the church. All comments were positive. The church, caliber of the FSSP priests, music etc had a profound impact on this group of Novus Ordo Catholics. They simply loved it. There were some high level Knights here from several states and they were impressed. The highest ranking man there Vice Supreme Knight Singer gave a talk at the banquet and talked about how much he loved attending the latin mass and about the beautiful church. They are taking this good impression with them to their parishes and the officers will take this good impression to other high ranking Knights. This was the first time this has been done. This is a milestone in the acceptance of the latin mass by the main stream catholic church.

J D Rasnick Chairman UV Georgia

A Glorious Transformation

The Traditional Latin Mass had been relegated to a nursing home chapel that seats about 45 people. There were usually two Masses on Sunday, except when, on occasion, one was canceled due to the lack of priests willing or able to say both Masses. That meant usually between 60 and 90 people came to the Sunday Masses over the past eight years.

Then, on the Second Sunday of Lent (Feb. 17), Fr. Francis McHugh, pastor of St. Pius X Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of San Antonio, invited us to have an inaugural Mass at his parish near Fort Sam Houston. What a miracle, considering no pastor had before even hinted at being sympathetic to the Traditional Latin Mass!

Here’s where it gets phenomenal and almost unbelievable in a religious climate that can only be described as hostile to the Traditional Latin Mass. He agreed to move an existing 12:15 PM Novus Ordo Mass to the 5:30 PM time slot. He allowed the Traditional Latin Mass to be moved to 12 noon to better suit the priest saying the Mass. He allowed a communion rail to be constructed. He allowed the high altar to be reconstructed and enlarged. Finally, he asked that the Traditional Latin Mass be said on First Fridays as well, so that the schoolchildren could be exposed to it!

The inaugural 12 noon High Mass attracted nearly 600 people to a church that seats 650. The collection was nearly double what the  12:15 PM Novus Ordo Mass had previously averaged. The Traditional Latin Mass, over ensuing weeks, has averaged around 400 people every Sunday, and the collection continues to exceed the previous 12:15 PM Novus Ordo Mass average.

St. Pius X now has a Wednesday 7 AM Traditional Mass attended by about 40 people, and a Saturday 8 AM Mass attended by about 80 people. The inaugural 8 AM First Friday Mass of March 7 (Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, patron of Catholic schools, according to the traditional calendar) had about 300 students and about 300 family members and parishioners present.

The Most Rev. Jose Gomez, our Archbishop, and Fr. Francis McHugh deserve a huge deal of credit for withstanding the barrage of criticism they have received for allowing the Traditional Latin Mass into the mainstream of Catholic life here in San Antonio.

The Rev. Fr. Donald Kloster
Hospital Chaplain, Archdiocese of San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas

Excerpt from: Called to be Holy - Archbishop Timothy Dolan (OSV, 2005)

The years immediately following the council were climactic times: a lot of good, creative, vibrant, promising movement in the Church, all prompted by the genuine call for reform by the council; but also, unfortunately, a lot of doubt, error, hurt, confusion, and downright silliness. At the height of all this, Bishop Gottwald, a very effective but very plain country pastor who became an auxiliary bishop out of sheer obedience, was thrust into leadership.

One of his many crises was the state of the seminary. One-fourth of the priest faculty left the priesthood, the student body was decimated by departures, and the theology being taught was anything but of the Church. The priests who remained on the faculty announced they wanted to join an ecumenical theolo-gate, since, according to their interpretation of the council, it was useless to teach Catholic theology - since such a thing probably no longer existed.

They demanded the presence of the apostolic administrator at what was really a “campus demonstration” in the early spring of 1968, where they came to present him with their list of demands in front of the obligatory TV cameras.

Into this lion’s den walked Bishop George Gottwald, shy, nervous, wishing he was still an unknown pastor in the Ozark hills of southern Missouri. The leader of the faculty and students informed the bishop that Kenrick Seminary might as well close, since the whole enterprise of priestly formation and Catholic theology was up for grabs. In response, the bishop offered the comment that, even with the legitimate questioning and probing of the council, there were still clear, consistent truths that had to be taught any future priest.

“Hah!” snickered the faculty spokesman. “I dare you to tell me what we can possibly teach our students now that has not changed, that will not change, that can be stated with any amount of conviction at all! I dare you to tell me!”

The bishop’s mouth went dry, he recalls, as all eyes were on him, as the microphones clicked on and cameras whirled for a sound bite, as they waited for him to take the dare! And what did he answer?

“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.”

The Apostles’ Creed! A fundamental formula of faith expressed by the Church from near the beginning. This, my friends, was a man of ‘faith: In the midst of doubt, ridicule, snickering, and confusion, he dared to state that there are certain truths that can always be counted upon because they come from God and not from us!

An email I received on Apil 10, 2009 re the Latin Mass:

Hello Mr. Gonzaga,

My name is [Name withheld to protect privacy]. I am 15 years old, from San Bernardino, and I attend [San Bernardino] parish. Recently I have been going to the Latin Mass at San Secondo d’Asti. It is the only place nearby [edit] which offers the Extroardinary Form on Sundays and Holy Days. The problem is that my mother isn’t always willing to take me on Sundays (let alone Holy Days), I can’t drive myself yet, and it is hard to keep up with parish activities all the way over there.

[The San Bernardino parish] is a 15 minute walk for me, and it is very easy for me to get there. It is also the place where I received my baptism, my religious education, my first confession, my First Communion, etc. But now as I have grown older and matured, the new Mass doesn’t feel the best way for me. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with it or that is worse or something. It’s just that it is harder for me to concentrate with loud guitars, drums, people talking, etc. The Latin Mass simply makes it much easier for me to pray and appreciate the Holy Eucharist. I truly feel closer to our Lord at this form of the Mass.

I also think that if the EF were offered, it would bring the parish closer together because we would all be praying in the same language, rather than some people having to go to some other parish for Vietnamese, or some going to the Spanish, others going to the English, etc. Also, when I go to San Secondo d’Asti, I notice a much larger amount of people going there on Sundays. It is much quieter, more reverent and solemn before/during/after Mass, and that parish is in the middle of nowhere!

Anyways, I wanted to know if somehow you and the San Bernardino Una Voce chapter could help me to get the EF of the Mass prayed at my parish. I am going to ask the parish priest soon if he would learn how to pray the Latin Mass, but I’m not really sure how to approach him on it? And let’s be honest, how likely is he to say yes to some 15-year old, who is asking all by himself? I’m not really sure what else I can do after this point if he says no. If there is anything you can do to help, I would really appreciate it. This is my personal e-mail, and if you could call me, my cell phone number is [edit]. I really appreciate any help you can give me! Thank you!

Sincerely,

[Name withheld to protect privacy]

My response:

Dear Alfredo,

After this very exhausting day, your letter has certainly been a cherry on top of a pretty good day already. You will be pleased to know that I have already approached Father [edit] about the EF Mass, 6 months ago in fact. I have met with him, and as far as I know, he has already received some training in it from Fr. [edit]. I also ordered for him a DVD of how to celebrate the Latin Mass. Una Voce will do what we can to help support this work with catechesis and materials and resources… We do not have much funds, but we have some advertising and technological skills. What we need from the local parish, is energetic and bright young people like yourself who can honestly say they love the ancient form. Just like you, I stumbled upon the old Mass by accident. I learned about it pretty much by myself. I then introduced it to 15-20 of my young friends. Most of them absolutely love it. If it were closer, at say, [parish], they would go to the EF more than the OF. If you are interested in learning more about the Latin Mass, we can start a study group… but what I would need your help in is for you to gather up some interest among your friends. Then you can introduce them to Guasti, then we can help catechize them in the theology of the EF. I have videos to introduce the Latin Mass to them. With Father’s approval we can hold a study session there for the EF Mass.

I already know Father… so, don’t feel shy to ask him. He actually WANTS to say the old Mass… But, he needs some grassroots support from your parish. Just 5 of you would suffice to get some attention. You have an ally there already, his name is [edit]. That is his home parish, and he was one of my friends I introduced to Tradition and the EF Mass.

Let’s chat some more… But, I must go to dreamland now…

Pax tecum.

Laurence Gonzaga

CC: Una Voce Officers and Supp

His response:

Dear Mr. Gonzaga,

Thank you very much for your reply. I’m glad that you have approached Fr. [edit] already, and I didn’t know he was even considering saying the EF. If the EF were offered at [parish], it would be a huge blessing! I’m going to talk to Fr. [edit] after Easter. Also, please tell Mr. [edit] to contact me. I’ve given you my e-mail and my phone number, so feel free to pass any of that on to him. I haven’t met him, so I don’t know which Masses he typically goes to. If you could tell him about it as soon as possible, I’d probably be able to catch him after the vigil on Holy Saturday or one of the Easter Sunday Masses. I’m going to talk to some of the other people from the parish and ask if they would be able to help me. I would also be glad to start a study group. I already know the Ordinary of the Latin Mass and most of the important prayers by heart. I’m willing to offer as much time, money, and effort as I can.

Feel free to post any of my letter that you’d like! It would probably be good for people to know that it isn’t just [older people] who prefer the traditional Mass! Thanks again and I really appreciate all your help.

Pax domini sit semper tecum.

Alfredo