It is a shot that I can plant the thought in the heads so they can look up GIRM and RS and see for themselves maybe a light will turn on and they can address it. The real embarrassment would be when a new Priest would come in and he follows the GIRM and RS by the book and limits the EMHC’s. That would be a wake up for the Parish. I am not trying to embarrass my Priest. I see this as an opportunity to help make the Mass more reverent and to help out the Parish.
Thanks for the documents. Please leave them on the table and we will refer this to the Liturgy Committee who will take it up with our Pastor. PC would not get involved in this.
Thanks for the suggestion. We will pass this along to the Liturgy Committee for discussion with our Pastor. It would help if you would agree to chair a committee of like-minded parishioners to (1) Gauge support for an EF and (2) Provide the Liturgy Committee with a name or contact info for a Priest who would have the time to come and do the EF if the Pastor agrees but cannot do an EF himself.
Thanks for the suggestion. We will take it under advisement (Translation = We may suggest Father dedicate a “Pastor’s Corner” in the bulletin to educating folks on suggested Mass etiquette, but without a concrete directive from our Bishop we are not going to open that can of worms).
Thanks for the suggestion. We should strongly consider advising the Pastor to give full support to these suggestions. [n.b. We are blessed at our Parish to have both an active Pro-Life group and a strong KofC group. I would think the county or diocese Pro-Life organizations and state KofC would be willing to help start chapters at the Parish if there was a strong interest from the laity]
Our Parish does not have a Liturgy Committee. If we did I would join up.
BINGO! How about part of your three minutes goes like this: “My dear brothers and sisters, we are all keenly aware of the tremendous time pressure the Priest shortage has placed on our beloved Pastor. With the upcoming changes in the translation of the Mass due next year, our continued need to use EMHC and our obligation to provide the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to our fellow parishoners, I would propose that PC advise Father to form a Liturgy Committee to assist him in these areas. It would be my honor to head up such a committee, including the recruitment of parish volunteers. We would be happy to make a presentation to PC on our new committee within 6 weeks of officially forming”
You are on to something. The problem is you have progressives who want to keep with the times who will hijack the comittiee and will out vote myself. It would be a massive uphill battle. We were 7 Parishes and ethnic that merged into 1 Parish with 4 worship sites. Now we are down to 2 worship sites. There is still division amongst the Parishnors.
The pastor will do what the pastor will do and if he sees nothing wrong with the EMHCs going to the tabernacle, it will still go on. Believe me, there are still priests who couldn’t care less what the GIRM and RS say.
BINGO … The problem is that you see everyone else as the problem … please excuse me for being blunt. TheDoctors post reitrated what I stated in my post …you seem to want to go ‘ask’ and ‘score points’ … seeing this as a 'chance to bring improvement to " your parish … as if they are somehow lacking and you can tell them what they need to do …
Let me see. My Grandmother and Mother polished the Brass candles and cleaned the linens. When I was a kid, My Dad, my brother and I would walk the slopes and deliver the fall bazaar raffle tickets to each house. For the Cemetery Mass the fist Sunday after All Souls day we would take our Priest and everything for Mass, The sound System, Hosts, Water, Wine, Missalettes, etc. in our car and help set up and bring everything back for Mass. We helped out with our Parish Church Fall and Summer Festivals. We lost our festivals a few years later. A big mistake, Also, my family went around door to door to our Parishnors to ask for donations to the Dioceses Parish Share Program. Try doing that and see the response that you get! Also I was one of the regular Weekday Altar Boy’s who showed up and was called upon when someone else did not show up.
I say a Novena to St, Anne daily! I would like to spread the devotion to her to the Parish. Also I would like to have a Mass of Novenas to her leading up to her feast day in July.
And nothing is stopping you from doing this … you do not need a priest to lead a Novena … Novena’s are primarily "private’ devotions … though groups of people can join together for Novena’s - thus making them ‘public’ …
I thought about it and decided that I was going to bring up a “Liturgy Committee” I talked about our Parish needing a Liturgy Committee because of the new Roman Missal being released in a few years. I brought up the major changes to both the Priests part and the Laity’s part. I also mention that the prayers may be said in Latin. I stressed that by forming a Liturgy Committee and studying the changes in advance will help our Parish when the new Roman Missal is put in use.
I say prayers to St. Anne because my Mother had complications when my older brother was born. When she was carrying me she sent prayer offerings to St. Anne’s Shrine in Quebec to have a safe delivery of me. Also, a Parish on the other side of Pittsburgh, has a Novena to St. Annne. A lady from the Shrine from Quebec found out about the devotion and asked to speak at the end of the Mass. She, thank the Pastor for having St. Anne in their Parish and for having a devotion of Novenas to her. She said that St. Anne will thank them so thhat their Parish will suffer financial hardship. Ther Parish was struggling when their present Pastor was assigned there. A month later their Parish was getting out of their hardship. Checks were coming in and they are doing well.
There is nothing wrong with sharing Novena’s and I would never say whether they ‘work’ or ‘don’t work’ … God works in mysterious ways … I do know that there is nothing “Magical” about our Chirstian faith … you can’t say if you do this “X. Y. Z.” then your prayers will be exactly ansered in the way you want …
…… then reports that they have abundance of funds … I think you meant the opposite …
but again, novena’s are not magic so a parish could offer Novena’s and potentially not get the financial turn around … then what ?
… what is the connection between your “personal” devotion to this particular Saint and the parish in general? … That is what I think you are missing …Many catholics are devoted to our Lady, Mary the Mother of Jesus … others to St Anthony or St Rita … I’ll bet there are many parishes [especially in Hawaii] that will have devotions and Novenas to St. Damien, America’s newest Saint … So the question is why St Anne [speaking of the parish in general] …Why?
Your parish should [with the guidance of the priest with the pastoral committee] set the direction for the spiritual growth of the parish …THUS you need to establish a representative group of like minded parishioners - who will demonstate the need and benefit of this devotional experience to the greater parish … then you will get wht you ask for …St. Anne is the Mother of The Blessed Virgin Mary. That is why. I am all in favor of knowing about the Saints. The church toady there is little talk about them. In my Parish I doubt that the people could tell you about the Saints that are on the Stained Glass windows in our church.There is nothing wrong with sharing Novena’s and I would never say whether they ‘work’ or ‘don’t work’ … God works in mysterious ways … I do know that there is nothing “Magical” about our Chirstian faith … you can’t say if you do this “X. Y. Z.” then your prayers will be exactly ansered in the way you want …
But I do believe in the intercession of the Saints …
That said, I belive you failed to address the issues I mentioned … That a parish dedicated to St. Anne paprticipates inNOvena’s to St. Anne is different then a parish dedicated to St. Joseph deciding to participate in a novena on your individual and sole request
Also the parish that was in financial troubles … your post reads that she will thank them with finacila hardship … then reports that they have abundance of funds … I think you meant the opposite …
So how many - besides yourself - feel this call to a Novena to St Anne as opposed to a Novena to St Jude or St Joseph or some other Saint … your post explains exactly why you [and your family/ have a personal devotion to St Anne - the delivery of your brother and you] but not he parish
Your request to have a personal devotion to a particular Saint adopted by the parish has not been established … now you may feel otherwise but I have to tell you that it sounds like belief in magic rather then faith in Christ … I know that is not what you mean * get that you love Jesus and it is your zeal for Christ and gratitude to St Anne tht motivates you*] but your meaning is lost when you just assume that every one else shares your experience … and wants to adopt your views …
Thus if you want your parish to ‘adopt’ this devotion it will take more then just your good intentions and desire … your priest knows this … if he agreed to every request such as yours you would have X number of individual parshioners attending X number of individidual Novena’s and Masses for X number of individual intentions …
So again:
How many parishioners share your desir to adopt St Anne and pray Novenas to her? Have you prayed with other parishioners a novena to St Anne for 9 days in your parish - say after the daily and Sunday Masses? … If so, how many and what percentage of the parish do they represent? Have you written out - on paper and completely what this Novena of Masses entails, what purpose is the focus of the Novena and who will be responsible for making it happen … and presented that to your priest as a ‘representive parish group’? If not why not?
I am a member of The Pittsburgh Latin Mass Community. That is a 10 -15 min drive away from my house. My Parish is a few blocks away from my house. I do go to the EF. Not as much as I would want. I want to bring about good change to my local one. If push comes to shove I will drive the 10-15 min to the EF. I would rather be happy than discouraged.
If there is an active latin Mass Community 15 minutes from your house I doubt very much your parish would also offer one. Fifteen minutes is not a long drive to go to Mass. I know people who travel much further than that to go to mass each Sunday because that is the closest Mass of any kind. I am sure there are those in rural areas who travel further.
My goal is to have a properly said OF Mass at my Parish. Free from all Liturgical Abuses and innovations. You are right about people travel longer to go to Mass.
i’m for this oneIf there had been a dress code at the catholic church I went through RCIA in, neither me or my two boys would be catholic today. Sometimes it’s easy to say what someone should be able to afford, but more difficult in when it’s YOU who is doing the affording.
That’s all.Good luck!