A Disturbing Mass

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Lisa44

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Hi:)
I went to a Mass last weekend and it was so disturbing. It was in a very old church in a very old parish run by Fransiscans. My husband and I were very uncomfortable but I did stay the whole Mass. Firstly, there were no kneelers. Secondly, there was a band seated in the area (sorry, I’m a new convert I dont know the terms so bear with me…) at the back of the church behind the lecturn and infront of the tabernacle. The members of the band were very casually dressed. Most of the people in the church were extremely casually dressed to the point of seeing women with VERY low cut tops, mini skirts…jeans, shorts t-shirts…the works.

Anyways…before the Mass started the Priest formed a circle with those in the band up in the area mentioned above. The held hands and prayed together.
I can’t list everything that happened, mostly it was the usual things, a lot of singing and guitar playing and I can critique the Mass well as I am not knowledgable enough to know the various parts well. But it was like a typical ‘variation’ of the NO Mass.

Anyways, I just couldn’t wait for it to be over. At the very end, the Priest gave the (gold vessel with the Eucharist in it) to a female in the band behind him who was dressed in a SKIN TIGHT polyester shirt and pants. This lady then turned around to put the vessel into the tabernacle, and as she did so she leaned and bent over to reach to the tabernacle exposing her bottom in skin tight pale coloured pants to the whole congregation.

It was just such an obscene sight I just almost felt ill. It was really unbelievable.

Now, this is where I get REALLY angry. You know, as a new convert I’m told I must be SOOO obedient to the Pope and the church, and not even criticize it when the Pope says we worship together with the Muslims. And YET, what the HECK is going on in the Catholic Church??? IF it is supposed to be SOOO righteous and SOOO Holy then what in God’s name is going on? (I’m not using the Lords name in vain I mean what I said).

This makes me so mad and to be honest, it makes me really wonder if I shouldn’t convert to the Orthodox church. If Catholic Priests are allowing the Mass to degenerate into a total disgrace then I am ashamed to be called a Catholic.
 
I’m Sorry you had to go through that. It is really atrocious some of the liberties that some clergy take. I posted a few weeks ago on a mass I went to where there were no kneelers, goofy practices, etc.

What kind of Fransicans were they? Some are known to be VERY liberal :tsktsk: and should be reigned back into the fold, so to speak.

Religious orders are often given more freedom (sometimes a bad thing, sometimes not) in what they do at their parish.

Please remember that most Catholic churches still have a reverent atmosphere, but the ones that don’t can be really, well, bad. This may stem from a lack of governance by the Bishop of that diocese.

Let’s pray for the parishoners that attend that church regularly.
 
**“Most of the people in the church were extremely casually dressed to the point of seeing women with VERY low cut tops, mini skirts…jeans, shorts t-shirts…the works.”
**

Heck I see that kind of thing at every Mass I attend these days.No band in a circle yet however.The holding hands things actors do before starting a play or musical which I think
many priest think they are conducting now a days.

ger
 
Lisa44 said:
Hi:)
I went to a Mass last weekend and it was so disturbing. It was in a very old church in a very old parish run by Fransiscans. My husband and I were very uncomfortable but I did stay the whole Mass. Firstly, there were no kneelers. Secondly, there was a band seated in the area (sorry, I’m a new convert I dont know the terms so bear with me…) at the back of the church behind the lecturn and infront of the tabernacle. The members of the band were very casually dressed. Most of the people in the church were extremely casually dressed to the point of seeing women with VERY low cut tops, mini skirts…jeans, shorts t-shirts…the works.

Anyways…before the Mass started the Priest formed a circle with those in the band up in the area mentioned above. The held hands and prayed together.
I can’t list everything that happened, mostly it was the usual things, a lot of singing and guitar playing and I can critique the Mass well as I am not knowledgable enough to know the various parts well. But it was like a typical ‘variation’ of the NO Mass.

Anyways, I just couldn’t wait for it to be over. At the very end, the Priest gave the (gold vessel with the Eucharist in it) to a female in the band behind him who was dressed in a SKIN TIGHT polyester shirt and pants. This lady then turned around to put the vessel into the tabernacle, and as she did so she leaned and bent over to reach to the tabernacle exposing her bottom in skin tight pale coloured pants to the whole congregation.

It was just such an obscene sight I just almost felt ill. It was really unbelievable.

Now, this is where I get REALLY angry. You know, as a new convert I’m told I must be SOOO obedient to the Pope and the church, and not even criticize it when the Pope says we worship together with the Muslims. And YET, what the HECK is going on in the Catholic Church??? IF it is supposed to be SOOO righteous and SOOO Holy then what in God’s name is going on? (I’m not using the Lords name in vain I mean what I said).

This makes me so mad and to be honest, it makes me really wonder if I shouldn’t convert to the Orthodox church. If Catholic Priests are allowing the Mass to degenerate into a total disgrace then I am ashamed to be called a Catholic.
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I am so sorry that you had to go through that. I agree with you, it is unbelievable what some priests of God allow. Ist, the Pope does not want this kind of thing to go on. You can read his letters and Encyclicals, they are on line…Google* Holy See* then find his name. It is interesting reading.

After Vatican II, a lot of “modernists” thought they could do anything they wanted. They couldn’t but they took liberties. This is the result of such liberties. Our Holy Father is in the process of bringing the church back into line and pointing out that these type of things were never allowed and should not go on.

As with all things in social communities, it takes time. Evidently they don’t understand why they are being offensive to us and why we think they are being disrespectful to our God. Evidently they don’t really believe that the Lord Our God is there in the Eucharist.

It is OK to write them and let them know your concerns and how upset you were. They need to know that they are causing others to feel this way. They need to understand that we feel they are disrespecting God.

But, above all, pray for them and that parish. Yes, do look at the posts on “No Kneelers”…you will see that this concerns many.

God love you and may the peace of Christ be with you.
 
I’m sorry for your bad experience. Just remember that just a single Mass, or many Masses that you attend that are celebrated badly does not define the Church. The Mass is truly heaven on earth and the sacrifice of Christ whether the external atmosphere is atrocious or not, as this one seemed to be.

Also, please don’t think about leaving the holy Church Christ founded because of something like this. The holy father Benerict XVI is just as upset about disrespect at Mass as many of us-if not more. (especially disrespect of our Lord in the Eucharist)
 
Lisa44 said:
Hi:) But it was like a typical ‘variation’ of the NO Mass.

Anyways, I just couldn’t wait for it to be over. At the very end, the Priest gave the (gold vessel with the Eucharist in it) to a female in the band behind him who was dressed in a SKIN TIGHT polyester shirt and pants. This lady then turned around to put the vessel into the tabernacle, and as she did so she leaned and bent over to reach to the tabernacle exposing her bottom in skin tight pale coloured pants to the whole congregation.
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What is a NO Mass?

Only Protestants get dressed up for Church. And They stay all day some of them.
At Catholic Churches there’s a mad dash to the door.

Did anyone play the accordion?
 
I too am sorry that you had that experience. Please, however, do not leave the Catholic Church because of this. Seek out other parishes in which the Mass is celebrated with more respect. Also speak with your bishop about this. It may be that other Catholics in your area are equally as concerned and just need someone to speak out. Peace be with you.
 
ML561 said:
I too am sorry that you had that experience. Please, however, do not leave the Catholic Church because of this. Seek out other parishes in which the Mass is celebrated with more respect. Also speak with your bishop about this. It may be that other Catholics in your area are equally as concerned and just need someone to speak out. Peace be with you.
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Lisa, the sad truth is that in the NO (novus ordo, the new order of things introduced by the second Vatican Council) almost “anything goes.” Now that wasn’t the intention of the Council Fathers, to allow “anything to go.” But that is the sad reality.

Find a Traditional Mass near you. If you go on Seminarian Matt’s thread about new Latin Mass/Parish openings, I believe someone provided a link of all Traditional Masses celebrated in the country by Diocesan Priests, Priests of the FSSP, ICK and SSPX.

Good luck to you, and God bless you and keep you. These are certainly sad and frightening times. St. Michael the Archangel will protect you, if you ask him.
 
I hope that this is not off the subject, but this reminds me of something that has been bothering me for some time. I see a lot of pictures of weddings held in Catholic churches where the bride is wearing a strapless gown. I believe that it used to be a rule that bare shoulders were not allowed in church. Apparently that no longer is the case. Anyway, I think strapless dresses in church are immodest. And of course, modesty should not just apply to women, as I see half-dressed men at Mass as well.

It is true that in a lot of Protestant churches, people dress up, and in some, the women even wear hats (what happened to the rule that women should wear some sort of head covering at Mass?)

I don’t think that there should necessarily be a strict dress code, but I do think that some modesty is called for while in a house of worship. Peace be with all of you.
 
sauce said:
What is a NO Mass?

Only Protestants get dressed up for Church. And They stay all day some of them.
At Catholic Churches there’s a mad dash to the door.

Did anyone play the accordion?
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NO is shorthand for Novus Ordo, literally the new order of Mass. It’s the regular Mass you see at most parishes these days. It’s also called the ordinary form.

The “other” Mass is various called the TLM or Traditional Latin Mass or just the Latin Mass or the Extraordinary Form. Theoretically, it’s the Mass from pre-Vatican II, but something about it seems different to me.

My parish has every kind of Mass you can imagine. We have mostly NO, but we have Latin Mass at 3pm every Sunday, somedays high and somedays low. We have a signed Mass at 10:30am, we have the same guy playing the guitar since I was in high school playing at the noon Mass, except for when the teen Mass is at noon. He’s still playing but there’s a nice boy who sings and another boy who gently plays drums…nothing crazy, and if you pay attention you can avoid it. We also have a no music Mass early in the morning, so early I don’t remember what time it is, but before 8am.

OP, look around and find a parish that has a nice reverent Mass. Try different times too, because you may just be going to the wrong one. They ALL need to be reverent and reflect what’s happening but those teen Masses and even the folk Masses have degrees of yuckiness. I can tolerate the teen Mass at Holy Redeemer a lot better than the one at Assumption, and the one at Assumption a LOT better than the ones at Sacred Heart or Providence. Those two are really a last resort for me.
 
There is nothing wrong with looking for a traditional Mass because they are indeed very solemn and beautiful, but (with burning charity) if you come across SSPX, Society of Saint Pius X, they have no canonical standing in the Catholic Church; though they do celebrate Mass properly, it is illegitimate.
 
Why can’t the Pope keep the Mass on the straight and narrow? Is it really fair to say the Pope hates all the abuses of the Mass but yet they continue? If he wants them to stop why doesn’t he stop them? Why don’t the Bishops stop them?

Like, for instance, the Church can excommunicate the Society of St. Pius X and say its not a “valid Mass” or the Priests are not “validly ordained” or whatever the case may be.

Yet, all those Priests out there that are abusing the heck out of the Mass in every way immaginable they just…what? …get to continue doing that day after day?

Honestly, there is something strange going on don’t you think?
 
Josh_Elzner said:
There is nothing wrong with looking for a traditional Mass because they are indeed very solemn and beautiful, but (with burning charity) if you come across SSPX, Society of Saint Pius X, they have no canonical standing in the Catholic Church; though they do celebrate Mass properly, it is illegitimate.
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Burning charity? Sounds as if you have an axe to grind there, josh.

It might behoove us all to pray for the removal of their suspensions instead of forever pointing out that their Masses are illicit, which is what you meant, I’m sure.

There are, however, no canonical penalties for attending their Masses.
 
ProVobis said:
Burning charity? Have an axe to grind there, josh?
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ya think?😛

Josh, this is with charity–maybe not burning charity, but charity all the same: I’ll take the Cardinal’s word over yours, because,well, the Cardinal knows what he’s talking about. Do you?
 
Lisa44 said:
Yet, all those Priests out there that are abusing the heck out of the Mass in every way immaginable they just…what? …get to continue doing that day after day?

Honestly, there is something strange going on don’t you think?
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As a recent convert to the Faith Lisa, your “sensus fidei” (sense of the Faith) is quite admirable and developed.

I agree with you, they certainly are head-scratchers these points you raise.
 
I’m terribly sorry that my wording offended you guys. That’s totally my fault. I didn’t mean it that way. I’m sorry if I’m mistaken in my statement too. Forgive me. I should have kept my mouth shut.
 
Josh_Elzner said:
I’m terribly sorry that my wording offended you guys. That’s totally my fault. I didn’t mean it that way. I’m sorry if I’m mistaken in my statement too. Forgive me. I should have kept my mouth shut.
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naaaaaah, you shouldn’t keep your mouth shut, Josh. You are free to speak your mind, as we are free to speak ours. Who knows, maybe, through talking, you’ll change your opinions, or maybe you won’t. But don’t hesitate to speak your mind. Ever. Just be honest.

really.
 
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