Finding a “good” Catholic Church while traveling

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The FSSP has locations in Minnesota. Church of All Saints
435 4th St. NE Minneapolis, MN 55413

You might check their website.

fssp.com

FSSP Minneapolis

FSSP Minneapolis
fssp.com fssp.com

Father Saguto was pastor in Seattle at North American Martyrs; we were blessed to have him.
 
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Try this

http://www.ecclesiadei.org/masses.cfm#Minnesota

It is a solid, though not complete, listing of parishes/chapels that offer the EF Mass. Every parish listed is in good standing with the Church, and most also offer the OF if that is what you want.

Also check out Latin Mass Directory USA & Canada. These are parishes that offer OF Latin or mixed Latin/English Masses and again, most offer at least one English OF as well.

Most parishes on these lists tend to be at least somewhat more traditional and orthodox regardless of which form of the Mass they offer (though that’s not an absolute rule). Make sure that you double check Mass times as these sites are not always up to date.
 
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If you are staying at a hotel, they all have listings of the local churches they’ll be glad to share with you.

If you are driving the Pennsylvania Turnpike, there is a Catholic church between Bedford and Somerset. You can pull over to the side, and climb the steps, if you happen to be going by there on a Sunday or holy day.
 
As others have noted, Masstimes.org is a good starting point. On the website, find which Masses will fit your travel schedule and then pray to God for which Mass He would like you to attend. Let the Holy Spirit guide you to the best choice. Trust in God’s choice.
 
Wait, I know where you are talking about, are you suggesting they leave their car on the turnpike? 😳 Not sure that is a great idea…
 
I don’t know if there’s a one stop resource that catalogues parishes based on how well they follow the rubrics or how orthodox the teaching is. Barring personal recommendation you just kind of have to do a lot of guess and check.

I know there are some particular things I look for as a gauge, some of which have already been mentioned:
  • Importance of confession evidenced by the frequency it’s offered
  • Even if you’re not looking for the Extraordinary Form usually the fact that it’s offered at all tells me the Ordinary Form is likely to be very well celebrated.
  • Public celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours
  • Orthodox/traditional ministries listed on their website
  • I steer clear of any Catholic parish that refers to itself as a “Catholic Community” instead of a church.
  • I likewise steer clear of any Catholic parish that refers to its central worship service as “Eucharist” or uses the word as a verb. If they don’t call it “the Mass” they likely don’t treat it as such.
  • If the parish’s website has a link to an Instagram account or some other photo sharing take a look through it.
 
I live in a Minneapolis suburb. The difficulty with the Twin Cities is that it’s a large metro area surrounding two different cities with a sprawling set of suburbs. We have 50+ parishes and some are up to 90 minutes away from each other. If you want to mention which city/suburb you’re staying in, we could narrow down to something closer to you.

For the entire metro area, here are my suggestions. Although I certainly don’t know all of the parishes, I have been around a lot and have probably attended (at least once) about 20 over the years.

If Latin Mass is your thing, St. Augustine in South St. Paul, St. Agnes in St. Paul, and All Saints (FSSP) in Minneapolis are the mainstays. Rock solid orthodox and very traditional. There are some other very small parishes doing the Latin Mass, but they are mostly in far-flung suburbs.

The St. Paul Cathedral is very orthodox, though not traditional. As the Archbishop’s church, you will not find any heterodoxy there. It also has the best architecture in town - it was based on St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. I attended there for 10 years and know it well.

I just started attending Holy Family in St. Louis Park. Very orthodox and on the more traditional side. For example, they use the altar rail for communion - the only non-Latin Mass parish I’m aware of that does that here. The current pastor came from a long stint at the Cathedral, so orthodoxy is expected.

One thing to note if you choose Holy Family: the 5pm Sunday Mass and daily 5:30pm Mass is for Anglicans who converted (The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter). I mean, you can go to it, but be aware you might find something different than you expect 😀

There are also parishes you should avoid (based on what you’ve said). I won’t name them, but ask if you find one you’re wondering about.
 
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Thanks so much, I really appreciate your response. 🙂 We will be staying at a hotel near the Mall of America and visiting near and around US Bank Stadium. We would need a Saturday evening mass due to flight schedules.
 
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Is Latin Mass something you’re looking for? A lot of people have answered that way, but you never actually said that. If so, then I’d say All Saints in Minneapolis is an easy choice based on your locations. If not, then I will ponder.

The area around the Mall of America is a bit of a wasteland (I used to live there, but drove all the way to St. Paul due to lack of great suburban parishes). Minneapolis has a wide variety of parishes, including some you will certainly want to avoid.
 
Irishmom2 said:
Wait, I know where you are talking about, are you suggesting they leave their car on the turnpike? 😳 Not sure that is a great idea…
Click to expand...
The Pennsylvania Turnpike isn’t an ordinary limited access interstate highway, you are welcome to pull over to the extra wide shoulders and people do it all the time. Some places along the pike, there are picnic tables.

People have been pulling over for the turnpike church since the road was built, they have steps that go up to it.
 
I teach the children that when they are traveling to ask the following questions;
Where is/are the Catholic Church in this area?
What is/are the mass schedule?
and if you will be there often it might help to ask also, “What time/where is confession”
 
We really have to avoid splitting the Catholic Church folks. The time for unity is now. Let’s not call one Catholic Church bad and one good.
 
@sarahraegraham, unfortunately, All Saints doesn’t have a Saturday evening Vigil mass.

I looked at places that do have one on Saturday near your locations and I’ve got three parishes for you to consider which I think you’d be happy with…

Near Mall Of America: St. Peters in Mendota Heights at 5pm

Downtown Minneapolis:

Basilica of St. Mary at 5pm (grand, beautiful architecture)

Our Lady of Lourdes at 5pm (this is a beautiful little French church which is the oldest continuously used church in Minneapolis)
 
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