How Is the EF Mass Doing In Your Diocese?

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The only EF in this huge Archdiocese is an indult (started as) parish that’s almost 3 hrs away from where I live. From the southern border, it’d be about 6 hours away. From the northern border of the Archdiocese it’s 4-5 hours away. Few people can afford the gas to get to it but it has grown amazingly anyway, and the MP hasn’t been spoken of much by the hierarchy. People found out tho’ 😛 and now a FSSP priest has been approved in this Archdiocese.
 
Here in the Archdiocese of Vancouver we have one FSSP personal parish devoted to the EF (the community already existed under the old indult and borrowed churches, but has since been given its own parish church). The EF has also been celebrated a few times (or more?) at a couple other parishes in the diocese. I know that my local dean personally prefers the EF, as do a few other priests in the diocese. There are a couple traditional parishes that celebrate the OF but with reception kneeling at the altar rail, some Latin, incense, chant, etc. The cathedral celebrates the OF but the 11 am on Sundays is done with traditional Latin sacred music, incense, chant, pipe organ, and optional reception at kneeling at the altar rail.
 
Brendan said:
We had an aux. bishop who regularly said the Pontifical High Mass at one of our parishes, but he was given his own See, so our loss is Lansing’s gain.
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Found out that the other auxilliary bishop in our diocese that regularly celebrates the EF Mass has just been named to a See in Minnesota. Sign. No more Pontifical High Masses.

One thing about the EF Masses in our Archdiocese, none of them are FSSP celebrated, they are all diocesan priests who took the time to learn the EF Mass.
 
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Chuy:
That’s precisely why many such places lack a sense of community. People cluster from around an area, often driving a fair distance. When they Mass is over they are anxious to get on their way.
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KathleenElsie:
Yes. That time after the Mass or Liturgy is a time to get to know your fellow parishioners. Many will hurry off to a restaurant and eat, yet they will not stay for coffee and cookies in the hall. Then they complain they don’t have the chance to meet people. Go figure.🤷
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Having a “coffee hour” (or “social hour” or “punch and cookies time” or whatever one wants to call it) after Mass (or DL) is very nice, but it’s strictly social and I fail to see a problem if folks forgo it.
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Chuy:
ADD to this the very real feeling by many who attend the EF that “punch and cookies time” isn’t important and you have a problem – one that they themselves really don’t understand.

“Punch and cookie time” is extremely important one way or the other and it takes a toll when it’s universally ignored…
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Not attending a post-liturgical social gathering is most definitely not an EF issue. In an OF territorial parish setting, my casual observation is that there are proportionally as many OF people who don’t attend the “coffee hour” as there are EF (whether in a territorial or personal parish setting) people. (The same is true, for that matter, in a variety of Eastern Rite parishes.) Maybe it’s because they would like to get home in a reasonable time. Maybe they have guests coming. Maybe it’s to prepare and eat their Sunday dinner as a family. Maybe someone is planning to visit grandma. Whether it’s a territorial or personal parish, whether it’s Roman Rite EF or OF, whether it’s Eastern Rite, whatever a person’s reason might be not to attend a social gathering is their business, not ours.

In a “personal parish” setting it’s very true that people "cluster from around an area, often driving a fair distance" and the very fact that many people make the effort (and incur the expense) to travel in order to assist at an EF service speaks volumes.
 
Brendan said:
Found out that the other auxilliary bishop in our diocese that regularly celebrates the EF Mass has just been named to a See in Minnesota. Sign. No more Pontifical High Masses.

One thing about the EF Masses in our Archdiocese, none of them are FSSP celebrated, they are all diocesan priests who took the time to learn the EF Mass.
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The fact that there are priests in the Archdiocese of Detroit who are actually offering the EF is itself amazing. Big difference from the late 60s and early 70s when “chips and coke” (and no, I am not exaggerating) etc., were all too common there. The recent trend is very encouraging.

Perhaps there will be a new auxilliary named who will take up the mantle of Bishops Boyea and Quinn. One can always hope and pray.
 
idrum677 said:
We had one weekly Sunday EF Mass pre-Motu Propio. Now, in addition to that parish, one other parish offers it every First Saturday. We are a diocese with 95 parishes. As you can see, it has not been widely accepted.
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IMHO, with one weekly Sunday EF Mass in the entire diocese, it’s not all that clear that the EF has not been widely accepted.
 
At my home diocese, there is one a week at one parish, I have never been due to it being an hours drive and it starts at 8 AM.(I like to wake up in the AM, not the PM of the night before:p )

However, I am currently at Franciscan University of Steubenville(which, by many opinions, is very charismatic) and we have a Low Mass three Saturdays out of the month, with a Sunday High Mass on the other week. It gets about 45 people at the 8AM Low Masses(which I consider pretty good for a Saturday Mass), and the High Masses are close to packed, my guess is 150-200 kids. The school, as the name implies, is run by Franciscans(TORs mostly), and there are a couple who know the Mass already, and a couple more in the process of learning. Most of the altar servers have never served an EF Mass, and many haven’t even seen or been to one. It brings me great joy.

To see the growth, last year the school had 2 High Masses, this year, combining the Low and High Masses, there will be 22.
 
malphono said:
The fact that there are priests in the Archdiocese of Detroit who are actually offering the EF is itself amazing. Big difference from the late 60s and early 70s when “chips and coke” (and no, I am not exaggerating) etc., were all too common there. The recent trend is very encouraging.

Perhaps there will be a new auxilliary named who will take up the mantle of Bishops Boyea and Quinn. One can always hope and pray.
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Yep, Cardinal Szoka laid some great groundwork for a return to the celebration of the liturgy ‘by the book’.

And Cardinal Maida, he’s not forceful by any means, but he really understands what the Vatican actually wants and actively seeks to implement it, From what I understand, Cardinal Maida and Cardinal Arinze are good friends.
 
Brendan said:
Found out that the other auxilliary bishop in our diocese that regularly celebrates the EF Mass has just been named to a See in Minnesota. Sign. No more Pontifical High Masses.

One thing about the EF Masses in our Archdiocese, none of them are FSSP celebrated, they are all diocesan priests who took the time to learn the EF Mass.
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Or the ORC’s (of which one has celebrated it on EWTN)

On a side note: I have eMailed our Pastor to see if a Low Mass could be celebrated on Saturday evening Mass once a month. We already celebrate a High Mass on Sunday and both a High and Low Mass weekdays.
 
Chuy said:
To be candid, I think his quick, decisive and generous action sorta took the wind out of the sails of some who had been lamenting the lack of EF Masses locally. They no longer have a rallying cause and the support just doesn’t seem to be there now.
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That’s such a depressing outlook if it’s true, as if people only were petitioning for the E.F. so that they could complain about unhelpful priests and bishops who wouldn’t listen to them. I think the E.F. Mass itself is a rallying point.
Chuy said:
I think it’s because the EF Masses lack a sense of community. People just take-off after Mass…
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I haven’t seen that in the two parishes where I’ve attended the E.F.
 
japhy said:
That’s such a depressing outlook if it’s true, as if people only were petitioning for the E.F. so that they could complain about unhelpful priests and bishops who wouldn’t listen to them. I think the E.F. Mass itself is a rallying point.
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Yeah it is sorta depressing – but real. My Byzantine parish is 80-90% disgruntled Latin Rite Catholics who long wished for the EF Mass. It was scary when a nice EF Mass popped-up locally – most figured the Eastern parish would be annihilated. In fact maybe 10-15% of the parishioners left.

I think my Eastern parish is now considerably healthier now too. Those that left were rabble-rousers for the most part and those that stayed seem to have made a strengthened commitment to their Eastern parish.

The lack of “punch and cookies” or understanding their significance is certainly not unique to EF Masses, but it does seem to be extremely common amongst those groups.

I sorta think you hit the nail on the head when you said “I think the E.F. Mass itself is a rallying point.” I think that manifests itself in many different ways – not all good nor healthy.
 
According to our diocese web site, there is one EF Mass, 3:30 pm Sundays.

I fear that when the Chaplain of the Latin Mass community is no longer able to do it, we may lose it. He is 84 years old now.

Our diocese covers 25 counties in Central Texas.
 
Brigadoon said:
According to our diocese web site, there is one EF Mass, 3:30 pm Sundays.

I fear that when the Chaplain of the Latin Mass community is no longer able to do it, we may lose it. He is 84 years old now.

Our diocese covers 25 counties in Central Texas.
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You should get an Anglican Use priest their. Their Mass based on the Book of Divine Worship is similar to the TLM and in English. Anglican Use parishes are getting popular in Texas.👍
 
Oue bishop, basically, has barely acknowledged the motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum. There are no Sunday EF masses in our diocese. Our parish priest has never even mentioned it - not even when it was first announced. I was dearly hoping for an EF mass, and I keep praying for a miracle, but I doubt it will happen in our diocese. 😦
 
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