I voted 0-3, because while I am indeed moving in the Traditional direction, I’m possibly not fully there yet.
I was born in '65, so by the time I was fully cognizant of what was going on around me, the Pauline Mass – in English – had fully taken hold. I remember the altar at the church I went to had an abstract geometric design, and the Crucifix over the altar, IIRC, was somewhat abstract – actually rather primitive.
I went to Catholic schools, all taught by laypeople. I remember religion classes, and prayers before school, but that’s about it – other than First Confession/Communion (Grade I) and Confirmation (Grade VI); our training for these Sacraments seemed to me more about where to stand and what to say, rather than any of the theology behind them.
In Grade VII I went to school with the Irish Christian Brothers (Br Edmund Rice’s order). On the one hand it seemed more Catholic, and on the other hand less so. The school was over 100 years old, there were pictures all over the place of bishops Mullock, Holland, Fleming and other historical prelates who led Catholic Newfoundlanders once the Anglicans allowed Catholic worship there. There was a chapel in the school which I believe hadn’t been “updated” since the school was built, the Brothers roamed the halls in cassocks, and corporal punishment was frequent and often arbitrary. Unfortunately, the school seemed to place emphasis on sports, academics, and faith, in that order (if faith was there at all). This was also at the time of the Mt Cashel scandal, and a number of the Brothers ended up in court – and subsequently in prison – for abuse.
Grade X-XI saw me in a Jesuit school. While the school seemed more “Vatican II” than the Brothers’ school did, I remember there was a bigger focus on prayer and spirituality. I remember far more frequent prayers (Not just Paternoster/Ave/Gloria, but Angelus, Magnificat, or feastday-centered prayers), prayer assemblies, and frequent masses at the attached Church. And less beatings.
I really fell away when I hit university – I was 16 and the Church was replaced as an interest by beer and women. Over the next 20 years or so I kind of hung on the periphery, floating in and out, as far as things like Church attendance were concerned. Also, my views were definitely liberal on the one hand but oddly bigoted (anti-Protestant) on the other.
It’s only since coming to these forums, engaging in many conversations (and the odd temper-tantrum) that I have begun to settle back into the Church. My view on Church law and rubrics is gradually drifting further and further to the conservative side with regard to such things as the rubrics of Mass, the Catechism, etc. I realize now that some of the things I had seen in Mass are considered abuses (priest sitting in the congregation, changing the words of prayers, skipping whole parts of the Mass – including the Gospel). Yet despite the fact that the Pauline Mass seems more vulnerable to abuse (whether that’s due to the Mass itself, which I don’t believe, or due to the actions and mindsets of the priests who came out at the same time, which I do), I have also been to Masses where the atmosphere was solemn and reverent, the priest never once deviated from the Missal, and there was always the distinct air of sanctity about the priest, his office, and his preaching. I recently attended a Novus Ordo Mass – in Latin – sung by the Oratorians of St Philip Neri, and I felt the exact same things there.
I don’t believe, as some Traditionalists have opined, that you can’t be friends with a priest, or call them by their first name if they invite you to (with the title “Father”, of course). While I can accept EENS, I do not hold to the Feeneyite position – especially since not even the Church will say who is in Hell; I believe the Lord will save whom He will, our interpretations of “submission to the Roman Pontiff” notwithstanding.
My beliefs are evolving as I grow older and learn more and more about my Church. I do not know if I will ever become a Douay-Rheims-totin’ Latin-speakin’ Baltemore-Catechismin’ Gregorian-chantin’ Fifteen-Mystery-Rosary-slingin’ Traditionalist Mick, but who knows?
John
