Living a traditional Catholic life without a trad parish?

[Megan7]

OP, before you begin to feel put off by harsh comments, there are two things you should know:

1. CAF’s Traditional Catholic forum is not a traditionalist forum, so you won’t find a lot of people commiserating.
2. Secondly, we have a long history of debating over certain issues such as, OF vs. EF (pitting of the two forms are not allowed).

So please do not be dismayed if you start to get certain type of responses.

Regarding the FSSP chapel, not being a parish, I know of an FSSP chapel that actually has a school that parents can send their kids to if they don’t want to send them to public school or if they don’t want to home school… So one does not have to be in a parish to have a school.

I would recommend supplementing at home if you don’t like the confirmation class…

Welcome to the forum!

Nicely said:thumbsup:
God bless.

 

[Megan7]

Sorry to sound mean, but people in OF parishes can’t live traditional lives? I find that ludicrous. Heck, come to the Lincoln Diocese, I think it does a wonderful job. Our OF masses are very orthodox and moving and we only have one traditional parish that I know of. I guess as someone who’s only real option is an OF mass I find it a little off that you think you can’t live a traditional catholic lifestyle without it.

That being said, I kind of understand where you are coming from since you attended an FSSP parish. Change can be hard, but there are wonderful people in OF parishes who are orthodox.

Benjammin, you live in a very unique place. Lincoln is a very special city!
I have read a lot about the city and people are very faithful, kind & loving.
When they had the Pro Life HHS rally/meeting (can’t remember the name of it??)

Protestants & people of other Faiths came together in support
of the Catholic Church!
So, you are in a very nice place! It might be a bit different where the OP lives,
things might not be quite the same Lets try to be a bit understanding of others
needs & maybe give them the benefit of the doubt…

God bless
Pax

To:
OP : WELCOME to the forum and sorry if any of these posts upset you in any
way. Please do not let it get to you!
God bless you!

 

[thebookofesther]

The only thing that matters is Jesus.

 

[benjammin]

Benjammin, you live in a very unique place. Lincoln is a very special city!
I have read a lot about the city and people are very faithful, kind & loving.
When they had the Pro Life HHS rally/meeting (can’t remember the name of it??)

Protestants & people of other Faiths came together in support
of the Catholic Church!
So, you are in a very nice place! It might be a bit different where the OP lives,
things might not be quite the same Lets try to be a bit understanding of others
needs & maybe give them the benefit of the doubt…

God bless
Pax

Thank you. We’re very blessed to have such a wonderful diocese. In fact most of our diocese’s in the region (Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Sioux City, Des Moines, KCK) are pretty good as far as orthodoxy and promoting catholic culture are concerned.

BTW, i understand i’m in a unique place, but what i’m saying is that in every parish you can find your more orthodox circles. Just look around for people.
:

 

[jeannetherese]

Thanks but for us the educational requirements for the Sacraments aren’t relevant since our DD was baptized in the Orthodox Church. She’s already been chrismated and received her First Communion. That’s not to say that we do not intend to send her to CCD but that she won’t be required to in order to receive First Communion or Confirmation. My intention was to discussion the community associated with a parish. In theory, we should be able to go to Mass with our neighbors but for those of us who want to attend the Latin Mass that is usually not possible. Latin Mass communities and parishes are usually not made up of people who live in the same neighborhoods.

I don’t think any of us (I guess with the exception of true hermits) can live a truly Catholic life all by ourselves. Can the Latin Mass provide a community where we can have support in raising our children in the faith if it’s just the Mass?

I wonder if there are any Catholic scouting or homeschooling communities in your area? If so, these may provide you with previously established communities to explore.
Another possibility might be to talk to the priest at your apostolate about starting some sort of group: bible study, catechesis, weekly/monthly socials/prayer/adoration meetups.
Your priest may know of a few other people who share your interests and be able to facilitate introductions.
If you think of some of the ways that home schooling communities or parishes at large, work to support members, this might give you a starting point. You might also work to maintain relationships with friends/from your sending community so that your family wil have an online/distance community as well. It can be so wrenching to leave established relationships and start fresh.
May God bless you and your family and help you to meet and become part of a supportive faith filled community. Amen.

 

[Faithdancer]

Thanks. Exactly. It’s not a parish. It’s not a chapel either. I’m not sure exactly what it is in a canonical sense. They refer to themselves as a “community.”

Years ago when the FSSP church I used to attend was made a parish by the parish I didn’t know why that was important because I didn’t understand that there is canonical law associated with “parish.” Basically as it was explained to me, a parish has some kind of legal status. A bishop can’t just close it down easily.

And thanks for the kind words. This why I don’t usually communicate with people online. Nuances are missed and motives are read into what is written that aren’t helpful to anyone. There’s nothing I’ve written here that could be construed to be anti-OF or against people who attend the OF. In fact, we usually attend the OF. I’m disappointed that was automatically assumed without giving the benefit of the doubt.

I understood your post perfectly well, and understand that you weren’t denigrating the OF form in any way. There are some though, who are quick to take offense at any perceived slight against the OF, even where none was intended. This in spite of the fact that most of us attend the OF Mass, perforce or otherwise. Anyway, rest assured that your motives and intent were not misunderstood by the more rational minds here.

 

[Faithdancer]

The OP is referring to the new FSSP chapel, when she says it isn’t a “real parish”.

Yeah, I got that right off as well.

 

[Tired_Mama]

meaning ?

It’s an admittedly poor paraphasing of the saying “lex orandi, lex credendi” which loosely translates to “the law of prayer is the law of belief.” As for what it means, essentially if you change how you pray you will change what people believe.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

It’s an admittedly poor paraphasing of the saying “lex orandi, lex credendi” which loosely translates to “the law of prayer is the law of belief.” As for what it means, essentially if you change how you pray you will change what people believe.

Very true, but how we pray is much more than the form of the Mass. There have been great sinners and great Saints all through the history of the Church no matter what form or rite of the Mass they attended (or said).

Our interior life is built from our practices. Let’s go back to post 19 when Tarpeian Rock said:

For purposes of the OP’s question, I wonder if it would be useful to re-think what “traditional” might mean. To my way of thinking, the better definition would have more to do with things Jesus specifically told us to do (one example being Matthew 25), as opposed to what form of the Liturgy one preferred. Viewed that way, living a “traditional” Catholic life would tie to how one lived their life (as directed by Jesus) and not the form of one’s worship one hour a week.

We fill our vessels with oil from our prayer life, our deeds, and from the sacraments - but the sacrament in question is the Eucharist, not the rubrics of the Mass.

 

[Tired_Mama]

Very true, but how we pray is much more than the form of the Mass. There have been great sinners and great Saints all through the history of the Church no matter what form or rite of the Mass they attended (or said).

Our interior life is built from our practices. Let’s go back to post 19 when Tarpeian Rock said:

We fill our vessels with oil from our prayer life, our deeds, and from the sacraments - but the sacrament in question is the Eucharist, not the rubrics of the Mass.

When I read the post you refer to my first thought was that I can’t imagine reading something like that on an Orthodox forum. (Orthodox meaning the Eastern Orthodox Church) Of course I know this isn’t an Orthodox forum but I still think that says a lot. (at least to me and I think to most traditional Catholics).

I don’t want to get into an EF versus OF discussion so I’ll leave with a link to a series of homilies preached by a diocesan priest about why it’s so important the Holy Father brought the Latin Mass back. latinmass.com/whythelatinmassnow.html

 

[MissRose73]

Outside of Mass attendance, I do some reading and various types of prayers & devotions including Eucharistic Adoration. I wish I lived much closer to the parish that does the EF on Sunday afternoons but as long as the weather is favorable, the 40 miles each way I have to drive is worth it for me for the EF. Once the weather turns to winter like, then I have to go to a local OF Mass.

 

[St_Donatus]

I feel for Tired Mama and I can understand her concern. Statistically 90% of Catholic youth discontinue Church attendance by the time they are college age. Obviously there is something wrong there. But youth that belong to EF parishes have a much lower rate, from what I have seen it is about 20% or less. One must ask why that is the case. I wouldn’t say it is the mass necessarily but there is something happening at EF parishes that must not be happening at most NO parishes. I know that I have been trying to find a NO parish in my diocese where the mass has at least some of the reverence of the EF masses I have seen. On top of that, the FSSP priest says what needs to be said about sin, its effect on us, the danger of hell, that there are many Mortal Sins most Catholics regularly participate in (such as not going to church on every Sunday and Holy day). He also works with the youth and assigns volunteers to do the same. Unlike the NO parishes in my diocese with a see of gray hair, 70% of the congregation is under 40.

We need to figure out what is working at these EF parishes and make these necessary changes in NO parishes.

My recommendation is the same as another above, if you can’t find an NO parish where you feel the spirituality is up to what God and Pope Benedict expects of us, talk to the priest at the FSSP parish you found and see what is available and if not available, try to start a brunch after mass.

God Bless your efforts.

 

[chancvn]

In what way do you and the others plan to respond to the question posed by the OP? Do you currently attend (or want to attend) a parish which celebrates the Extraordinary Form, and do you homeschool your children? This is what the OP’s question refers to. I at least attempted to answer her question, while others here just want to criticize. It’s not very nice.

I believe that we are all catholics as Br. Dave said. There’s only one Catholic Church, one people. Some like to remain secluded like the Vietnamese community, the Mexican community, the Korean community and even the “traditional” community that only attend the traditional Tridentine Mass. And those families that home school their children (even more traditional or conservative). Fine, my brothers and sisters in Christ. These “labels” cause divide and by the way you go on, also cause division. Our responsibilities as parents are to be the first catechists to our children, regardless of where they might take catechism classes.
Therefore, our job is to do everything possible to help our children ENCOUNTER JESUS and turn them into disciples of Jesus Christ. By the way, that is the purpose of catechism as redefined by Vatican II. Hence, we need to give them the exposure to very good prayer experiences like adoration, talks by good religious to help increase love and devotion to the saints, especially Mary (rosary), other forms of meditation including meditating on God’s wonderful creation in natural surroundings (camping and hiking), good catholic conferences, meet and get to know some religious and most of all regular reception of the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist. We want to always put our focus in JESUS, who is God, who is the Way, the Truth, the Life. We want to rise to the level of living ON Jesus, depending on His Body and Blood to live more than the food we eat. Total dependence, Total Trust and Total surrender to His Will and the movements of His Holy Spirit.
Jesus I give you my all. Amen.

 

[KnightsAltar]

Pardon my ignorance, but, no sense of community at a local parish, traditional or not, seems like the problem rests in the poster, not the Church. But more concerning to me, this sounds like Schism, like the one between East and West, some hundreds of years ago, can’t we all play together and be nice?
pax