I live in the diocese of Arlington, and absolutely love it! Besides being a beautiful area, it has an immense amount of American history, great schools, a booming local economy, is very diverse, and… WASHINGTON DC, one of the nations greatest cities (well, as long as you stay on the west side
). I would recommend Northern Virginia to anyone regardless of religion.
However, Catholics happen to be in luck! Bishop Loverde is a great bishop. He confirmed me a few years ago, and has done great things for the diocese. He is not a traditionalist, per se, but is sympathetic; he allowed for three different “indult” parishes a few years BEFORE summorum pontificum came out, and there are quite a few priests in the diocese who can say the TLM.
arlingtondiocese.org/
pretty much every parish has a good elementary school and middle school. Some that stand out:
Seton Junior/High school in Manassas, founded by Dr. Anne Carroll, wife of
Warren Carroll, of whom you may have heard. From its Website:
Seton Junior-Senior High School is an accredited, private, co-educational school operated by Catholic laymen dedicated to promoting the established tradition of Catholic secondary education. We teach orthodox, traditional Catholicism, in complete harmony with the Magisterium of the Catholic Church as taught by the Holy Father. We stress individual attention, high academic standards, high standards of conduct, close cooperation with parents, a family atmosphere and activities available to all students.
I work with two people who went to school at Seton, and can personally attest to the wonderful formation that goes on there.
Pope John Paul the Great High School in Dumfries, VA (MY TOWN, and the oldest incorporated town in VA:thumbsup: ), which is brand new this year. It is staffed by the
Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, the so called ‘Nashville Dominicans.’ They are ALWAYS in full habit! The new chaplain of this high school is in residence at my own parish, and a few of the sisters attend solemn mass there, and i can personally attest to their general awesomeness.
To give you a good perception of how important this school is, the Holy Father himself blessed the school’s new tabernacle during his mass at National’s Stadium in DC.
Christendom College in Front Royal, VA, a conservative Catholic liberal arts college, founded and until recently, led by Warren Carroll, (the one whose wife founded Seton). I like to think of it as the Catholic Bob Jones
Not every parish has one, but a number of them do. The priest who ran the former
‘Dappled Things’ blog, which was popular among traditionalists, is from the Diocese of Arlington. I do not know off the top of my head which parishes have TLMs. Also, between 20-45 minutes away from most parts of the diocese is
St. Mary Mother of God parish in downtown DC, which offers the TLM and has been featured in many
news casts about it.
Also, just a short trip away in DC is the AMAZING, BEAUTIUFL, UNBELEIVEABLE
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, on the campus of Catholic University. It is the largest Catholic church in the western hemisphere, and the most beautiful I have ever seen besides St. Peter’s. And to give you some perspective, i have lived in Europe, and have been inside such majestic places such as the cathedral at Cologne, Notre Dame and Sacre-Coeur in Paris, and St Peter’s and the Sistine Chapel in Rome… This is where the Holy Father visited and held solemn vespers while in DC. He seemed to love it
. The rector also dedicated one of the chapels to the TLM after Summorum Pontificum’s release, but recently the
TLMs have had to move out to the Crypt Church because of the crowds
My parish does a solemn mass every sunday, with incense, the Salve Regina recited afterwards, beautiful vestments, and they are starting up both a women’s and a men’s schola to compliment the mass. All the priests and seminarians wear cassocks. This very last sunday, the Pastor gave a thirty minute talk after mass about proper reverence during mass, and
quoted at length from the GIRM.
All the churches i’ve had experience here offer confessions at least for an hour or two on saturday and a few times a week. Some offer it daily, some others before a mass on sunday. Its always there if you need it.
Its there at a few parishes. I left my old parish, a Franciscan parish, because of this issue. But it is less controlled by the diocese, since it is religious. I think most churches that do have that type of music have it only in one mass, so that
those people can get what they want, i guess.
haven’t seen any.
(already discussed)
This is Bishop Bishop Paul S. Loverde; he’d love to see you in Arlington!
