Low Church Catholics

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I have heard the term used often to delineate the way that different parishes celebrate mass.

There seem to be many parishes that execute the liturgy quite casually, that only use modern worship songs, where the priest never chants any of the dialogue nor Eucharistic prayer, and where the choir is dressed in casual attire rather than robes I discovered recently that in many parishes incense is only used once or twice a year, and others where sanctus bells are not rung.

Though I don’t use the term “Low church” myself, for many people it is convenient shorthand to describe an execution of liturgy that they either like or loathe.
 
cothrige said:
I certainly know many Catholics, including a few priests, who reject much of Catholicism, both openly and privately. Many liturgical celebrations I have seen would be quite at home in the low Anglican churches I visited in my childhood. Sadly, there are actually many low church Catholics and Catholic parishes. If the OP does some searching it should not be too hard to find them.
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You’re right. In fact in London many recently arrived European Catholics not understanding the distinction between the Anglican and Catholic churches sometimes attend the Anglican church mistakenly (I am not even talking about Anglo-Catholic or High Anglican churches but MOTR central Anglican worship). When they are directed to the Catholic church down the road, they find the liturgy there much “lower”.
 
liturgyluver said:
You’re right. In fact in London many recently arrived European Catholics not understanding the distinction between the Anglican and Catholic churches sometimes attend the Anglican church mistakenly (I am not even talking about Anglo-Catholic or High Anglican churches but MOTR central Anglican worship). When they are directed to the Catholic church down the road, they find the liturgy there much “lower”.
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That experience is sadly true here in the States as well. I left the Anglican Church some fifteen years ago and had to give up much in the way of traditional worship in order to become Catholic, and our church was also not what one would normally call high or anglo-catholic. But, we left behind the altar rails and all that went with it (i.e. kneeling, etc), bells and incense and even properly reverent vestments to participate instead in a much more Protestant-like experience. I used to tell people that the hard thing about becoming Catholic was leaving behind Catholic worship. It is a strange world we live in. 🤷
 
Thank God in his providence I was able to avoid such after just one or two experiences - as impious as it is, I would have remained Orthodox despite my misgivings with some of their theology, or have become an SSPX schismatic, if I had no option but such Protestantized, stripped-down services. A worship service that does not lift the heart and elevate it to the divine, to worship, is of little use.
 
liturgyluver said:
You’re right. In fact in London many recently arrived European Catholics not understanding the distinction between the Anglican and Catholic churches sometimes attend the Anglican church mistakenly (I am not even talking about Anglo-Catholic or High Anglican churches but MOTR central Anglican worship). When they are directed to the Catholic church down the road, they find the liturgy there much “lower”.
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My mother, whose father was raised English Anglican, told me that you can always tell a Protestant church from a Catholic church because there are no stations of the cross. Is this true?
 
LongJourney said:
My mother, whose father was raised English Anglican, told me that you can always tell a Protestant church from a Catholic church because there are no stations of the cross. Is this true?
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No, if you mean to include Anglican churches.

GKC
 
LongJourney said:
WOW!! That IS high church! I thought she was going on information from her father.
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If the intent was to say that Anglican churches never have Stations, it’s incorrect. As most generalizations about Anglicans are. Some have Stations, some don’t. Some have Mary shrines, most don’t. Some have a sung* Angelus* after Mass, most don’t. Most have tabernacles or aumbries, some don’t. Etc.

OTOH, if the intent was not to speak of Anglicans, then no comment.

GKC

Anglicanus-Catholicus
 
GKC said:
If the intent was to say that Anglican churches never have Stations, it’s incorrect. As most generalizations about Anglicans are. Some have Stations, some don’t. Some have Mary shrines, most don’t. Some have a sung* Angelus* after Mass, most don’t. Most have tabernacles or aumbries, some don’t. Etc.

Anglicanus-Catholicus
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I get your meaning. American Episcopalians are too low, and when they see that, the drift towards Roman Catholicism (to respect your position) becomes inevitable. Now I understand why her father and his family were in support of her marrying a Catholic and eventual conversion.

Perhaps also a factor in why his family got homesick for England and went back before he was born. His mother was very religious.
 
LongJourney said:
I get your meaning. American Episcopalians are too low, and when they see that, the drift towards Roman Catholicism (to respect your position) becomes inevitable. Now I understand why her father and his family were in support of her marrying a Catholic and eventual conversion.

Perhaps also a factor in why his family got homesick for England and went back before he was born. His mother was very religious.
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Not exactly. My descriptions above are for Anglicans in general, not a contrast between US Episcopalians and some standard assumed for CoE Anglicans. Amongst Anglicans, in general, you will find, with respect to ritual, as low as one might imagine, and also nose-bleed high folk.

My brief explanation (history requires a far more detailed one) is that, in general, to generalize about Anglicans will be, generally, inaccurate. That is to say…

Anglicans are a motley crew.

GKC
 
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