Thanks for the recommedation Alex.
My wife and I went to St. Peter and Paul yesterday. Definitely one of the best Ordinary Use Masses that I’ve been to.
The Church was beautiful.
The priest had a good homily and prayed the Mass devoutly. Although it wasn’t ad orientem, his posture and reverence and the candles and the crucifix on the altar gave an ad orientem feel to it.
People were modestly dressed, and given the priest’s announcement at the end of Mass and the signs posted in the Church, it seems like they’ve been working on this with excellent results.
The hymns, although quite lackluster and OCP type, were done in a way which didn’t take away from the reverence of the Mass, and the cantor was up in the choir loft, out of site, so I was neutral on the music.
There was quite a bit of Latin (kind of like EWTN Mass).
There was a priest hearing confessions during Mass, and a long line for it, and I saw a couple people after Mass approach Father for Confession as well, so there seems to be some attention on that sacrament at this parish.
One thing I found quite strange, and is probably due to the heavy handedness of the Bishop of Orange, was that half the people stood from the Agnus Dei on while the other half knelt, I of course knelt.
Overall, a good experience, would have preferred an Extraordinary Use Mass, but didn’t leave feeling like I did not properly worship the Lord, such as has happened at other Ordinary Use parishes.
I can see how much of a positive effect the Extraordinary Use has on the Ordinary Use by priests who celebrate both Uses (as the Norbertine Fathers who run this parish do).
