I am in RCIA and will enter the Church at Easter of this year. I am in an interesting situation, my husband has just accepted a promotion and we will be moving to Northern VA outside of D.C. I am going to try and remain at our current location until after Easter so I can finish RCIA with my group and enter the Church here in KS. If I have to leave sooner I am not really sure what I will do - my RCIA director here thinks she will have me join a parish there to finish up but I don’t want to just jump in with no idea about the parish before arriving. I think we will be in the outer suburbs in the Ashburn/Leesburg/Purcellville area of VA. I would love some suggestions for parishes in that area that are fairly traditional.
Thanks!
Hey, that’s great, I’m from K.C., and am out in D.C. now, and my girlfriend lives in NoVA. Kansas was REALLY well represented at March for Life yesterday - it was awesome. Sen. Brownback and Archbishop Naumann got such long ovations that they had to wait for us,
and KU and Benedictine University had large groups front and center.
Anyways, good parishes are like McDonald’s in NoVA: they’re everywhere. I don’t know Ashburn/Leesburg/Purcellville, but I know parts of NoVA and D.C. Here’s what I’ve got from memory:
If memory serves, the first time I went to Our Lady of Angels in Woodbridge, VA, there were 2 priests officiating, a slew of deacons, and 8 or 9 (all male) altar servers, divided between older and younger boys (different robes). The young ones followed the older ones’ leads, the older ones’ followed the priest’s lead, and all of them were incredibly devout. I was actually distracted by how well they performed their duties - I’m used to the yawning, half-asleep type who don’t seem to really know or care what’s going on. After Mass, a bunch of Hispanic children went up to pray on the altar steps so that they could pray together closer to the altar. Adjacent to the Church is a perpetual adoration chapel, and I don’t think they have much trouble finding people for it.
Now, I go with my girlfriend to St. Mary’s in Alexandria. All the priests there are very orthodox and devout (although the parish is a little less lively, perhaps). One of them, a younger priest, is an excellent speaker, too, although he’s perhaps a little harsh. Still, to hear a priest talk at length on purgatory and hell is a shock to the system which I think we need.
arlingtondiocese.org/yam/_tot_audio.php - Here’s the theology on tap (ToT) program Arlington offers for the young adults in the diocese. You might listen to the priests, and if one of them catches your ear, think about moving to their parish. We’ve been blessed with some amazing priests.
web.mac.com/jrsearby/Fr._James_Searbys_Website/Podcasts/Podcasts.html - This is Fr. James Searby. He’s a local priest, and one of the older ToT speakers.
The only complaints I have with the Diocese of Arlington is that the music in most of the churches I’ve been to could use some spicing up (I don’t like half-hearted folky stuff - either go all the way “praise and worship,” or do traditional music, but
get into it!); and I wish that Bishop Loverde was a little bolder in proclaiming his message, because he’s a good bishop, and a gift from God.
In D.C. itself, I would suggest you stop into the Cathedral of St. Matthew on a weekday. I don’t know his name, but there’s a priest who does a lot of the weekday Masses who is insightful, a good speaker, and orthodox - plus, the Cathedral itself is breathtakingly beautiful. Old St. Mary’s in Chinatown has a wonderful high altar, and does weekly Latin Mass, and a monthly Latin “High Mass,” with deacons, and subdeacons, and the whole 9 yards. Finally, if you haven’t seen the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, make sure you do. I haven’t been to a Mass on the main floor yet (I was in the crypt for Ash Wednesday, fittingly), but my cousin just went a couple days ago for the Respect Life Youth Mass, and said the procession in was just an incredible sight.
Hope this helps! If you find yourself in a lukewarm parish, keep looking, because really it’s an embarrassment of riches here.
