Struggling with attending daily TLM

[giuseppeTO]

I’m going to meet a priest tomorrow for spiritual direction. Things should get much better. But I’m curious about what is your experience with daily mass and the scarcity of the TLM? How often do you go? What about when you can’t?

Paul, my solution was to pack up the family, quit my job, and move to where I was within 7 minutes of a daily TLM. As hard as that was, I can attest that after 20 years, it was the most providential decision I ever made.

To your original post, it will not enhance your spiritual life to do too much at once. I would say the Mass is the most important element of life but you have to gauge your own situation and find the balance. St. John Vianney had some similar struggles.

As for fasting for evening Mass, we typically have a High Mass on First Fridays at 7PM. I usually start my fast after lunch at 1pm on those days. It is, as Our Lord says, a sweet yoke.

 

[Mark121359]

Fortunately, I live witin a half hour drive of the National Shrine of Saint Alphonsus Liguori. And although it’s in the middle of Baltimore City, it’s well worth the effort. One of the more beautiful churches I’ve seen.

National Shrine of Saint Alphonsus Liguori | FSSP

 

[Lormar]

I experience the same when I attend the new Mass. It is vastly inferior to the old Mass in my opinion and falls far short. I have to work very hard when I’m at the new Mass because there are a multitude of distractions and not enough silence. I’m usually exhausted at the end of Mass just trying to stay focused and fighting against getting annoyed/angry/frustrated.

However, Our Lord IS there. If I were you, I would go to my local parish during the week and the TLM on Saturdays and Sundays.

Almost forgot about the awful “homilies.” Really bad. They’re worse than ever. Reading words off a sheet of paper do not make for heart-felt and sincere homilies.

 

[Lormar]

What an exquisite church, Mark. You are so very, very, very blessed. Many of us don’t have a church like that available to us even we drove hours. Churches like that don’t exist on the west coast for some reason.

 

[Sean]

We here on the east coast take for granted the beautiful churches we have.

 

[PaulDT]

Thanks for all the helpful replies. I realize it was not smart of me to start a debate about the clown thing. It’s just that in most places, wherever you go to the OF, you never know what you are going to get and that makes me very resentful, especially because I would not have come back to the faith if it wasn’t for the sacredness, mystery and historical continuity of the EF.

If I want to be honest - to get rid of most of the venerable traditions of the Roman church within a few years, and to demand respect in return, especially since the council called for the primacy of said traditions such as gregorian chant, is incredibly arrogant, insane, and would be unconceivable for any of our Eastern and Oriental brethren churches. However as christians we have to humble ourselves regardless.

All being said, I actknowledge that weekly mass in the OF is often just as sober as the low EF mass. I probably need to get used to it and realize how lucky I am to have so many services at my disposal.