The Traditional Catholic Life?

[Dempsey1919]

What is the life of a traditional Catholic like?

Let’s imagine that it is 1955. You come from a family of devout Catholics and you strive to live your life according to the teachings of the Church.

What is your life like?
What is your Church like?
Do you practice any devotions?

How was Catholic life different before Vatican II and the sexual revolution? What were the unique hallmarks that made up Catholic identity?

Did any of you have May altars in your homes?
Did you have shrines in your gardens?
Did you have a “Mary” garden?

I think contemporary Catholics are suffering an identity crisis. We have lost our identity. I hope to see a restoration of Catholic culture and identity. I want to see priests who are not afraid to teach the faith from the pulpit. I want to see Catholic politicians who aren’t afraid to support pro-life issues. I wish Catholics would proudly express their faith in public. I want to know about the way Catholics lived in the past, so that we can re-claim some of the things we lost.

 

[JustaServant]

What is the life of a traditional Catholic like?

Let’s imagine that it is 1955. You come from a family of devout Catholics and you strive to live your life according to the teachings of the Church.

What is your life like?
What is your Church like?
Do you practice any devotions?

How was Catholic life different before Vatican II and the sexual revolution? What were the unique hallmarks that made up Catholic identity?

Did any of you have May altars in your homes?
Did you have shrines in your gardens?
Did you have a “Mary” garden?

I think contemporary Catholics are suffering an identity crisis. We have lost our identity. I hope to see a restoration of Catholic culture and identity. I want to see priests who are not afraid to teach the faith from the pulpit. I want to see Catholic politicians who aren’t afraid to support pro-life issues. I wish Catholics would proudly express their faith in public. I want to know about the way Catholics lived in the past, so that we can re-claim some of the things we lost.

I was born in '61, so I really can’t tell you. But I would love to see Catholic culture return to the basics and traditions of the Church.
I guess I relate more to an earlier generation than to baby boomers.
Heck, I have more jazz CDs than rock and roll.

 

[Seamus_L]

Great question, which hopefully will generate alot of responses.
Even though I was not yet born, I know enough from relatives, my elders and books to immediately say, that Catholic life in those days, totally revolved around the church, which was usually in walking distance. The church was not for Sundays and Holy Days, but for every single day of the year.

 

[JustaServant]

Great question, which hopefully will generate alot of responses.
Even though I was not yet born, I know enough from relatives, my elders and books to immediately say, that Catholic life in those days, totally revolved around the church, which was usually in walking distance. The church was not for Sundays and Holy Days, but for every single day of the year.

And many times the priest was a guest in the homes of his parishioners.
I remember walking into my aunt’s home and all around were images and statues that left no question you had walked into a Catholic home.

 

[Dempsey1919]

Do any of you remember what your faith life was like before Vatican II? Please share your memories with us younger Catholics who wish to reclaim an authentic and unique Catholic culture that will sustain our families for the next generation.

 

[Jacafamala]

What is the life of a traditional Catholic like?

Let’s imagine that it is 1955. You come from a family of devout Catholics and you strive to live your life according to the teachings of the Church.

What is your life like?
What is your Church like?
Do you practice any devotions?

How was Catholic life different before Vatican II and the sexual revolution? What were the unique hallmarks that made up Catholic identity?

Did any of you have May altars in your homes?
Did you have shrines in your gardens?
Did you have a “Mary” garden?

I think contemporary Catholics are suffering an identity crisis. We have lost our identity. I hope to see a restoration of Catholic culture and identity. I want to see priests who are not afraid to teach the faith from the pulpit. I want to see Catholic politicians who aren’t afraid to support pro-life issues. I wish Catholics would proudly express their faith in public. I want to know about the way Catholics lived in the past, so that we can re-claim some of the things we lost.

I only know what I heard told from my parents and my father in law. They had real Catholic schools back then, Catholic Colleges were very Catholic. And parochial schools were very, very cheap. Most Catholic kids went to them. The classes were huge, like about 70 kids to a class. Everyone behaved or else. The kids all walked to school, and this was in Brooklyn, where both my mother and father grew up… It was safe to do in the 40’s and 50’s. No one worried about something happening to them. The delivery boy used to bring food from the store daily to my grandmother’s house on a bicycle.

The Infant of Prague was big back then, most of the women in my Irish family kept the Holy Child on their dresser.

They used to do the May crowning in school and they’d sing all the Marian songs,
“O, Mary we crown you with blossoms today…”
Every girl wanted to be picked to crown the Blessed Mother.

The Irish went to an Irish church, the Italians went to an Italian church and so on. After Mass they’d go get brunch from the Jewish deli.

My father in law grew up in Pennsylvania. Both his parents were Polish immigrants and lived directly across the street from the Polish parish. The family had ten kids, many of whom shared beds. They lived in a row house. It was during prohibition era, so the men drank moonshine. The mother made all her girls dresses from scratch. She made everything from scratch… Pretzels, birch beer, everything. She was a third order Franciscan. Very saintly.

You know, my take on it is that they had it so good back then, they didn’t really appreciate or understand how good it was. They didn’t have all the depravity polluting the culture.I think in a way now we have that over them; we know how bad things can get so we appreciate reverence at Mass and things done right much more. Way back then, they didn’t know anything but.

 

[Kielbasi]

How was Catholic life different before Vatican II and the sexual revolution?

I can see you aren’t from America, but another factor in the 1950’s here was the large number of Catholic immigrants that were still alive in that era and brought their customs and traditions from eastern Europe, Italy and other nations.

The deaths of the Catholic forefathers who made the trip to Ellis Island at the start of the 20th century occurred simultaneously with V II and the sexual revolution.

The Americanization of the children of the immigrants got a lot of the Catholic ethnic practices and devotions shoved aside for a more common American Catholicism and this hasn’t yet totally sorted itself out I don’t think.

 

[Jacafamala]

And many times the priest was a guest in the homes of his parishioners.
I remember walking into my aunt’s home and all around were images and statues that left no question you had walked into a Catholic home.

That’s exactly how it is in my home today.

Lol, and we never know when Father’s coming over. I wish he’d call first. It’s a little unnerving, but I digress.

 

[PJM]

=Dempsey1919;5125254]What is the life of a traditional Catholic like?

Let’s imagine that it is 1955. You come from a family of devout Catholics and you strive to live your life according to the teachings of the Church.

What is your life like? Well for me I’m in a Catholic Orphanage. So daily Mass, Catholic School, the rosary, weekly Benediction, morning, evening and meal prayers are a way of life. Alos if you were a boy (I was ans still am) you were an altar boy. Sunday Catechesim class (The Baltimore Catechesism!)

What is your Church like?

We went to the Bicilla in Marquette Michigan. I was even able to serve the Bishop every week or so. He would ask us a Catchesim question after Mass and if we got ir right he gave us a piece of candy.

Do you practice any devotions?

Benediction and the Rosary. In Lent also the Sations of the Cross.

How was Catholic life different before Vatican II and the sexual revolution? What were the unique hallmarks that made up Catholic identity?

Catholics were informed, loyal to Rome, Bishop and priest without question or doubts, We practiced the Faith we knew, and lived Moral lives.

I remember the “discussion” that I was GIVEN when the nuns found out I had kissed a
girl. I was twelve, and she got it worst than I did!

Did any of you have May altars in your homes?

We had a “May Pole”, rosary and devotions.

I think contemporary Catholics are suffering an identity crisis. We have lost our identity. I hope to see a restoration of Catholic culture and identity. I want to see priests who are not afraid to teach the faith from the pulpit. I want to see Catholic politicians who aren’t afraid to support pro-life issues. I wish Catholics would proudly express their faith in public. I want to know about the way Catholics lived in the past, so that we can re-claim some of the things we lost.

Oh my, what has Vatican II done. But it’s not the fault of Vatican II. Darn near all of the changes were figments of the mystical “spirt of V-II” not required and not even desired by the Pope and the Magistrium!

Was it Paul VI who said the “smoke of Satan has entered our Church?” Amen! And we are
paying the price wrought of deleberate disobedience by many who thought they knew more and knew better.

God win’s the war, but He sure seems to have lost this battle!:bigyikes::whacky:

Thanks for the walk down memory lane

 

[JustaServant]

This is a great thread and I’d like to see other’s thoughts on this.
It relates somewhat to the thread I started.

 

[Dempsey1919]

**How many of you were invested in the Brown Scapular during your First Communion?
**
I have recently heard of this traditional practice and was wondering if any of you know about it?

Do you think it would be a good idea to re-introduce this practice?

 

[ConservativeOne]

Do any of you remember what your faith life was like before Vatican II? Please share your memories with us younger Catholics who wish to reclaim an authentic and unique Catholic culture that will sustain our families for the next generation.

Bravo, Dempsey - on that initial post - Well said !
Do I remember my life pre-Vatican II? Yes. I remember reverence in Church. There was no talking and waving before, during or after Mass. Sometimes now, a Church sounds like a meeting hall.
I remember Sunday Mass was Sunday Mass. Not Saturday night. Do the Yankees hold a pre-games/pre-playoffs if you can’t get to the Sunday game?**
**I remember Catholic school: Every class had an assigned “Mass Day”, **required once a week. Mondays, after lunch - there was Rosary in the Church. Does any Catholic school follow these practices now? (And I remember if I leaned back / semi-sitting on the pew while kneeling, a nun would give me a solid push on the back to kneel up straight!)

I remember there was less trash on TV (I can’t say it any better). While this has nothing to do with Church, it has everything to do with the fact that Catholics / Christians accept rather than reject this. Entertainers - were entertainers. Anything less was shunned by decent people - now it’s applauded/accepted all day everyday on TV. (My cable company is clueless as to what EWTN is - and they charge for it. Tell you anything?)

**I remember when statues and holy images were a part of the inside of a Church **(now, many have been removed). My own house was filled with them displayed unashamedly. There wasn’t a second thought about displaying Crucifixes and holy images - whereas other families might be more apt to display photos and knick-knacks. I have a “Mary garden”, as you call it. But we didn’t say the Family Rosary - and wish we had.

As to before and after Vatican II, it’s sad. **I remember novenas **were a regular thing, once - usually well-attended in evenings. Even after Vatican II I remember a better-attended novena than is now the case. Barely a handful of people (if novena is offered at all). Again, one can’t help but wonder - aside from the elderly or homebound - where are Catholics today? Watching TV - at the movies - sports events - concerts. Not to mention, you WILL see better turnout for Church-run functions like dinners, etc., than for religious functions. All these things have their time and place - but to see Church attendance - be it Mass or Novenas drop to the point it has - the answer is we all must return to something from days gone by. But prayer - where are we? A Novena is not an old-fashioned thing. A Rosary (which BTW yours truly doesn’t say often enough) may not even be promoted by the priests, and it should be.

IT IS FROM THE PULPIT - FROM OUR PRIESTS - that we got much of our instruction, constructive criticism and lessons on how to better exercise our Faith. It didn’t have to be fire and brimstone. Just a good sermon. From prelates to parents to lukewarm Catholics - we all must change soon not just for the next generation - but for our own souls…That’s the answer. Sadly, **I also remember when Churches could keep their doors open all the time - day or night. Times have changed and vandalism has forced many to lock their doors when there’s no service.
(Have I covered everything? Sorry for running on but I DO remember when.)

 

[Jacafamala]

Bravo, Dempsey - on that initial post - Well said !
Do I remember my life pre-Vatican II? Yes. I remember reverence in Church. There was no talking and waving before, during or after Mass. Sometimes now, a Church sounds like a meeting hall.
I remember Sunday Mass was Sunday Mass. Not Saturday night. Do the Yankees hold a pre-games/pre-playoffs if you can’t get to the Sunday game?****
**I remember Catholic school: Every class had an assigned “Mass Day”, **required once a week. Mondays, after lunch - there was Rosary in the Church. Does any Catholic school follow these practices now? (And I remember if I leaned back / semi-sitting on the pew while kneeling, a nun would give me a solid push on the back to kneel up straight!)

I remember there was less trash on TV (I can’t say it any better). While this has nothing to do with Church, it has everything to do with the fact that Catholics / Christians accept rather than reject this. Entertainers - were entertainers. Anything less was shunned by decent people - now it’s applauded/accepted all day everyday on TV. (My cable company is clueless as to what EWTN is - and they charge for it. Tell you anything?)

**I remember when statues and holy images were a part of the inside of a Church **(now, many have been removed). My own house was filled with them displayed unashamedly. There wasn’t a second thought about displaying Crucifixes and holy images - whereas other families might be more apt to display photos and knick-knacks. I have a “Mary garden”, as you call it. But we didn’t say the Family Rosary - and wish we had.

As to before and after Vatican II, it’s sad. **I remember novenas **were a regular thing, once - usually well-attended in evenings. Even after Vatican II I remember a better-attended novena than is now the case. Barely a handful of people (if novena is offered at all). Again, one can’t help but wonder - aside from the elderly or homebound - where are Catholics today? Watching TV - at the movies - sports events - concerts. Not to mention, you WILL see better turnout for Church-run functions like dinners, etc., than for religious functions. All these things have their time and place - but to see Church attendance - be it Mass or Novenas drop to the point it has - the answer is we all must return to something from days gone by. But prayer - where are we? A Novena is not an old-fashioned thing. A Rosary (which BTW yours truly doesn’t say often enough) may not even be promoted by the priests, and it should be.

IT IS FROM THE PULPIT - FROM OUR PRIESTS - that we got much of our instruction, constructive criticism and lessons on how to better exercise our Faith. It didn’t have to be fire and brimstone. Just a good sermon. From prelates to parents to lukewarm Catholics - we all must change soon not just for the next generation - but for our own souls…That’s the answer. Sadly, **I also remember **when Churches could keep their doors open all the time - day or night. Times have changed and vandalism has forced many to lock their doors when there’s no service.
(Have I covered everything? Sorry for running on but I DO remember when.)

All these things you miss are alive and kicking in the TLM chapels. Support those places with your attendance and with your funds, if you can. They deserve it.

 

[AJV]

What is the life of a traditional Catholic like?

Let’s imagine that it is 1955. You come from a family of devout Catholics and you strive to live your life according to the teachings of the Church.

What is your life like?
What is your Church like?
Do you practice any devotions?

How was Catholic life different before Vatican II and the sexual revolution? What were the unique hallmarks that made up Catholic identity?

Did any of you have May altars in your homes?
Did you have shrines in your gardens?
Did you have a “Mary” garden?

I think contemporary Catholics are suffering an identity crisis. We have lost our identity. I hope to see a restoration of Catholic culture and identity. I want to see priests who are not afraid to teach the faith from the pulpit. I want to see Catholic politicians who aren’t afraid to support pro-life issues. I wish Catholics would proudly express their faith in public. I want to know about the way Catholics lived in the past, so that we can re-claim some of the things we lost.

OK, this is a completely different perspective from what you asked, but I found it interesting— there’s a book called “Dynamics of a City Church” which traces a Southern American parish life in the late 40’s-ealry 50’s. Not so much about the home though, as you asked, though there is a chapter about beliefs that I found interesting - where many “good” churchgoers (or those who would be reckoneed such) dissented privately from various teachings.

ETA: You can read snippets on GoogleBooks and hopefully find at a library near you

books.google.com/books?id=luYY-M9T3CMC&pg=PA211&dq=urban+catholic+father+city&client=firefox-a#PPP31,M1

 

[brotherhrolf]

I was four years old in 1955. In New Orleans, the immigrant experience had already met the siren song of that city. My Irish ancestors had been there for well over a hundred years. My French ancestors over two hundred. I had Italian and Sicilian aunts and uncles. We all rejoiced in being Roman Catholics - so I don’t buy the “immigrant” scenario at least for me.

I am the product of a Catholic education from primer in 1956 through high school in 1969. It was not at all unusual to ride public transportation and when passing in front of a church (and thus the Holy Eucharist) to see large numbers of people making the sign of the cross. Restaurants and movie theaters closed on Good Friday until well into the early '70s. Nuns still wore habits and got free public transportation because the sisters had nursed the wounded at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Priests still wore cassocks and birettas in public. The brothers wore cassocks up until mid-1967.

At home we said grace before meals. Of course we said the Angelus at school but you could see people stopping in the street to recite the Angelus at noon when the cathedral bells rang (my high school was on the edge of the French Quarter). People stopped and made the sign of the cross when funeral processions passed by on the street. Rosaries? Yes. Novenas? Yes.

There was a crucifix in every bedroom of our house (still is today). We had statues of the Blessed Mother on dressers and St. Francis was out in the garden. I would say that we didn’t have a Mary garden per se, but every year my mother would plant sweet peas to weave into crowns for the May Crownings we did at school.

We all went to school Mass on Fridays and did First Fridays (something I haven’t heard of in years). From the time I started primer in 1956, all of us went to Mass and you knew you were in the presence of the Most High. One did not even do anything that would appear to be “cutting-up” in church. Sister or our teacher was right there and woe to the child who squirmed and heard the dreaded “clicker”. One “click-click” and you knew you had had it.

First Confession and First Communion at the end of the second grade. One got one’s little Missal and a rosary and was taken to have a formal portrait done in a white communion suit (take that Bill O’Reilly! I have an almost identical picture of me taken for my First Communion). At the end of third grade, boys were allowed to become altar boys. I rode my bike to church that entire summer to be trained by Father as to the Latin responses and the rubrics. Confirmation in sixth grade - March of '63 when one got one’s “big” missal and adult sized rosary.

Served as altar boy when my grandmother received Extreme Unction in January of '65. The Redemptorist priest who came to the house gave me a holy card of Fr. Francis X. Seelos and asked me to pray for his canonization. We now have Blessed Fr. Seelos. My little brother and I served my grandmother’s Requiem Mass.

Benedictions. I have attended one Benediction since the late 60s.

I note with great pleasure that the Archdiocese of New Orleans reinstated the Corpus Christi procession two years ago and that the suburb of Kenner retains its St. Rosalie procession to this day.

Catechism questions? Oh my. Baltimore Catechism! I can recite the answers to the questions to this day.

I am still a traditional Catholic. It is the way I was raised. No, I do not attend a TLM parish but rather a traditional cathedral parish where I still hear Latin chant and sacred motets. I am rusty on my rubrics but the Latin is still there after all these years. I could serve…

The world changed in mid-'67 between my sophomore and junior years in high school. We left at the end of May with the brothers in cassocks girded with rosaries and returned to most of the brothers in a white shirt, black tie, and black slacks. A signal of things to come. By May of '69 it was all over.

I do not receive Communion in the hand and I would love to kneel. I can still do one but not the other. That is one of the main things I miss the most.

 

[ConservativeOne]

All these things you miss are alive and kicking in the TLM chapels. Support those places with your attendance and with your funds, if you can. They deserve it.

TO JACAFAMALA - and TO BROTHEROLF

Yes, so true, Jacafamala - and when possible, I do. Where TLM is, like water in the desert ! (Loved that quote from St. Louis de Montfort.)

And to Brotherrolf - what a heart tug I just had reading and re-reading your post. (I still have my First Communion items, too.) You brought me back in time to my youth. I also remember “The Angelus”, and jumping to our feet when a priest / principal sister entered the classroom, or stopping what we were doing to say a ‘Hail Mary’ when an ambulance alarm passed by. (That last one came from the good Sister who trained me for First Holy Communion. To this day, that habit has remained with me - if not a ‘Hail Mary’, I now pray not only for the patient but for those workers assisting them…Well-instituted teachings / habits don’t die - they improve with time.) Oh, and I still have my Baltimore Catechism, too…dusty and dog-eared with age (like its owner) but if God wants, I wouldn’t be surprised if I could still recite a few lines from memory, too! Thanks for that one.

 

[Lainey63]

**How many of you were invested in the Brown Scapular during your First Communion? **

I have recently heard of this traditional practice and was wondering if any of you know about it?

Do you think it would be a good idea to re-introduce this practice?

I was and I made my first communion in 1970.

 

[ConservativeOne]

I was and I made my first communion in 1970.

I really don’t know - and WISH I knew. I DO BELIEVE that I had (for some years) a Scapular with a white (versus traditional brown) cord. I’m thinking that was part of the First Communion items. I don’t recall an investiture - I can barely recall my First Holy Communion - but ironically, I do remember the visitors starting the night before, the excitement, the day itself, the Mother’s Day Holy Communion for First Holy Communicants - and ironically, the sin I confessed in my first Confession.
(Oh, how I wish it were that simple now!)

 

[Scripture_Warri]

I would like to speak to this from another perspective. I am a convert to the Catholic faith. I was raised entirely without religion. In the late 50’s, some classmates invited me to attend a mass with them. It was Christmas vigil. Latin, incense, choir, candlelight, several alter boys, wow! I was totally blown away. To the extent that, shortly thereafter, while enlisting in the army and they asked me for religious preference for the making of ‘dog tags’, I responded “Catholic” and wore those tags the four years I was on active duty even though I did not actually become a Catholic until several years later (ignorance is indeed bliss).
To the point of the present discussion - While the nostalgia is all well and good, I, and many of the present day population prefer Mass in the venacular. I don’t speak or understand Latin, and I like being able to be more of a participant in the Mass. The Liturgy of the Word is improved from the older version, and when the presider is doing their job, the Liturgy of the Body is more meaningful too (I have participated in both). The key isn’t what form the mass is in, the key is what form the participants are in.
There a number of points brought up in the discussion thus far that merit further comment:

1. The quantity/quality of Catholic education has changed due to the lack of vocations - period. A Catholic education cannot be cheap when a competitive pay scale is maintained. All of those nuns were virtually working for the cost of their ‘room-and-board’.
2. Priests that can preach. Alas, it hasn’t been taught well in the seminaries in recent years, but, even older priests were not necessarily good preachers, it is an individual gift. Our little parish is presently Pastored with the second of two priests in succession that were educated and ordained in Nigeria. They have both been exceeding good in teaching the true faith in their homilies, and the one we now have can “fire & brimstone” with the best of the southern Baptists! There is something correct being done in the seminaries there.
3. I received a Brown Scapular when I was consecrated to the Holy Mother. Part of the process.
4. I have statues of Mary and Joseph in the family room, crucifixes all over the place, and pictures also. Anyone coming into my house would have to be blind to not know it is a Catholic household! In which case I would verbally inform them!
5. If you prefer to receive the host on the tongue you can do so,. As for kneeling, the Pope is on your side, his preference is kneeling and on the tongue. My concern is that the sound of all the creaking bones when getting back up would interfere with the reverence desired.
   Anyway, keep in mind that as good Catholics we should be doing all we can to spread the ‘Good News’ and bring those like myself into the flock. Let us remember fondly those experiences, but not try to roll back time. It can’t be done, and some of those things can be difficult for a prospective convert to cope with.
   Blessings

 

[Dempsey1919]

brotherhrolf:

Of course we said the Angelus at school but you could see people stopping in the street to recite the Angelus at noon when the cathedral bells rang

I have never experienced this. I would love to hear the Bells ring for the Angelus every day. It would remind me to put God first and remember him in everything I do.

Do many Church’s still ring the Angelus bells throughout the day? If not, why did this practice die out?

Benedictions. I have attended one Benediction since the late 60s.

I have never attended Benediction. What is this devotion and does it still happen?