Traditional Catholic College

[JKsoren]

As one who has worked in the field of accreditation and collage rankings, I would like to make a few comments on this topic.

On the other hand, one shouldn’t place too much emphasis on rankings such as those published by US News & World Report. They base these rankings on factors that THEY think are important, which may not be what YOU would find important. The methods used to determine these rankings can also produce misleading results. For example, if a college has a “poor” graduation rate, it may not mean that there is anything wrong with that college. If the college allows flexibility in scheduling, permits part-time student loads, is near a military or other transit area, has more commuter students as opposed to resident students, or prices classes by the credit instead of by the load, its graduation rates will probably be lower. This is not any reflection on the quality of education at this institution, however. It does NOT mean that YOU would have any trouble graduating from this college.

I have to disagree with the assertion that the rankings shouldn’t be “too emphasized” in a college search because to fail to utilize these rankings is to ultimately prioritize poorly. That is, it would mean giving too much weight to what really amount to being bad reasons for picking a college: “I liked the architecture”, “it’s close to home”, “the schedules were flexible”, “the weather’s nice”, “the school is an ideological safe haven that lines up closely with my most dearly held beliefs”, etc.

I think that you are assuming that what one finds “important”, subjectively, is necessarily different from what is ACTUALLY important. But I have to ask you this…why do people go to college in the first place? If it’s to acquire a good, cutting edge education…especially one that can empower you in the work force and/or graduate school in the future (and I think it is!) then there ARE in fact specific and IMPORTANT factors that need to be adhered to closely when considering a school…factors that these rankings do actually take into consideration.

A “poor graduation rate” does in fact speak VERY poorly about a college because it tells you a lot about the student body…an often over looked yet incredibly important part of college admissions. I went to a 4th tier national university with some of the lowest graduation rates in the country for it class (UTEP)…then I transferred to UCLA…and what a tremendous difference it made in my education. While I will agree that the professors themselves weren’t always necessarily worse than UCLA (they typically WERE, but I did have some great ones at UTEP too), the student body at UTEP was so apathetic and intellectually enervating that it was sometimes depressing to be on campus. I couldn’t learn anything from my fellow students! (I wanted to, but they weren’t interested in learning themselves…typically, they just “wanted that piece of paper” so that they could teach in the local public school system). However, at UCLA the students were going to teach me if I wanted them to or not, and I learned SO MUCH from interacting/dialoging with them! You want to sharpen your understanding of a major social issue? Try arguing with your brilliant and yet atheist/socialist roommate until 2 am about abortion. In the classroom the standards were also much higher. Students asked questions, GOOD questions, engaged in dialogue, showed up prepared and ready work/think…it was like being in two different worlds. So, yes, it does REALLY matter if a school has good or bad graduation rates, admissions standards, test scores, etc…if UCLA wasn’t rigorous in these categories, then I wouldn’t have learned HALF as much as I did at college.

 

[anode]

I have to agree with JK.

It is terribly important where you go to college. You don’t necessarily have to go to the best school that you could possibly get into, you should try to find a school that is a good fit and that is stimulating academically and is at least accredited-- somewhere!! You can start at a community college and transfer later to a better school, as JK did.

At college, you are going to get the last of your formal general education and start training for what you do the rest of your life. You may meet your mate. You may make friends for life and make important professional and business connections which will prove invaluable later one. Your professors will be writing recommendations for your further education and/or jobs.

I don’t know what the Newman folks were thinking of when they wrote that guide. Many of those schools are less than 10 years old, aren’t listed, aren’t accredited and are very small. Many have a fixed curriculum with two years required * each *in Latin, philosophy and theology. No other languages offered, no science other than math, only survey western civ, some English and history. But they aren’t teaching for degrees in theology or canon law or giving a degree that might be recognized anywhere. They may say that they are building for the future, but it takes decades to build an endowment to attract professors, build science and language labs, dormitories, scholarships; where in this economy is that money going to come from?

I agree with JK that you are better off going to a good secular school or one of the better Catholic schools and looking around for Catholic friends and associates that meet your religious standards. If you are in or near a large city, there is probably going to be a trad mass around somewhere with priests to match.

I think that it is important to have a positive college experience. If you go to a school with a low grad rate, which is usually measured over at least 6 years, with a lot of drop-outs, part-time commuters, military, you aren’t going to make those friends and contacts and have those relationships and all-night discussions and arguments that are so vital to education and emothional growth. You’ll just be one of the faceless herd. You’ll also have more part-time faculty that will be impossible to reach outside of class.

I mentioned that there probably isn’t much difference between #1 in a group and #10 --this range will take care of the variability, especially in the categories of the Liberal Arts Colleges and National Universities. My daughters went to 2 colleges, one about #15 and the other about #40 in the LAC tier 1 rankings, and both got excellent educations. But among the regional schools, (Baccalaureate colleges and universities and regional universities with less than 50% bachelor’s degrees) I suspect that there is more of a break between #1 and #10 or 20, as JK experienced.

 

[Cecilianus]

Well, I hate to tell you, but the recruiter you spoke with is mistaken. At least with the assertion that there are no “traditional” students at Franciscan. The school’s actually full of them and it has been for quite some time from what I gather. S/he must not have known what you meant by “traditional”. From what I’ve heard, we even had some students that were so “traditional” that they were schismatic (at the time).

Anyway, since the motu proprio the TLM, as you call it, is available for students at the nearby St. Peter’s (where most of the “traditional” minded, including myself, would go on Sunday). Before this time students would go to a chapel in Pittsburgh. I suppose that most actually still opt for this option considering that TLM (as you call it) is not available every single Sunday in Steubenville. My point is, there ARE plenty of “traditional” students at Franciscan. They have waxed while the charismatic elements seem to have actually waned a bit.

However, this being said, I still wouldn’t go to Steubeville…ever…even if they had “TLM” every day of the week. It’s a terrible school. To this date there are no REAL “traditional Catholic colleges”…I wonder when the last time one ACTUALLY existed? (That is, as people seem to be defining it) I ask, has such a chimera EVER existed? What constitutes a “traditional Catholic University”? 13th century University of Paris? I don’t think even that would pass the criteria people are hoping for! What do you all think a university is supposed to be?

I’m glad to hear that, though I still find it a bit ironic that students go to a Catholic school but prefer to go to Mass off-campus (as I do too). I chuckled at your second paragraph - I can’t even remember how many times I’ve dis-recommended my own school (Benedictine), although at least for my purposes I can’t think of any place better to go.

This is what I want from a REAL Catholic university: (1) A student body which is devout, orthodox, and at least interested in studying (that is: NOT hostile to traditional Catholics, and NOT hostile to students with a work ethic instead of a party ethic); (2) Professors (especially theology professors) who do not teach things contrary to the Faith - which rules out “liberation theology” and other forms of “dissent” taught by Evangelical Protestant professors in the mandatory “Introduction to Theology” class; (3) college administration NOT making compromises to the non-Catholic student body (by inviting Protestant missionaries on campus, letting students get their “Faith” credits by classes like “Native American Spirituality” and “The Protestant Tradition”, serving meat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays during Lent, etc.); and (4) having an orthodox, traditional Mass on Sundays without liturgical abuses and without heresy being preached from the pulpit.

 

[Mumbles140]

The *Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College: What to Look For and Where to Find It * lists only 21 institutions of higher learning in the US and Canada, 20 in the US, that it finds acceptable.

St. John’s University, MN–Liberal Arts Colleges, tier 1, #71

A friend of mine (Christendom graduate) had assisted in the compilation of this guide. It was originally meant for all Catholic colleges, and it was his job to find a sound Catholic student at each school to contact and survey. Being that I was enrolled at St. John’s, he called and asked if I would talk about the school with him. I was very excited to get a copy of the guide, sign my name on the St. John’s page, and leave it on the desks of the school administrators.

Unfortunately, it proved much more intensive and laborious than they had thought. Rather than comment on every Catholic college in the United States, the decision was made to select ones that were the best of the best for Catholics, not school’s whose sole Catholicism was a saint’s name, a chapel, and a couple of theology classes.

 

[anode]

A friend of mine (Christendom graduate) had assisted in the compilation of this guide. It was originally meant for all Catholic colleges, and it was his job to find a sound Catholic student at each school to contact and survey. Being that I was enrolled at St. John’s, he called and asked if I would talk about the school with him. I was very excited to get a copy of the guide, sign my name on the St. John’s page, and leave it on the desks of the school administrators.

Unfortunately, it proved much more intensive and laborious than they had thought. Rather than comment on every Catholic college in the United States, the decision was made to select ones that were the best of the best for Catholics, not school’s whose sole Catholicism was a saint’s name, a chapel, and a couple of theology classes.

You have quoted two pieces of my long post separated from each other, so that they are out of context. When I selectively quote from a previous post, I usually type [excerpt] before the quotations.

Just to clarify:

The ranking for St. John’s University is from the encyclopedic US News & World Report Guide to Colleges. It’s not from the Newman Guide, which doesn’t even list St. John’s.

St. John’s is run by Benedictine monks and is at the abbey in Collegeville, MN. I don’t it qualifies as a school with (only) a “saint’s name, a chapel, and a couple of theology classes.”

Some students are apparently so insecure in their Catholicism that they consider
a school acceptable only if it has mandatory Mass and rosary, a strict dress code and a mandatory 6 years of Latin/theology/philosophy, in other worlds is sort of a pre-seminary.

The criteria for inclusion in the Newman Guide apparently were only if the brand of Catholicism of the administration agreed with that of those evaluating the institution. Maybe it was if everyone swore to the Mandatum. I don’t know. It certainly didn’t include size, age, endowment, curriculum, selectivity, retention, graduation rate, cost and value, majors or any of the criteria most college guides use.

 

[Cecilianus]

Some students are apparently so insecure in their Catholicism that they consider
a school acceptable only if it has mandatory Mass and rosary, a strict dress code and a mandatory 6 years of Latin/theology/philosophy, in other worlds is sort of a pre-seminary.

Why are so bent on considering us “insecure in our Catholicism”? Is the only reason monks flee from the world because they are “insecure in their Catholicism”? Would you have the bishop bring pornography vendors and Protestant missionaries into the seminaries, on the ground that the students are secure enough in their Catholicism? Or could it possibly be acceptable if, for four measly years of my life, I had the opportunity to live in an environment where I am actually free to live my life as a Catholic (that is to say, as a traditional, Latin-Mass Catholic) without being scoffed at, laughed at, having to drive an hour to find a Mass, or being told that I am going to Hell for refusing to go to a “Mass” that doesn’t even resemble Christianity as I know it, which is the Christianity that has been practiced for the past 2000 years.

 

[Mumbles140]

St. John’s is run by Benedictine monks and is at the abbey in Collegeville, MN. I don’t it qualifies as a school with (only) a “saint’s name, a chapel, and a couple of theology classes.”

My apologies, anode. I thought the St. John’s I selected was St. John’s University in Queens, New York, which isn’t that far from the example of a name, a chapel, and some theology classes. I didn’t mean to take your post out of context, I was just drawing out the relevant information (or what I thought was, seeing that I mistook one SJU for another) for the sake of clarity in my post.

Can you clarify, though, on what you mean about insecure Catholics? It seems like you’re hinting that they need to be ordered to do those things to feel better about their faith. That may not be the case at all, but if it is, I feel that having daily mass and rosary and a strict dress code reinforce and strengthen beliefs and morality, which are constantly under attack from popular culture and the temptations of sin. Although it is not a road that I took, I applaud anyone who recognizes the importance of these things and chooses to commit their lives to that purpose, even if it is only for 4 years

 

[anode]

My apologies, anode. I thought the St. John’s I selected was St. John’s University in Queens, New York, which isn’t that far from the example of a name, a chapel, and some theology classes. I didn’t mean to take your post out of context, I was just drawing out the relevant information (or what I thought was, seeing that I mistook one SJU for another) for the sake of clarity in my post.

Can you clarify, though, on what you mean about insecure Catholics? It seems like you’re hinting that they need to be ordered to do those things to feel better about their faith. That may not be the case at all, but if it is, I feel that having daily mass and rosary and a strict dress code reinforce and strengthen beliefs and morality, which are constantly under attack from popular culture and the temptations of sin. Although it is not a road that I took, I applaud anyone who recognizes the importance of these things and chooses to commit their lives to that purpose, even if it is only for 4 years

Sorry for being immoderate.

I don’t have anything against the requirements, but I think it unwise to select any school of higher learning on these criteria alone, to the exclusion of other things, such as those I mentioned, unless you have gobs of time and money. Most 'massers don’t appear to have both, espec the money part. So it’s fine to go to St. nameless unaccredited entity to study Thomistic theology (maybe you could do this at a school or seminary nearer home?–or online thru Steub or CAU.) (Is CAU online,btw?) But I think that Newman sort of misrepresented itself before it came out that it was full of orthodox first-rate Catholic schools–when it wasn’t–aside from St. TA and CAU. 12 schools out of hundreds, most unaccredited, very small, no majors, and not inexpensive for what you get. And it excluded a lot of other good schools, highly ranked, such as St. Scholastica in Duluth MN and St. Katherine’s in MN, plus the St. John’s MN schools–all Benedictine.

 

[Joannm]

My apologies, anode. I thought the St. John’s I selected was St. John’s University in Queens, New York, which isn’t that far from the example of a name, a chapel, and some theology classes. I didn’t mean to take your post out of context, I was just drawing out the relevant information (or what I thought was, seeing that I mistook one SJU for another) for the sake of clarity in my post.

As a graduate of St. John’s in Queens I take exception. St. John’s works very hard to live up to its Vincentian mission. As an undergrad, I interned in schools in Jamaica, one of the poorest sections of Queens. Many students go on mission trips, work in other ways with the poor. There is a very active campus ministry, even more now that there are dorms on campus. They just built a beautiful new church where students can gather for daily mass and other services, and according to the head of campus ministry (who I know) many kids do take part in. I had to take 21 undergrad theology and philosophy courses, but that was 33 years ago, not sure what the requirement is now. Mother Theresa was the commencement speaker at my graduation. And besides that, you get a top notch education with majors that you can really use in the real world. Their law school is excellent and is their busineess school and school of education. They have a fantastic library and have many well known graduates. St. John’s is not just Catholic in name and you do a disservice to the wonderful Vincentians who run the school if you think that.

 

[Mumbles140]

Joannm, from everything I’ve heard about St. John’s University (Queens) in the past, it was an amazing school. But, as you said, that was 33 years ago. As a 2008 graduate of St. John’s, I’d like to inform you that things have changed quite a deal.

There are several organizations that promote Vincentian ideas (namely VITAL), but as a whole, it appears the university has lost its Vincentian sense. There was an awful scandal involving a priest involved in Campus Ministry that caused quite a stir in the area. And St. John’s finally did build a church, St. Thomas More Church. The artwork inside is beautiful, especially the flowing waterfall memorial for the victims of 9/11. I’d tell you which side of the church it’s on, but since the building is round (with the altar in the very center), that is somewhat difficult.

I doubt Father Donald J. Harrington, President of the University, has spent any time reading Ex Corde Ecclesia because the faculty there tend to be qualified in education but not for a Catholic institution. I’ve had professors who were openly in support of gay marriage, openly atheist, several who were anti-Catholic, and one theology professor who claimed SHE was an ordained priest in the Catholic Church.

The curriculum has its advantages in that we are able to pick some variations of our core classes. There are 3 required theologies, where the 2000 level and 3000 level courses are the choice of the student (depending on major), and 3 required philosophies (again major dependent for 2000 and 3000, but ethics must be one of them.

What really hurts most is that I feel the school lacks a Catholic identity anymore. Co-ed dorms are just the tip of the iceberg. It seems they’ll enforce petty rules because it is a Catholic institution, but when it comes to serious matters, we seem to lose the Catholic backing for our choices and rather go with whatever is most convenient.

I do not want to bash my alma mater because I made the most of my time there and I love my experiences there, as well as the people I met. Also, the majority of the Vincentians at St. John’s are amazing priests who assist both in the classroom as teachers and as celebrants at Mass. Lastly, St. John’s does so much for its students and student organizations that I was amazed at how much that improved my experience.

As a university, St. John’s continues to excel with committed faculty and administration, small class sizes, and a solid curriculum. However, as a Catholic university, we have fallen away from the true identity that a Catholic school should have, and I pray daily that we return to our natural self as soon as we can.

 

[Cecilianus]

I think the original question was is there a Traditional Catholic college, that is, a college faithful to the religion practiced according to the pre-Vatican II usage, with the Latin Mass, etc. Not all Catholics are Tridentine, unfortunately, but some of us are, and may want a college that practices that form of the religion. If we are arguing about “theology” departments with female “priests” we have sunk WAY below the standards for a college this thread was supposed to be devoted to! Not everyone wants to go to a Traditional Catholic college, but this thread is for those who do.

 

[anode]

Why are so bent on considering us “insecure in our Catholicism”? Is the only reason monks flee from the world because they are “insecure in their Catholicism”? Would you have the bishop bring pornography vendors and Protestant missionaries into the seminaries, on the ground that the students are secure enough in their Catholicism? Or could it possibly be acceptable if, for four measly years of my life, I had the opportunity to live in an environment where I am actually free to live my life as a Catholic (that is to say, as a traditional, Latin-Mass Catholic) without being scoffed at, laughed at, having to drive an hour to find a Mass, or being told that I am going to Hell for refusing to go to a “Mass” that doesn’t even resemble Christianity as I know it, which is the Christianity that has been practiced for the past 2000 years.

Most young people don’t regard the traditional four years of college as “four measly years”. They regard that period as an extremely valuable, important and expensive time of their lives, and most are not willing or able to shell out many thousands of dollars to pay for the privilege of a Latin mass on campus, to the exclusion of having the classes they need, the majors they’re interested in, and the type of experience they want.

You sound as if you are picking a fight with your colleagues regarding the Latin Mass. You don’t have to be ‘scoffed at’ if you drive to a Latin Mass. Are you sure that you’re not telling them that* they’re *going to hell if they don’t attend a Latin mass? You put “Mass” in quotes to refer to the current vernacular Mass. In the early centuries of Christianity, Latin was the language of the people; therefore the Mass was celebrated in the vernacular. Vatican II decided to return to that tradition.

 

[anode]

Why are so bent on considering us “insecure in our Catholicism”? Is the only reason monks flee from the world because they are “insecure in their Catholicism”? Would you have the bishop bring pornography vendors and Protestant missionaries into the seminaries, on the ground that the students are secure enough in their Catholicism? Or could it possibly be acceptable if, for four measly years of my life, I had the opportunity to live in an environment where I am actually free to live my life as a Catholic (that is to say, as a traditional, Latin-Mass Catholic) without being scoffed at, laughed at, having to drive an hour to find a Mass, or being told that I am going to Hell for refusing to go to a “Mass” that doesn’t even resemble Christianity as I know it, which is the Christianity that has been practiced for the past 2000 years.

Also, Cecilianus, I was referring to college at not the seminary. I am not aware of bishop-sponsored porn vendors and Prot missionaries in the seminaries.

Calm down, C. You are going to get nowhere with such rhetoric.

Also, Mumbles, I suspect that it’s not very hard to find a daily Mass on campus and a daily rosary among interested persons at many Catholic schools. You’d have to look, that’s all. Maybe found your own group. I can’t speak to the dress code. It depends on the institution. but sport coats and ties are hot and require more maintenance. Most women don’t wear dresses now–they look better with nylons and heels, which are expensive and hot (nylons) and uncomfortable (heels).

 

[Ichbinian]

Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy sometimes has the TLM, but soon they will have it everyday. I’m going to help in that regard.

Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College: The Truth will Set You Free

Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College of the Liberal Arts in Ontario, Canada, is academically rigorous and faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.

www.seatofwisdom.ca

The school is close to getting certification for a 4 year program (currently it is only 3 years), but the credits are accepted at TAC and Christendom, and Redeemer, and Franciscan U.

I’m a first year this fall at OLSWA.

 

[anode]

Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy sometimes has the TLM, but soon they will have it everyday. I’m going to help in that regard.

seatofwisdom.org

The school is close to getting certification for a 4 year program (currently it is only 3 years), but the credits are accepted at TAC and Christendom, and Redeemer, and Franciscan U.

I’m a first year this fall at OLSWA.

Are you planning to transfer to Redeemer, TAC, or Francisc, or get a degree from Wisdom? The current graduates from Redeemer started at Wisdom, I gather, and transferred after 2 or 3 years. If Wisdom becomes a 4 years, what will the majors be?

 

[Ichbinian]

You are correct about the transfers, etc. My sister did her 4th year at Christendom College.

The programs will likely be Philosophy, Theology, and Classics.

 

[Mumbles140]

Also, Mumbles, I suspect that it’s not very hard to find a daily Mass on campus and a daily rosary among interested persons at many Catholic schools. You’d have to look, that’s all. Maybe found your own group. I can’t speak to the dress code. It depends on the institution. but sport coats and ties are hot and require more maintenance. Most women don’t wear dresses now–they look better with nylons and heels, which are expensive and hot (nylons) and uncomfortable (heels).

Actually, anode, there was a daily mass at 11 a.m., but the same priests who changed the words of consecration, paraphrase the Gospel, cuss during the homily, refer to the disciples as Jesus’ friends, and even replacing “Him” or “His” in prayers referring to Our Lord with “God” or “God’s”.

And Students for Life on campus would have a rosary every Thursday, that was all. That organization was booming though. On average, we’d have about 20-30 people from a school of 13,000 take the 4 hour bus trip to DC for the March for Life. This is nothing against the organization, which really was very involved on campus as well as led by many dedicated students, but that the university did so little to assist them. I was on the budget committee for student organizations and there was debate as to whether even pay for a charter bus to drive them to the March because it was transportation to an ‘off-campus event’ that did not directly benefit the whole students of St. John’s.

Also, I don’t know why a dress code was mentioned, I don’t recall mentioning one, but it is a little disturbing to see lectors in hoodies, jeans, and flip flops. I’ve even seen people wearing pajama pants at Mass.

 

[jilly4ski]

**
College of St. Catherine** (part of University of St. C), MN-- University-Master’s-Midwest, tier 1, #14 (this is just behind Univ of Dallas, TX)

St. John’s University, MN–Liberal Arts Colleges, tier 1, #71

College of St. Benedict, MN–Liberal Arts Colleges, tier 1, #84

Hhahahaha, “good” Catholic schools
Saint Catherine’s is known to be very liberal in MN. I have never been to a EF mass I even I ruled that college out of my search because of its reputation. Though the University of Saint Thomas in MN, is known to be the most ‘conservative’ (though what it is up against I can’t say that it is very hard )

The college of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University in MN are actually one school (kinda) My deploma says the college of Saint Benedict in accordance with Saint John’s University.

I would say as a college, they are good schools, as far as their ‘Catholic’ idenity they are still having problems. However, they did offer 2 daily masses on campus as well as Liturgy of the Hours, morning, noon, evening to the community. I always went to SJU for mass and LotH because even though the church is ugly, it is much more reverent than at CSB. Quieter, austier, and reverent. Student masses were torture for me so I never went unless I had to. There is also Saint Joseph’s in town which is in easy walking distance to CSB’s campus, and I really like the new priest they got 2 years ago (?) I would go there for mass until I decided to go to 10:30 with the monks. (better music, and not as noisey).

The monks are generally nice, though some of them have ‘interesting’ theology, when the pope issued the statement that homosexual men should not be in the seminary, the chaplin of the student masses stepped down in ‘solidarity’ with those homosexual men. Thats ok because I never attended student mass and their liturgy is reverent. But the nuns are much worse, their ideas are seem to be voiced more often and infects their liturgy. Their is no lavabo during daily mass, no kneelers in the chapel, nuns or even lay men giving ‘homilies’ etc. etc. They also frequently tell people who are not Catholoc that they may recieve communion, that I should not kneel because the mass is about community, that people in Africa should be given condoms, and I even heard one nun supporting women priests.

There are 2 theology classes required, one intro to theology and then a Judeo/Christian class, of which there are several to choose from (most of them are a joke) and then there are a lot of other requisites because it is a liberal arts school. I would also say that the undergraduate theology department is not the strongest. I actually had a presbyterian as my theology prof. but becuase he was not catholic he stuck to the facts and didn’t degrade the chuch like I heard many other professors and nuns do.

They are in a great location, the classes are acedemically rigorous, and there is a good community, (I found a group of friends who would go to daily mass, LotH, and adoration) but the student population is not completely Catholic nor even marjority traditional Catholic. But I enjoyed going their and it probably increased my faith, so I guess I can’t say too much bad, because most of it was good.

If anyone wants more info on these schools PM me.

 

[Mumbles140]

that I should not kneel because the mass is about community

This used to boil my blood at school. I lasted about a year and a half at the student mass on Sunday evenings, and this was one of the main reasons. Often times, I’d be the only person kneeling. The alumni mass was a little better, but still not what I was looking for after growing up in a very conservative Diocese of Arlington parish. That’s when I began attending the TLM at St. Agnes in Manhattan, and that was a beautiful experience.

 

[seeker_of_God]

However, this being said, I still wouldn’t go to Steubeville…ever…even if they had “TLM” every day of the week. It’s a terrible school.

I’m sorry, but I have to ask why you say this? Some people seem to have this opinion on CAF, but don’t really support it.

I’m going there next week, but from all I have seen it seems like a great place, the ideal Catholic school. It doesn’t really matter to me if it offers the EF or not, but it seems to be very orthodox.

Of course you go there and I do not yet, but your words were quite strong against it, and I really must ask why.

Believe me, I know what a Catholic school is like when it’s only Catholic in name. Take Duquesne University as an example. The administration was disappointing, to say the least, attendance at daily mass was sparse, they had maybe one hour of week for Adoration, they had few resources for Catholics as it sounds like Franciscan does. They even allowed an organization on campus called Lambda (Gay-Straight Alliance). Ah, how shocked I was when I stepped onto the campus of Franciscan University, and everyone (even faculty) was openly Catholic, daily mass was packed, they have 24x7 Adoration, chapels in the dorms, etc. And I’m really looking forward to joining one of the households.

So that’s why I’m shocked when people say they’d never recommend Franciscan to anyone. In comparison to where I went and am transferring from, it seems like heaven.