Traditionally minded OF parishes in the US

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I’m thinking of changing careers, and with that would likely come a move to wherever I find a job in my new field. With no experience in the field for the first couple of years, I probably won’t have many offers in various dioceses to choose from. One of my main concerns is to end up in an area where they have at least traditionally minded OF parishes within a reasonable drive, since EF is not available everywhere.

So if you attend such a parish and don’t mind sharing, what dioceses are they in?

Of course “traditionally minded” needs to be defined, and it’s hard to do. But to start off, I would say, no innovations of any kind (no greeting each other before Mass, no changing the words of the Mass, etc); no LifeTeen; no guitars or drums; ideally no altar girls, but I might be pushing my luck on that one. Hopefully you get the idea.

I’ve read here over the years how parishes like this exist, and people say it’s a regional thing, so I’d like to know how common are they? I have myself been to a few like that over the years, I think 3 or 4 in 20 years as a Catholic, but there are none in my current diocese.

Many here have said “be happy you have a Mass to attend all”, but that won’t work for me. I wouldn’t move somewhere where I don’t feel at home in church.
 
My suggestion would be to stay away from small towns and head towards mid-sized to larger cities.

In my diocese of 300K in the western NY, we have a plethora of choices- everything on both of your lists, all usually within a 30 minute drive.
 
CilladeRoma said:
My suggestion would be to stay away from small towns and head towards mid-sized to larger cities.
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I’ve heard (strictly anecdotally, I have no data to back this up) that large dioceses will often send their (traditionally minded) problem children to smaller towns. I went to Mass in a small town in southern Maryland (Diocese of DC) last weekend as was amazed at what a good pastor they had.

That being said, OP, I think you’ll find better and worse in any diocese, you just may have to work harder to find the good in some of them.
 
You are very wise to choose an area you live based on the parish.
 
This will give you an idea of locations for some more traditional OF Masses, though the list is far from exhaustive, and not every Mass offered at these parishes may be traditional:

http://latinliturgy.com/lmdirectory.html

I know that you said OF, but another option is https://www.latinmassdir.org/. This gives a pretty up-to-date listing of TLMs throughout the country (and the world for that matter), though again, is probably not exhaustive. You may also want to check out the Personal Ordinariate webpage. Sometimes Ordinariate Masses, beautiful in and of themselves, exist in the same parish as TLMs and traditional OFs.
 
My parish in Lincoln, NE can check all your boxes, except we do have guitar music at one of the Sunday Masses. Organ music at the rest. No altar girls in the diocese. However, not every parish in this diocese is that way; some are more traditional than others. I suspect that’s the case in many regions…if you’re in a larger metro area, you may have luck finding a traditional parish that meets your list.
 
Based on my experience, the Diocese of Harrisburg is one possibility, since the parishes I visited had reverent Masses with priests that followed the rubrics and maybe leaned a little traditional. I also know the new director of vocations for that Diocese, and he was one of those reverent priests that I think is open to tradition.

I also visited a parish in Columbus, OH, and I was blown away by the very traditional OF Mass. It was run by the Dominicans, so I don’t know if it is representative of the rest of the Diocese.
 
Asinner said:
I also visited a parish in Columbus, OH, and I was blown away by the very traditional OF Mass. It was run by the Dominicans
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Parishes run by certain religious orders are most likely to meet the OP’s criteria. I have seen Masses similar to what is described at a Carmelite monastery and in another city at two parishes run by the Mercedarians.
 
Have you considered the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter?

My old parish, Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church, San Antonio, TX, offers both Mass according to Divine Worship: The Missal in Elizabethan English as well as the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite in Latin (6 pm on Sunday).

The cathedral church of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham, Houston, TX.

Other notable ordinariate parishes include St. Barnabas Parish, Omaha, NE, as well as Incarnation Catholic Church, Orlando, FL. - all of the above include choral music for at least one of their Masses.

If the EF is what you want, you may look at the archdiocesan Church of the Annunciation, Houston, TX, which also offers the OF in Latin as well as English. There is also in Houston Regina Caeli Parish, owned by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and entrusted to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. Annunciation includes a choir at one of their Masses, I do not remember which one.
 
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Asinner said:
Based on my experience, the Diocese of Harrisburg is one possibility, since the parishes I visited had reverent Masses with priests that followed the rubrics and maybe leaned a little traditional. I also know the new director of vocations for that Diocese, and he was one of those reverent priests that I think is open to tradition.

I also visited a parish in Columbus, OH, and I was blown away by the very traditional OF Mass. It was run by the Dominicans, so I don’t know if it is representative of the rest of the Diocese.
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Funny, I would have said the opposite about Harrisburg. Maybe stay out of York County?
 
Vancouver, Washington, right across the Columbia river from Portland, has the absolutely beautiful ProtoCathedral of Saint James the Greater. Stunning interior, very orthodox Priest, communion rail. No nonsense homilies. Frequent mission preachers, such as Fr. Wade Menezes of the Fathers of Mercy. A devotion to Pier Giorgio Frassati.

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LisaB said:
Many here have said “be happy you have a Mass to attend all”, but that won’t work for me. I wouldn’t move somewhere where I don’t feel at home in church.
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I think it is marvelous that you are giving thought to the quality of parishes available. I am a canonical member of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter and am also having to give this matter some thought in the future due to educational/career goals - medicine.

Many ordinariate parishes either offer the OF or sometimes EF themselves or partner with (arch-)diocesan parishes that do.
 
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I have seen this in our diocese to some extent. However, there aren’t enough distant, rural parishes for all.

I would look at the job offers first, and look at the individual parish websites in the area. It’s difficult to get a true flavor for the parish, but some things can be garnered from them.
 
I guess my experience isn’t that extensive; just downtown York really.
 
I’m sorry- but could you tell me what “OF” and “EF” mean. They are used all over the posts, and I still don’t know what they mean!
 
OF = Ordinary Form of the Mass. Celebrated according to the 1970 Mass promulgated by St. Paul VI. Almost always celebrated in the vernacular.

EF = Extraordinary Form of the Mass. Celebrated according to the 1962 Roman Missal. Always celebrated in Latin.
 
As others have noted start here

https://www.latinmassdir.org/

I think there are quite a few parishes that provide both forms so if you start looking at first to parishes that have the TLM at least you know you can check off ‘Traditionally minded’ and solid liturgy.
 
It’s important for each Catholic to find parishes and retreat centers that are in line with their beliefs. And too many of both-parishes and retreat centers-have closed.
 
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