Latin Girl, I can’t speak to Florida as I have never been there. But I have been to multiple parishes in North Dakota, Washington, Oregon, California and Utah and I have been amazed constantly that I can seem to find Masses in all of those states which are reverent, said properly, have no abuses, and don’t seem to match what I hear so often in these forums.
And none of those Masses were the EF; they were all the OF. Two of them, one in Portland and the other the cathedral in Salt Lake have had choirs which sang in Latin; the one in Portland singing works from Palistrina and the one in Salt Lake a children’s choir singning Gregorian chant.
Maybe I am just lucky.
Or maybe I just know the rubrics enough to know where there are variations allowed, and that they are not abuses (and I do not suggest that what you have seen were not). My own parish has the Mass in English, sings our of OCP hymnal, the vast majority receive in the hand, we use EMHCs and the parish has also had 24/7/363 Perpetual Adoration for something like well over 15 years.
There are times we suffer from irregularities.
There are other times we suffer from not having what we want.
Several years ago I came across information of where the EF was being celebrated; or rather, where the Mass was being celebrated in Latin (it was not entirely clear that the listings were only for the EF). Giving it the benefit of the doubt, I chose several dioceses that seemed to have a large number, and the best I could find was under Francis Cardinal George’s Archdiocese. That amounted to about 3%+ of the parishes and missions; and therre was no indication that any of them were EF only; so it is possible that out of all the Masses said in the Archdiocese on a Sunday, three tenths of one percent were the EF. That says to me that while a given EF might have a large attendance, it is rather miniscule in relation to the total attendance throughout the archdiocese. And that, in short, is why the parishes with an EF are so far apart; there simply is not enough interest to spread further, except very gradually.
That is not to say that there are not more people who want the EF; but they are scattered all over and that makes it hard to get anything moving.
I think you’ve brought up a good point in your final paragraph. If they belong to a denomination that doesn’t have a lot of adherents, many Protestants move to be able to attend a church and associate with people of that denomination.
E.g., the Reformed Church, which was once the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., has dwindled over the years, and now many Reformed people live in one of three locations in the U.S. (Grand Rapids, Michigan, is one of those places, but I can’t remember the others. I know there’s one place in California where a lot of the Reformed live. Can’t even remember what state the other place is.)
And of course, we all know about the Amish and Mennonites. Many Fundamentalist Protestants also strive to live close to each other. And sometimes, Evangelicals move to be close to a particular church and group of believers.
It seems to me, from reading CAF, that so many Catholics who love the EF Mass experience actual suffering and pain, and are in danger of developing bitterness and discouragement, when they are forced to attend an OF Mass and sit through what they consider in their heart to be a “second-rate” Mass. Even if they admit intellectually that the OF Mass is equal to the EF Mass (which is what the Church teaches), emotionally, they just can’t bring themselves to believe that.
I understand that. I feel the same way about alcohol use by Christians. I admit in my head, with my brain, that it’s OK for Christians to drink. But in my HEART, I can’t accept it. I think it’s awful. So I try to choose not to be around when Christians are drinking. Sometimes I can’t get out of it, but usually, I can easily avoid parish picnics, dinners, etc, where there is drinking of alcohol.
And there’s also the issue of associating with and enjoying fellowship with like-minded people. To me, that’s almost as valuable as being able to attend the Mass of your choice. It’s a great thing when you don’t have be constantly in conflict with others, but rather, can be friends and work/play/pray side-by-side
I know that not everyone can move (e.g., teenagers and the elderly). But I think that a lot more people could move if they would sit down, pray hard, and then work out the knotty logistics. When my husband and I lived in North Carolina and wanted to move back to Northern Illinois (to be near family), we never thought it would happen. But one day, we just sat down and figured it out, and it wasn’t as “impossible” as we thought.
I think a lot more Catholics who love the Latin Mass should really sit down and think hard about a move to a place where there is a thriving Latin Mass parish. I think such a move could revolutionize their faith and make life pleasant and dynamic for them. I just ache when I see (here on CAF) how miserable so many Catholics are who long for an EF Mass. I wish they could find happiness.
Thank you for your insights!