Traditional Latin Mass

All of the posts under the "Traditional Latin Mass" category.

How To Be Catholic in 2020

2019 was not an easy year to be Catholic. Though, if we are being honest, it hasn’t been easy to be a Catholic in any year. There are times within the Church’s history where it is easier to be Catholic due to cultural acceptance and toleration, but those days are long gone, at least for the foreseeable future.

What makes it even more difficult today is the complete lack of support from the hierarchy, from the local parish priest, up the chain to the bishop, the cardinals, and even the Pope himself. It goes without saying that there are the occasional priests, bishops, and cardinals who are indeed fighting the good fight. Still, these clergymen are few and far between.

Last year the Church in America, and certainly in other areas around the world, was rocked hard with scandal after scandal. From clergy sex abuse scandals to supporting immoral practices (including homosexual activities and birth control, to name a few), and even the misuse of money given by the faithful. Let us not forget the dreaded Pachamama incident that the Vatican and the Pope were both behind and in complete support of. There are still plenty of people who defend this nonsense and try to paint the Pachamama as some version of Our Blessed Mother, but who are they fooling?

What is a Catholic to do? As laity, we don’t have much power within the Church. But we do have some power, even on a human level. We laity need to say enough is enough. We are sick and tired of the abuses that the evil and immoral men in the Vatican and throughout the Church force down our throats daily, telling us that it’s Catholic. We aren’t stupid, and we won’t tolerate it anymore.

Now, this isn’t saying that we are to leave the Church. We can’t and we won’t. We need to protest the solemn nonsense promoted by those in the hierarchy who are interested in promoting error. Whether it be Protestant, Pagan, Muslim, or whatever flavor of error is featured for that day. Compared to the Protestants protesting the Catholic identity of the Church, we are merely opposing the modernism that has become so prominently featured within the Church.

How do we do this?

Find and attend the Traditional Latin Mass. If your local Novus Ordo parish doesn’t want to be faithful and there is no hope of it becoming traditional, then it is time to leave. Bad liturgy affects your soul more than you realize. It might mean that you have to travel much further to fulfill your Sunday obligation. But there is a relief when you know that you will go to Mass and don’t have to worry if the liturgy will be tampered with. You won’t have to worry about the sermons being heretical or tip-toeing close to it. If you can’t find or attend a TLM for some reason, then I suggest the following.
Find a traditional priest. Encourage him to learn the TLM. Help out in any way that you can.
Receive the Eucharist only from the priest or the deacon. Do not receive from a layman. Line jump if you have to or sit on the side that Father administers from.
Receive the Eucharist kneeling and on the tongue.
Do not hold hands during the Our Father.
Do not participate in the Sign of Peace.
Dress your best. Men wear suits. Women dresses and veils.
Reject any mannerism that is a novel idea that was not practiced within the Church before the Second Vatican Council.
Frequent the Sacrament of Confession a minimum of once a month, ideally every other week. This way, you are always within the plus or minus eight days to receive a plenary indulgence. Go more often if you fall outside of the state of grace.
Pray the Rosary daily! Our Lady of Fatima has begged and pleaded us to pray the Rosary.

Ultimately, the entire list can be summed up as a straightforward rule: Be Catholic. We can no longer sit idly by as our Church become less Catholic. We must take an active role and lead by example. We must also remember to fast and pray, for as Our Lord said in Mark 9:29, ” This kind can go out by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.”

Jeff January 13, 2020 1 Comment Permalink

A Recap of 2019

2019 has come and gone, and now 2020 is underway. I thought it’d be good to start this year off with a recap of the most viewed articles of the last year. I know most people do this at the end of 2019, but, as always, I’m late to the party. For those of you who frequent this blog, or at least used to, you should know that by now.

In looking at the statistics for the last year, I only published two articles for the entire year. Pathetic.

Since I only have two articles for the last year, I’ll recap what those two articles were and then give a top 5 for the posts that most people viewed. So, without further ado, here are the top posts of the year!

Most Read Posts of 2019

5. Traditional Latin Masses in the Twin Cities
I’ve created a page that lists all of the TLMs in the Twin Cities. I try to keep it as up to date as possible. It seems a lot of people come to the blog for merely learning where they can attend the Latin Mass here in the Twin Cities. If you are looking for TLMs in your area, you can check out latinmasstimes.com for a complete listing.

4. Why Is Matthew Kelly So Popular?
I wrote this article four years ago when people were asking why his books were always handed out after Christmas and Easter Masses. At one time, I was a big Matthew Kelly fan. In fact, you can search through older articles on this blog to find articles in which I highly praise him as being revolutionary. Alas, this is not the case anymore, nor has it been for some time.

3. Mortal Sin Against the Fourth Commandment
Wow, this article goes way back, and I’m surprised that so many people still search for this. Here I recall some mortal sins that violate the Fourth Commandment and the reasons why. Seeing that many people are still searching for, this tells me I should probably finish writing articles on mortal sins against the rest of the commandments.

2. The Rediscover Catholicism Movement Is Not the Solution
At one point, many parishes and dioceses across the country were using Matthew Kelly’s materials for parish enrichment. I wrote this article to talk about why that was a mistake. It seems that people aren’t using him as much, but then again, I’ve been hanging out in the traditional communities for the most part and ignoring what the mainstream Church is doing these days.

1. The Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary and Why You Should Dump Them
Without a doubt, my most popular post as this one always riles up people. It doesn’t matter that Pope St. John Paul II said they were optional. It doesn’t matter that he said that you didn’t need to meditate upon them and could ignore them if you wish. Apparently, pointing that out makes you a hater and someone who has clearly lost the faith (no, seriously, many commenters have accused me of this). I’ve wanted to write a follow-up article to address some of the points and to dive deeper into this thinking, and maybe this year will be the year I do that.

I’m hoping this year I write more. In fact, to ensure that I am doing that, it’s my goal to publish one article a week. Sometimes, it’s challenging to think of a topic to write about, so if you have any suggestions for topics you’d like to see or questions you’d like answered, please drop a comment below, and I’ll do my best to write something up.

God bless, and may 2020 be an enjoyable and grace-filled year for you.

Jeff January 5, 2020 Leave A Comment Permalink

What Do You Believe? Novus Ordo vs. Traditional Latin Mass Catholics

For those of you who frequent my blog, you know that I often compare the differences between the Novus Ordo and the Traditional Latin Mass. You know that I have a strong preference for the Traditional Latin Mass and believe that it is not only better but far superior to the Novus Ordo. But is there any way to show some substantive evidence that the TLM is, in fact, better than the NO? At least, can we demonstrate that those who attend the TLM believe more of what the Church teaches and adhere to her doctrines?

The other day, my mother-in-law told me that she would love to see a statistical comparison between Novus Ordo Catholics and Traditional Catholics to see the differences between what percent of each group actually believes in the Church’s teachings and practices. Ironically enough, I saw that on Facebook somebody shared this information.

Now to be academically and intellectually honest, I’m unsure where the statistics came from for the TLM Catholics polled. However, the sample size is rather large (considering there are statistically far less TLM Catholics than Catholics at large) and so I believe it is at least worth looking at and commenting on. It is also worth mentioning that the “Catholics” category includes all types of Catholics from TLM Catholics to NO Catholics to heretical Catholics.

According to a 2016 Pew Research poll, only 13% of Catholics believe that contraception is not permissible. Of the 841 TLM Catholics who responded, 98% believe that contraception is not permissible.

With the same poll, 53% of Catholics believe abortion is not permissible, compared to 98% of the 833 TLM Catholics who responded.

A 2017 CARA poll shows that 23% of Catholics attend Mass, compared to 99% of 824 TLM Catholics.

The same poll shows that 33% of Catholics believe marriage is between a man and a woman, compared to 99% of 826 TLM Catholics.

A 2013 Catholic Philly poll shows that Catholics only give 1.2% in the collection, as opposed to TLM Catholics who give 6.2%. I take this one with a grain of salt as the Catholic Philly is out of Philadelphia, and this could potentially be an outlier.

A 2015 Pew Research poll shows that only 43% of Catholics go to confession once a year as well as weekly Mass, as opposed to 99% of TLM Catholics (only 81 samples though).

The same poll shows that Catholics have an average of 2.3 children, whereas TLM Catholics have an average of 3.7 children (with 494 responses).

Overall, the numbers are revealing a disturbing trend in that NO Catholics appear not to know their faith and quite possibly, may not believe it too.

And yes, this is just one poll whose origins are unknown to us at this time, but it certainly lends to the idea that traditional Catholicism, or Catholicism as I like to call it, is indeed better for souls than what the majority of prelates are peddling as Catholic. If I can track down where this poll came from, I will certainly let you know.

The very fact that the attitude within the Church is that the people who believe in her teachings are somehow detrimental to those who oppose her teachings is complete nonsense. Solemn non-sense even.

Jeff May 30, 2018 1 Comment Permalink

Novus Ordo Logic: The Latin Mass is Eh, the Novus Ordo is Great!

In this first of a new series, I’d like to explore a particular phenomenon that you may witness in many Catholic parishes these days which I’d like to dub “Novus Ordo Logic.”

Novus Ordo Logic is how modern Catholics apply illogical conclusions to post-conciliar and pre-conciliar Catholicism or the excuses they make for the inconsistencies between the two.

One common difference comes when comparing those who prefer the Traditional Latin Mass to the Novus Ordo Mass. Whenever a Catholic who prefers the Novus Ordo talks about how they don’t like the Traditional Latin Mass and try to avoid it at all costs, they receive words of consolation confirming them that they are okay for having this opinion.

In contrast, whenever a Catholic who prefers only the Traditional Latin Mass expresses his preference and unwillingness to go to the Novus Ordo, they are reproached for being “schismatic,” “holier than thou,” “pharisaical,” or some other offense from the litany of insults.

It is interesting to see the complete difference in attitudes. Both the Novus Ordo preferring Catholic and the Latin Mass preferring Catholic have the same stance, yet one is received with generosity and love, the other with hostility and hate. Even more intriguing, the one who prefers the Mass which many of our Catholic Saints had celebrated during their time here on Earth and is about 17 centuries old, is the one who receives attacks.

Novus Ordo Catholicism doesn’t like traditional Catholicism, as Novus Ordoism perceives tradition as old, stale, difficult, and the Truth. The anger, hatred, and eagerness to discredit the Traditional Latin Mass and those who attend it is a concerning trend within the Church today. According to Novus Ordo Logic, you can dislike the TLM and discuss how great the NO is, but when you dislike the NO and discuss how great the TLM is, you are treated worse than an actual enemy of the Church.

Jeff May 9, 2017 1 Comment Permalink

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