I received an email today from a member of the newly formed Boston branch of Juventutem. They organize the Extraordinary Form of the Mass twice a month, and have socials and lectures. Although apparently a lot of fine young men (see photos--gracious!) turn out for these wonderful events, what Juventutem Boston doesn't have yet is a lot of women.
Well, this must change. If you find yourself orthodox, lonely and apparently the only Catholic in Chestnut Hill who loves the Holy Father, off you go to Juventutem. Latin-loving Brighton, Jamaica Plain, Southie, Braintree, Somerville, Cambridge and other Boston-and-environs types should go, too. Tell them I sent you.
8 comments:
oh my... wow. I am traditional but I don't often go to Tridentine. I do go Byzantine, though, and I took Latin in high school - would I be a poser for going? I'm from the area and hoping to work there this summer.
I also have a couple faithful lovely friends in the area who might be interested - they are also mid-20s, prayerful women and I may be biased but they are pretty. :-) Will have to pass this along.
~Nzie
It doesn't matter if they are pretty! Mother Teresa was more wrinkled than a walnut, and if she were still on earth, I am sure Juventutem would greet her with shouts of joy. As for you, young Nzie, I don't see how you can be a poseur (poseuse?) for going to a nice Juventutem event! I've rarely been to a TLM where the English was not provided. (In Poland, I had my missal!)
(BTW I often take great delight in early photos of Mother T. She wasn't pretty but she was fabulous! Homely and holy, yay!)
Wow, I like the look of that male:female ratio! Cheers to Catholic Single girls in Boston! :)
Trixie, I don't know where your comment went, but I will answer it. If you love Mass, it doesn't really matter which one you love the best.
In a way you are really lucky to prefer the Ordinary Form of the Latin Mass to the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Mass and the Byzantine Mass because it is so much easier to find! And one of the side effects of going to the EF, unfortunately, is growing more and more uncomfortable with the innovations of, and ad libs at, the OF. I wouldn't encourage anyone who cannot get to it every Sunday to develop a taste for the EF. Otherwise, your heart might break.
It takes everyone not simply brought up in it as a baby a few weeks to understand what is going on in the EF and to get used to its rhythms. Those who love it love it for its reverence, its silences, its beauty, its theology, its lessons about priesthood, and its unbroken connection to centuries of Catholic worship. It holds seemingly endless layers of meaning and is the fruit of centuries of slow liturgical developments.
Oh, Seraphic! Where were you with this particular insight last year? My heart is being broken into a million bits.
We went to the Byzantine Church for many years, and then transitioned to a local Latin Rite church, which has a beautiful and reverent OF Mass. Then I went away to college. I went to the, also beautiful and reverent, NO Mass on Sundays, and sang with the choir for it. EF for weekdays when I could manage. I still did not feel at home completely, and longed for the Byzantine, but was learning to appreciate the beauty of the Latin Rite.
The last year at college, though, I started to go to the EF on Sunday mornings, complete with Schola. I was beautiful, and I loved it. I still would prefer Byzantine, but this was something I could get used to! And I did. I wish someone had told me not to. It made sense to me to take advantage of what was offered, and to spend time appreciating and learning the EF, but I didn't think about it in context of being back in my home town this year. Even at our lovely OF parish, my heart is breaking. I thought it would be good to go and imbibe it while it was available. Oh, I rue the day!
Occasionally, I get to attend a Dominican Rite Mass or EF, but honestly once every couple of months is really hard, harder than just not having any of it.
Sorry, you touched a chord!
IrishGirl
I think another comment got lost. This one was about falling in love with the Trid Mass and then not being about to go to it any more. Yeah, that is really tough. I don't know what to say about that except these feelings of love and heartbreak may be one reason why so many bishops drag their heels on the idea of allowing it. For me the OT would be easier to go to, after Sunday after Sunday of the EF, if the priests would stop AD LIBBING!!!! Say what's on the page! Behave as though it were an unchanging religious ritual!!! We're not hear to see YOOOOOOU!!! Aughhhhhh!!!
Sorry, that should be "able", not "about."
Oh, there it is. Irish Girl, this is something a priest once wrote about. He celebrated Mass ad orientem, to see what it was like, and then it broke his heart to have to celebrate the new way. Poor chap.
Other priests, of course, are find either way. And then there are priests who have never said the NO at all and say they never will. Ah, dear. We live in interesting liturgical times.
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