Bravest Thing (He Ever Did)

Jude loves being Fr. Webb. Fr. Webb loves saying Mass. Therefore, Jude loves saying Mass. Occasionally Jude convinces his brothers to serve for him too. Here is, The Mass of a Three-Year-Old ...

“I can’t do this Sam.” I feebly utter this line to my wife every time we return from a Latin Mass trip to Saskatoon. And no, her name isn’t Sam, but Becca. That would be weird having a spouse named Sam. As I am sure you remember, Frodo spoke this line first to Samwise Gamgee while he carried the ring towards Mordor. When I repeat these words to my wife, somehow I picture her responding with an inspirational, “I know, it’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are…” Instead I’m given the look of, “stop moping and help get the kids out of the van.” So yesterday we returned from another trip to Saskatoon. To attend a Latin Mass is a three day process. First, on the Saturday all preparations must be made. Food. Clothes. Vehicle maintenance. Sleep strategy. The second day is the actual trip; more on that later. The third day involves dealing with overtired kids on a Monday. Which is where we're at as I write this. You see, as responsible parents, we m...

In 1985 men such as Americans Bernard Law and Roger Mahoney received promotions in the Church. Also, 1985 was a pretty hot year for abuse in Buffalo, NY. Meanwhile, faithful Catholics were treated as second class citizens. The following was posted by Una Voce, the Traditional Latin Mass Society for Buffalo, NY: Back in 1985, the Diocese of Buffalo, granted 4 Traditional Latin Masses to be said a year, on a Saturday afternoon.  Before each of these Latin Masses, everyone attending, was made to fill out one of these surveys.  This practice was probably used to intimidate those in attendance, but at the first Mass, we had over 600 people show up! So many showed up, had to move the Mass from St. John Neumann chapel, to the main church. In 1990, we were finally granted a Sunday Mass at St. Vincent de Paul, and no longer were required to fill this out. Through the grace of God, we have 3 Latin Masses in Buffalo, and are growing and thriving. Praise be Jesus Christ.

You will often hear from people who lived through the "great" 1960s reform of the Mass that, despite the loss of reverence and sharp drop in attendance, it was good to have the Mass in the vernacular. Surely understanding what goes on in the Mass is important. Surprisingly, this is not the actual point of the Mass, but rather is a protestant revolt ideal. Worship is directed to God, not man. Why has the vernacular been seen as monumentally important to the Mass, even when attendance numbers have so sharply declined? The answer can, in large part, be answered by the loss of culture in our society. We do not have a true culture. We have worship of sports and celebrities, horrendous "music", scandalous movies, illiteracy in all things classic, smartphones for porn and games, and overall insanity. The loss of culture was gradual. John Dewey's educational theory was the beginning of the end of education. Communism the beginning of the end of the polis. Patriar...