A move from the Anglican church of my youth and my conversion to the Roman Catholic Church under the tutelage of my favorite Priest, then Father Leonard Toomey, took place in this parish in the early 1960's. I found the Liturgy to remarkably similar the the Anglican 1928 Book of Prayer. Vatican II came along and all the music I knew as an Angilcan became part of the new church music repertoire, and I ended up helping with the music to a parish that had been accustomed to Latin chants and heavy music. Gone was the very difficult to understand Latin Mass, to be replaced with common sense English. As it turned out, my conversion led to an incredible faith journey that is with me to this year of 2012. From a 20 year old kid who had to be married at the altar rail in April, 1954, to the mid 1980's when a ministerial conflict led me to follow my wife to Sacred Heart Church in Trenton, I have been on an incredible faith journey "working in the vineyards of the Lord."
Kenneth J. Wolfe said...I am surprised you, as a historian, do not appreciate the traditional Latin Mass. After all, it was the normative liturgy of the Church from around the 5th or 6th century up until the late 1960s. Thankfully Saint Anthony's (where I was baptized, made First Confession and received First Communion) is one of the churches where the traditional Latin Mass is offered:
http://latinmasstrenton.org/lmt/About%20Us/
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Tom:
You are right on, it was in the 1960's that they got rid of the altar, put the table up front, and we began to sing Protestant Hymns at St. George's in Washington Crossing. It was an Irish weekend priest from Bayonne that started it (albeit a bit prematurely) and J. Connor French resented his Latin Mass being taken away. French an old time lawyer and Millionaire got hold of Bishop Ahr and threatened to take his support across the river to the diocese of Philadelphia. They got rid of the table fast, and back to Latin in a few weeks.
Talk about Zealots. Heck you got off easy. Thank Goodness you had the good sense to segue over to my home parish of Sacred Heart, where all are welcomed. The family is spread all over the country,and still consider Fr. Dennis our pastor!
Tell your critic that if he wants Latin, come on down. There is a church just outside of Smithfield that offers it.
Regards, and good wishes
Mike Kuzma
I am surprised you, as a historian, do not appreciate the traditional Latin Mass. After all, it was the normative liturgy of the Church from around the 5th or 6th century up until the late 1960s.
ReplyDeleteThankfully Saint Anthony's (where I was baptized, made First Confession and received First Communion) is one of the churches where the traditional Latin Mass is offered:
http://latinmasstrenton.org/lmt/About%20Us/
Tom:
ReplyDeleteYou are right on, it was in the 1960's that they got rid of the altar, put the table up front, and we began to sing Protesant Hymms at St. George's in Washington Crossing. It was an Irish weekend priest from Bayonne that started it (albeit a bit prematurely) and J. Connor French resented his latin Mass being taken away. French an old time lawyer and Millionaire got hold of Bishop Arh and threatened to take his support across the river to the diocese of Philadelphia.
They got rid of the table fast, and back to latin in a few weeks.
Talk about Zealots. Heck you got off easy.
Thank Goodness you had the good sense to seque over to my home parish of Sacred Heart, where all are welcomed.
The family is spread all over the country,and still consider Fr. Dennnis our pastor!
Tell your critic that if he wants Latin, come on Down. There is a church just outside of Smithfield that offers it.
Regards, and good wishes
Mike Kuzma
Tom
ReplyDeleteI slightly remember attending St.Joachims church until I
was 9 and then attending Holy Angeles with the 2 priests from "Going my way",fathers O'keefe and Mccorriston.
I can't even imagine those guys preaching in Latin. You are 1000% right in preferring the switch to English.I do too.
Lee
I have no intention of being too critical of our nuns but though we were required to recite in a "rote" fashion many of the Latin hymns and follow along with the traditional Latin Mass, they never once thought it appropriate to explain or teach us a word of Latin. As such, we could mimic the sounds but have nary a clue as to what we were saying. That said, when on occasion I blunder into a traditional mass or hymn on the tube I can close my eyes and find great comfort and can almost smell the incense and hear the rhythmic sound of the "burner" as the priest walked down the aisle.
ReplyDeleteEd Millerick