Tuesday, June 6, 2006

Discerning the Priesthood and Yearning for Latin in your Novus Ordo?

I know that the Haloscan comments will eventually disappear and in a post below, we discussed Holy Orders that celebrate the Mass in Latin. While many of you may be aware of the FSSP, which celebrates the Tridentine, you may not be aware that there are orders which celebrate both the Latin Novus Ordo and the Tridentine. If the FSSP is authorized for both, please let me know in the comment section below. Maybe it is that they don't want to celebrate the Novus Ordo. I am not fluent in issues surrounding this order. Someone correct my ignorance of the FSSP and I'll edit this post so as not to mislead people.

However, I know of two orders which celebrate the Latin Novus Ordo, as well as the Tridentine. This first one is a local thing, and not universal for their order, which typically celebrates the Novus Ordo.

Order of Canons Regular of the Holy Cross. I often refer to them here in this blog as "Fathers of the Holy Cross", but sometimes I am concerned they will be confused with other Holy Cross priests which are from a different order. These priests have been helping out in Metro-Detroit for about the last 10 years. They spend much time at my parish - Assumption Grotto, but commute to nearby St. Josephat to celebrate the Tridentine, where there is an Indult. Anyone at Grotto will tell you that they are awesome confessors. They often spend time hearing confessions at unposted times. People respond to a priest in the confessional! They also give retreats for priests and and lay people. Maybe they are coming to a town near you. Fr. Titus Keininger, ORC, who spends time in Detroit, was recently in Utah, and his talk is covered in this article. But, if you are really wanting to get into Latin within your liturgy, this may not work for you. As I said, it is a local thing here in metro Detroit, because they are working at a parish which already celebrates the Novus Ordo in Latin.

The other is the Society of St. John Cantius in Chicago, which is a very young order, having just been established in 1998. It is not a big order, but I suspect it will be growing as word gets out. The parish website gives you some indication of the culture, complete with sacred polyphony and symphony, as well as Gregorian Chant.

I believe both of these orders are Augustinian-based. I know the first is semi-contemplative and I would not be surprised if the second was, as well. While the Fathers of the Holy Cross have a missionary charism which takes them all over the US and the world (formation house is currently in Brazil), I believe the SSJC are in the US. They may have another parish - seems to me in upper Michigan, but since the order is so small, I am assuming many are based in Chicago. If someone can email me with more information, I will gladly post it either back here, or in a followup post.

I'll leave you with the parish website of St. John Cantius, where you can listen to music and salivate over solemn pictures of the Mass there. They even have movie clips - something I hope to provide when I get AdOrientem.com up and running.

http://www.cantius.org/

Further information can be emailed to me through the address in my profile. I pass it along in this blog.

Also, lets not forget that there are dioceses out there where more than one parish is celebrating a Latin Novus Ordo. If people email me this information where they've attended a diocesan Latin N.O., I'll put it up as a post. Some bishops are freindly to it, whereas others may not be favorable at all, even though Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II before him, have called for more Latin in the Mass. If you send me such parishes, let me know if diocesan priests run it, or if it is a Holy Order. Perhaps there are other Orders here in the US which celebrate the Latin N.O.

Yet another order:

I should say that most of us know that the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word
so often seen on EWTN obviously celebrate a partial Latin Novus Ordo. Put the right bishop there in Alabama, and you'll be seeing them celebrate it ad orientem live!

I know there must be other orders, so email them to me.


For Women

EDIT: Thought I would bring something forward for discerning young women from a couple weeks ago.

Young women heading to traditional convents: Post 1
Post 2