Sunday, September 24, 2006
LIFE IN THE PEWS IN CLEVELAND - SACRED HEART CHURCH
Dr. Thomas Drolesky was scheduled to speak after Mass this morning and I wanted to hear him, so we went there for Mass.
Mass is in Latin. The picture doesn't do justice to the church. It must be an old photo. The new altar is lovely. It's a very pretty church, though not large. The stained glass windows are beautiful. The pews even have seat cushions. The congregation has about 100 families. The church and the rectory are paid for. Amazing that 100 families have been able to do that. Of course there was a Lexus in the parking lot which might help explain why the church is paid for. Some of the congregants travel many miles to be at Mass.
There is a large cry room. When a child started to fuss, the child was taken into the cry room. Children were very reverent and QUIET. It's amazing to see that. I'm so used to something else. Not only were the children quiet, so were the adults. Maybe that's why the kids get the idea.
As we walked into church the rosary was being recited. Following that, the priest announced the feast of the day, and then Mass began. He wore a fiddleback vestment. Haven't seen one of those since I can't remember when.
There were statues in church. The Sacred Heart statue next to the altar was life-size. St. Teresa was also large, though the angels flanking the tabernacle were smaller.
The church has a dress code. I assumed it would and found an old dress put away in a box that served the purpose.
At this church everyone kneels for most of the Mass. Father faced the altar and prayed inaudibly most of the time. The Tridentine was familiar except that a Confeteor was added right before communion. Communion was on the tongue at the altar rail.
The prayers at the foot of the altar following Mass included the prayer to St. Michael just like they used to before the Council. The whole time I was there I had a sense of cleanness and wholesomeness that I can't explain. It just pervaded the place.
The homily was on the third commandment. I can't even remember the last time I heard a homily on the third commandment. Ironically one of the things father talked about was not buying and selling on Sunday. Ironic since Dr. Drolesky was selling his books right after Mass and his talk.
This church belongs to CMRI which I didn't even know existed until after Mass was over. I had assumed it was a St. Pius X chapel. In any case, it looked a lot more Roman Catholic, and sounded a lot more Roman Catholic than some of the Masses I've attended lately.
After Mass the children went to the basement for breakfast and a video, while the rest of the congregation moved upstairs where there is a kitchen and meeting room. Muffins and coffee were served, and we sipped while Dr. Drolesky talked. He opened his talk with some comments about Catholics attacking him. I presume he was referring to the web. He used to write for "The Wanderer", but apparently he isn't welcome there any more. He used to teach political science at the university level, but apparently he isn't welcome there any more either. Yet what he said in this talk was far more Catholic than what I hear from the pulpit most of the time. Unfortunately he is a sedevacantist. If he were not, and if I were sure that this church is not, I'd probably have found my new church home.
Imagine actually being told that the social reign of Christ the King has a right to be recognized by society! Imagine having papal documents quoted. Imagine being told that everything we do must be done with a view to eternity. Imagine being reminded that only Catholicism can make suffering make sense. Those are the things I heard this morning. Sure, I know all those things, but it's very good to hear someone else say them.
He offered another startling comment. In Western Civ. France after the Revolution and America were the first countries not to have a confessional religion. I had never quite thought about it that way before. He said the "M" word that riles up the anti-conspiracy theorists in St. Blogs. More than once. He said something else...once America was Catholic. French Catholic.
Of course Dr. Drolesky is not very happy about the conciliar Church and ecumenism. Well, neither am I.
People at church were very friendly. We talked with one son and his mother who joined to escape the Novus Ordo. My husband talked with a man from our neighborhood. I talked with a former member of my recent parish. Both of us spoke with the priest who has three parishes to take care of, and was going to drive 2-1/2 hrs. across the state to say Mass in another one today. The third parish is five hours away somewhere in Cincinnati. He was not complaining about it.
It's a relief to have good things to say about going to Mass, for a change!
Now I don't know whether CMRI is in communion with the Pope, but I'm guessing it is not. And I'm not inclined to take lightly to being told that I didn't actually attend Mass this morning. So if you're itching to set me straight, don't. I'm in no frame of mind to hear it these days.
