A blessed Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Tradition holds that on this day in 1251 Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite priest, giving him the brown scapular. In my morning prayers I recalled to how many Carmelites I am indebted: my own mother, who is a Third Order Carmelite, to Carmelite monasteries in San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, and Lincoln, Nebraska. They pray for us, especially the priests of the Church, day and night.
On my thirtieth anniversary, I offered a Sung Latin Mass in the Carmelite monastery here in San Francisco, where I offered my first Mass 30 years ago. Today, on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Pope Francis issued regulations severely restricting the celebration of this form of the Mass. It is a pity.
It is a fact that the parishes that offer this form of the Mass, especially in Europe and North America, are flourishing. There are many reasons why my parish has come through a year of severe lockdowns with greater Mass attendance and more weekly income than before, and that we are one of the few parishes in the Archdiocese, if not the only one, that has seen a 30% increase in attendance and offertory. But one of the principal factors is undoubtedly that we are the only parish in the City that offers the Latin Mass every day, and a sung Mass on Sundays. If Rome wants the Church to grow, our prelates need only look at parishes and institutes that are flourishing, and ask themselves, without fear, why they are growing.
On my thirtieth anniversary, I offered a Sung Latin Mass in the Carmelite monastery here in San Francisco, where I offered my first Mass 30 years ago. Today, on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Pope Francis issued regulations severely restricting the celebration of this form of the Mass. It is a pity.
It is a fact that the parishes that offer this form of the Mass, especially in Europe and North America, are flourishing. There are many reasons why my parish has come through a year of severe lockdowns with greater Mass attendance and more weekly income than before, and that we are one of the few parishes in the Archdiocese, if not the only one, that has seen a 30% increase in attendance and offertory. But one of the principal factors is undoubtedly that we are the only parish in the City that offers the Latin Mass every day, and a sung Mass on Sundays. If Rome wants the Church to grow, our prelates need only look at parishes and institutes that are flourishing, and ask themselves, without fear, why they are growing.
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