Dear Friends,
I was grateful to J for giving me permission to post his letter. I thought it was better to turn off the comments so that his honest voice would not be debated but would be heard more clearly and respected. J is a youth struggling with the crisis in the Church, striving to be faithful, hoping to persevere. At 15 years of age it isn't easy.
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J was born in the 1990’s. “Immediately after the Second Vatican Council it was presumed that requests for the use of the 1962 Missal would be limited to the older generation which had grown up with it, but in the meantime it has clearly been demonstrated that young persons too have discovered this liturgical form, felt its attraction and found in it a form of encounter with the Mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist, particularly suited to them.” [Benedict XVI, Letter to Bishops, about the Motu proprio 7.7.7]
J was born in the 1990’s. “Immediately after the Second Vatican Council it was presumed that requests for the use of the 1962 Missal would be limited to the older generation which had grown up with it, but in the meantime it has clearly been demonstrated that young persons too have discovered this liturgical form, felt its attraction and found in it a form of encounter with the Mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist, particularly suited to them.” [Benedict XVI, Letter to Bishops, about the Motu proprio 7.7.7]
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It is a statement of personal integrity and attachment to Our Lord that a youth, rather than abandoning the Faith as many do, rather than going along with the crowds of the mute or of the Liturgical abusers, rather keeps aloof, and holds fast to Christ by praying his missal at home because there is no safe church to go to near his town. This could only be a desperate stop-gap measure and we do not encourage it for others.
It is a statement of personal integrity and attachment to Our Lord that a youth, rather than abandoning the Faith as many do, rather than going along with the crowds of the mute or of the Liturgical abusers, rather keeps aloof, and holds fast to Christ by praying his missal at home because there is no safe church to go to near his town. This could only be a desperate stop-gap measure and we do not encourage it for others.
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What J sought was a respectful offering of the Mass. He went. He waited. He wanted to be fed. But driven away by irreverence, that always shocks the souls that truly seek God, this youth, like so many others, led by God's light found the old Mass, the holy hill, the tabernacle. (... ipsa me deduxerunt, et adduxerunt in montem sanctum tuum et in tabernacla tua...) There, like the deer that longs for running streams, he slaked somewhat his thirst for God, and there, too, he found the atmosphere and space to raise his heart and mind unto the God who giveth joy to his youth.
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J also raises the subject of the Holy Father. “ I was thinking like a sedevacantist while trying to believe I professed the Pope to be the real Pope.” His words here are accurate for many.
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J has come to the right conclusion: He can be loyal to the Church and be in the Church while staying true to the Latin Mass and the traditional theology and traditions. He can’t be expected to learn everything by himself. He needs a priest and has asked for one. Please pray three Hail Mary's for J.
J has come to the right conclusion: He can be loyal to the Church and be in the Church while staying true to the Latin Mass and the traditional theology and traditions. He can’t be expected to learn everything by himself. He needs a priest and has asked for one. Please pray three Hail Mary's for J.
Devotedly,
Fr. Michael Mary, F.SS.R.
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