Mass365: Redux

Fr. Timothy Davison celebrates Mass
January 4, 2013 with Craig Boyne and his son
serving. Father, father and son serving Christ.

January 7, 2013 - Feast of St. Raymond Pennafort

OK, so I'm back, swinging for the fences.

After a multi-year hiatus from the original attempt, I'm resurrecting my Mass365 Project. In short, it's daily Mass, eventually at each one of the many parishes or places where Mass is celebrated within the Diocese of Tulsa.

Along the way, I'm planning to include pictures and commentary about each of the parish churches, along with interviews or two with parish priests and others who make these holy sites work for God's greater glory (AMDG).

We recently left our parish home of many years at the Latin Mass Parish of St. Peter and moved to the Parish of Sts. Peter and Paul, where we attend the Latin Mass in that diocesan parish. Words cannot describe how grateful and happy we are to join Fr. Timothy Davison's parish.

In addition to the 1 p.m. High Latin Mass, Sts. Peter and Paul also offers an English Novus Ordo Mass on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. (one of the few N.O. Masses celebrated ad orientem) and a Spanish language Mass at 5 pm as well. The congregation is mixed between Anglos and Hispanics, with Fr. Davison serving as a bridge between all three somewhat distinct congregations.

The parish move followed (or perhaps slightly preceded) the demise of the Parish of St. Peter with the withdrawal of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP in French). Many hard feelings, many hurt people were left behind.

On a happier note, however, Fr. Davison opened his Christ-like arms wide and welcomed the Latin Mass refugees into his similarly-named parish -- also on Tulsa's north side. In charity and justice, I must add thanks to Fr. Angelo Van der Putten, FSSP who helped Fr. Davison learn the Tridentine Rite and was therefore crucial to our refuge at Sts. Peter & Paul. Thanks also to His Excellency Bp. Edward Slattery who has long supported the Latin Mass community in Tulsa. Without our good and holy bishop, it would never have happened.

Anyway, I look forward to the journey this year and I hope many will join me -- if not in person (which you're more than welcome and invited to do) then at least by following this blog series.

AMDG

Ben Callicoat
Tulsa, OK

Mass365: Ash Wednesday

And so it begins - Ash Wednesday, the first day of our Lenten season of fasting and penance. On this day (and Good Friday also) Roman Catholics 14 through 60 are obliged under pain of sin to fast and abstain from meat.

Ash Wednesday is also the day each year when Catholics receive the mark of Jesus Christ - a cross - on their foreheads, causing their non-Catholic friends and colleagues to do double-takes all day long. The usual greeting begins, "Did you know you've got something on your ....?" (You'd think you'd get used to it, but after a short dozen years as a Catholic, I haven't.)

Contrary to common opinion, although the fast and abstinence are mandatory, Mass attendance is not this day, i.e., it's not a holy day of obligation like Easter and Christmas. That doesn't stop millions upon millions who do not normally attend Mass during the week from showing up this day.

That was certainly the case today at Holy Family Cathedral, where Mass was celebrated by our wonderful orthodox bishop His Excellency Edward Slattery. The cathedral was overflowing -- in fact, there was literally no room to add anyone else. I've only seen it that full one other time -- when the monks at Clear Creek were there for Solemn Vespers a couple of years ago.

In addition to the beautiful liturgy -- full of the highest, and most solemn hymns of the Church -- Bishop Slattery surprised me by performing the Mass "ad orientem" (literally "to the East") -- the traditional way of facing the altar instead of the congregation. I'd noticed when I came in that the free-standing altar where the New Mass is normally celebrated, was covered with special linens and set up with the traditional six beeswax candles -- a throwback to the pre-Vatican II rubrics of the Mass -- and wondered whether this meant the Mass would be celebrated ad orientem. ("Can it be?" I thought to myself.) Yes, it was. And it was very moving and dignified.

I'm sure that not everyone there understood what this meant, but I did and I thank God for the opportunity to see this solemn celebration conducted with such dignity and grace as it should be. (Deo gratias.) I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but once more I am forced by charity to acknowledge what a wonderful bishop we have (and thanks also to Msgr. Patrick Brankin - who was no doubt instrumental in arranging this.) We are fortunate beyond measure here in the Diocese of Tulsa.