What makes this number most impressive is that, of all the large families that have been the cornerstone of the traditional movement in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, none were there that I noticed. We are really heading into a different era.
The missa cantata had a beautiful somberness about it. Since it was an Ember Day (think Lent but for a few days every season), the choir sang Mass XVIII. No organ and simple chant really helped aligned the senses to the mass. At least for me, it really taught me how to pray on an Ember Day.
The choir was led by Mark Schuh, the talented cantor and organist with the First Friday devotions in the Archmil and choir director for St. Stanislaus. The small schola was led by Ben Yanke of the New Liturgical Movement. The schola fittingly donned cassock and surplice.
A number of the servers were already trained, but a number of them only recently by a teacher at a local private school. All in all, they did a fantastic job.
The celebrant gave a wonderful sermon on his personal experience with learning the Tridentine mass. Quite a remarkable story! Will definitely need to talk to him more about it.
Hopefully, this is the beginning of something a little more regular. Perhaps on Holy Days?
2 comments:
Well, maybe. The pastor of St Jerome's has not heard much support for the EF Mass from his own parishioners. Nor were many of them present at the EF Mass.
That's not surprising, of course. But what IS encouraging is that there are 125 souls in the western end of the Archdiocese who DID attend that Mass. It's fair to speculate that there might be many more who would attend that Mass who live in the eastern end of the Madison Diocese, where there was zero effective publicity.
Thanks for commenting, Dad29!
Would not doubt it. (Keeping in mind that that the universal law and proceeding rulings concerning Summorum Pontificum do not only pertain to parishioners at a parish) it was Friday night of homecoming week in Oconomowoc and many people I know could not make it for various reasons (including an individual with the men's group who really helped push it!).
And you are spot on! There was less effort at promotion than at other masses, such as the Tridentine masses at Holy Hill. Nonetheless, the mass was not a simple "St. Stanislaus West." I did not recognize many of the people. And a number I did recognize were not parishioners at St. Stanislaus.
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