I mean, the West of Wales where I reside. It is a fairly remote region where sheep far outnumber the human population and where the chief industries, such as they are, are tourism and farming. Neither of which is particularly good for the working man or woman.
But while it is economically disadvantaged it is now spiritually between a rock and a hard place.
We have no priest willing to celebrate the Extraordinary Form of Mass within 70 miles of us - a mere hop and a skip if you are Canadian or Australian but a big journey for us Brits!
What to do? Well the LMS is trying hard but you cannot magic up a Mass when all the odds are stacked against you.
A small group of laity and a priest have established (embryonically) a Confraternity to work alongside the LMS to jointly promote the Latin Mass and, to their credit, they are working towards raising funds to pay for a priest to go on one of the Latin Mass Society's training programmes. So far we have £155 of the £250 needed. Good. Well done even. But there the story looks to end as there is not a priest in West Wales (the western part of Menevia Diocese) who wishes to say the old Mass.
Without a distinct directive from Rome I would not be for coercing a priest to do something that he inherently does not wish to do. What sort of Mass would be the result? And it is not as though we have rich pickings to work on. Most parishes have either an elderly native priest (too long in the tooth for the double somersault), one from India or the Phillipines (culturally all at sea) or a young native who dresses in grubby trainers, sweat stained t-shirt and jogging pants. The latter can barely manage to order a Big Mac let alone celebrate a reverent Latin Mass.
So, when we have our £250 what do we do? Maybe find a seminarian from the Diocese who is willing. But then, his card will be marked and the forces of 'you know who' will be brought to bear on him.
The only thing we can do is pray and ask for your prayers also. Compared with some regions in the world we are well off, I know that. But it should not prevent us from trying.
Any ideas (Christian ones) greatly appreciated.
But while it is economically disadvantaged it is now spiritually between a rock and a hard place.
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| Sheep in Menevia Diocese - looking for a good shepherd! |
We have no priest willing to celebrate the Extraordinary Form of Mass within 70 miles of us - a mere hop and a skip if you are Canadian or Australian but a big journey for us Brits!
What to do? Well the LMS is trying hard but you cannot magic up a Mass when all the odds are stacked against you.
A small group of laity and a priest have established (embryonically) a Confraternity to work alongside the LMS to jointly promote the Latin Mass and, to their credit, they are working towards raising funds to pay for a priest to go on one of the Latin Mass Society's training programmes. So far we have £155 of the £250 needed. Good. Well done even. But there the story looks to end as there is not a priest in West Wales (the western part of Menevia Diocese) who wishes to say the old Mass.
Without a distinct directive from Rome I would not be for coercing a priest to do something that he inherently does not wish to do. What sort of Mass would be the result? And it is not as though we have rich pickings to work on. Most parishes have either an elderly native priest (too long in the tooth for the double somersault), one from India or the Phillipines (culturally all at sea) or a young native who dresses in grubby trainers, sweat stained t-shirt and jogging pants. The latter can barely manage to order a Big Mac let alone celebrate a reverent Latin Mass.
So, when we have our £250 what do we do? Maybe find a seminarian from the Diocese who is willing. But then, his card will be marked and the forces of 'you know who' will be brought to bear on him.
The only thing we can do is pray and ask for your prayers also. Compared with some regions in the world we are well off, I know that. But it should not prevent us from trying.
Any ideas (Christian ones) greatly appreciated.
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