Dec 5, 2006

Kansas City Latin Masses

Kansas City is blessed by a relatively large number of traditional Latin Masses that can be attended every week. Here is the schedule of six Latin Masses offered every Sunday in Kansas City.
  1. St. Vincent's on the Missouri side is a Catholic community of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. They purchased the beautiful old church in 1979 from the diocese and quickly renovated it. With multiple priests on site because of Kansas City being the U.S. headquarters of the SSPX, St. Vincent's has two traditional Latin Masses on Sunday morning--a high Mass at 8:00 am and a low Mass at 10:30 am.
  2. Old St. Patrick Oratory is also on the Missouri side, has Bishop Robert W. Finn as its new pastor, and is staffed by a priest of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. The historic old church in downtown Kansas City, MO is now being renovated. In the meantime, the indult Latin Mass that began in about 1990 is being offered at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church every Sunday at 9:15 am.
  3. St. Philippine Duchesne is an indult Latin Mass community of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, KS that began in 1989. It is now harbored at Blessed Sacrament church in Kansas City, KS. The community is served by two priests from the Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) and has grown substantially in the past few years. Every Sunday, the low Mass is offered at 6:30 am and the high Mass is offered at 11:00 am.
  4. St. Philomena's is a small Catholic community that has existed since the early 1980 using rented space in Kansas City. In 1988, two Catholic ladies of the community asked a retired priest to offer the traditional Latin Mass. The priest continues to offer the old Latin Mass every Sunday morning at 8:30 am in south Kansas City.
The three largest traditional Latin Mass communities described above also have daily Mass, making Kansas City the likely center of traditional Latin Mass centers in the U.S. In addition, three other large Latin Mass communities are within a one- to three-hour driving time of Kansas City:
  • Maple Hill, KS (west of Topeka)--St. John Vianney Latin Mass Community now has a beautiful new chapel and school and a flourishing Catholic community.
  • St. Mary, KS (west of Topeka)--St. Mary's College and Academy is a very large apostolate of the SSPX that occupies the old Jesuit St. Mary College and Seminary, where many, many families have moved to establish a large traditional Catholic community.
  • Denton, NB (southwest of Lincoln)--Our Lady of Guadalupe is a large new seminary of the FSSP that is attracting a good number of traditional Catholic families to the Lincoln area.

3 comments:

Tommy Augustine said...

There are a lot of "You People." Have you ever thought about mingling together for youth activities or to bring in a high-roller speaker?

That may be the ex-protestant novus ordo (though conservative by most measures) speaking. Do Tridentine types proselytize?

Dust I Am said...

First, most of us were not originally "You People." We began by accepting the changes of Vatican II, but determined that the Novus Ordo Mass, new childrens' catechisms, and unorthodox activities and teaching were leading to a lot of people leaving the Catholic church.

Many of us eventually concluded that people were leaving the Church because the new Mass is the primary example of "lex orandi, lex credendi" for Catholics. Strictly, "The law of prayer is the law of belief", or better "as you pray, so shall you believe."

The Novus Ordo Mass left Catholics with a non-reverential skeleton of the previous Catholic Mass--the Tridentine Mass. This was foreseen by some far-seeing Cardinals, bishops, and theologians who published the Ottaviani Intervention in 1969.

Of course traditional Catholics proselytize. What do you think I'm trying to do with everyone who reads this blog? I don't think I'm that unusual, because traditional Catholics are very firm in their faith and most take seriously their duty to evangelize both within and without the Church.

You've brought up a good point on evangelization. It seems important to address the differences (and similarities) I see in evangelization between Novus Ordo Catholics and Traditional Catholics in a new post. And yes, we need to bring in a "high-roller" speaker--probably more than one.

I mingle with Novus Ordo people frequently--some in my own family who prefer the English Mass and have found the best Novus Ordo church they can--just like you seem to have done. Usually we think a lot alike, but have decided to follow different paths.

Both traditional Catholic communities and Novus Ordo parishes need saints. I strongly believe it will be traditional parishes with the old Latin Mass that will produce the greatest saints of the future because these saints will worship God with a Mass that better pleases Him.

As for engaging in youth activities--I'm a little too old to roller skate. But I do tell stories to my grandchildren! Seriously, many traditional Catholic families seem to have developed a good infrastructure that supports religious education and social formation of their children. At least I keep hearing of young families helping and cooperating with each other.

Tommy Augustine said...

Just got through reading Octtaviani Intervention. Double Wow! That ought to be talked about in the broader church. I wonder how conservative n.o. types try to handle that---let alone all the touchy-feely Cd Baloney followers. Somebody, maybe Wolftracker, once referred to him (obliquely and with W.T.'s clever and deft touch) as The Holy Facilitator.

Now, I have to stop dissembling and address it for myself. This religious quest thing keeps getting harder.