A Trip Down Memory Lane, Etc.

I just discovered something that I found rather spooky when doing an online search for an out-of-print book. Here is the link I stumbled across:

LOST IN THE LITURGICAL COSMOS: A Catholic Family's Odyssey

I should note upfront that posting the link does not mean I endorse the site or even the contents of the article per se. What I found spooky was not even the mention of my current parish (Blessed Sacrament) in the article or even this part which mentioned my former SSPX parish:

The more convenient time and location, and community life drew us to Mass at the Society of St. Pius X chapel in Edmond. The chapel is fairly plain, but has several large polychrome statues. It has also preserved a section of the old altar rail from St. James, which is now a cathedral-in-the-round. We have made friends here. Some of them, too, must come great distances to Mass, as do the priests, who fly in from Post Falls, Idaho. Although we can justify our attendance, due to the irregular situation in Seattle, under Cannon 844.2, among other Catholics we expected to hear ourselves personally called schismatics. So far, no such luck though was hear the Society called disloyal to the Pope, fanatics and so on. Some at the chapel, for their part, speak of the Novus Ordo as invalid, and are suspicious of other changes from the preconciliar period. Some also frown on indult Masses, believing that indult priests have already made concessions to the Novus Ordo. Personally, I miss the sung dialogue Masses, but these, too, are thought to lead to innovation.

But instead, this part of the text:

Recently a private Mass brought together some of the families from Blessed Sacrament and the St. Pius X chapel. It was celebrated by a priest of the Confraternity of St. Peter, in a home about 25 miles north of Everett, graced by a restored antique altarpiece and statues. Although I had expected the families from St. Pius X to express some reservations about Fraternity Masses, I was pleasantly surprised to find that some of them knew the priest, that he had baptized their children, and that they were enthusiastic about the possibility of a Fraternity priest in this area. Negotiations for such a Mass had been underway even before Seattle's Archbishop Murphy died, and then were put on hold. When the new archbishop is named, negotiations will resume, and it is hoped that the archdiocese will grant permission for a Fraternity Mass. If so, however, it may mean the end of the Masses at Blessed Sacrament.

I found this spooky because I was at the mass she refers to!!! If you consider that I have attended about four Fraternity masses in my entire life, the odds of one of them being mentioned in an online article are miniscule at best. I remember that day well actually (i) it was in 1997, (ii) the presider was Fr. John Rizzo who used to be the pastor at the Edmonds chapel mentioned in the first paragraph and was my pastor and confessor at one time (iii) the mass took place in Arlington, Washington, (iv) it was at the home of Pat and Kathy Kennedy, former parishoners at the SSPX chapel who had left a couple years earlier for reasons I do not feel I can publicly talk about (v) it was attended by both my parents, my sister, and myself, (vi) there was a kind of potluck afterwards, and (vii) a good time was had by all.

Anyway, I hope you pardon my trip into nostalgiaville at the moment but all of those memories came to mind when I read that paragraph of the text. Oh, and btw, there was an Indult granted by the new archbishop mentioned above...it was granted in 2001 and I was one of those who worked to get it put in place. One of these days I may even attend it but things at Blessed Sacrament are much better now than they were then. Oh and the priest she spoke of who celebrated the old Dominican rite at Blessed Sacrament at the time...

Here in the Seattle area, only one Mass compares. The Dominican Rite Mass at Blessed Sacrament has a Latin choir, and a priest who loves the traditional Mass and attends to the needs of traditionalist families. However, he is quite old, and the Dominicans clearly are committed to the Novus Ordo, and seem to wish the old Mass would go away. It was moved from 8:30 to 6:30 a.m. and was made a private Mass, which means no collections. Some families we know continue to attend but quietly wonder what they will do when their priest is gone.

...was Fr. Joseph Fulton who was remembered a couple of years ago in a homily by the Dominican who took over pastor duties from him and who was since transferred to another parish in the Western Province:

Remembering Fr. Joseph Fulton (Fr. Reginald Martin OP)

Anyway, just felt like talking about those things and this weblog of the ones I contribute to seemed the most appropriate one for it.