I got this by e-mail:
Hello, Father,
I got your blogsite from members at MusicaSacra, and they suggested I contact you. I had not known of your page, but enjoyed perusing it this morning.
At Saint Peter Chanel in Hawaiian Gardens, CA, USA, we had been having a Tridentine low Mass for a few months (since November, I believe).
Yesterday, the Pastor came out (before the recessional) and announced that the head of his order–The Oblates of the Virgin Mary–had ordered his priests to stop saying the indult Mass because it was an "apostolate" that the OMV does not embrace. He also said that the 170 person average Sunday attendance was insufficient to justify the Mass (in spite of the fact that we had only a Low Mass and had been relegated to the old Church–kneeling on a concrete floor–and were not interfering with N.O. masses). Daily Mass goers would certainly be shocked and disappointed to find that daily Masses were cancelled due to less than 200 person attendance, and I have never been to a Tridentine Mass in LA or OC with anywhere near 200 people, so I thought we were doing well. He also said that the Mass had been conducted on an "experimental basis," but I hadn’t heard that the Pope called for a conditional experiment. We have a stable group, and the MP doesn’t specify a minimum number.There were openly expressed protests to the decision as the pastor announced it, but he was obstinant and adamant. I plan to disenroll from the parish and go about twice as far to a TM in Huntington Beach, which I hear started up again. I’m hurt and distraught, and it seems the OMV (allegedly) is openly defying the Pope’s expressed wishes.
Can you suggest any actions (in addition to prayer, which we’re already trying) to have the situation reversed again, and permanently this time? I’m afraid the parish has lost the trust of some of their most faithful parishoners, and only with difficulty might regain it. I had even joined the fledgling choir, and we spent much time, energy, and money to get the musical resources we needed for the High Mass we were told by another priest was being planned. I became invigorated spiritually by even this Low TM as I hadn’t been in over a decade, and this cancellation has really devastated me. What can we do?
Other than making this known to the many people who read this blog, I cannot help much. However, I suggest that you collect as much concrete information as possible, such as bulletin comments and then make this situation know to the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei.
Please follow my tips for writing.
