The Enrollment

Today was the day! (Actually it was yesterday since I'm posting this after midnight.)

Father enrolled me and a number of other people who came up to the first few pews after Mass. He read the blessing aloud in English so we knew what he was saying and in Latin every scapular after that. He blessed the scapulars, said something in Latin, and put the Scapulars in front of each persons lips so we can kiss them before he put them on us. We're also encouraged to kiss them when putting them on after taking a shower.

It was a beautiful ceremony.

Father talked about our becoming part of a scapular confraternity by enrolling. I googled the Brown Scapular and was reminded about the obligation to say the Little Office, but a priest can change this to the Rosary. I'll have to look and see if my Little Office books got shoved under the bed. (Dearest St Anthony please help me find them.)

I found out from Father that only the first scapular has to be blessed although we're encouraged to get the others blessed too.

According to what I read in the Google article, if you want to wear the Scapular medal, you must still have the enrollment done with the Scapular and then replace it with the medal after the enrollment. And you need to have every Scapular medal that you wear blessed by a priest or deacon after that.

I took an old cell phone with a camera to the church and had a lady take a couple pictures of me with the priest while he still had the special vestment he had on for enrolling the Scapular.

According to Father, the Scapular was given to St. Simon Stock, when she appeared to him at Mt. Carmel in 1251.

At first only Carmelite priests were allowed to do the enrollment; now any priest is allowed to do it.

I'm a Latin Mass "Junkie"

I didn't think I'd like the Traditional Latin Mass that much-but I love it!!!

In fact, I even told the priest who says our Traditional Mass that it reminds me of the first definition I've ever heard of crack-a cocaine that you get hooked on instantly. I practically got hooked on the Traditional Latin Mass instantly and don't want to go back to the English Masses-especially on Sundays when Father is there to say Mass early Sunday morning.

In addition to regular Sunday Masses-which this "night owl" drags herself out of bed early to attend-I've been to a couple other Masses said by this same priest. One was on Ash Wednesday-not a holy day of obligation-and the other on Ascension Thursday itself-not "Ascension Sunday." Kind of reminds me of the moniker given to the vigil Masses we have in English-the "cheaters' Mass."

In our diocese we're no longer required to attend Ascension Mass on a Thursday; the obligation got moved to the closest Sunday-the one before Pentecost. But our Bishop doesn't like the idea of moving it to Sunday and neither do I. When Father announced that we'd be having a Mass for Ascension Thursday-not just "Ascension Sunday"-I was very happy. He said that "a lot of us Traditionalists" don't like this move from Thursday to Sunday. (So the Bishop and I aren't the only 2 people in this diocese who don't like this change-far from it!) Father said that if you don't like this idea either of moving Ascension to Sunday you don't have a right to complain about it if you don't go.

I saw quite a few of the people at the Thursday Mass that I see on Sundays. I was very happy to see them show up for this Mass. I think our Bishop would be very happy to see our large turnout at this Mass. And this was one more "excuse"-or opportunity-to attend a Traditional Latin Mass.

Hopefully we'll have a Traditional Latin Mass priest in our area 7 days a week sometime in the near future. But for now I'm grateful for one who comes up once a week to care for our local Latin Mass community and runs back to the other one to say Mass for them too.

I've been running a "small business" of making macrame necklaces out of embroidery floss but I haven't been selling a lot of them lately. I decided to get my own table at the parish "garage sale" and attempt to sell them as well as some old missals and a Bible I bought together in a big box on eBay. I didn't make much, but I think I made more on the missals than the necklaces at the sale. And I made at least $23 by selling them after Latin Mass. Now I get on eBay quite a bit to find more boxes full of old missals to sell them.

In fact I did win another box of old Catholic missals and similar books-but I paid almost twice as much for this shipment for half the number of books. When I talked to our choir director, I found that someone (probably one of her daughters) wanted a missal by Fr. F.X. Lasance who wrote a book I'm reading now called "A Catholic Girls' Guide."

I did find a copy of the Fr. Lasance missal on eBay and bought it for $9.99 with no charge for shipping. I just got it this past week and plan on taking it to Mass to show the choir director and the young lady who wants one. If she doesn't want it, I'll just wait for someone else who does. I love getting these old books and making them available to those who want them.

I told Father that the thing I like the most about the Traditional Mass is the big cross on his back as he faces the big altar. I've been saying it reminds me of Who the Boss really is-and it's not the celebrant. And it's also a reminder of what the "Boss" did for us-died for our sins on the cross. I've even read that the cross on the back of the outer vestment-also called a chasuble-symbolizes Jesus carrying the cross on his shoulders for us.

I used to think I was a "liberal" Catholic, but may be a Traditionalist myself; I try to adhere to the truth-not just some heresy that I wish were true.

I took a quiz on Beliefnet.com called "What Kind of Catholic Are You?" My score on that was 87% which made me either a "Rosary Catholic" or a "Traditional Catholic." I told Father how I did on this test and he said, "Congratulations!"

I do recall my late fiance, a very devout Catholic, say, "I have never heard a heresy come out of your lips." But the girlfriend he had before me believed in them he said.

In another 12 hours I will be at another Latin Mass. I hope you have a blessed Sunday!

Ad Jesum per Mariam! (To Jesus through Mary!) JMJ