ote:
A quote taken from the article "Society for
Latin Mass organizing" found in Sunday, June 29, 2003 edition
of "The Catholic Post."
"A group of young men and women in the Quad Cities area have
founded The Latin Mass Society of Peoria based in Rock
Island.
The group attends the high Latin Mass celebrated by Msgr.
Ambrose Nwohu at St. Mary's Parish on Sundays. They would like
to find others in the diocese with nostalgia for the Tridentine
Mass and keep in touch with newsletters and e-mails.
The group also meets to pray the rosary and discuss news from
Rome regarding the Latin Mass."
The Latin Mass Society is thankful for the
advertisement that the Post has given us. However, we do not
feel that the article correctly/completely identified us, or
what we are about.
It is good that the Post sees us as young men and women!
However to be more specific, we are actually a group of mature,
adult Catholics who have a serious mission and purpose for
coming together. Yes, there are some active members who are in
their college years, but there are many others who are from
other various walks of life.
Our group has formed to encourage the Latin Mass in the
Diocese of Peoria and surrounding areas. It is our hope to do
this by organizing “Chapters,” or prayer groups
throughout the diocese. Prayers for our mission are a
necessity, and the organization of groups will provide a way
for like-minded Catholics to come together. We also hope to
provide resources for those groups and other individuals who
are looking for information on the Traditions of our Faith.
We hope to attract people to the group that have more than
just “nostalgia” for the traditions of our Faith.
“Nostalgia” is not why we have formed. We have
formed because of the importance that Sacred Tradition has in
Catholicism and our relationship with God. We have a love and
desire for these Traditions, especially the Tridentine Mass,
because of how they lead us to God.
Our History:
A Latin Mass apostolate had been set up by Bishop Myers at St.
Mary's parish in Rock Island, Illinois. A priest was assigned
to the parish to say the Latin Mass daily and twice on Sundays
(both a high Latin Mass and a low Mass). However, this
apostolate was taken away when this priest was reassigned to
hospital duties in Peoria. A group of parishioners formed in
attempt to petition our new bishop (Bishop Jenky) to
reconsider. After many letters and a petition with no response
from our Bishop, the parishioners said goodbye to this good
priest. The Bishop did reassign a priest to say one Latin Mass
a week at St. Mary's, and the parishioners are thankful for it.
However, it is a far cry from the apostolate that existed
previously.
This small group of parishioners from St. Mary's that had
formed decided to continue to urge the Bishop to be more free
in allowing the Tridentine Mass, but decided to expand their
efforts to include the rest of the diocese.
We, the Latin Mass Society of Peoria, invite you to be a part
of our mission. We plan on sending out a monthly newsletter
which will contain updates and news within our group along with
Catholic articles. If you are interested in organizing a
chapter in your area, please let us know.
God bless you and Mary keep you,
-The Latin Mass Society of Peoria
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