I've heard people criticize the generations of their parents and grandparents for sitting like lumps of cold mashed potatoes and dumbly accepting the loss of the Mass in the 60s. That's not fair and not completely true. Brave and devout people used the phone and spent hours mailing out hand stapled newsletters, flyers and letters to let people know where a TLM was being held.
They offered their homes, raised money for hotel rooms, and hit the pavement to find venues. They supported the courageous priests, some of whom were elderly and suddenly expelled from their orders, by giving them places to stay. They got in the car and went across state lines to find a traditional Mass. And don't forget the dear people went to the one indult Mass that of course was held in a church in a dangerous neighborhood at 6 in the morning or 3 in the afternoon. Those people carried on for years like that.
We have the Internet. It will be much easier for us to do what those people in the 60s, 70s and and 80s did. This is our moment. DISCREETLY, let your priest and only your priest know that you will have his back if he is willing to offer the Mass. Yes, I mean offer him a room in your home, convert the shed, donate the RV, whatever it takes to keep him fed, healthy and with a roof over his head. Start looking for venues now and those of you who have been financially blessed, get ready to offer your homes or a big tent on your property for Mass.
Be calm. Don't grovel to your bishop. Today I even heard one good priest ask that his people NOT contact the bishop. Don't rage at the pastor of your parish. Stop giving to the Bishop's Lenten Appeal and if you are still throwing a dollar in the basket when the Peter's Pence all I can do is ask you why.
Don't let Francis drive you out of the Church. Today so many people are talking themselves into shuffling off to the Orthodox. In the 60s many people stopped going to Mass. Others decided that since the Novus Ordo and the high church Protestant service was so similar they might as well go to the Episcopalians. Others drifted to the Evangelicals or were harvested by the New Age occult groups. Many people stayed but only for Mass and checked out of any church activities. A huge number remained nominally Catholic but stopped going except for Easter, Ash Wednesday and Christmas.
This is our moment. Many of us have had it easy. We were able to go to a nearby diocesan Mass and not just at 6 AM in the crypt chapel and did so for years. Depending on your age and where you live, you may have never known anything but that or FSSP. That kindly time is over for now. If we cannot have the TLM in the church building then let's follow the example of our betters. It's time to get going.
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