Anglicanorum Coetibus in Action
June 20, 2012 6 Comments
A Traditional Catholic in Iowa:
I received the following correspondence from Deacon Chori Seraiah yesterday. I have been given permission to pass this along. I have my own thoughts to follow! Please check his blog at: The Maccabean
Andy,
I wanted to let you know that both Bp. Pates and Msgr. Steenson have encouraged me to begin working to form an Ordinariate community here in the Des Moines area. If St. Aidan’s eventually chooses to join, we will just merge the two together, but for the time being, we can begin meeting as soon as we have just a few people who are interested. Feel free to get the word out to whomever you wish.
Also, I will be saying my first couple of Masses (Anglican Use) at St. Anthony’s on Monday, July 9th at 10:00am, and Tuesday, July 10th at 6:00pm. All are invited to this as well (and it may be a good introduction for folks who are curious about an Ordinariate community).In Christ,Chori Jonathin Seraiah
I cannot express to you how many prayers are being answered. I know that God works in his own time, but this is providential. Des Moines is in need of a Traditional outlet, and this very well could be it.
Fr. Seraiah and I have talked extensively and he will be starting a mission for the Ordinariate in Des Moines area. This means a couple of things. 1. He’d like to invite as many Catholics to assist at his Mass and see what the Ordinariate is all about. 2. There will be another option for receptions of the Sacraments, albeit in a different, but more traditional way. 3. Think of this as something akin to an Eastern Catholic Church for the time being. It has it’s own traditions, it has it’s own heritage, but it is 100% Catholic and it is 100% within the scope of Holy Mother Church. 4. For those who are curious as to how the Mass is celebrated, the best way to describe it is that it is like the Tridentine Mass, only in English, but the English is High English…a lot of thee’s and thou’s. It isn’t like going to your typical Novus Ordo parish…
HT: The Anglican Use of the Roman Rite
About Fr Stephen Smuts
Like the Use, the Ordinariate will depend on Anglophile Americans to keep it going, as very few geniune Episcopalians or Canadian Anglicans will join. Very English name Seraiah…..and Smuts for that matter!
Williams is a Welsh name…just saying.
It is pretty stupid to assimilate Episcopalian with Anglo-Saxons. With the ethnic and religious mix that America has always been, changes of religion due to marriage or special outreach made by a Church to people who are not part of its traditional worshipping base, were and are frequent. You can be called Macaroni or LeFrançois or Polacky or Sverigesson and be a lifelong Episcopalian from a family that has been so for more than 4 generations.
And are you deaf? As I already told you, every Anglican Use parish (including Our Lady of the Atonement, you can verify this here: http://atonementparishprofile.blogspot.fr/ ) is made up in majority of former Episcopalian and Anglican people, as are of course the former ACA or TEC parishes that are joining the ordinariate, and the ad hoc communities created for the purpose of joining the ordinariate.
You are particulary good at making prejudiced and baseless statements. Perhaps you should turn your tongue 7 times in your outh before talking (French proverb).
+ PAX et BONUM
A Catholic is a Catholic. It’s the same red blood that we’re expected to shed when the godless ones come to kill us. At least the Devil sees us this way, and delights in our division when we start to bring racial/ethnic identity politics into it.
I’m sure the Lord has blessed us with particular cultural experiences that we can use to fight the Arch-Enemy of mankind. Because to use them against each other is like committing suicide.
I was only pulling your leg! Look at the Royal family, they are mainly German and their real surname is Saxe-Coburg Gotha-Guelph.! Seriously..the Anglican Use only attracted less than O.1 per cent of American Anglicans. That is roughly the same percentage for the Ordinariate in England and Wales.The percentage is even poorer in Canada and Australia.
But it has to start somewhere. So, it only attracts a few. Christ started with 12 and look at where it got him. I think that if the Ordinariate holds true to what Rome is asking and they remain close to their culture, then there is no reason that it cannot grow.
I’m a Latin Rite Catholic and I fully plan on helping Fr. Seraiah start his mission and promote his mission. Do I have all the answers? Of course not. Does Fr. Seraiah have all the answers? Of course not. But where two or more are gathered in my name, well…there you find the Church.
As a Catholic, I can tell you that we are ready to accept the Ordinariate. We want reconciliation for a number of reasons, but the most important reason is that there is no salvation outside the Church. And the Church is Catholic. The Church never shuts her doors. The Church never turns those away who authentically want to be part of her. The word Catholic means universal. That is what the Church is.
Catechizing the faithful and the Protestant, that is a large part of the mission of the Church, along with being ecumenical with the Orthodox and evangelizing the non-Christian. That is how the Church works. That is the answer. So, if it starts with >0.1% of Anglicans, so be it. The Church will be here and her members will continue to hold arms opened wide.
In short, as a Catholic I could care less about stats. I care about souls.