At the risk of sounding like a broken record (some of you are old enough to know what that means), I’m going to say it again. This time, I am not appealing to the bishops, though they are welcome to eavesdrop if they like, but rather I am appealing to parish priests out there. So if you’re a parish priest, this is for you, and if you’re a layman who is interested, refer this page to your parish priest in an email or some other message.
Fathers…
Is your parish not doing as well as you would like? Is your parish just not bringing in the donations that it needs? Are you lacking a healthy amount of youth from your parish? If you’ve answered “yes” to any one of these questions, there is a simple way for you to revive your parish. It doesn’t cost a lot of money. It doesn’t require a lot of advertising. And no, it doesn’t require starting new programs or initiatives. It’s simple and any priest can do it with minimal effort. And the great thing about it is that you probably already have everything you need to get started. I’m talking about bringing some good ol’ fashioned tradition back into your parish.
The youth of today are far more sophisticated than the youth of my generation (GenX) and the Baby Boomers. While many of them will initially get caught up in the lights, fog machines, lasers and rock music of contemporary Evangelical communities, as a former Evangelical myself, I’m here to tell you that won’t last. This type of worship burns itself out rather fast. Many GenZ youth are craving something deeper, more meaningful and ancient. Lots of them don’t know it yet, but a large number of them are starting to figure it out. If you provide it, they will come. It will just be a small amount at first, but it will grow. The key here is to offer something that is the opposite of what every other Christian community is now offering: trendy music, casual atmosphere, and feel-good homilies. Get back to what Catholics do best: tradition, mystery, awe and reverence.
The great news is that all of this is not only permissible in the Ordinary Form of the Mass (Novus Ordo), but the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) is written on the assumption that this would be the norm. There is nothing stopping you from bringing the tabernacle back to the center of attention, making the altar as traditional as possible, and bringing back some traditional Latin and Gregorian Chant.
According to the GIRM, any Catholic priest can incorporate some Latin into the vernacular celebration of the Mass in the Ordinary Form (Novus Ordo). The GIRM allows for flexibility in the use of Latin alongside the vernacular language, particularly to preserve the Church’s liturgical heritage or in multilingual settings. Specifically, GIRM 41 states…
“Since the faithful from different countries come together ever more frequently, it is desirable that they know how to sing together at least some parts of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, especially the Profession of Faith and the Lord’s Prayer, according to the simpler settings.”
As you can see, the GIRM encourages the use of Latin for certain parts of the Mass, particularly the Ordinary portions (e.g., Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei), to foster unity and maintain tradition. I would recommend starting with the Kyrie, the Sanctus and Agnus Dei, then incorporate other portions as you see fit. Try to keep it simple. Don’t overwhelm your parishioners.
Then lower the lights a little, and light more candles. Lighting is important. Bright, overwhelming light can actually be distracting to some people, and modern lighting can even give some people headaches. Lower lighting actually helps people focus, and puts their attention toward the front (the chancel) where it belongs. I’m not saying to make the chapel dark. We can’t have people tripping over each other in the pews, or completely unable to read their hymnals. I’m just saying lower lighting helps. For those with poor eyes, who need a little more light, you could make low-cost, book-lights available upon request, and ask them to return it after Mass. You could even do a sign-in, sign-out thing, or just have them return it “on your honor.” Many such devices can be obtained for under $10 (US).
If your bishop will allow it, consider doing the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the second half of the Mass, while facing ad orientem with the congregation. If you decide to do this, as it is highly effective at promoting more reverence, and your bishop will let you, make sure you spend a little time explaining it to your congregation in homilies before you do it. There is a lot of confusion out there about it, so make sure your congregation understands the reason behind it. If, however, your bishop does not allow this, or if it’s practically impossible from a logistic standpoint, versus populum celebration of the Mass can still be very reverent, but the altar should be dressed properly with a crucifix and plenty of candles.
Get your choir (or cantor) to do more chant, and tell them the more Medieval the music sounds the better. Again, Latin is ideal, but chant in the vernacular is okay too. Maybe do a little of both until people get used to it. The nice thing about chant is it doesn’t require a lot of instruments, and the organ (or piano) can be used minimally to set the tone. Getting Catholics to start using their voices again, without the aid of big choirs or worship bands, is always a good idea. This not only helps worship during Mass, but it aids in helping Catholics sing praise to God on their own, during their private lives, in a way that is consistent with traditional Catholic music. This, ultimately, keeps them more mentally and spiritually connected to parish life.
Many Catholics find the Sign of Peace to be distracting and disruptive to the flow of worship during the Mass. The good thing about that is the GIRM 154 states…
“Then, if appropriate, the Deacon, or the Priest, adds: ‘Let us offer each other the sign of peace.'”
The phrase “if appropriate” indicates that the Sign of Peace is optional and can be omitted at the discretion of the priest. When omitted, the Mass proceeds directly from the Lord’s Prayer to the Agnus Dei. You might be surprised at how many parishioners appreciate this, and how quickly those who revel in the Sign of Peace tend to forget about it after a while.
Kneeling for communion is important, especially for those who are physically able to. Parishioners should be educated to know that communion on the tongue is the “norm” for Catholics in the Latin Rite (Roman Rite), and that doing so displays proper reverence toward our Eucharistic Lord. Telling them this is not good enough. Teach them how to do it, and make sure all your altar servers always do it this way. Providing a small kneeler at the front of the communion line will do wonders toward promoting proper reverence toward the Eucharist. Some won’t be able to kneel, or choose not to, and that’s fine. However, you’ll quickly notice that more and more people, over time, will choose to kneel. When you’ve got more than half of your parish doing it, it’s time to start raising money to put in an altar rail. It might be helpful to put a short, little blurb about kneeling and receiving on the tongue in your weekly parish bulletin. This will help remind people who forget your catechesis on the matter, and inform new visitors as well.
Encourage clean and modest attire for Mass, but don’t get too legalistic about it. We live in a more casual culture now, and strict dress codes are only going to drive people away. Just ask your parishioners to dress in a clean and modest way, then provide a small stack of head coverings (veils or shawls) for female parishioners who would like to veil. I would encourage you to ask your parishioners for donations to the parish on this. Ask the ladies to bring some extra veils (or shawls), which can be kept in the foyer, near the door to the chapel, for those ladies who forgot. Again, don’t get legalistic about this. It’s important for women to feel invited to veil for Mass, but not pressured to. If anyone gives you any trouble about this, refer that person to 1 Corinthians 11:1-16. I recommend using the Good News Translation (GNT) for this, as the plain and simple English will help dispel confusion. If you need more explanation, you are free to refer people to my article on this matter, print it out in full or part, and use it as you see fit. I provide these resources primarily for you, Fathers. You don’t need to ask me. Just download, copy, and use it as you see fit.
As a norm, only men or boys should be on the chancel. That means the female altar servers should be phased out. This is how you get more vocations to the priesthood. having women and girls on the altar only takes space away from the men and boys who might not otherwise consider the priesthood. If you want your parish to generate new priests, this is a big part of how it’s done. That said, I don’t think it’s a good idea to kick the ladies out. That might come across as rude or insensitive to them. Instead, phase them out slowly. Grandfather (or grandmother) those who are already serving at the altar, but at the same time let people know you are no longer taking female candidates to become altar servers. Let the girls finish their time at the altar, then slowly replace them with boys. Let the women finish their time too, and replace them with men whenever they move on.
Try to avoid the use of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHC) as much as possible. It’s okay of the communion line takes a little longer. If you must use them, however, it is far better to have adult male, altar servers do it (properly trained and anointed of course), who are vested properly in cassock and surplice. To this effect, having an instituted acolyte in your parish might be the easiest way to streamline this practice.
As for homilies, be traditional (conservative) and pastoral at the same time. Don’t be afraid to teach what the Church teaches, even if it’s controversial in our society. If it’s controversial, then it needs to be preached more often anyway. You want to approach your congregation like a loving father would approach his children. Give them the cold, hard truth, but give it to them with tender, loving care. You know how to do this. It’s what you were called to do. For that matter, homilies should be insightful but not overly technical. And keeping a homily under 15 minutes is very important, considering that most young people (these days) don’t have an attention span that last longer than 10 minutes.
Organize a weekly Bible study. This can be small or large, where you can walk your parishioners through the books of the Bible in a Catholic way. For your own preparation for such studies, I recommend using the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. Then just have your parishioners bring whatever Bible they want to the study.
Have weekly Eucharistic Adoration with Benediction, at a time when you see fit.
Always provide confession times before every Mass. And instruct your parishioners that confession is not therapy. Confessions should be short, sweet and to the point. If a parishioner needs more time for “therapy,” have them make an appointment to talk about these issues in your office, or else have them scheduled private confessions during the week.
At least twice a year, at your discretion, figure out how to do a Eucharistic Procession in your parish neighborhood. It should be done in areas that are highly visible and will attract attention. Bringing our Eucharistic Lord into the streets is essential not only for generating more interest in the Catholic Church, but to facilitate Christ the King’s visible presence in the immediate area. Yes, this is a spiritual warfare thing, and yes, it does make a difference. Ideally, this should happen more than twice a year, but organizing it too often might be problematic as well. You know your area better than I do. So do as you see fit. You are the local priest, after all, and every baptized Christian in the area is technically under your spiritual care, even if they’re not Catholic and don’t go to your parish. If they won’t come to the Eucharistic Feast (Holy Mass), then bring the Eucharist to them so they can at least see it, and be graced by the physical presence of Our Lord. If you don’t think this will make an impression on non-Catholics, you are sorely mistaken. Many non-Catholic Christians have ended up becoming Catholic after witnessing such processions.
Lastly, make sure to get your parish registered on ReverentCatholicMass.Com. This will help people find you when looking, especially if they’re traveling, or thinking about moving to a new area.
Finally, I encourage you to try all this for at least one year and see what happens. I’m willing to bet you’ll see some parish growth, along with deeper reverence and faithfulness from your regular parishioners. After that, drop me a short note and let me know how things are going. Like you, I need a little positive feedback too, now and then. I wish you the best, Fathers, and I want to see you be as successful as possible. God bless.
Shane Schaetzel is an author of Catholic books and he is an Evangelical convert to the Catholic Church. His articles have been featured on LifeSiteNews, The Remnant Newspaper, Forward in Christ, and Catholic Online. You can read Shane’s books at ShaneSchaetzel.Com
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