Amazing story of St. Anne's Parish in San Diego
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Fr. Z had a short article on the successful transition of a dying parish in San Diego to a thriving traditional parish:

    I thought you might enjoy this bit of info. St. Anne church in San Diego was scheduled to be closed. A long-established and solid group (200 families) were attending the TLM at the chapel of the local Catholic cemetery since the indult days and the bishop offered the church to us when FSSP promised us a priest. In three years we went from one priest and two Masses a Sunday to 500 families, 3 priests, and six Masses each Sunday. In acknowledgement, the bishop made the parish rectory a canonical house, so priests may go but the parish is here to stay!


    This is Mary Ann Carr Wilson's parish, if I'm not mistaken, but it's especially inspiring to me since I belong to a small group of families who currently attend a weekly Missa Cantata in the cemetery chapel in the Diocese of Brooklyn. Sometimes I feel like we're in the catacombs, but I'm very grateful for our beautiful old chapel and the opportunity to provide music for the traditional liturgy. However, being part of an actual parish is obviously the ideal and we pray all the time that someday si Deus vult we'll be in a church of our own.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen teachermom24
  • gregpgregp
    Posts: 632
    We, too, have a community which celebrates an EF Missa Cantata every Sunday and Holy Day in a cemetery chapel. We have not had as spectacular a success as Mary Ann's parish, but we do have over 100 people every week and are gradually becoming known in the area. Our regular priest is a wonderful man who is about 60, so he should be around for awhile. Recently, we had a young priest (ordained one year) come and celebrate the Mass in choro with us, and he told us afterward that he can't do much now about the Mass in the 'normal' parish where he's at, but as he gains responsibility he will be in our corner, and all the Diocese's current seminarians feel the same way. I tell my schola: the boats may not have moved on the surface yet, but the tide has already turned.
    Thanked by 1JulieColl
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Gregp, it's good to know there are others doing the same thing. God bless!

    Being in our cemetery chapel singing a Missa Cantata on Sunday mornings is really quite a beautiful and moving experience. It's the actualization of the dogma of the Communion of Saints.

    I dearly love our little stone chapel (below) and it feels like we're in middle of the English countryside, but there's so much more to a regular parish life that we're missing--and alot of the problems as well. I realize that, too.

    You just have to make the most of what God gives you.

    image
    Thanked by 3Adam Wood irishtenor CHGiffen
  • MaryAnn Carr WilsonMaryAnn Carr Wilson
    Posts: 1,738
    Wow, Julie! That stone chapel is truly lovely.
    Yes, St. Anne's is my parish. :)
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Thanks, Mary Ann!

    It's quite unusual architecturally, and is a combination of several styles. The exterior is below. It was built in 1953 and has some wonderful Art Deco elements. I esp. love the Stations of the Cross and the stained glass windows.

    The stones were literally crumbling around us when we began singing in the schola about 3 years ago, but since then it has undergone some much-needed repairs.

    The cemetery itself is home to the gravesites of several notorious mob bosses who, from what I understand, were buried from the chapel since neighboring churches would not host their funerals.

    Hope you'll tell us more about your chant camp this week.

    image

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