The Wonderful and the Wlatsome

A Community-Created Listing of the Best and Worst of America's Catholic Parishes

This blog is a place for readers like YOU to help everyone out by donating entries to an online archive of descriptions of Catholic Parishes with which you have experience, so that your fellow Catholics will have a way -- when travelling, moving, or vacationing -- to find a good, solid, and orthodox parish.

Wlatsome is a grand middle-english word that means disgusting or highly unpleasant. I believe that its an excellent descriptor for much of the liturgical garbage that goes on today.

All Submissions Will Remain Anonymous!!

Donate your parish descriptions here!!!
(follow this template.)
(or send email to mcw28 -at- cornell.edu)

Disclaimer: Per St. Thomas Aquinas: Since, however, one's conscience should be preferred to a good name, Our Lord wished that we should publicly denounce our brother and so deliver his conscience from sin, even though he should forfeit his good name. Therefore it is evident that the precept requires a secret admonition to precede public denunciation.
So, please, talk with your pastor / bishop about abuses before sharing them here! Better to correct them than merely to complain. Furthermore, comments will be most helpful if they restrict themselves to indisputable, objective matters -- the existence and enumeration of liturgical abuses, for instance, and a simple discription (i.e., reformed-folk, traditional, Chant, Jazz..) of the musical style rather than focusing on personal tastes and opinions. Submissions will be edited for content and tone.

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Wednesday, June 09, 2004

Name of Parish: Queenship of Mary
Location: Plainsboro, NJ
Date and Time: Saturday Vigil 5:30pm, Sundays 7am, 8:45am, 10:30am, 12:15pm
Website: http://www.qomchurch.org/

The Wonderful: Solid orthodox pastor (who calls himself "pastor", not "administrator!) celebrates thoughtful, reverent Mass, no liturgical abuses to speak of, a growing parish with a lot of young families as well as some older folks, a music ministry that tries very hard, pastor encourages frequent Sacrament of Reconciliation as well as more active participation in one's faith, Easter week celebrated very meaningfully and reverently, Do-nut Sundays encourage new parishioners to register, have several groups/comittees/clubs one can join, weekend priests who assist give solid homilies.

The Wlatsome: Parishioners continuously showing up late to Mass (despite the pastor mentioning this at times), music ministry is inconsistent--sometimes beautiful voices as when the director of music herself sings, other times horrible off note voices (by well meaning yet misguided parishioners who want to participate) are leading the songs, 1970's style church with minimal traditional touches, Resurrected Christ at the altar instead of Crucified Christ, no crying room for unruly children and sobbing babies, hence some young parents just let them do what they want which causes distraction.
- posted by Ambrosius @ 9:08 PM --