Weekday Traditional Latin Mass and Eastern Rite Options In and Around Chicagoland

Photo of St. John Cantius on All Souls Day (c) A Catholic Life Blog, 2022

Traditional Latin Mass Options on the First Sunday of Each Month

The website "The Four Marks" has a great list of options of Traditional Latin Mass and Eastern Rite options in and around Chicagoland for the First Sunday of the month when the Tridentine Mass is forbidden in the Archdiocese of Chicago. After the draconian changes announced in January 2022, the number of TLM locations in the Archdiocese was significantly reduced. In addition to forbidding the TLM at several places which had offered it for many years, the TLM was forbidden at all parishes on the first Sunday of each month as well as Christmas, Easter Sunday, and Pentecost Sunday. I highly recommend using the list at The Four Marks for those dates.

Traditional Latin Mass Options for Other Sundays

The following TLM locations are available on most Sundays (except for the First Sunday of the month, Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, and Pentecost Sunday):

• St. John Cantius Church (Chicago): 7:30 AM Low Mass, 12:30 PM High Mass
• Saint James at Sag Bridge (Lemont): 12 PM
• Our Lady Immaculate (Oak Park): 9 AM (unaffected by the Archdiocese's persecution as this is an SSPX chapel)
• Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Chapel (Elgin): 10 AM (unaffected by the Archdiocese's persecution as this is an independent chapel)

Weekday Traditional Latin Mass Options

For those looking for weekday Tridentine Mass options or Eastern Rite Liturgies, there are also options in Chicago or within relatively close 40-mile driving distance:

• St. John Cantius Church (Chicago): 8:00 AM Low Mass (Monday through Friday), 7:30 PM High Mass (Wednesday), 8:30 AM Low Mass (Saturday)
• St. Joseph Church (Rockdale): 7:30 AM Low Mass (Monday through Friday), 5:30 PM (Thursday), 8:00 AM Low Mass (Saturday)
• Our Lady Immaculate (Oak Park): 7:00 PM (First Fridays and certain feast days. Check the calendar before going).
• SSPX Priory (Chicago): This is at the priory and not at the Oak Park church: 11:00 AM (Monday), 7:15 AM Low Mass (Tuesday through Thursday), 7:15 AM Low Mass (Fridays except for First Fridays and special feasts). Check the calendar before going.

Weekday Eastern Rite Liturgy Options

For all of the Sunday options, see The Four Marks, as they are unaffected by the Archdiocese. Their regular Sunday Liturgies are available on all Sundays of the month. For weekday options, these options exist in close proximity to the city of Chicago:

• Mart Mariam Chaldean Catholic Church (Northbrook): 6:30 PM Divine Liturgy in Surath (Friday)
• St. John the Baptist Melkite Catholic Church
• St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Cathedral (Chicago): 8:30 AM Divine Liturgy in Malayalam (Monday through Friday), 7:00 PM Divine Liturgy in English (Monday through Friday), 8:30 AM Liturgy in Malayalam (Saturday).
• St. Mary’s Syro-Malabar Knanaya Catholic Church (Morton Grove): Divine Liturgies all in Malayalam: 8:15 AM (Monday through Friday), 7:00 PM (Monday through Thursday), 10:00 AM (Saturday). Divine Liturgy in English: 6:00 PM (Friday)
• St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral (Chicago): 5:00 PM Vespers (Saturday), 6:00 PM Matins (Saturday)
• SS. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church (Chicago): 8:00 AM Divine Liturgy in Ukrainian (Monday through Friday), 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy in Ukrainian (Saturday)
• St. Joseph the Betrothed Ukrainian Catholic Church (Chicago): 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy in the Chapel (Monday - Friday), 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy in the Church (Saturday), 5:00 PM Vespers (Saturdays), 6:30 PM Vespers (Eve of Major Feasts)
• Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church (Palatine): Divine Liturgies: 8:00 AM (Monday through Friday), 9:00 AM (Saturday), 7:00 PM (Weekday Holy Days)
• St. George Byzantine Catholic Church (Aurora): 6:00 PM Divine Liturgy (Monday through Thursday), 1:00 PM Divine Liturgy (Friday)
• Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church (Homer Glen): 7:00 PM (Thursday and Holy Days)
• St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church (Whitting, IN): 5:00 PM Great Vespers (Saturday)

If you know of any other options, please leave the details in the comments section below.

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 22

In today’s episode, on the 7th Sunday after Pentecost, I address the following: 

1. Should Civil Society Outlaw Sin?
2. What Really Was the Spanish Inquisition?
3. The Upcoming feastdays of this week, which include some interesting Pre-1955 Elements

This episode is sponsored by PrayLatin.com. PrayLatin.com offers Latin prayer cards to learn and share prayers in the sacred language. Learn your basic prayers without spending more time looking at screens. Conveniently carry these Latin prayers with you on the go. Share basic prayers in Latin with your family and friends. PrayLatin.com prayer cards are available in various formats. Practice your pronunciation with easy-to-follow English phonetic renderings of Latin words. PrayLatin.com also offers Latin-English rosary pamphlets with the traditional 15 mysteries. Visit PrayLatin.com today and take advantage of generous free shipping offers on both domestic and international orders.

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Tridentine Brewing Launches Merch Shop

Tridentine Brewing is a family homebrewing operation founded by the Alcorn family. I first learned about Tridentine Brewing in early 2021 after hearing of fellow Chicago-area Catholics affiliated with the Shrine of Christ the King (ICKSP) who had bottles of it. As an avid fan of craft beer, I looked them up online but was unable to find any information about them. Thankfully, by autumn 2021, I was able to come across the then-newly established Twitter account of Tridentine Brewing which is run by Trevor. By All Souls Day of that year, he had graciously sent me several bottles of beer and a box of merchandise for free, which are pictured above.

The brews are delicious. The designs are beautiful. And the stories of the beers, carefully summarized and explained in the documentation sent to me, showed a level of detail far beyond what I am accustomed to from even commercial craft breweries! There is a reason they are winning homebrew awards. I do hope to see them commercially producing in the near future!

Tridentine Brewing is a home brewing operation and does not commercially sell its beer - it is always given away. As such, I wanted to wait until they had something to sell before publicly promoting them. And I'm happy to announce that Tridentine Brewing has launched its online store offering tin tackers, magnets, coasters, decals, and more for sale!

Please check out Tridentine Brewing's online merch shop today and support a family brewery that I know supports Traditional Catholic causes and regularly gives and supports traditional Catholic orders and organizations. Your purchase will undoubtedly be going back to help the cause. Check them out today.

Tridentine Brewing recently appeared on an episode of "Hope in the Desert" with Fr. Lovell of the Coalition of Canceled Priests. Give them a listen today!

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 21

In today’s episode, on the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, I address the following: 

1. Offering Up Fasting while in the state of grace for Priests
2. Upcoming Feastdays this Week

I would like to thank CatechismClass.com for sponsoring this episode.  CatechismClass.com, the leader in online Catholic catechism classes, has everything from online K-12 programs, RCIA classes, adult continuing education, marriage preparation, baptism preparation, confirmation prep, quince prep classes, catechist training courses, and much more. They are currently offering a special July sale on their collection of Catholic book summaries – study the richness of traditional and contemporary Catholic classics in a fraction of the time with 5-page summaries of each book.

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Should A Catholic Convert to Eastern Orthodoxy?

The Divine Liturgy celebrated at St. Mary's Byzantine Catholic Church in Whitting, IN shows that it is possible to have the beauty of Eastern Liturgies in Communion with Rome.

Is Orthodoxy the True Faith?

It is evident with the crisis in the Catholic Church concerning not only the sexual abuse crisis but the crisis in the Liturgy after Vatican II that some Catholics have become disillusioned with the current Catholic hierarchy. From an outside perspective, some might ask why they should remain Catholic and not convert to Eastern Orthodoxy, which is known for reverent, ancient liturgies under the name of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (or St. Basil the Great at some times).

But on a more deep analysis, there is no refuge in Orthodoxy. While we often think of the Orthodox as schismatics and not as heretics, the doctrinal crisis has also affected them. Some definitions to start from the Catholic Modern Dictionary of Father John Hardon:

Heresy: In the Roman Catholic Church, heresy has a very specific meaning. Anyone who, after receiving baptism, while remaining nominally a Christian, pertinaciously denies or doubts any of the truths that must be believed with divine and Catholic faith is considered a heretic. Accordingly four elements must be verified to constitute formal heresy; previous valid baptism, which need not have been in the Catholic Church; external profession of still being a Christian, otherwise a person becomes an apostate; outright denial or positive doubt regarding a truth that the Catholic Church has actually proposed as revealed by God; and the disbelief must be morally culpable, where a nominal Christian refuses to accept what he knows is a doctrinal imperative.

Schismatic: According to Church law, a schismatic is a person who, after receiving baptism and while keeping the name of Christian, pertinaciously refuses to submit to the Supreme Pontiff or refuses to associate with those who are subject to him. The two factors, submission to the Pope and association with persons subject to him, are to be taken disjunctively. Either resisting papal authority or refusing to participate in Catholic life and worship induces schism, even without further affiliation with another religious body. Like heresy, schism is formal and culpable only when the obligations are fully realized.

How is the Orthodox Church Falling Into Heresy?

The Orthodox generally reject the following dogmatically defined truths which a Christian must accept:

1. The Holy Ghost proceeds from both the Father and the Son. Those interested in the Church's treatment of this should look into Father Henry Chadwick's "The Early Church" or "Fr. John Meyendorff's "Byzantine Theology," which address this well. The Church Fathers all believed in the Filioque.
2. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (i.e., that She was conceived without the stain of original sin) despite significant proof from the Early Church Fathers. It is well known that a number of Orthodox prelates believed this.
3. Papal Supremacy. This is well defended by Fr. Francis Dvornik in "Byzantium and the Roman Primacy."
4. The indissolubility of Marriage since the Orthodox allow a second and even a third marriage for divorced persons. On the contrary, the Magisterium has always maintained the prohibition of divorce and remarriage, even for Eastern Rite Catholics (Council of Lyon II [1274], Benedict XIV [1743] due to our Lord's own words (Matthew 19:6).
5. The state of the soul needed to approach the Blessed Sacrament.
6. The use of artificial contraception as being opposed to the will of God.
7. The fact that Baptism may validly be received only once.

There is No Unified Body of Doctrine in the Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church is actually not a unified Church but a collection of different groups with different beliefs, which attacks two fundamental marks of the Church. The four marks of the Church can only be present in the Church founded by our Lord Jesus Christ. And Orthodoxy attacks two of them significantly:

Oneness: St. Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians asserted that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:5). The Church is one because she was founded by Jesus, the one and only Son of God, Who taught one unified body of doctrine. Granted, there is great diversity in the Church regarding cultures, gifts, ways of life, and offices, yet there is unity in government (under the visible head, the Pope), faith, and sacraments. The Roman Catechism explains, “The first mark of the true Church is described in the Nicene Creed, and consists in unity….”  Likewise, the Baltimore Catechism teaches, “The Church is one because all its members agree in one faith, are all in one communion, and are all under one Head.” 

Catholicity (i.e., Universality): The word "Catholic" literally means “universal.” The Church is the universal body of believers established by Christ and meant for all people of all corners of the world for all times (cf. Matt. 28:18-20; Apoc. 5:9-10). The etymology of the word “catholic” is the Greek adjective katholikos, which is related to the adverb katholou, meaning “in general” or “according to the whole.” This definition helps communicate the fact that the Catholic Faith is for people of every place, culture, and class. There is no one who is not called to a member of the true Faith. As St. John relates in the Book of the Apocalypse: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; because Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God, in Thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Apoc. 5:9).

How exactly does Orthodoxy violate this? A revert from Orthodoxy explains: 

In hindsight, I came to realise that what Greek Orthodoxy lacked was the universality of the Creed; “I believe in ONE, holy, CATHOLIC and Apostolic Church…”. I experienced holiness and Apostolic succession, but didn’t feel the oneness in the increasingly splintering Orthodox churches nor any sense of universality. I felt cut off from my family and peers, because the Greeks showed no interest in my desire to evangelize the Australian people. I was told sternly, “That’s not our way, not our spirit. No one will listen to you because you are not Greek. Besides, you joined a Greek church, why do you want to change us? We are Greek, that’s who we are.” I couldn’t reconcile this attitude with Christ’s solemn command to baptise the nations, nor the actions of the Apostles in the Book of Acts.

As long as the Orthodox attack fundamental dogmas of the Christian Religion, they can never be an option. On the contrary, the Catholic Church comprises many Eastern Rite Catholics who left Orthodoxy to be reunited with Rome and the oneness of doctrine but retain their beautiful and reverent liturgies. 

In fact, some groups like the Society of St. Josaphat are aligned with the SSPX in the fight for Tradition and for the preservation of the Eastern Rites.

Resources for Anyone Tempted to Leave Traditional Catholicism for Orthodoxy

Books:

• Rome and the Eastern Churches by Fr. Aidan Nichols
• Russia and the Universal Church by Vladmir Soloviev

Articles:

• From Catholicism to Orthodoxy and Back Again
• I Left Eastern Orthodoxy for the Church Led by Pope Francis, and I Don’t Regret It.
• My Trip Through Eastern Orthodoxy
• What About Eastern Orthodoxy?

Videos:

• Chalcedon and the Three Petrine Sees Argument

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 20

In today’s episode, on the 5th Sunday after Pentecost, I address the following: 

1. Why and How to Practice the Presence of God
2. The Octave of Ss. Peter and Paul and the Commemoration of All Holy Popes
3. The Feasts of St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria and Ss Cyril and Methodius

This episode is sponsored by PrayLatin.com. PrayLatin.com offers Latin prayer cards to learn and share prayers in the sacred language. Learn your basic prayers without spending more time looking at screens. Conveniently carry these Latin prayers with you on the go. Share basic prayers in Latin with your family and friends. PrayLatin.com prayer cards are available in various formats. Practice your pronunciation with easy-to-follow English phonetic renderings of Latin words. PrayLatin.com also offers Latin-English rosary pamphlets with the traditional 15 mysteries. Visit PrayLatin.com today and take advantage of generous free shipping offers on both domestic and international orders.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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European Customs in Honor of Ss. Peter and Paul

Father Weiser in the “Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs” relates some of the following customs associated with June 29th:

In Hungary, grains are blessed by the priest after Mass on Peter and Paul's Day. People weave crowns, crosses, and other religious symbols from straw, have them blessed, and carry them on wooden poles in procession around the church. Afterward they take them home and keep them suspended from the ceiling over the dinner table. Bread is also blessed in a special ceremony on this day in Hungary.

A moving custom is practiced in rural sections of the Alpine countries. On June 29, when the church bells ring the "Angelus" early in the morning, people step under the trees in their gardens, kneel down and say the traditional prayer the "Angel of the Lord." Having finished the prayer they bow deeply and make the sign of the cross, believing that on Saint Peter's Day the blessing of the Holy Father in Rome is carried by angels throughout the world to all who sincerely await it.

Sadly, as with most customs associated with the liturgical era, these faded into history when devotion faded from modern man’s life. Learn more about the customs and liturgical heritage of Ss Peter and Paul (including its forgotten Octave).

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 19

In today’s episode, on the 4th Sunday after Pentecost, I address the following: 

1. The Bula de Cruzada (the Crusade Bulls on Fasting in the Spanish World)
2. The Fast of the Vigil of Ss. Peter and Paul on June 28th
3. The Forgotten History of How Ss. Peter and Paul, on June 29th, Ceased Being an American Holy Day of Obligation.

This episode is sponsored by Ordinary Dad Life.  Ordinary Dad Life seeks to inspire courage in men to pray and live the virtues of authentic masculinity through the Rosary.  Our Lady was clear when she said to “pray the Rosary everyday” at Fatima.  Their shop on Etsy has a variety of styles for men from traditional chain rosaries to durable paracord rosaries with heavy medal beads, large crucifixes (up to 3”) and large medals such as the miraculous medal, St Michael or St Joseph medals.  Ordinary Dad Life is running a special promotion from NOW until the end of 2023.  Use the code ACATHOLICLIFE20 for 20% off and Free Shipping when you spend $50 or more at the shop. Proceeds go back into the Catholic community and those striving to live the authentic Catholic faith. 

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 18

In today’s episode, on the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost, I address the following: 

1. The Vigil of St. John the Baptist Customs
2. The Nativity of St. John the Baptist, who was born without original sin
3. Other Feastdays Coming This Week, including St. Aloysius, Patron of Catholic Youth

This episode is sponsored by PrayLatin.com. PrayLatin.com offers Latin prayer cards to learn and share prayers in the sacred language. Learn your basic prayers without spending more time looking at screens. Conveniently carry these Latin prayers with you on the go. Share basic prayers in Latin with your family and friends. PrayLatin.com prayer cards are available in various formats. Practice your pronunciation with easy-to-follow English phonetic renderings of Latin words. PrayLatin.com also offers Latin-English rosary pamphlets with the traditional 15 mysteries. Visit PrayLatin.com today and take advantage of generous free shipping offers on both domestic and international orders.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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The Forgotten History of Dispensation from Fasting from the Spanish Crusade Bulls

The Spanish Crusade Bulls

In 1089 Pope Urban II granted a dispensation to Spain from abstinence on Fridays, in virtue of the Spanish efforts in the Crusades as part of the Crusade Bulls. After the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, Pope St. Pius V expanded that privilege to all Spanish colonies. That dispensation remained in place in some places as late as 1951 when the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in New Mexico, the last territory to invoke it, rescinded the privilege.

Known as the “Bula de Cruzada” (Spanish for Crusade Bulls), they were actually a series of papal bulls issued as far back as 1089 but which continued throughout the centuries with bulls issued in 1118, 1197, 1478, 1479, 1481, 1482, 1485, 1494, 1503 and 1505. One such provision of these bulls served to dispense the faithful from fasting and abstinence during Lent. The first bull of meat at the state level was delivered by Pope Julius II to the Catholic Monarchs in 1509 so that the Spanish were permitted to eat meat, eggs, and dairy on prohibited days. The town of Meco, Spain, obtained a bull from Pope Innocent VIII in the late 15th century exempting its 14,000 inhabitants from fast and abstinence, even on Good Friday, owing to their alleged large distance from the sea.

The one who originally obtained this dispensation was Íñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones, the second Count of Tendilla and Lord of Meco. He requested the papal bull, and many say that the Vatican's favorable decision was granted in recognition of the services López de Mendoza had rendered to Innocent VIII and the Roman Court since Meco is not the farthest Spanish town from the sea. 

All of these bulls stemmed from the contributions which the Spanish made to advance the Faith against the Church's enemies through the Crusades. As such, some Spanish missals will list reduced days of fasting and abstinence with the notation “con Bula de Cruzada.”

The Bull of the Crusade was ultimately extinguished on December 31, 1914, by Pope Benedict XV, who replaced it with the Pontifical Indults, whose proceeds were used for the founding and maintenance of seminaries. The fasting and abstinence pardons were later extinguished in 1966 with the issuance of Poenitemini.

This is just another example of our forgotten fasting and abstinence heritage. Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

"Misal Diario y Vesperal" by Dom Gasper Lefebvre and translated by P. German Prado (c) 1962

This is seen in some Missals published in the mid-1950s. For instance, a Spanish Missal from the mid-1950s notes: By virtue of the decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council, given in the 28th day of January 1949, combined with the Privilege of the Bull of the Holy Crusade, the law of fast and abstinence is modified in the following manner:

Spain

• Days of fast only, Ash Wednesday 
• Days of abstinence-only, all Fridays of Lent 
• Days of fasting with abstinence, Good Friday, and the Vigils of the Immaculate Conception and the Nativity of Our Lord. 
• Fast and abstinence for the Vigil of the Nativity is anticipated in Ember Saturday.

Note: It is supposed that all faithful enjoy the privilege of the Bull, and the bishops make use of the faculty that was granted to them.

Latin America and the Philippine Islands

By virtue of the pontifical indult, it is only obligatory:

Days of abstinence-only, without fast: the four vigils:

1. Vigil of Christmas 
2. Vigil of Pentecost 
3. Vigil of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul 
4. Vigil of the Assumption 

Days of fasting and abstinence: Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent

Days of fasting only without abstinence: all other Wednesdays of Lent, Holy Thursday, and Ember Friday during Advent

Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

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