SSPX to Build Huge New Parish in St. Mary’s, Kansas

Two things immediately come to mind after viewing this video on Rorate Caeli – 1. I’ll have to check this place out, I’ve never been to St. Mary’s, and 2., St. Mary’s is way, way bigger than Mater Dei.  6 Masses a day with one in a gymnasium seating what looks like close to 600 people, the video sort of vaguely mentions 4000 people attending St. Mary’s.  I don’t know if that means every Sunday, but with Mater Dei averaging about 1500 on a Sunday St. Mary’s is much larger.  And, I am not surprised, it is in a sense SSPX-town USA, and has been around 13 or 31  years longer than the FSSP parish in the Dallas Diocese.  I had long suspected that if there was a TLM parish with higher attendance on Sunday than Mater Dei, it would be St. Mary’s.

Well, God bless them, and may He bless this work. Whatever one thinks of the SSPX – and I for one am very grateful for Archbishop Lefebvre and the priestly society he started and maintained, since without it the TLM and the entire traditional practice of the Faith would probably have been expunged from the Church – this is a huge step forward for the entire traditional movement. This is a cathedral-class building being built for the sole use of the Traditional Latin Mass and the traditional practice of the Faith.  It’s a huge undertaking and requires at least $30 million (construction budgets have a tendency to go up as construction advances, but this crew looks like they are really focused on keeping a lid on expenses).  And, I must say, it looks like this new church when built will be architecturally and artistically significant.  I do pray it has outstanding stained glass and other aspects of liturgical art – there is a great deal available on the market these days, with so many ancient and beautiful churches being razed in Europe and parts of the US.

It looks less and less likely that we will have anything similar (certainly not on such a scale) locally.  The funding just isn’t there.  Well, a new church will happen in God’s good time.  If you feel inspired to help bring a substantial new traditional Catholic parish to fruition, you can donate here.