- Feb 5, 2002
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It’s happening again this year. It happens every year.
At the little chapel where Leila and I go every weekday morning, it’s more and more difficult to find an empty pew at the early Mass. If you’re thinking of joining us, don’t worry; there’s still plenty of room. But you might have to ask someone to scoot over and share a pew. A few years ago, would rarely have been necessary.
As I observed last year, before just before Lent began, there is a regular pattern: Right after Ash Wednesday, a few new faces begin to appear at daily Mass along with the people we’ve been seeing day after day for months. Obviously they have made a resolution to go to Mass every day during Lent. But then when Easter arrives and their resolution has been fulfilled, at least a few of those continue to come every day, and soon they are numbered among the daily “regulars,” with their own favorite pews.
So as the years roll by, more pews are occupied; our little congregation is growing. That in itself is remarkable, because in our chapel, as in most Catholic churches, the average age of the regulars is well above average. (Somehow the regulars don’t look as old to me as they did in the 1980s. There may be natural explanation for that.) So there is a natural attrition, as the older folks leave us. And still the congregation grows.
Nor is this little chapel an isolated example. As I wrote last year:
It’s been nearly 40 years now since I made the commitment to try to get to Mass every day. We’ve moved a few times since then, and my job schedule has changed several times, so that over the years I’ve been “one of the regulars” in eight different churches or chapels. At every stop along the way, I’ve seen a steady increase in the number of people at daily Mass.
When I posted that column, I asked readers whether they had noticed the same trend. I received only a handful of replies, but every one was affirmative. Granted, I still can site only a very small sample. But the evidence is encouraging.
Continued below.
www.catholicculture.org
At the little chapel where Leila and I go every weekday morning, it’s more and more difficult to find an empty pew at the early Mass. If you’re thinking of joining us, don’t worry; there’s still plenty of room. But you might have to ask someone to scoot over and share a pew. A few years ago, would rarely have been necessary.
As I observed last year, before just before Lent began, there is a regular pattern: Right after Ash Wednesday, a few new faces begin to appear at daily Mass along with the people we’ve been seeing day after day for months. Obviously they have made a resolution to go to Mass every day during Lent. But then when Easter arrives and their resolution has been fulfilled, at least a few of those continue to come every day, and soon they are numbered among the daily “regulars,” with their own favorite pews.
So as the years roll by, more pews are occupied; our little congregation is growing. That in itself is remarkable, because in our chapel, as in most Catholic churches, the average age of the regulars is well above average. (Somehow the regulars don’t look as old to me as they did in the 1980s. There may be natural explanation for that.) So there is a natural attrition, as the older folks leave us. And still the congregation grows.
Nor is this little chapel an isolated example. As I wrote last year:
It’s been nearly 40 years now since I made the commitment to try to get to Mass every day. We’ve moved a few times since then, and my job schedule has changed several times, so that over the years I’ve been “one of the regulars” in eight different churches or chapels. At every stop along the way, I’ve seen a steady increase in the number of people at daily Mass.
When I posted that column, I asked readers whether they had noticed the same trend. I received only a handful of replies, but every one was affirmative. Granted, I still can site only a very small sample. But the evidence is encouraging.
Continued below.
Don’t look now, but the pews are getting crowded
These are the places where the level of interest in Catholic worship has reached what I like to call a Critical Mass.
www.catholicculture.org
