Late last night, while puffing on a cigar and sipping my usual diet Coke with rum, I enjoyed a conversation with my fellow Okie Trad Blogger Laramie Hirsch (HIRSCH FILES), ruminating and reflecting on what seems to have become a natural evolution for this here blog. And so I wanted to tell ya'll I've decided to use in part this hobby of mine--The Okie Traditionalist Blog--to express one emphatic Voice on behalf of Traditional Catholics here in Oklahoma.
I'm especially reaching out directly to you clear-minded, un-apologetically traditional Catholics who have at least an IOTA of courage and desire to have a public Voice against the Great Apostasy in our own Local Church.
Okie Traditionalists in the Novus Ordo Back Pew:
I also want to befriend all those faithful Okie Catholics Sitting on the Fence about Catholic Tradition, what to think about a Pope Francis or his newly appointed Tulsa Bishop, let alone Vatican II or the Novus Ordo Mass.
Crunchin' the Numbers:
I'd estimate there are about 750 explicitly Traditionalist Catholics here in Oklahoma, spanning two dioceses, 5 Latin Mass parishes, a monastic community, and two convents.
But get this, there's about 300,000 Catholics in Oklahoma. 3.8 million Okies...8% Catholic...my conservative estimate 20% "practicing" = 60,000 regular Mass attendees. If just 5% of those were so inclined to believe and practice the Faith as our ancestors always did, that would mean there are:
3000+ would-be traditional Catholics spread out across the state of Oklahoma!
I know this disenfranchised group very well, as I've spent years in solidarity riding the Back Pew with these Salt-of-the-Earth folks at Novus Ordo parishes, toting our Sunday missals dressed in proper Sunday dress. If I had a dollar for every time I experienced Dry Heaves witnessing the typical sacrileges of the Novus Ordo, I could sit down at my local diner and order up my favorite steak and eggs.
My Fellow Trads in Eastern Oklahoma:
Over the years, I've hobnobbed on the hilly Eastern side of this Ranching, Oil-derrick-producing, Bible-thumbing state with very devoted traditional Catholics living near the monks of Clear Creek monastery, in Tulsa at St. Peter and Paul parish, Most Precious Blood Parish (FSSP), and the Society of St. Pius X Chapel.
My Fellow Trads in Western Oklahoma:
Likewise, in the West where the dirt turns red, I've worshiped with Trads at the FSSP, SSPX, and Queen of Angels Chapel (recently closed after pastor retired). Recently, I shared my A+ impressions of one vibrant Latin Mass parish in OKC: :
St. Michael's Chapel.
For a Short Overview and History of the Traditional Movement here in Oklahoma, I also wrote a bit here, when I started this blog back in June: CLICK.
For Love of the Church, with No Bitterness:
So I feel I share your Voice. Our Voice is not one of bitterness, intemperate anger, unbridled chatter, nor neglected respect for Episcopal Authority, but rather one of deep love for our Church.
I leave you with this final thought. What if we Okie Trads could, while maintaining our individual traditionalist communities, UNITE in defending Catholic Tradition across the Heartland? If not in the flesh, then at least together in spirit!
To set aside FEAR and SILENCE and instead share our VOICE, respectfully to members of the Hierarchy when need be, as lay Catholics and Confessors of the True Faith!
Viva Cristo Rey!
As Always, the Comment Box is Open!