Intimidated by SSPX

Started by Genevieve, December 31, 2012, 02:14:07 PM

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Genevieve

Even though we do have many good "approved" TLMs available to us, I'd really like to attend the local SSPX chapel at least once. Are they generally welcoming to "outsiders?" In general what's the dress code?


Kaesekopf

Genevieve,
I would say "don't be!"  :)

I would recommend not being intimated by the SSPX any more than you would be going to a new chapel/parish. 

As one who has visited a handful of SSPX chapels in the Midwest, I can say that if you follow this one chapel's dress attire guideline, you won't go wrong.
QuoteProper attire
On Sunday's and Holy Days of Obligation, all males of first communion age and older should wear a dress shirt and tie. In addition, teenage males and older should also wear an appropriate jacket.
Ladies must have their heads covered and wear an appropriate dress, (no slacks or pant suits please).
Work-type clothing such as denim dresses, work labeled shirts, work boots, etc. should not be worn at Sunday Mass.
Jeans of any color, shorts, lettered or sleeveless shirts are inappropriate. Chapel veils are available in both the front and rear vestibules.
P.S. Our air conditioners keep it nice and cool in the chapel. You might even need that jacket or sweater!

Almost all trad chapels I've ever been to will have veils available to borrow for Mass if you do not have one. 

I've always "gotten away" with (as a man) wearing a button down shirt, slacks, and presentable shoes.  I've not been shunned or cast out.  At one chapel, I was introduced to the a good number of the chapelgoers on my first day!  :O  haha.  :)

Otherwise, in terms of being welcoming, I think you'll find there is a good community that exists at the SSPX chapels.  People might not come up and introduce themselves to you, but they will most likely be welcoming and nice.  :)

If you have any further questions, let me know.
Wie dein Sonntag, so dein Sterbetag.

I am not altogether on anybody's side, because nobody is altogether on my side.  ~Treebeard, LOTR

Jesus son of David, have mercy on me.

Bonaventure

Genevieve, give them a try. Don't worry about what might happen.
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

Southern Ascetic


Genevieve

I forgot to mention that my other concern about the SSPX is about whether they will accept that DH and I are married. The local Diocesan Tribunal dissolved my DH's first marriage using the Pauline Privilege. Neither he nor his ex-wife had ever been baptized. Does the SSPX accept the decisions of the diocesan tribunals?

Thanks everyone. How do you know when they have Masses? I see the chapels on the SSPX website but I can't find websites for the individual chapels with schedules and bulletins. Do the SSPX chapels not "do" the internet?

Don't tell me I'll actually have to pick up the phone to find out info like back in the olden days or something!  ;D


Bonaventure

Quote from: Genevieve on December 31, 2012, 03:17:56 PM
I forgot to mention that my other concern about the SSPX is about whether they will accept that DH and I are married. The local Diocesan Tribunal dissolved my DH's first marriage using the Pauline Privilege. Neither he nor his ex-wife had ever been baptized. Does the SSPX accept the decisions of the diocesan tribunals?

They do.
Quote
Don't tell me I'll actually have to pick up the phone to find out info like back in the olden days or something!  ;D

Yup.
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

FaithByProxy

I wouldn't be even the least bit intimidated. I was, when I went to the SSPX for the first time (all those stories of "Mad Trads" got to me) but everyone was so welcoming and friendly that I adjusted very quickly. I've been to three different SSPX churches (and one was out of state) and I can say that they have all been the warmest Catholic communities that I have set foot in.

I'm not just saying that, I'm dead serious. Go ahead and check it out.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Kaesekopf

Most SSPX chapels, I've found, aren't good at Internet.

However, their times are located below their chapel phone numbers here:
http://sspx.org/chapels.htm

Wie dein Sonntag, so dein Sterbetag.

I am not altogether on anybody's side, because nobody is altogether on my side.  ~Treebeard, LOTR

Jesus son of David, have mercy on me.

Southern Ascetic

Quote from: Kaesekopf on December 31, 2012, 03:33:57 PM
Most SSPX chapels, I've found, aren't good at Internet.

However, their times are located below their chapel phone numbers here:
http://sspx.org/chapels.htm

Except mine. They don't have a website, they use the answering machine for the mass schedule and the bulletin board. I need to tell Fr. Danel we need to get a website.

Greg

Try them, but do dress appropriately and cover your head.

Last time some nutter was rude to me (about my austistic son) was in Spanish Place, London which is generally a great Church.

You never can tell, so go along and try it.
Contentment is knowing that you're right. Happiness is knowing that someone else is wrong.

Greg

Quote from: Greg on January 02, 2013, 09:59:02 PM
Try them, but do dress appropriately and cover your head.

Last time some nutter was rude to me (about my austistic son) was in Spanish Place, London which is generally a great Church.

You never can tell, so go along and try it.

Just to clarify Spanish Place, ST. James has nothing to do with the SSpX
Contentment is knowing that you're right. Happiness is knowing that someone else is wrong.

The Harlequin King

In my experience, the SSPX has wildly varying norms on dress based on your region. I visited my local chapel in Texas some years back, where all the women wear headcoverings but it's okay for men to wear jeans. At the SSPX's "flagship church" in Paris, jeans are incorrigible but women can wear dress pants and not cover their heads. Midwestern SSPX'ers are probably a lot stricter than either Texans or Parisians where dress is concerned.

Greg, Spanish Place has fantastic architecture.

Gottmitunsalex

Quote from: The Harlequin King on January 06, 2013, 10:38:45 AM
In my experience, the SSPX has wildly varying norms on dress based on your region. I visited my local chapel in Texas some years back, where all the women wear headcoverings but it's okay for men to wear jeans. At the SSPX's "flagship church" in Paris, jeans are incorrigible but women can wear dress pants and not cover their heads. Midwestern SSPX'ers are probably a lot stricter than either Texans or Parisians where dress is concerned.

Greg, Spanish Place has fantastic architecture.
I can understand the Paris "flagship" as you call it. I suppose they use a bit off common sense that being Paris, a city of tourism, common sense dictates that some of the attendees at Mass are from out-of-town, they wanted to fulfill their Sunday obligation, possibly the woman forgot her mantilla at the hotel, whatever.
But I think the regulars at the "flagship" church, do dress appropriately for mass.





"Nothing is more miserable than those people who never failed to attack their own salvation. When there was need to observe the Law, they trampled it under foot. Now that the Law has ceased to bind, they obstinately strive to observe it. What could be more pitiable that those who provoke God not only by transgressing the Law but also by keeping it? But at any rate the Jews say that they, too, adore God. God forbid that I say that. No Jew adores God! Who say so? The Son of God say so. For he said: "If you were to know my Father, you would also know me. But you neither know me nor do you know my Father". Could I produce a witness more trustworthy than the Son of God?"  St. John Chrysostom  Sunday Homily

"The two goals of the Jews: The universal domination of the world and the destruction of Catholicism, out of hatred for Christ" --Mgr. Jouin

Christknight104

Quote from: Gottmitunsalex on January 06, 2013, 11:11:24 AM
Quote from: The Harlequin King on January 06, 2013, 10:38:45 AM
In my experience, the SSPX has wildly varying norms on dress based on your region. I visited my local chapel in Texas some years back, where all the women wear headcoverings but it's okay for men to wear jeans. At the SSPX's "flagship church" in Paris, jeans are incorrigible but women can wear dress pants and not cover their heads. Midwestern SSPX'ers are probably a lot stricter than either Texans or Parisians where dress is concerned.

Greg, Spanish Place has fantastic architecture.
I can understand the Paris "flagship" as you call it. I suppose they use a bit off common sense that being Paris, a city of tourism, common sense dictates that some of the attendees at Mass are from out-of-town, they wanted to fulfill their Sunday obligation, possibly the woman forgot her mantilla at the hotel, whatever.
But I think the regulars at the "flagship" church, do dress appropriately for mass.

In general, it seems that European Tradionalists, whether Ecclesia Dei or SSPX, are less strict than American Traditionalists when it comes to  dress code and wearing veils. That is not to say they dress inappropriately of course.

Bonaventure

Europe, especially France, will always have a chic factor, even when going to Mass.
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."