Thread by @AKelleyGolf, I found the Latin Mass by accident. Family was out of town [...]

I found the Latin Mass by accident. Family was out of town and I was going to play golf with my buddies in the afternoon so I found a mass time that lined up and it just happened to be a TLM. I'll never forget that first time walking in and thinking "oh this is different."

Not even the mass itself, but walking into this particular parish, the women all wore veils, the men were in suits or shirt and tie at least, it was so much younger than the NO parish I went to and they were SO friendly to me, an obvious newcomer.

I know that's not everyone's experience with TLM parishes and I'm thankful that was mine. Then the mass began and I was in awe. The amount of reverence paid to our Lord was what I had been missing and I didn't even know I was missing it.

I wasn't sure what that mass meant at the time, but when I returned to our NO mass, I looked at it with new eyes. The liturgical abuse, the lack of reverence, the lack of belief was out in the open. I felt like the veil had been lifted (although there was no veil in sight).

So I did my research. What happened? Why did we leave this mass? What. A. Rabbit. Hole. Biggest red pill of my life. It felt like I had to revert all over again. It felt like my parents generation had stolen something from me. Something I had a right to. Depositum fidei.

I discussed all of this with my wife, who I knew would follow me regardless, but I wanted her to see what I saw. It took her longer, the mass confused her at first, but we watched @TaylorRMarshall videos about it and I told her about the things I had discovered.

We still debated about whether or not we should stay at our NO parish and try to help change it for the better or if we should go, we were both teaching youth faith formation. We went to the TLM through Christmas break and agreed to try the NO one more time when class started.

That's when the unthinkable happened. Father requested that we all take communion on the hand. He is a nice man and wouldn't make a scene but I couldn't believe my ears. He remains the only NO priest I've ever heard discuss the reality of hell and the "narrow gate."

I welled up with tears knowing what was about to happen. The Holy Ghost worked through me and I was inspired to not participate in the abuse. I knelt and received on the tongue and luckily Father obliged. My wife did the same. She looked into my eyes and knew, we had to leave.

I told my class about it and while there were a couple of eye rolls, many were hanging on every word. I showed this group of 14 year olds a solemn high mass. If you know 14 year olds, focus isn't necessarily their strong suit. You could hear a pin drop in that little room.

The idea that the NO mass is more appealing to young people simply isn't true in my experience. Particularly young men. I only had a couple of boys in my class but one said "I would serve at THAT mass." Says a lot.

One girl was truly inspired by the TLM mass and the discussions we had on tradition and began veiling. Her family still attends that NO mass but she's inspired her sisters to veil as well. She prays the rosary in latin every day and wants to be a nun.

I guess I'm writing all of this to say, people like myself, relative newcomers to this Trad thing, need all of you out there. We know you've been here longer and fighting these fights over and over again, but for us it's the first time.

I'm learning so much about my faith and the Church. Much of it I'm learning based on reading y'all arguing here! I know it's exhausting, I know you've been doing it for years, but I'm so grateful that there are people out there passionately defending the Deposit of Faith.

So please, keep your staff held high. Many of us are coming to join the team and we need veterans in the locker room to show us where everything is.

Thank you to the following twitter warriors: @TaylorRMarshall @timotheeology and his wife, @SteveSkojec @StefMLozinski @MrCasey62

@MrsCasey6 @EricRSammons @FrDaveNix @RosieHill425 @kaitbagley @PapaPapist @ladypapist

I'm sure I've missed some but thank you all. Happy to be on the team.

Oh and it's cool to see @TaylorRMarshall at mass. It takes a concerted effort not to fanboy after. I've done a good job so far, I haven't even said a word to him!

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