They say Thomas More was one of the great pranksters of all times. He's also the patron saint of lawyers, so he understands smart asses quite well.

I recall the first time I went to Mass and wondering who on earth all these people are and why on earth do they keep their coats on during service. It was a new world. And eventually I was able to see, without understanding a word of Latin so not even trying to attempt to grasp it, a better one.

Roasty, toasty St. Lawrence and slick St. Vitus are patrons of comedians...

I've found the homilies at Tridentine masses tend toward the conservative side of things, to be sure. I remember saying to Mrs. C. after one of them, "that's the first Catholic homily I've heard in 25 years." That's a bit of an overstatement, but she understood my point.

What's odd is that to the world outside the church, all Catholics look the same, but within, we have a range of expression of belief (which tracks, in large measure, with liturgy) from the "spirit of Vatican II" parishes to the traditionalist ones, replicating, in many ways, the spectrum of differences one might find across Protestantism. You may not have seen the swinging 60s dancing guitar nuns yet, but you will. You may not have heard the neo-Marxist homilies of a liberation theologian yet, but you will -- keep your ears open for the telltale phrase "preferential option for the poor." One could do a Venn diagram as there are many sets and subsets, but generally speaking, the Tridentine crowd are usually doctrinal conservatives, and the guitar mass crowd are usually doctrinal liberals. But there are exceptions and oddities to be sure. Then there are folks who cross all boundaries such as the Charismatics, or the Neocatechumenal way folks. Conservatives generally distrust those crowds liturgically, but are often in line with them in matters of doctrine.

I've come to the conclusion that all Catholics are different. To each his own. We count on Rome to whack the craziest examples across the spectrum when they verge into clear heresy; but other than that, it is a true three ring circus.

The Tridentine crowd is one of the mansions in the house. It's one I visit a number of times in a year; and I'm glad that it's going to get bigger and maybe get a new coat of paint. I like visiting it, but my wife doesn't love it that much, so we probably won't ever "live" there, so to speak. I'm glad you got to experience it.

As for patron saints, St. Lawrence is considered the patron Saint of comedians, due to his quip while being roasted no the gridiron by the Romans . . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lawrence

Definitely St Philip Neri, founder of the Oratorians.

Humility was the most important virtue he tried to teach others and to learn himself. Some of his lessons in humility seem cruel, but they were tinged with humor like practical jokes and were related with gratitude by the people they helped. His lessons always seem to be tailored directly to what the person needed. One member who was later to become a cardinal was too serious and so Philip had him sing the Misere at a wedding breakfast. When one priest gave a beautiful sermon, Philip ordered him to give the same sermon six times in a row so people would think he only had one sermon.

Philip preferred spiritual mortification to physical mortification. When one man asked Philip if he could wear a hair shirt, Philip gave him permission -- if he wore the hair shirt outside his clothes! The man obeyed and found humility in the jokes and name-calling he received.

Philip did not escape this spiritual mortification himself. As with others, his own humbling held humor. There are stories of him wearing ridiculous clothes or walking around with half his beard shaved off. The greater his reputation for holiness the sillier he wanted to seem. When some people from Poland came to see the great saint, they found him listening to another priest read to him from joke books.

As it happens, you can't beat the Oratorians today for smells & bells.

It's my understanding that this particular church is pretty conservative right through - Father G doesn't put up with a lot of "innovation". (Taylor Marshall over at Canterbury Tales used to attend, I believe, before he moved out west.)

The story I heard was that back in the early 70's, whoever the local priest was at the time started screeding about Vietnam in his homilies. This upset the parishioners so much (many of them being military or retired military) that they went to the Bishop and got the priest removed. This, in turn, upset another set of parishioners, who went to the Bishop and demanded some recourse. In the end, another church was established no great way off (I understand that the Kennedys had a hand in it), and the more liberal bloc went over there. At least in general community perception, this split still goes: the second church has a reputation as being more liberal, more elite and more populated with "Cafeteria Catholics" and the Social Reformer crowd. The one I'm trying is knows for being more conservative, more blue collar and more disposed to orthodoxy.

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