Cleveland Mass Mob X — Saint John Cantius

Cleveland Mass Mob  X

Saint John Cantius

11.30 a.m. All Souls, Sunday 2 November

906 College

The first Mass Mob was held in Buffalo's Saint Adalbert's Basilica* on All Souls 2013. In a salute to the Buffalo Idea, we believe All Souls Day is a grrreat day for a Mass Mob.

The parish began in 1898, the present church came 1924 with some art deco elements. It is another parish church built in a Polish cathedral style. There were many built in the United States, some are still in use [some sadly have been destroyed, or are listed for destruction (and some people are fighting to save them)]. Cleveland has a few of them, this is the third such we are mobbing. The area it is in is now called Tremont (after the very near public grade school), the Poles called the area 'Kantowo' after the parish. This area of Cleveland may be the most densely concentrated in churches of any neighborhood in the United States.

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*Basilica (correction, proofreading did not occur). Yes, this was the first Basilica in the United States. Basilica is a special honor and categorisation of a church building. The Buffalo Diocese has denied the status. The exalted status, means something to Rome, and therefore is taken away some authority from a local bishop's jurisdiction over that building, something that many bishops resist.

Cleveland Mass Mob IX — Saint Stanislaus

Cleveland Mass Mob  IX 

Saint Stanislaus

11.30 a.m. Sunday 5 October

3649 East 65th Street

mass mob 101

Q: Who is the Mob?
A: The People of God.

Q: Who is a member of the Mass Mob?
A: Anyone who attends the Mass Mob who would not have attended that Mass otherwise.

Q: Must mob members be Catholic?
A: No.

Q: Why do they mob?
A: To celebrate Mass, a celebration of Liturgy and Eucharist.

Q: What is their motivation?
A: They have a communal faith. When they gather, Jesus is in their midst.

Q: Where do they mob?
A: In a parish community of an historical, and beautiful church.

Q: When do they know to mob?
A: In Cleveland, from the announcement at the previous Mass Mob. In other places there has been voting in a selection process, or by announcements, over social media by mob organisers.

Q: Where did the Mass Mob begin?
A: Buffalo, New York.

Q: Where is the Mass Mob currently active?
A: Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, New York City, Pittsburgh.

Q: Why did the Mass Mob begin?
A: The faith and members of the faith have been discouraged, and beautiful places of their meeting have been less frequented, and have become endangered. The mob wants to enkindle enthusiasm in both the faith, and their places of community.

Q: What caused the discouragement?
A: Life is not a vacuum. Life is inter-related. There were factors from within, and from without.

Q: What were factors from within?
A: Scandals they were not prepared to deal with, and bad leadership.

Q: What were factors from without?
A: Those of the general society.

Holy Ghost Mob

We have a video [click]
and a radio spot [click]

Cleveland Mass Mob VIII — Holy Ghost

 

Holy Ghost Byzantine

3.30 p.m. Sunday 14 September

 Byzantine Catholic Cultural Center

Cleveland Mass Mob VIII — Holy Ghost

Cleveland Mass Mob  VIII 

Holy Ghost Byzantine

3.30 p.m. Sunday 14 September 

2420 West 14th Street

15th of August

Cleveland Mass Mob VII
St. Mary (Bedford)
7 p.m. Friday 15 August 2014

Friday the 15th of August is the Dormition and Assumption of Mary, the Mother of God.

 

Jacopo Torriti. Dormition of the Virgin. Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome. 1296.

Kontakion: Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos

The grave and death could not hold the Mother of God, who is sleepless in her intercessions and an unchanging hope in her meditations. For as the Mother of Life she was transferred to life by Him Who dwelt in her ever-virgin womb.

Parma Byzantine Mass Mob

Parma Byzantine Mass Mob
Holy Spirit Byzantine Catholic
9.30 a.m. Sunday 3 August
5500 West 54th 

"Let us be attentive". There are twenty-two Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with Rome. Each is of equal dignity, validity, and licitness with the Roman-rite; only unfamiliarity (and ignorance) separates. There is a tendency to stay within the familiar. Often, people become familiar through family. We marry, and we have relatives. Some belong to other churches.

Here in Greater Cleveland, we have had since the late nineteenth century many nations living here together. Parma, perhaps especially, has several churches of both the Eastern Orthodox, and the Eastern Catholic. Fr. James Batcha, pastor of Holy Spirit Byzantine Parma was aware of Cleveland Mass Mob, and he, his parish, and we at Cleveland Mass Mob all invite you, and others to a Parma Byzantine Mass Mob as a complement to Cleveland Mass Mob. More correctly, the term is 'Divine Liturgy'; and that is why our description has from the beginning been, "...Mass, a celebration of Liturgy and Eucharist,". After Liturgy and Eucharist there will be coffee and pastry served to encourage conviviality.

Of course, the Sacrament (Mystery) of the Eucharist holds us together, but the reception is different. The Eucharist is of both Species combined, in the Byzantine-rite. For those who have received Communion in the Roman-rite only, this may be novel. First, one does not stick one's tongue out, it is more like the opening of a baby bird's mouth. The Host is in many pieces in the Chalice, and a Spoon (Cochlear) is used in flicking motion to distribute. Some people pull on a cloth, so that it is under their chins, similar to the function of a handled paten (in case there is a miss, or drop).

Musical instruments will not be present. The human voice is to produce music, and books are in the pews. And we will cross our selves more than Latin base ball players. Mosaics and painted icons are often present. An iconostasis (elaborate painted screen separating the altar from the rest of the church) is customary. May you all "live many blessed years".