HAGERSTOWN, Maryland (LifeSiteNews) — A traditional Catholic college in northwest Maryland has issued a statement in the wake of the announcement that its nearby Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) will be suppressed in August, declaring, “We are greatly saddened by this action.”
“We recognize that this mandate is being implemented by a direct order from Rome. It was not initiated by the archbishop, who has been supportive of the TLM and The Collegium,” the college wrote in a statement shared with LifeSiteNews.
The Collegium Sanctorum Angelorum, an authentically Catholic college near St. Mary’s in Hagerstown, where the TLM will cease in August according to Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, has highlighted the availability of this TLM as an important asset to the formation of its students. It explains on its website:
Spiritual life revolves around the traditional Latin Mass at nearby St. Mary’s Catholic Church, a parish of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Students attend Mass and sing lauds and vespers daily. Confession is available two days a week, and there is Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament five days a week.
The school uses a classical curriculum that includes courses in philosophy, theology, and Latin, and every employee takes the Oath Against Modernism and the Oath of Fidelity. All faculty and students are Catholic, and the college is Cardinal Newman Society-recognized.
The Collegium stressed in its statement that it “remains fully and steadfastly committed to tradition,” and that it will continue to provide access to the traditional Divine Office to its students and faculty. It noted that several TLMs continue to be offered in the area, “as near as a 45-minute drive and as far away as an 85-minute drive.”
“Three of these Masses are in different dioceses, but both the archbishop and our pastor have encouraged us to attend these Masses. While this arrangement is not ideal, it is not any different from what many families must do every weekend in order to attend the TLM,” the Collegium wrote.
The continuing Latin Masses offered nearest to St. Mary’s are in Charles Town, West Virginia, at the Priory of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and in Fairfield, Pennsylvania, at the Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
“The Collegium will also continue to hope, watch for, and take advantage of opportunities to make the TLM more readily available to our students and faculty. We are confident that God will not allow the TLM to disappear,” the Collegium continued.
“In addition, for the sake of the faithful who rightfully seek the TLM, we are confident that in time the archbishop will return the TLM to Hagerstown, where it serves a 125-mile stretch of the archdiocese in western Maryland, and we pray that he will be successful in this endeavor soon.”
Archbishop Lori explained in a March 13 letter posted to X by Fred Simon that after Pope Francis issued the Latin Mass-suppressing motu proprio Traditionis Custodes in July 2021, the Archdiocese of Baltimore was granted an indult by the Vatican to allow a TLM to “temporarily continue” at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Hagerstown.
“The purpose of the indult was to allow those who had become accustomed to Mass according to the Missal of 1962 to receive catechesis and formation so they would come to welcome and embrace the Novus Ordo,” the archbishop wrote.
“After much careful and prayerful consideration, I have discerned that for the pastoral good of all the faithful of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the celebration of the liturgical rites and pastoral care according to the Missal of 1962 within the Archdiocese of Baltimore on or after Aug 1, 2024 will be entrusted solely to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) at the National Shrine of St. Alphonsus Liguori in Baltimore,” he announced.
Dr. Winnie Heartstrong, who moved to Hagerstown in 2021 in order to attend the TLM at St. Mary’s, has started a petition to Pope Francis asking him to “uncancel” the TLM worldwide, as well as a petition to Archbishop Lori to preserve the TLM at St. Mary Catholic Church in Hagerstown. She has hired a canon lawyer to defend the canonical right of the faithful to the Tridentine Mass.
Heartstrong has asked that the Catholic faithful not only sign the petitions but do their “best to push back against the abuses of Traditionis Custodes.”
“Write to your bishop, form a prayer group, or hire a canon lawyer to represent you, if possible,” Heartstrong exhorted.
The Collegium shared that it will release “a more detailed position paper” published as part of the forthcoming book, A Simple Man’s Case for Tradition, slated for publication “on or about 1 June 2024.”