One happy though unintended consequence of running this blog is that it has put us in touch with Cornell alumni of similar views. Like we, they languished under incompetent clergy and lay ministers while at Cornell, but by the grace of God, kept the Faith and have moved on to greener pastures. Some have contacted us by email, we met one at the Pilgrimage for Restoration this past fall, some regularly comment on the blog, one even sang in one of our weddings. I’m glad that they take the time to write or leave a comment.

One friend of ours and a Cornell alum has even gone a step farther than we ever did in dialogue with the Chaplaincy. Each year (or more often), the Chaplaincy sends out a mailing to the Catholic alumni asking for contributions. Judging by the mailing, everything looks orthodox (by N.O. standards) and dandy; so we’ve long fantasized about “acquiring” the mailing list in order to inform alumni how things really go down in the Freemasons’ building, Anabel Taylor Hall. But this friend of ours, in a recent letter to Fr. Dan McMullin, decided to come straight to the point:

Dear Rev. McMullin,

I recently received your letter, dated December 20, 2006, requesting that I donate to the Catholic Community Annual Fund. I write to inform you that I would be most pleased to make a contribution to help defray the cost of establishing a traditional Latin (“Tridentine”) Mass at Cornell University.

As I trust you are aware, John Paul II has requested that the Tridentine Mass be made “widely and generously available,” and His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, when still a Cardinal, declared that “the old rite should be granted much more generously to all who desire it.” As I trust you are also aware, interest in the traditional Latin Mass is largely a phenomenon among Catholic youth, and so making the Latin Mass (described as “the most beautiful thing this side of heaven” by Fr. Fortescue) available at Cornell would be most appropriate.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that most dioceses in the United States make the Latin Mass available on a regular basis, it is my understanding that the Cornell Catholic Community does not yet provide a Latin Mass to the students under its care. If you are interested in fulfilling the wishes of our current and past Holy Fathers, please let me know and, as indicated at the commencement of this letter, I would be happy to make a contribution toward this end.

“does not yet provide” - amen, brother! Who knows? someday, maybe, there will be an old Mass on campus. The thing is, if there were an old Mass at Cornell each week, especially if the Novus Ordo remained as it is now at Cornell, laughably poor musically, liturigically and doctrinally, it would have 20 to 30 students each week (at least). More, to be sure, if it were offered by a serious, solid priest, and not one associated with the campus Chaplaincy.

This will be something to watch for, won’t it? when, after Benedict’s motu proprio, does the Tridentine make a first appearance on a college campus - not just as a one time gig, we did that at Cornell a long time ago! - but as a regular weekly Mass?