Dec 22, 2006 at 11:47 AM

I was Baptized when I was 3 days old.

I grew up in a very poor Irish family in a rundown section of New York City.  As a child, the Church was the only bright spot in my life.

I was always very Religious and went to Catholic school K-8.  I began serving on the Altar at 9 years of age and became the Sexton of my Church and a Lector when I was 12.

When I went to High School, I chose to enter a Prep Seminary, as I was contemplating the Priesthood.  As a teenager I lead a dual life of sorts...had my friends from school and my friends from the neighborhood. 

The coursework was rigorous, in addittion to all the courses required by New York State and New York City we had Latin Class 3-5 times a week.  (Which did not meet the foreign language requirement, so there was also Spanish twice a week) and Music and religion Classes.  The best part was a balancing of everything we learned whether it was Science, PE, History, Math, etc with the Gospels and Tradition. 

I still strongly considered becoming a Priest and probably would have gone on except the kind of guys going on to College Seminary were, to put it mildly...Wimps.

I liked going out with girls, drinking, and getting into fights.  I decided to join the USMC at 17.

Serving as a Marine, I became a Lay Leader.  In Bootcamp that meant leading the Platoon in prayers before hitting the rack.  It also meant reading at Mass on Sundays and becoming a Eucharistic Minister.  It was also my first major interaction with Protestants, growing up in NYC everyone was either Catholic or Jewish that I came into contact with. 

I was injured several times as a Marine.  The last injury disabled me for life.

I felt that God had abandoned me.  The calling to the Marine Corps was as strong, if not stronger than my call to the Priesthood.  It is hard to describe to those that have never felt it...however, I literally felt as if I was robbed of my destiny.  The Marines were the only stability I had really known...my old Unit fought to keep me in, but then they were deployed and I was left...alone.

I found the Catholic Chaplain to be worthless.  A man more concerned with his rank as a Navy Commander who was not the least bit interested in a lowly NCO who was broken and about to be thrown away.  Ironically, it was the local Protestant Chaplains who gave considerably more moral support to me at this time in my life.

I found myself a civilian, unfortunately, I had forgotten how to act civilized.  I wandered for a few years going from one bad relationship to the next.  One bad job to the next: I worked as a bouncer, construction laborer, mechanic in a tire shop, a bodyguard, a bailbondsman, and as a ballistician. 

Eventually I bottomed out again and found my way up through Christ.  I began praying the rosary daily.  It took a while for me to get back to the Church and when I walked in on a Holy Thursday Night I felt the presence of God like I'd never felt before in that Church.

Here is where it gets interesting...I was raised Novus Ordo.  However, the Novus Ordo Missae of the 60's-80's celebrated in Conservative Irish Parishes and Military Chapels was miles away from what I was seeing...at first I tried to "go with the flow", and when I encouraged a group of friends to go with me to that same Church one year later on Holy Thursday, I walked out after 15 minutes!  The choir was replaced by a wannabe rockband, liturgical dancers with bowls of incense, and a loud mouthed priest cracking jokes on the altar.

However it was a priest's homily on Veteran's Day about how it was abhorrent to glorify the Military and anyone who served in it and how there should be a holiday for people who protest wars, etc...that made me get up and walk out of the Church.

I started looking into Protestant churches when I found a more conservative parish 10 miles away.  I became a Lector and Eucharistic Minister once again.  It was durring this time that the disregard for the Sacred Vessels by the other Ministers began to bother me, strongly.  As did the casual NO attitude about the Real Presence and other Traditions I had always held to (Communion Fast, No blessings by Laity, etc).

It was durring this time that I began having doubts again and discovered Traditio.com and started reading more and more about the Traditional Movement.

I had been to one Traditional Mass that I could remember...it was in the 1980's...I was home on leave from the Corps and a girl I was dating invited me as her guest to a wedding.  It was out on Long Island, NY and was either SSPV or SSPX.  I loved it, but of course was promptly told by everyone I knew who was Catholic that it was "forbidden", "banned", etc.

I began attending Mass at Saint Margaret Mary's Church in Oakland, California...run by the FSSP.
That was 5 years ago.  Been a Trad ever since!

I currently live in another state where there is a dedicated Indult Chapel about 30 miles from my house.  There's a twice a month SSPX mass a little further down the road, but I prefer the Indult.  There's also a very conservative and reverent NO said by the Franciscans close to my job that I attend when I can't make the Indult.  It's my dream to see the TLM said in that Cathederal once again and I will keep pushing for it.