www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall I am now a resident of Alabama!

Our move went well and was mostly uneventful. We are now residents of the great state of Alabama. I couldn't have picked a better time to move. I love fall and have missed it living in Florida for the past 27 years. So finally .. Fall! Yipee!

Now comes our search for a parish home. It won't be easy that's for sure. Apparenty there are two Eastern Catholic parishes up here (a Melkite rite parish and a Maronite rite parish) but the are both in Birmingham and are more than an hour drive (one way) from where we live. There are some typical Novus Ordo Latin rite parishes around (but for various reasons that I won't discuss they are not our first choice). There is a Greek Orthodox parish about 35 minutes away. The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament is about an hour away and Mass there is at 7:00 AM so I don't know that that is a realistic option for us on a regular basis. And there is an "independant" TLM near by (I won't engage in discussion on that either).

So it looks like finding a "church home" (as they tend to call it here in the Bible Belt) wil be anything but simple.

But we're here and my parents will soon be here (they're the reason we decided to make the move in first place).

Just thought I'd toss y'all an update!

God Bless!

Carole

Carole,

My Church is an hour away from our house. You might want to do what we do. Alternate weekends you go to your BCC and find a Church close to home that you go on the other weekend (even if you don't like it).

Carole,

Congratulations on your move!

As far as living in the South goes, that's about as good as you're going to do unless you want to live in the middle of a city more than, oh, 500,000 people or more.

An hour drive really isn't bad at all. I am an hour and a fifteen away from the SSPX, an hour forty-five from the FSSP Traditional parish, an hour fifteen away from a Ruthenian church, and an hour and a half away from the Melkite parish. Basically, my only option is the poorly-done Novus Ordo here (which is what I go to), or the rather underwhelming Greek Orthodox church about 20 minutes away...and I have no desire to make a non-Catholic parish my regular house of worship, for a number of reasons.

But, I would at least check out the Novus Ordo parishes near you...who knows, maybe one is solidly orthodox with a good, solid liturgy.

Logos Teen

Thanks for updating us! I know what you mean about making that drive, but it is probably worth it although you won't be able to be there as often as you would like. Maybe in time they will start a mission church closer to where you live.

Anyway, here is saying a prayer you find just the right, as they also say here in the West..."church home."

Your sister in Christ,

Mary Jo

AHH CAROLE!

Come on and make the drive to B'ham and visit St. Georges. If it would be easier for right now, we have Liturgy at 5pm most Saturdays. This is something Archbishop Raya started many years ago here. Since my husband usually serves that Liturgy I am usually there. One thing I can promise is it is solid food for the soul.

Our website is still on food festival and convention mode, but you still get the basic info. Hope to meet you soon!

Pani Rose

I love Albania !!

I.F.

"Won't you come with me to Alabammy,
Back to the arms of my dear old Mammy
Her cooking's lousy and her hands are clammy,
but what the [], it's home!

"I wanna go back to Dixie;
I wanna be a Dixie Pixie
and eat corn pone 'til it's coming out of my ears.
I wanna talk with Southern gentlemen,
and put my white sheet on again,
I ain't seen one good lynching in years!


Tom Lehrer (and that's just a sample).

Fr. Serge

you could have left that part out, Souhterners are sensitive to a T about refernces to the Klan and to lynching.
Much Love,
Jonn

I guess you can understand what it's like for me here in Chattanooga.
Much Love,
Jonn

Attention Jonn - I didn't write those lines, Tom Lehrer did. The only place where I've actually seen the KKK gussied up in white sheets and pointy headgear is Toronto, Ontario!

Fr. Serge

I would like to say OH MY. but the older I get, the less I am surprised about things. must be mighty cold up there for the Klan rallies, they must keep themselves warm by huddling around their fiery crosses.
Much Love,
Jonn

We will definitely come down and visit! I only wish we lived closer. It is a "doable" drive for Sundays but it is far enough to make participation in other aspects of parish life less likely.

Oh well! One cannot expect perfection in life, eh?

Actually my hubby wants us to make the drive down this weekend. So we'll probably be seeing you on Sunday. I'll send you a PM!

Blessings,

Carole and Family!

Where 'bouts are you, Carole? Somewhere around the Athens / Decatur area?

I have relatives in Huntsville and I get over there from time to time.

Dear Jonn - I've never attended any KKK functions, neither in Toronto nor elsewhere, but I did spot them once protesting against a peace march in Toronto - it was about this time of year. The KKK were sharing a building with some other organizations of equally slender intellectual acumen and general education. The Klansmen stationed themselves on an upstairs balcony, wearing their sheets and conical hats (no masks, which is a pity, because any mask would have looked better than their ugly faces) and yelled threats and obscenities at the peace marchers. However, the Klansmen were not alone. With them was a woman. She was not wearing either a sheet or a hat - in fact above the waist she was wearing nothing at all. She took an enthusiastic part in the yelling of threats and obscenities, accompanied by lewd gestures of her ample bosom. All this, mind you, in broad daylight on an otherwise pleasant Saturday afternoon - a slightly retouched photograph of this "balcony scene" appeared in the newspapers.

The only other opposition the peace march encountered was from a bunch of weirdoes urging everyone to defend the Soviet Union against Pope John Paul II, Solidarity, and just about everyone else. But these people were at least normally and fully dressed, which probably explains why their photograph did not make it into the newspapers.

Fr. Serge

Yup. We're just outside of Decatur.