I'm Catholic, my wife is Protestant. We are looking for a parish in San Antonio that has good preaching and good music. These are requests from her to feel more comfortable at Mass. in particular, we would love to find a parish that does the "St Mary's Mass parts" for the Gloria, Agnus Dei, etc. (the way they did it 6-7 years ago, before the new church was built. IYKYK).

Any recommendations? Cross posted on San Antonio board.

Maybe not on this thread and not something that devolves into some kind of debate...just curious how that is in general...catholic and protestant being married.

If you can, find a parish near you that you can both be active in their ministries (Bible Study, Young Adults, RCIA). Priest, especially good ones, tend to get reassigned by the Bishop after some time.

Our home parish is in Bastrop TX, however, my youngest son attends Catholic HS in Austin where he has gotten involved with the youth ministry (Life Teen) and so have we. Since we can't be in two places at the same time, we have been active at the parish (St. Ignatius) in South Austin for the past couple of years. That will likely end when he graduates next year.

During this time he has made some really good friends, attended retreats, and we have become part of the adult group of parents of other youths in the same ministry (Life Teen).

As the old saying goes, you get out what you put in. My wife and I have really enjoyed the added opportunity to meet the other parents to discuss the evening's event, gospel readings, and have grown closer with our son on his spiritual journey in the Life Teen program. HTH

ETA: Remember that the first church is your family.

Good Bull Jones 17 said:

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I'm Catholic, my wife is Protestant. We are looking for a parish in San Antonio that has good preaching and good music. These are requests from her to feel more comfortable at Mass. in particular, we would love to find a parish that does the "St Mary's Mass parts" for the Gloria, Agnus Dei, etc. (the way they did it 6-7 years ago, before the new church was built. IYKYK).

Any recommendations? Cross posted on San Antonio board.

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I hear great things about Our Lady of the Atonement. https://ourladyoftheatonement.org/

Anglican Ordinariate, so you won't hear the "St. Mary's Mass Parts" that I've been hearing about. My brother-in-law and his family were parishioners when they lived in San Antone... they were married there. Beautiful liturgy. Great music, but more along the lines of classical hymns. A couple of college friends are there too.

https://cccrsa.net/charismaticcenter/

10andBOUNCE said:

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Maybe not on this thread and not something that devolves into some kind of debate...just curious how that is in general...catholic and protestant being married.

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It generally ends in joining a lutheran church as a compromise.

Bob Lee said:

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747Ag said:

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Good Bull Jones 17 said:

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I'm Catholic, my wife is Protestant. We are looking for a parish in San Antonio that has good preaching and good music. These are requests from her to feel more comfortable at Mass. in particular, we would love to find a parish that does the "St Mary's Mass parts" for the Gloria, Agnus Dei, etc. (the way they did it 6-7 years ago, before the new church was built. IYKYK).

Any recommendations? Cross posted on San Antonio board.

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I hear great things about Our Lady of the Atonement. https://ourladyoftheatonement.org/

Anglican Ordinariate, so you won't hear the "St. Mary's Mass Parts" that I've been hearing about. My brother-in-law and his family were parishioners when they lived in San Antone... they were married there. Beautiful liturgy. Great music, but more along the lines of classical hymns. A couple of college friends are there too.

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Where else do you get to say "it is meet and just" in proper context?

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The little blue booklets used by the TLM folks in Waco translates the Latin (Dignum et justum est) as that. The more common red booklets do not.

747Ag said:

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Good Bull Jones 17 said:

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I'm Catholic, my wife is Protestant. We are looking for a parish in San Antonio that has good preaching and good music. These are requests from her to feel more comfortable at Mass. in particular, we would love to find a parish that does the "St Mary's Mass parts" for the Gloria, Agnus Dei, etc. (the way they did it 6-7 years ago, before the new church was built. IYKYK).

Any recommendations? Cross posted on San Antonio board.

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I hear great things about Our Lady of the Atonement. https://ourladyoftheatonement.org/

Anglican Ordinariate, so you won't hear the "St. Mary's Mass Parts" that I've been hearing about. My brother-in-law and his family were parishioners when they lived in San Antone... they were married there. Beautiful liturgy. Great music, but more along the lines of classical hymns. A couple of college friends are there too.

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I love Atonement. My wife can't stand it. She grew up very low church, Baptist/evangelical. So everything about Atonement goes against her most basic intuitions of what church is.

FWIW, we used to be in a Lifegroup at an evangelical church. 2 out of the 5 couples ended up converting to Catholicism and now attend Atonement.

Good Bull Jones 17 said:

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I don't want the thread to devolve into this, so probably won't say much beyond this.

Frankly, it's been difficult, and a large source of division in our marriage. We have learned that mixed marriage are very uncommon when both are on fire about the faith. Most of the time, when we meet a mixed marriage or are told about one as an example of doing it well, it turns out one or both of them aren't very strong in their faith.

I am frank with people about the difficulty of it, because the difficulty was undersold to us in marriage prep, and I think people should know it's not easy and it is a big deal.

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That, seriously, is why I recommend https://cccrsa.net/charismaticcenter/

Neither of you gives up anything.

If you haven't tried St.Matthews, I would second that recommendation. Fr. Ritter is a very good homilist. I don't know about the music since I'm having to go to the children's Mass every Sunday now to be with the grandkids.

Curious, what is a "low church" as opposed to a "high" one I guess?

PabloSerna said:

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Curious, what is a "low church" as opposed to a "high" one I guess?

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Low church is not meant to be derogatory, it is more of a descriptor of how liturgical a church is. Or how formal and traditional the service/Mass/Liturgy is.

Broadly speaking, the Catholics, Orthodox, Anglican/Episcopal, and Lutheran are considered "high church." Baptist and Evangelical, more low church. There is a lot of variation even within denominations. St. Paul Lutheran in downtown San Antonio is more high church than your average Catholic parish, IMO.

dg77ag said:

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If you haven't tried St.Matthews, I would second that recommendation. Fr. Ritter is a very good homilist. I don't know about the music since I'm having to go to the children's Mass every Sunday now to be with the grandkids.

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We're going there now for the time being. Father Ritter is great. The Indian priest is very hard to understand. So kinda 50/50. And so far, my wife doesn't love their music, but we will see how that goes.

I've been recommended to try Holy Spirit on Blanco, or St Pius X on Harry Wurzbach (esp the 5PM mass).

I will admit it is a very #protestantproblemz to be so critical of having good music

Grew up and spent most of my life in San Antonio. I have probably been to nearly every parish there. I love Our Lady of the Atonement, beautiful church, liturgy, music, etc. My favorite is the small St Joseph's Chapel near Robert E Lee HS. The chapel is very old (they are hoping to build a new, bigger one soon) but they may just have the best community of any I have been apart of. I would recommend trying those out and getting to know a few people there.

For my part, I will offer you and your wife our prayers. We are putting you in our Rosary. Our intention will be that our Lord will put you in the parish that will nurture you and your wife in your Faith. We have walked your walk thirty years ago. Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rockport is our home. God hears your prayers!

Good Bull Jones 17 said:

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I don't want the thread to devolve into this, so probably won't say much beyond this.

Frankly, it's been difficult, and a large source of division in our marriage. We have learned that mixed marriage are very uncommon when both are on fire about the faith. Most of the time, when we meet a mixed marriage or are told about one as an example of doing it well, it turns out one or both of them aren't very strong in their faith.

I am frank with people about the difficulty of it, because the difficulty was undersold to us in marriage prep, and I think people should know it's not easy and it is a big deal.

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Mark Fairchild makes a great point to add you and your family to our prayers, especially in the form of the Rosary. If you haven't already considered it, pray the Rosary together with your wife. In the video above, Matt Fradd breaks down the scriptures from which the Rosary is developed. This might put her at easy about trying it out. Additionally, he offers ways Protestants might pray the Rosary in a manner that would not conflict with their understanding/beliefs. A family that prays together, stays together.

10andBOUNCE said:

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I will admit it is a very #protestantproblemz to be so critical of having good music

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As long as it isn't some effeminate guy with a guitar, music usually isn't a problem.