History of Tradition: An Interview with Fr. Brian Woodrow
Last month
on April 4th, I interviewed Fr. Brian Patrick Woodrow, Liaison to
the Extraordinary Form for the Diocese of Trenton as well as the newly installed
pastor of the Church of Saint Dominic in Brick. In this interview, I asked
about his vocation, his introduction to the Latin Mass, his role in
implementing it, as well as tips for priests who want to implement the
Traditional Mass in their parishes at a level comfortable to the congregation.
I first asked Fr. Woodrow about his vocation. A rare occurrence nowadays, Fr. Woodrow entered straight into seminary out of high school. I asked him when he knew about his early vocation. He told me that when he attended Mass on Holy Thursday as a kid in Union Beach, he said from that moment he knew he wanted a more intimate connection with God and that whatever he was going to do, God would be a major part of it. By his senior year of high school, Father knew God was calling him. To quote him, “if God wants you, he’ll get you.” Following his studies at Seton hall’s Immaculate Conception, he was ordained at the age of twenty-six.
When I asked Fr. Woodrow how he initially became exposed to the Tridentine Mass, he told me that his Fr. Fitzpatrick, longtime pastor of Holy Family in Union Beach, would occasionally visit Fr. Dan Hesko’s parish in Middletown to say the Traditional Mass as he was ordained right around the time of the Council. In his own interview, Fr. Hesko can attest to this and claimed that after a one-time request, Fr. Fitzpatrick would come back to say the Old Mass more. Besides his childhood pastor’s experience with the Traditional Mass, Fr. Woodrow said that most of his exposure to the Old Mass was gained from learning it himself. As Father kept researching the Tridentine Mass and “continued digging, the more gold he kept finding.”
Unlike most other priests in the diocese, Fr. Woodrow was self-taught in the Extraordinary Form. His first time celebrating a Low Mass was when he was a parochial vicar at Saint Theresa’s in Tuckerton. When it came to the more elaborate Solemn High Mass though, Father attributes Fr. Robert Pasley and his seminary classmate Fr. Michael Barone of the Archdiocese of Newark for helping him early on.
It was in 2011 following bishop O’Connell’s arrival that Fr. Woodrow was called upon by his new boss to the newly created office of Liaison to the Extraordinary Form. In his capacity, he helps people in the diocese with questions about the Latin Mass, “facilitates a healthy understanding of what a Traditional Mass is and isn’t.” Father then compared a quote by Ven. Abp. Fulton Sheen that “people that hate the Mass, 99% of the things that they hate about the Mass doesn’t have anything to do with the Mass, and that if people understood where they come from, they would actually like it. The point being, what some would characterize as a sign of rebellion probably don’t know that the Latin Mass was never officially abrogated and that they were being used in dioceses years before Archbishop Lefebvre got in trouble with the Vatican. A long-term goal of the office of the Extraordinary Form is to have a Traditional Mass celebrated in every county-Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, and Burlington. Father said the difficulty was finding priests to say it, but he says with the new seminarians, more traditional priests will be coming sooner than later.
This fact brought me to my next question: why are there so many traditional leaning priests in the seminary, especially with ties to Saint John’s, the de facto hub of the Traditional Mass in the diocese. He agreed and attributed this to a great sense of reverence and putting the “liturgy at the center.” He also noted that youth participation is very high at the altar and the choir at his former Allentown parish, and is very much a youth movement. In this environment, he thinks creates such traditional minded priests. Father thinks the future of the Church is going to be very traditional, which he thinks “is not a bad word, but can frighten people.” He thinks that just like the word authority frightens people for telling them what to do, so too does tradition for the same reason, but he said that “who knows here boys better than Mother Church,” the very source of tradition. Father views the uniformity, the reverence, and the liturgy all as factors that influence the rising young vocations in Allentown and the diocese. As a side note, Fr. Woodrow praised the uniformity, but he did say how unfortunately many have forgotten why we do things the way we do them, and to me this may explain some of the animosity to parts of the Traditional Mass that may turn some people off.
Fr. Woodrow told me that of all the things he got out of celebrating the Extraordinary Form, he told me a deeper spirituality, a deeper sense of mystery and awe, reverence, and has also influenced the way he celebrates the Novus Ordo. It has also influenced the way he prepares himself for the Mass, entering a hospital nursing home, or presiding over a graveside committal. From witnessing the different monastic styles he has seen in Abbeys visited, Father told me that it gave him a deeper sense of reverence and a greater preparation before exercising his ministry.
Although it was somewhat answered in the last question, I asked Fr. Woodrow if the Extraordinary Form has influenced the way he celebrates the Ordinary Form. He told me it did and that there are many things you can do with the New Mass (ad orientem, Latin, etc.), but that you must be careful in implementing these things with the congregation. He said that “If we use the model of the shepherd and the sheep, if we use the model that Jesus gave us what a pastor really is, then you cant tell the sheep to get on the other side of the road.” In a very relatable analogy to sheep on Irish roads, Father said that you cant just honk, you have to be slow and steady and gentle and realize you need to be stern when it calls to be, but a priest who walks into a functioning parish needs to act slowly and deliberately and “only then will you be able to get people to see the beauty of the Traditional Mass. it’s the difference between being comfortable and being challenged. I told Father that the Traditional Mass is like alcohol, an acquired taste. In a word of final advice to priests who want to implement a Traditional Mass, they must show openness to it, but the call must ultimately come from the congregation. Even if support comes from two or three people, that will still do. In an example of a successful Latin Mass at his new parish without ruffling feathers, Fr. Woodrow chose September 14th, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, a minor feast day (unless you go to the Jesuit college in Worcester) that didn’t cut into the main parish schedule, and could attract some interested people. It ended up being a high turnout.
When I asked if there were any change of hearts during his time in Allentown and his new pastorate in Brick, Father told me that many people who were stuck in their ways ended up liking the “beautiful music” and when they asked questions on why they did certain things instead of dismissing it as “I don’t like it,” he knew he wasn’t speaking to opposition anymore. I did ask Father what plans he and the “Tridentine Gang” as Fr. Pasley calls us had in store. He told me that there was a High Mass being planned, but he wanted it to be said in a parish where a Latin Mass doesn’t already exist. If not to set up one, jut to peak interest and spread awareness. As for Saint Dominic’s, he wants to set up the Maidens of the Miraculous Medal, a very successful women’s group dedicated to Our Lady that already thrives in Mater Ecclesiae and Saint John’s. he thinks a group dedicated to Mary would be a unique way to invite her into the parish as well as a way to drive a wedge between the devil and the parish.
It was a privilege getting to interview Fr. Woodrow. As far as Father’s future plans for the Latin Mass in Trenton this summer I will keep everyone posted. It was a great interview that combined information about Father’s duties as liaison, as well as all of those faithful seminarians who want to spread reverence and beauty successfully without facing opposition. As of now, if anyone is interested, Fr. Woodrow will most likely be present at Allentown Confirmations on June 8th. This will be the first time Bishop O’Connell confers the sacrament of Confirmation in the Traditional rite and I hope to see some of you guys there! If anyone wants to visit Fr. Woodrow for Sunday Mass, his parish in Brick under him has been leading the way in implementing Pope Benedict’s vision for a “Reform of the Reform.”
I first asked Fr. Woodrow about his vocation. A rare occurrence nowadays, Fr. Woodrow entered straight into seminary out of high school. I asked him when he knew about his early vocation. He told me that when he attended Mass on Holy Thursday as a kid in Union Beach, he said from that moment he knew he wanted a more intimate connection with God and that whatever he was going to do, God would be a major part of it. By his senior year of high school, Father knew God was calling him. To quote him, “if God wants you, he’ll get you.” Following his studies at Seton hall’s Immaculate Conception, he was ordained at the age of twenty-six.
When I asked Fr. Woodrow how he initially became exposed to the Tridentine Mass, he told me that his Fr. Fitzpatrick, longtime pastor of Holy Family in Union Beach, would occasionally visit Fr. Dan Hesko’s parish in Middletown to say the Traditional Mass as he was ordained right around the time of the Council. In his own interview, Fr. Hesko can attest to this and claimed that after a one-time request, Fr. Fitzpatrick would come back to say the Old Mass more. Besides his childhood pastor’s experience with the Traditional Mass, Fr. Woodrow said that most of his exposure to the Old Mass was gained from learning it himself. As Father kept researching the Tridentine Mass and “continued digging, the more gold he kept finding.”
Unlike most other priests in the diocese, Fr. Woodrow was self-taught in the Extraordinary Form. His first time celebrating a Low Mass was when he was a parochial vicar at Saint Theresa’s in Tuckerton. When it came to the more elaborate Solemn High Mass though, Father attributes Fr. Robert Pasley and his seminary classmate Fr. Michael Barone of the Archdiocese of Newark for helping him early on.
It was in 2011 following bishop O’Connell’s arrival that Fr. Woodrow was called upon by his new boss to the newly created office of Liaison to the Extraordinary Form. In his capacity, he helps people in the diocese with questions about the Latin Mass, “facilitates a healthy understanding of what a Traditional Mass is and isn’t.” Father then compared a quote by Ven. Abp. Fulton Sheen that “people that hate the Mass, 99% of the things that they hate about the Mass doesn’t have anything to do with the Mass, and that if people understood where they come from, they would actually like it. The point being, what some would characterize as a sign of rebellion probably don’t know that the Latin Mass was never officially abrogated and that they were being used in dioceses years before Archbishop Lefebvre got in trouble with the Vatican. A long-term goal of the office of the Extraordinary Form is to have a Traditional Mass celebrated in every county-Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, and Burlington. Father said the difficulty was finding priests to say it, but he says with the new seminarians, more traditional priests will be coming sooner than later.
This fact brought me to my next question: why are there so many traditional leaning priests in the seminary, especially with ties to Saint John’s, the de facto hub of the Traditional Mass in the diocese. He agreed and attributed this to a great sense of reverence and putting the “liturgy at the center.” He also noted that youth participation is very high at the altar and the choir at his former Allentown parish, and is very much a youth movement. In this environment, he thinks creates such traditional minded priests. Father thinks the future of the Church is going to be very traditional, which he thinks “is not a bad word, but can frighten people.” He thinks that just like the word authority frightens people for telling them what to do, so too does tradition for the same reason, but he said that “who knows here boys better than Mother Church,” the very source of tradition. Father views the uniformity, the reverence, and the liturgy all as factors that influence the rising young vocations in Allentown and the diocese. As a side note, Fr. Woodrow praised the uniformity, but he did say how unfortunately many have forgotten why we do things the way we do them, and to me this may explain some of the animosity to parts of the Traditional Mass that may turn some people off.
Fr. Woodrow told me that of all the things he got out of celebrating the Extraordinary Form, he told me a deeper spirituality, a deeper sense of mystery and awe, reverence, and has also influenced the way he celebrates the Novus Ordo. It has also influenced the way he prepares himself for the Mass, entering a hospital nursing home, or presiding over a graveside committal. From witnessing the different monastic styles he has seen in Abbeys visited, Father told me that it gave him a deeper sense of reverence and a greater preparation before exercising his ministry.
Although it was somewhat answered in the last question, I asked Fr. Woodrow if the Extraordinary Form has influenced the way he celebrates the Ordinary Form. He told me it did and that there are many things you can do with the New Mass (ad orientem, Latin, etc.), but that you must be careful in implementing these things with the congregation. He said that “If we use the model of the shepherd and the sheep, if we use the model that Jesus gave us what a pastor really is, then you cant tell the sheep to get on the other side of the road.” In a very relatable analogy to sheep on Irish roads, Father said that you cant just honk, you have to be slow and steady and gentle and realize you need to be stern when it calls to be, but a priest who walks into a functioning parish needs to act slowly and deliberately and “only then will you be able to get people to see the beauty of the Traditional Mass. it’s the difference between being comfortable and being challenged. I told Father that the Traditional Mass is like alcohol, an acquired taste. In a word of final advice to priests who want to implement a Traditional Mass, they must show openness to it, but the call must ultimately come from the congregation. Even if support comes from two or three people, that will still do. In an example of a successful Latin Mass at his new parish without ruffling feathers, Fr. Woodrow chose September 14th, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, a minor feast day (unless you go to the Jesuit college in Worcester) that didn’t cut into the main parish schedule, and could attract some interested people. It ended up being a high turnout.
When I asked if there were any change of hearts during his time in Allentown and his new pastorate in Brick, Father told me that many people who were stuck in their ways ended up liking the “beautiful music” and when they asked questions on why they did certain things instead of dismissing it as “I don’t like it,” he knew he wasn’t speaking to opposition anymore. I did ask Father what plans he and the “Tridentine Gang” as Fr. Pasley calls us had in store. He told me that there was a High Mass being planned, but he wanted it to be said in a parish where a Latin Mass doesn’t already exist. If not to set up one, jut to peak interest and spread awareness. As for Saint Dominic’s, he wants to set up the Maidens of the Miraculous Medal, a very successful women’s group dedicated to Our Lady that already thrives in Mater Ecclesiae and Saint John’s. he thinks a group dedicated to Mary would be a unique way to invite her into the parish as well as a way to drive a wedge between the devil and the parish.
It was a privilege getting to interview Fr. Woodrow. As far as Father’s future plans for the Latin Mass in Trenton this summer I will keep everyone posted. It was a great interview that combined information about Father’s duties as liaison, as well as all of those faithful seminarians who want to spread reverence and beauty successfully without facing opposition. As of now, if anyone is interested, Fr. Woodrow will most likely be present at Allentown Confirmations on June 8th. This will be the first time Bishop O’Connell confers the sacrament of Confirmation in the Traditional rite and I hope to see some of you guys there! If anyone wants to visit Fr. Woodrow for Sunday Mass, his parish in Brick under him has been leading the way in implementing Pope Benedict’s vision for a “Reform of the Reform.”
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