An idea struck me recently. We know that there are two fine initiatives underway by both Una Voce/FSSP and the Institute of Christ the King to offer organized classes for priests or deacons who are interesting in learning the classical rite.
The beauty of these intiatives is that they are planned and organized, with instructor priests who are evidently knowledgeable and competent in their task. For that reason, they are evidently the ideal means for learning the classical Roman rite.
That being said, we also know that whether for reasons of time or expense, not all clerics who would like to take advantage of such an opportunity might be able to go.
To that end, my mind turned to a thought: what could be done to help out such clerics? Well of course, one possibility is to help fund such individuals to get to this formal training. Certainly a worthy initiative.
However, another idea struck me which might be more "do-able" on a wider scale. Namely, if there are priests out there who are quite comfortable and knowledgeable in their celebration of the classical rite, whether it be a diocesan priest offering an indult Mass, or an FSSP priest somewhere, perhaps such individuals would be willing to make themselves known and offer some of their time and expertise to those in their general area (i.e. commuting distance) and could organize their own local training sessions in the classical Roman rite.
This could manifest itself in whatever form would best work for the priest or priests involved; whether that be one on one training on an as-needed basis, or whether that be something more formally organized.
I would be interested to hear from our priestly readership to know:
1. Would they think such a thing would have merit?
2. Would they either be interested in such a session if it were made available in their area or would they be interested in offering such a service to their brother clerics?
If the idea is deemed to be of merit, my thought was that perhaps some sort of "contact list" could be made up and posted as a link here which would provide contact information (with whatever discretion is required or preferred) of priests willing to offer such training, and their geographical locale.
Such an intiative would by no means be as ideal as the formalized training sessions offered by the aforementioned groups, and there could be some pitfalls of course, but it might, overall, help provide yet another means to help encourage the growth and use of the classical Roman liturgy.
