Name of Church Mater Dolorosa
Address 307 Willow Avenue, South San Francisco, CA 94080 (Willow & Miller, not far from Colma’s Holy Cross Cemetery)
Phone number (650) 583-4131
Website http://mdssf.org/
Mass Schedule Saturdays, 5 p.m. Sundays, 8 a.m., 10 a.m. and noon. Monday – Saturday, 8 a.m. Holy days, 8 a.m., noon and 7:30 p.m. Traditional Latin Mass celebrated at noon, Monday – Friday, and Sunday at 5 p.m. (For the latest Latin Mass news at the parish, visit https://www.facebook.com/LatinMassMaterdolorosa/)
Names of priests Fr. Rolando De la Rosa, a priest from the Philippines, is pastor. Fr. Vito Perrone, a priest of the Contemplatives of St. Joseph, assists with weekend Masses. Fr. De la Rosa, although a foreign born priest, speaks English well and is intelligent, well spoken and easy to understand. Fr. Perrone is likely to preach on spirituality or the saints, particularly St. Joseph.
Special groups Knights of Columbus, Legion of Mary, St. Vincent de Paul Society, Women’s Club, Pro-Life Ministry, Second Harvest
Music Strong music program; cantors and choirs, depending on the Mass.
Fellow parishioners It’s an English-speaking community, Asian and Anglo; there’s a Hispanic parish nearby.
School No.
Parking Ample parking.
Cry room No.
Additional observations Mater Dolorosa is not the most beautiful architecturally that San Francisco has to offer, but does have some nice features, such as the stained glass windows featuring the Sorrows of Mary. One of the parish’s special features is that on its grounds is a monastery, the Contemplatives of St. Joseph (https://www.facebook.com/cosj.sf/ and https://www.cosjmonastery.com/). The Contemplatives were founded in 2008, and combine both the active and cloistered life. One of the unique aspects of the community is that is tri-ritual, celebrating the English/Novus Ordo mass, the Latin/Extraordinary Form mass and the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in the Byzantine Rite. The community is under the leadership of Father Vito Perrone, who celebrates Mass for the parish on weekends. The monastery formerly was a convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. The community is seeking to help the faithful grow in contemplative spirituality; its members are focusing on developing as spiritual directors and confessors, and spending weekends hearing confessions and giving retreats and parish missions.
The writer of this article has fallen into the very bad habit of referring to the Sunday Masses as “weekend Masses.” There is no obligation to worship God on the “weekend.” There is an obligation to worship God on the Lord’s Day, which for Christians is Sunday. At the end of the last century, now St. John Paul II wrote a beautiful document, Dies Domini, The Day of the Lord. It begins with the whole notion of time being created by God. The document brings us to the Dies Domini which is Sunday. Christians in general, and Catholics in particular were asleep these pasty forty years as the world was secularizing Sunday. Today, people occupy their Sunday with shopping, sports,parties, entertainment and so on. It is one of the reasons why Catholics so easily excuse themselves and their families from the proper worship of God on Sundays, not the weekend. Believing Christians, and especially Catholics should reclaim Sunday as the Dies Domini, the Day of the Lord.
Anonymous, we all agree, Sunday is the “Lord’s Day” and should be kept holy! Modernism, secularism, and disrespect for Christianity has been a rapidly growing problem, especially since the 1960s. Catholic and Protestant churches have all suffered. It is not our fault. Our society also no longer respects Christian holy days, like Good Friday. When I was young, businesses all closed down on Good Friday, and everyone was in church.
Most parishes since Vatican II use the term “weekend Masses” to list all their Sunday Masses, plus their Saturday Vigil Mass, which fulfills our Sunday obligation. The term is not disrespectful to keeping the Lord’s Day holy. I get upset seeing people goof, not taking care to capitalize the “M” for “Mass!”
Very well write. In Poland it is not such Saturday going for exchange for Sunday. That is crazy. Saturday is Saturday, Sunday is Sunday. Going Saturdays is not fulfilling Sunday obligation at all. That is protestant
I suspect the vast majority of the parishioners at the nearby ‘Hispanic’ parish speak fluent North American English. They simply prefer to speak Spanish among themselves.
Referring to the Ordinary Form of the Mass as the Novus Ordo form is disrespectful. It is very apparent CCD promotes the Extraordinary Form of the Mass; however disrespecting either form of the Holy Mass should cease.
Marissa, Novus Ordo merely means New Order of the Mass in English; whereas Antiquior Ordo means Old Order of the Mass. Most Latin speakers do not use it disrespectfully. Those who do usually are talking about a newer mass that has seriously liturgical abuses or has a dissident priest who teaches immoral teaching. It is better for those people to just say that that particular mass has serious liturgical abuses, etc. The official title of the Antiquior Ordo in English is Extraordinary Mass, and the Novus Ordo is the Ordinary Mass. Often I just say the Traditional Mass and the Newer Mass, so people do not get so up tight about it.
I agree with Marissa. There always seems to be a slight tone of derision when I hear the term “Novus Ordo” — it similar to saying “Trid.” I say “New Mass” or “Latin Mass” or OF or EF.
The Anonymous post on august 4 at 8:08 was mine — Anne TE.
The “Novus Ordo Missae” simply means the “New Mass” of Vatican II, found in our current Roman Missal. The tetm is not “disrespectful.” The current version of the Missal is first publishef in Latin in the Vatican, and then vernacular language translations are sent all over the Catholic world. I know that the terms “Ordinary” and “Extraordinary” forms of the Mass have been put into recent use, at the Vatican. There have been too many confusing changes and “novelties” in our post-Conciliar Church– and everyone does the best they can.
Sorry, there are a couple of “goofs” in my post, above– on line 5, the word “tetm” should be “term,” and on line 8, “publishef” should be “published.”
Many older Catholics have felt that it has been disrespectful for the Vatican to cast aside and almost despise the use of the beautiful, old Latin Mass, after Vatican II– and next, bring it back into use as desired– but call it the “Extraordinary Form”– when it was once our one and only Mass, in Latin, for centuries!! It seems scandalous!!
Only 1/2 hour for confessions. It is no wonder people don’t go any more.