The Coolest Thing at Harvard

Discovering Juventutem in America — in Boston, Miami, DC and Michigan, too!

They are a young organization of young people, growing super-fast. The first American chapter of Juventutem began in Michigan in 2012, and since then ten additional chapters have been formed all over the United States.

A big highlight in their short history so far has been a Solemn High Mass in Boston in the Spring 2013, celebrated by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf. Over 200 people attended this first TLM in decades, illuminated by the artistry of the Choir of St. Paul — boys from the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School — and a professional male schola, who sang beautiful Renaissance polyphony by Victoria and Palestrina.

If Juventutem has their way, such beauty is just the harbinger of things to come. Recently, four members — three Harvard students and one alum — sat down with Regina Magazine to tell us about Juventutem in the United States. Jim Mc Glone is a History major from New Jersey. Evan O’dorney is studying mathematics; he’s originally from the San Francisco Bay area. Eileen Macron is a freshman from Staten Island, New York. Finally, Paul Schultz is a Harvard alum and a lawyer who is the Group Coordinator of the Michigan chapter of Juventutem and the Secretary of the Fœderatio Internationalis Juventutem.

How did you first discover the TLM?
Jim: I had never even heard that the traditional Mass existed before starting college. Two years ago, I attended one for the first time at Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross. I wouldn’t say that I immediately fell in love with the Latin Mass, but I kept coming back and learning more about it. It wasn’t long before I was altar serving and doing whatever I could to promote the Latin Mass among my peers.

Eileen: I attended my first Latin Mass when I was ten years old, because my father preferred this style of the Mass and we found a parish nearby that said the TLM. Although I was resistant at first, I soon grew to love and prefer the Mass.

Continue reading at: http://reginamag.com/coolest-thing-harvard/