Some people have asked where I attend Mass here and I'm happy to share that for 8 years now, the Institute of Our Lady of Good Counsel have had a presence in Paris. The picture I shot this morning,
after a weekday Mass, is of a permanent property owned by the Institute right in the city in a corner of the 15th arrondissement. The congregation numbers about 100 souls, who squeeze into this space across 3 Masses 3 Sundays a month, and into a rented space once a month for a High Mass. It's obviously very small compared to the 6-Mass per Sunday crowds at St. Nicholas du Chardonnet, the church of the SSPX in Paris, but unlike those Masses, the Masses in the little oratory aren't celebrated in "communion" with a notorious enemy of the Catholic Faith.
While I have other reflections on the state of the Church in Europe, for now I will share something I have observed multiple times now that I consider quite edifying, and that is the faithful either recording sermons on digital devices or taking notes in small notebooks.
Now, just as there is no "right" way to follow Mass - some pray the Rosary, some engage in mental prayer, others meditate, and yet others follow the Missal, there is no "right" way to listen to a sermon. But as a teacher I can attest to the fact that listening to an audio recording of a sermon and/or taking notes on a sermon is going to help the words of the priest - an alter Christus - penetrate more easily to our soul through that hardened crust of the cares of the world that even the daily Massgoer has to deal with. Consider it for yourself or for your family. If you have kids, you could create quiz questions based on the sermon with a treat for right answers from your children.
