Well I did it!

I sent the letter to my pastor that I have been agonizing over.

I requested the Extraordinary Rite at my parish.

The crap is on its way to the fan as we speak.

Here is the letter I sent, please feel free to use it as a template for your own letters to your priests.

Father -----------,

In his Christmas address to the members of the Roman Curia
on December 22, 2005, His Holiness Benedict XVI, shared his vision
of shepherding the Church on a path of greater unity, continuity, reform, and renewal. As an essential part of this vision, on July 7, 2007, the Holy Father released his Apostolic Letter, Summorum Pontificum, clarifying the status and usage of the Missal of Blessed Pope John XXIII, published in 1962, prior to the liturgical reforms of 1970. The document also governs the use of other ritual books in use prior to these reforms.

The Holy Father explains that the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council found in the 1970 Missal, with its two subsequent revisions, remain as the Forma ordinaria of celebration of the Mass. The use of the 1962 Missal of Blessed Pope John XXIII is to be used as the Forma extraordinaria or extraordinary form of celebration of the Mass. Most notably, the Holy Father states that these two forms are not to be seen as two separate Rites of the Mass, but rather two forms of celebration within the one Roman Rite. The Holy Father clarifies this two-fold reality when he stated, "There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal. In the history of the liturgy, there is growth and progress, but no rupture. What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us, too…."

I would like to make this letter my formal request that Saint --------- Church, in the spirit of unity, continuity, reform, and renewal spoken of by the Holy Father, make the Forma extraordinaria
of the Mass available to the faithful.
I offer to make contact with the priests of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, and arrange a mass. All that would be required is your permission as pastor. I pray you will allow us to properly celebrate the Forma extraordinaria of the Mass at Saint --------- so that both God and the people of God will best be served.

The richness of the Sacred Liturgy is the heart of our Catholic faith. The Forma extraordinaria of the Mass has been the source of holiness for countless saints throughout history. May the richness of our Catholic liturgical prayer, now made more available to the entire Church, continue to lead us all to that same goal. In the words of our Holy Father, "Let us generously open our hearts and make room for everything that the faith, itself, allows."

Respectfully yours,

Your Name Here

I wish more of you in the Diocese of Scranton and abroad will summon the courage to ask for what is our right to ask for in the Church. If more people ask for it, and more masses in the Extraordinary Rite are celebrated, it will become less of an oddity and more of a common occurrence.

As it should be.

I'll keep both of my readers up to date on Father's reply.