At a time when churches are competing to attract the Gen-X crowd, what's the draw of this more traditional practice?
As a non-Catholic, I could only hazard a guess. It could be that the use of Latin adds to the mystery of religion – something that is lacking in the English Mass.
This must be encouraging to all of you. It is certainly good news. Many, many years ago, Fr. Louis (Thomas Merton) wrote about the dangers of the then, as he saw it, fast paced world where there was no time to be alone with God. How much worse are things today, especially for the young. The Latin Mass, with its sense of the sacred, its sense of other worldliness, can provide a respite, however brief, from a terrifying world and an opportunity to advance in Theosis.
Isn't it a shame, however, that people like Chan, who clearly have no concept of what is really going on at the Latin Mass, indeed even what it is (Middle Ages indeed!) insist on advancing the most mundane of modern concerns within the context of an essentially divine and eternal undertaking; something which occurs absolutely off the human timeline. As an Orthodox Christian, please forgive me for saying that your bishops ought to do something about that mentality.
Thanks for posting this!
Years ago, I imagined how satisfying it must be to go to a Catholic service any place in the world and hearing the same Mass I would have heard at home.
It seemed to make such good sense. And I wasn't a Catholic.
They made great inroads and now these same folks tell us that "you can never go back again". Many people took up this statement and adopted it as a universal Truth. On a micro level there is a lot of truth in the statement;however,we are talking macro,and since God never changes nor does the nature of man,we CAN go back and successfully re-establish anything that captures the truth,beauty and goodness of God's relationship with His creation and/or mans' relationship to God.
The Tridentine Mass captures that essence and I pray that it will continue to be offered with increasing frequency to all Catholics in every diocese in the world,if it's offered,they will come.
From someone I know who attends St John Cantius, the NO masses there are also quite traditional, using the rails for communionm, the Latin NO facing the altar, and of course no altar girls and no EMHCs, and they are well attended. Also one should not forget in Chicago, the Opus Dei ran St. Mary of the Angels that also uses the rails for communion and uses no EMHCs with a large number of young adults. Be it NO celebrated in a traditional manner or TLM missal, more traditional forms of liturgy have the substance that many young adults are looking for.
Bump to an excellent good news thread.
That connection is so desperately needed by many catholics!
Thanks for posting this article!
Wake up Miss Chan! From 'ourladyswarriors' web site:
A Call to Action
The most visible dissenting group which is a movement of laity and religious seeking to reform the "sinful structure" of the "patriarchal" Church. One could call them the "mother of all dissenting groups" - feminist pun intended. CTA is infamous since its 1994 conference coverage on the CBS news program 60 Minutes. CTA promotes dissent against Church teachings on a broad front, including women's ordination, homosexuality, creation spirituality, married priesthood, and liturgical reforms, while incorporating new age and Wiccan spirituality. Bishop Bruskewitz excommunicated those that belong to this group in his Diocese. Many members belong to local groups called "small faith communities." Renew 2000 also promotes small faith communities. Membership draws heavily from former clergy, feminist nuns, and homosexuals. Members staff COR. CTA serves on the national task force for the We Are Church referendum. Get a more complete understanding of their position from their own information. For a list of their speakers at the 2004 conference, click here.
Ping.
I agree that there is a component of mystery to the Latin mass that is absent from mass prayed in the vernacular. I find even more appealing the tradition of the Tridentine mass. Knowing that identical words were said and motions performed centuries ago brings with it a sense of stability that is far less potent in the diluted liturgy of the NO mass.
Furthermore, I agree that there is a solmenity -- a clear sense of respect, adoration, humilty -- that fills the church before, during, and after Latin mass. I'd attribute the absence of this solmenity in the NO mass to the mindset fostered by a multitude of factors. I suspect it is the combination of the "good mornings" exchanged amongst parishoners at the encouragement of the priest at the beginning of mass, the guitar strumming and piano playing with the choir, the hand-holding during the Lord's Prayer, the hand shaking before communion, the receiving of communion standing upright and with the hand, and the overall watering-down and changes made to the prayers of the mass itself.
Three links that might be of interest to some:
Latin mass video (two parts, audio and video quality not terribly good, large file):
If I were trying to counsel a friend - to convert him to Catholicism, and I were to take him to a NO mass at just about any given church, the chances are that he would be confused, disappointed, and doubtful about converting to a faith which seemingly has no boundries, firm doctrine, or organized form of worship.
If I take my prospective convert to the average church, I can guarantee that whatever I tell him about the mass will be disproven before his eyes, as one never knows what the priest is going to do next! From an objective viewpoint, that's what it looks like! And the music........let's not even go there!
Unfortunately, its babel...confusion....sloppy, disorganized, and presents a perplexing lack of reverence & formality all too often.
Sorry, but unless i knew of sure of the existance of a NO mass which was done properly (and in a consistant manner!!!), I would never take a convert to it. It would be too hard to explain WHY it is so seemingly messed up!
Instead, I would take my prospective convert to a TLM, or even to an Eastern Rite church where there is a guarantee of order, sanity, consistancy, and reverence to the service.
"For a dead language, it's really beautiful." LOL! & how ridiculous it is that he didn't know this before. Truth will out.
Wrong on all three counts.
This is a very important point. Who can defend a guitar Mass, who would want to?? Who wants to defend Father comparing the starving poor to a neglected flower? Young people don't need the Mass reduced to this "lowest common denominator" nonsense so many "forward" thinking Catholics have shoved down the throats of the reast of us. Why was the beauty of centuries replaced with such mediocrity and worse? To become holy you need to be reminded of what is important...God. People help the poor and do good deeds when they come closer to God. I don't understand what seems to be the attitude of so many liberal Catholics that you must embrace socialism to find God.
I love how the Mass which was dominant for most of the twentieth century is considered the Mass of the Middle Ages. I guess only what's new can be good in a world where novelty must triumph over quality.
She sounds very egalitarian. However where there is life and freedom, there are inequalities. Where there is death, you will find all are equal.
bump
Here's a recent commentary from traditio.com that relates to this thread...
Since Vatican II the Newchurch has tried to make it out as if the Traditional Latin Mass were just for old foggies, but the Novus Ordo service is for the young and hip. That piece of deception is now being exposed by the secular press.
A recent article in the Daily Herald from the Chicago area unabashedly proclaimed: "Youth behind Resurgence of Ancient Catholic Ritual." It turns out that the young people are throwing over the steel guitars and vernacular for a connection with the real Mass. For "a growing number of young people, the ... traditional Latin Mass provides a connection to the divine unmatched by any contemporary service." They got that right! At a time when many dioceses are shutting down a significant number of churches because attendance at the Novus Ordo service is plummeting, to less than one in seven, traditional churches are seeing increases.
One Novus Ordo presbyter had to admit: "We're constantly bombarded with change, change, change. The Mass is like a rock, a source of stability in a noisy world." Well, isn't that what traditional Catholics, and the true Church, have said from the beginning? Some people are just 40 -- or 2000 -- years behind.
Sometimes looking at who your enemies are confirms the correctness of your position. And who are the enemies of the Mass and the Church quoted in the article? Why, one Crystal Chan, who is with Call to Action, an organization that wants to destroy the Roman Catholic Church by promoting lesbianism, "gay marriage," priestesses, wicca, and all the rest. "This isn't a trend we would welcome with open arms," she said. I should think not! Maybe a return to the true faith would "out" these pagans, who pose as "Catholics" in order to use the mechanism of the Church to destroy the Church.
And what about that Latin? Far from being a hindrance, the language is incorruptible by modern vernacular and serves as a unifying force across cultures. "It's really beautiful," says one 17-year-old.