At N.J. Parish, all Latin all the time

At New Jersey parish, all Latin all the time

Judging by its modest sanctuary, Mater Ecclesiae Roman Catholic church in Berlin, N.J., might be any Catholic parish.

But when its rector, the Rev. Robert Pasley, begins to say Mass, this little church reveals its special place in modern Catholicism.

"Introibo ad altare Dei," Father Pasley said last Sunday, early into a long, elaborate high Mass.

"Ad Deum qui laetificat, juventutem meum," replied the five altar servers.

Yes, it's Latin: the language of Catholic liturgies for centuries until the early 1960s, when the Second Vatican Council decreed that liturgies should be said in the prevailing language of the parish.

Latin is not all that makes Mater Ecclesiae unusual, however, as many dioceses - including the Archdiocese of Philadelphia - allow a Latin Mass for special occasions. Our Lady of Consolation parish in the Tacony section and St. Francis of Assisi parish in Norristown, Montgomery County, each say one Tridentine Latin Mass every Sunday.

Founded in October 2000, the 266-family Mater Ecclesiae, in the Diocese of Camden, is one of only about 16 Catholic parishes in the United States that says Latin Mass every day according to the old "Tridentine" rite. And it is attracting worshippers from more than 50 miles away.

Here, the priest says Mass with his back to the congregation. Communion is taken silently, kneeling, and on the tongue, as in bygone days.

Other Vatican reforms are absent as well: There is no handshaking or "kiss of peace." The choir sings Gregorian chant in Latin. And only men and boys are altar servers.

"I guess you could say I'm a bit conservative," Father Pasley, 46, said and laughed. "I always felt Vatican II went too far" with its reforms.

Mater Ecclesiae's two Sunday Masses, as well as all baptisms, weddings, funerals and weekday Masses, are not only said in Latin but are performed according to the all-but-abandoned liturgical rite prescribed by the Council of Trent (hence "Tridentine") in the mid-16th century.

"That's incredible," said Jean Peters, copublisher of Veritas Press in Santa Monica, Calif., which issues a national directory of Catholic parishes that say Latin Masses. Last year there were 192 parishes in the United States that said at least one Mass a month according to the old rite, Peters said. But completely Tridentine parishes are "extremely rare." What makes Mater Ecclesiae (it means "Mother Church") rare even among Tridentine parishes is that it is staffed by a diocesan priest rather than a member of a traditionalist religious order.

St. Mary's parish in Rock Island, Ill., is a diocesan Tridentine parish of 450 families, "but we say English Masses, too," its pastor, the Rev. Michael Driscoll, said last week.

"This has been a response to requests from the people," Msgr. James Checchio, moderator of the curia for the Camden Diocese, explained recently.

Unlike some bishops who barely tolerate the Tridentine rite, Camden's leader, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, plans to attend Mater Ecclesiae's Candlemas service Sunday as a gesture of support, according to Msgr. Checchio.

Last Sunday's high Mass, which started at 11:30 a.m., began with a procession up the center aisle followed by the aspergis, or sprinkling of holy water on the altar and congregation. "Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo, et mundabor," Father Pasley intoned.

It translates to "Thou shalt sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed."

Slow and solemn - even mysterious - and shrouded at times in clouds of fragrant incense that filled the sanctuary, the Mass ended around 1 p.m. with a Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, the ceremonial exposition of a communion wafer for adoration.

Mater Ecclesiae has no geographical boundaries, and membership is open to any Catholic who wants to worship there.

"We do love it," said Diane McBride, 34, of Pottstown, Montgomery County, who travels 90 minutes each way with her husband, Michael, and their four children most Sundays.

"It's more reverent" than the contemporary Masses and liturgies that grew out of the Second Vatican Council, she said. "We feel it expresses the church's teachings in a more clear way."

Susan Fetta of Doylestown, Bucks County, met her husband, Guido, at a Tridentine Mass in Camden's Immaculate Conception Cathedral about four years ago. He was an altar server; she was singing in the choir.

"It's just a love for the reverence of this Mass," said Susan Fetta, 44, who sings Gregorian chant and Latin polyphony. Father Pasley married them three years ago in a Tridentine rite at the cathedral; like the McBrides, they belong now to Mater Ecclesiae and drive 90 minutes to Mass.

Michael Meier, 39, of Voorhees, Camden County, has only a 15-minute drive to Mass. "We like the reverence, the beauty of the liturgy, the silence," he said.

Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, Archbishop of Philadelphia, has declined requests for more Latin Masses or the establishment of a Tridentine parish, according to the Rev. Thomas Mackle, director of the archdiocesan office for worship.

"We get petitions, but in our parish self-studies and cluster planning" during the 1990s "there were just not sufficient numbers" to justify it, Father Mackle said.

In 1990, Cardinal Bevilacqua granted an "indult," or special permission, for a Tridentine Mass to be said Sundays at St. John the Evangelist parish in Center City. Parking proved limited, however, so the archdiocese reassigned the Masses to the two more accessible parishes in Tacony and Norristown.

"It's a great opportunity to reach out to a portion of the Catholic community who might otherwise be disaffected," said the Rev. Dominick Finn, a hospital chaplain in residence at St. Francis of Assisi parish.

He has been saying Tridentine Masses there on Sundays since mid-1999.

"I couldn't believe how quickly it [the Latin] came back to me," said Father Finn, who was ordained in 1956. About 90 people typically attend the Masses there.

Although it functions autonomously, Mater Ecclesiae is a mission of St. Edward's parish in Pine Hill, Camden County. Its member families "are very generous with their support," said Father Pasley, who hopes Bishop DiMarzio will grant it full parish status soon.

Mater Ecclesiae's history parallels the troubled history of Latin Masses since the Second Vatican Council.

According to Father Pasley, the eight-acre site was farmland in 1970 when Joseph Natale bought it in hopes of creating an order of disabled Benedictine monks.

He raised a complex of buildings that now serves as Mater Ecclesiae's campus. Although Natale imported the Tridentine rite Masses and called himself "Brother," he was never ordained and operated his "Holy Family Monastery" without permission of the diocese.

Meanwhile, many traditionalist priests and laity around the world who resented the reforms of the Second Vatican Council had joined a schismatic church headed by French Archbishop Marcel LeFevre.

In 1988, Pope John Paul II acknowledged that a sizable number of Catholics still yearned for the old ways, and allowed diocesan bishops to accommodate them with "a wide and generous application" of Tridentine liturgies.

A messy dispute over ownership of the Berlin monastery erupted when Natale died in 1995. Worshipers who enjoyed the Tridentine Masses won.

With the permission of former Bishop John McHugh, a member of the traditionalist Fraternity of St. Peter began saying regular Masses there, but he left in 2000 when Bishop DiMarzio refused permission for him to establish his own religious order.

Last year, Bishop DiMarzio turned to Father Pasley, who has a special interest in traditional church music, and asked him to become rector of a mission to be known as Mater Ecclesiae.

"We're beginning to be known now," Father Pasley said last week. "People appreciate the music, the sense of awe. In a world of confusion, it's nice to pray in a quiet atmosphere."

"There's nothing wrong with English which is what people speak in the U.S."
They also speak Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Italian, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and everything else, and I have seen liturgies for MOST of them advertised on church bulletin boards. And, yes, there is very much wrong with the "inclusive" ambiguous politically correct language that currently passes for English in the U.S., and which has crept, unauthorised, into vernacular liturgies.

"Besides the majority of Catholics don't understand Latin."
Yup. The majority of Catholics also voted for Bill Clinton twice. Can't beat majority rule, can ya?

"Truly a pointless feel-good exercise."
All religious observance is a "pointless feel-good exercise" when you're on the outside looking in.

"What matters is what is said, not whether it is in Latin."
If you were Catholic you would understand very much why the precise words matter.

"The silliness continues."
Thanks for your tolerance.

Check it out! Our local Latin mass parish made the news. And the Inquirer didn't even trash them. What's going on here?

Is the future of the Catholic Church to be found in its recent past, spurned by many for the past 40 years?

I'm sorry to say it, but your church is being portrayed by the article as "quaint", much like an Amish village would be.

The changes made by Vatican II are based on sound principles. Unfortunately, Vatican II has never been implemented correctly. Expect changes in the Liturgy soon (for example, the Sign of Peace will follow the Greeting, where it makes more sense). Further corrections to Vatican II implementation are forthcoming.

The only basis for saying mass in Latin is for tradition. I prefer understanding to tradition. I am just old enough to remember the mass in Latin. I appreciate the English version all the more.

"I guess you could say I'm a bit conservative," Father Pasley, 46, said and laughed. "I always felt Vatican II went too far" with its reforms.

Deo gratias.

We also say the Rosary before every Mass.

I'm sorry to say it, but your church is being portrayed by the article as "quaint", much like an Amish village would be.

I know it. If you knew anything about the biases of the Philly "Stinquirer", you'd be amazed they didn't portray the priest as a racist, drug-dealing, Taliban sympathizer. I consider this a positive article, or at least as close to one as we're likely to see in that fish-wrapper.

The only basis for saying mass in Latin is for tradition. I prefer understanding to tradition. I am just old enough to remember the mass in Latin. I appreciate the English version all the more.

See post 52. As a Novus Ordo kid who never experienced the Latin mass until very recently, I found the reverence and seriousness of the Tridentine Mass very appealing - certainly moreso than the guitar / liturgical dancing masses I experienced in Catholic elementary school and college.

Do people prefer not to understand what is being said to them at Mass?

Having had four years of Latin, understanding the Mass is no problem for me. I've also attended a Greek Catholic Divine Liturgy in Slavonic. With a missal and rudimentary knowledge of Russian, I was able to follow the service with nary a misstep. Being in conscious contemplation of the liturgy sure beats being the snoozing pew-warmer I was in my teenage years.

"I prefer understanding to tradition."

I prefer understanding the tradition. The Tridentine Mass was discontinued the year I started second grade. I've attended this church, and I can tell you, it's well worth the experience, even if you don't make it a weekly thing. Hard to make sense of where you're going if you don't bother to learn where you've been. The missals provided in the pews are easy to read with the latin liturgy and responsorials on the right hand pages and the english translations printed on the left.

Sure, it makes sense to conduct a Mass in the local language. But there's more to this traditional congregation than Latin. You won't see t-shirts, cut off shorts, halter tops, sweat suits, lacsadaisical staring or rude disruptive lateness and cross talk at this mass. People actually behave as if they are in the presence of God.

And one more thing - The article didn't mention that most of the congregation consists of young families. From what I was told, this one salient point was what piqued the bishops interest and may have gotten Rome's attention. The political and legal problems that this congregation has survived over the years might have closed most other churches permananently at the very outset. These people are homeschoolers and FReeper material. They don't back down from a fight.

You got that right. It's amazing how many 'old fashioned' large Catholic familes go to this parish. The men and boys don't wear t-shirts or football jerseys. Instead of haltertops and hip-huggers, the women actually wear mantillas. Another thing that's not mentioned... Fr. Paisley is a terrific preacher. His sermons are actually based on scripture, he invokes the Church Fathers, and offers authentic, orthodox Catholicism. Shocking!

How far is Berlin from the Newark area? (My family lives in Summit)I haven't been back in just over a year, but I was already planning to check out St. Agnes in Manhattan next time I go back.

nick, you don't have to go all the way to Berlin. I live in Summit and attend a traditional parish in West Orange.

There's also one in Northwest Jersey...Pequannock I think. But nick, you won't be disappointed with St. Agnes either. Wonderful parish with excellent music. I hope you get Fr. Perricone when you go!

The article doesn't seem to be telling the whole story w/r to the turnover of pastoral leadership or the legal problems with the ownership of the land. And what's up with the new name? What happened to "Maris Dei?"

When I first started going there, the mission was called 'Opus Mariae Mediatrix'. The priest in residence who ran the place was sent packing when his eminence Bishop DiMarzio was installed in Camden. The mission became a kind of 'probationary' parish about a year and a half ago and that's when Fr. Pasley came into the picture. That's about as much of the story as I know.

This parish has truly been a blessing, though. Fr. Pasley is one of those rare individuals who really is the 'leaven in the bread.'

Such silliness. There's nothing wrong with English which is what people speak in the U.S.. Besides the majority of Catholics don't understand Latin. Truly a pointless feel-good exercise. What matters is what is said, not whether it is in Latin. The silliness continues.

I still don't understand the outright hostility towards the Tridentine rite from some folks. If it's just 'silly feelgoodism' what possible harm can it do? Personally, I attend both services. We have good and holy priests in our local parish that say the mass in English and preach well. The choir is even above average. However, I truly enjoy visiting the Latin mass parish as well - perhaps once per month. Where's the harm?

Number 1. People DO understand the latin in the mass. Just like you learn the melody to a song..you learn what the latin parts of the mass are. Number 2. I will be getting married at this church. It is gorgeous. Fr. Pasley does a great job...and they have the most beautiful crucifix I have ever seen over the altar.

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