Let Us Pray: A Call for More Orthodoxy, and Latin Mass, for the Troubled Church

The New York Times, New Jersey section (not published online) | May 26, 2002 | Benedicta Cipolla

[ELS]

Mike, I'm so glad you found this thread. Of course, I meant to flag you. Somehow, it slipped my mind. You have my profuse apologies.

Holy Rosary Church also has a Web site.

[yendu bwam]

I still remember the first words of the old Mass as an altar server. I quote from memory, so they may not be exact: Introibo ad altare Dei. Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam.

There is a power and majesty and grace in the Latin mass phrases. There is a beauty there that seems watered down in English. But understanding what's going on is also important!

[Antoninus]

Gloria tibi, Domine! This is certainly good news. I went to a Latin Novus Ordo mass in Baltimore this morning. For the life of me, I can't understand why they didn't just change to the Latin Novus Ordo after Vatican II instead of alienating so many people with novelties in the 1970s and beyond.

[St.Chuck]

Crediting the old rite with making him a "true Catholic" he possesses something like the zeal of a convert, pressing to recapture "traditional Catholic culture."

"Being a traditionalist," he said," is not just Mass. It's a mindset. It's orthodoxy plus culture, an entire milieu of Catholic living."

That has been my experience with the Latin mass and the burgeoning community that mass has created. I have never met nor been inspired by so many knowlegable and faithful Catholics as those who attend the Latin mass. I am in full agreement that the orthodoxy that the Latin mass can't help but inspire is precisely what the Church needs today.

[ELS]

Traditionalists "go against many aspects of American Catholicism," he said.

Or: The American Catholic Church goes against many aspects of true Christianity.

Yes, after Mass today many of us met downstairs. Fr. Baker read aloud the article posted above and we all wondered about the sentence you highlighted. I asked a friend near me if "American Catholicism" has anything to do with Roman Catholicism.

[Antoninus]

A heck of a lot of people under the age of 40 don't have the faintest memory of a Latin Mass

I'm 30. I'm a child of the 1970s and grew up when guitar masses, clown masses, pandering homilies, and liturgical dancing were all the vogue. The result was that us kids had no respect or reverence for the service and very little understanding of what was going on. Most didn't care. The adults clearly didn't take things seriously so why should we?

I attended my first Latin mass about five years ago. It was like a revelation! The sense of awe and reverence was palpable. The priest spoke with such force and conviction that there was no question whether he'd want us to call him by his first name after mass. It was a whole new world and felt, strangely, like this is the way it was SUPPOSED to be...

[Diva]

> Celebrate it in Latin on occasion, but Catholics in America are not demanding a return to a Latin liturgy.<

7 years ago my family was not demanding the Latin Mass and then we discovered a Church which Celebrates the Latin Novus Ordo AND we kneel at the alter rail to recieve the Eucharist by intinction (no hands allowed). WOW! is all this post Vatican II Catholic can say. What ever posessed the Church to abandon Latin, alter rails and reverence for the Eucharist? People don't demand it because they have no clue what they are missing.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

The ensuing scandal - which is roiling the American Catholic Church as nothing else in its history - has prompted many to call for liberal reform in the church.

This scandal probably wouldn't bother the American Catholic Church too much. Goofy journalists need to know that there is a difference between the Roman Catholic Church in America and a group of heretics. Isn't "liberal reform" an oxymoron.

[sinkspur]

What ever posessed the Church to abandon Latin, alter rails and reverence for the Eucharist? People don't demand it because they have no clue what they are missing.

You equate Latin liturgies with "reverence for the Eucharist." Most of us who love the Novus Ordo also have a love for the Eucharist.

As I said, those who love Latin should be granted the celebration of the Novus Ordo or the Tridentine Liturgy in Latin.

In my parish, you'd be lucky to draw 20 people.

[ELS]

If "liberal reform" is not an oxymoron, then it is a redundancy.

[patent]

Thanks for the bump, its good to see another parish and another diocese.

patent

[St.Chuck]

In my parish, you'd be lucky to draw twenty peopleMaybe so, but in five years you'd have 200 people. When children are raised in that environment, they will be extraordinarily informed Catholics. They will keep the faith. They will pass it on; the Novus Ordo has been a catastrophe when it comes to keeping souls in a state of grace. Unfortunately, the informality of the Novus Ordo mass begat an informality in the upkeep of one's eternal soul, much to the eternal regret of many a lapsed Catholic.

[B Knotts]

I, too was born in the 1960s and never experienced the old Mass. I think I am going to try it. I have to drive about 40 miles, but I normally have to drive 20 miles to Mass anyhow.

To tell you the truth, I'm perhaps a little intimidated...How easy was it for you to catch on to the different ways things are done in the old Mass?

[sinkspur]

the Novus Ordo has been a catastrophe when it comes to keeping souls in a state of grace. Unfortunately, the informality of the Novus Ordo mass begat an informality in the upkeep of one's eternal soul, much to the eternal regret of many a lapsed Catholic.

Let me get this straight.

An English Mass fosters sins; the Latin Mass doesn't?

That's shoe-size IQ thinking.

"Informality" is a nonsenical notion, especially when one equates it with the Novus Ordo. Who are you to decide the reverence of Catholics?

Latin doesn't equal holy, pal.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

A heck of a lot of people under the age of 40 are attending Latin Mass, myself included. I am 35.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Ping!

[ELS]

How easy was it for you to catch on to the different ways things are done in the old Mass?

Initially, I stayed in the back of the church so I could follow the more experienced and knowledgable parishioners. I bought a traditional daily missal and was able to follow along. Eventually, I even figured out how to find the prayers that change for each Mass. ;-)

Before any of that, though, I found the Latin Mass to be a more spiritual and reverent experience. My understanding of the Mass is constantly increasing.

[MarMema]

Unfortunately, the informality of the Novus Ordo mass begat an informality in the upkeep of one's eternal soul, much to the eternal regret of many a lapsed Catholic.

I am impressed. Strong words of truth. It is what we believe - what you do, say, and how you act externally is a lead to your (internal) piety, as well as expressive of it.