We recently fell in love with the Extraordinary Form of the Mass (or the Latin Mass). And here’s why: It most closely and accurately expresses the truths of our Catholic faith.
We know zip Latin. None. Zilch!
But that didn’t stop us. It shouldn’t stop anyone actually…. They make these really great Latin/English missals that you can find in the back of the church to help you follow along. Even dummies can use it – we can! So that’s not a good excuse. Don’t be intimidated – be adventurous and daring!
We didn’t grow up with this Mass either – it’s allllllll new to us. Brand, spankin’ new.
Here is my honest proposal, put forth from our faith journey: If assisting at Mass is THE most important thing we can do in our lives (which it is), then it at the least obliges one to investigate WHY and HOW the Latin Mass accurately reflects the heavenly, objective reality which takes place upon the altar.
This is the journey Bill and I began taking a little over a year ago.
It was not a personal preference to our personalities or prayer life. It was a choice we made after researching, reading, and listening to several talks and videos about the nature and character of the Latin Mass. People too often dismiss the Latin Mass as a mere matter of preference or nostalgia or some kind of longing for the "good ol' days of the Church." But that would be selfish if that were the case. It would be a decision based on “me and my tastes” rather than God, Who He is, and what the nature of the Mass objectively is.
After learning the meaning of every gesture, prayer, and outward expression of that Mass, we felt obliged before God to begin giving Him that outward expression of worship which most closely represents two vital and fundamental things:
1. The inner dispositions (the spirit) we are supposed to have at Mass (humility, contrition, reverence, adoration, and love for God)
2. Our Catholic Faith and the objective reality (the truth) of what actually takes place upon the altar and what the Mass in its nature is: Not merely a meal or communal gathering, but primarily a sacrifice. THE sacrifice of Calvary re-presented upon on our altars; our participation in a sacramental way of THE heavenly worship and adoration that all the angels and saints experience in heaven. This is what our Catholic faith teaches us about the Holy Mass.
First, disclaimer:
As I share why we began attending the Latin Mass, please note that I am not referring to the people who attend the Novus Ordo Mass (a.k.a. the Mass you typically see in a parish today). I grew up attending the New Mass and still do when I bring our kids to daily Mass. What we are referring to is the customs, prayers, disciplines, and various expressions that take place in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass versus the Novus Ordo Mass and how the Latin Mass is objectively more accurate in expressing the truths of our Catholic faith and Divine Worship. So please separate the two. I am well aware that the outward expression of worship is completely spoiled when our inward dispositions are full of pride, unrepentance and the like. The “Lord desires a humble and contrite heart” or else the sacrifice is in vain (Psalm 51). But that is not my focus and point. So please read this objectively, in reference to the reality of what the Mass actually is. I am in NO WAY saying that people who attend the Latin Mass or other similar rites are “better” or “holier” than those who don’t. I just want to make that point very clear. So please read ahead in an objective manner in reference to the truths of our Catholic faith and the reality of what the Mass actually is.
Ok, Jess...Mass is Mass. Why get caught up on all the fine details?
To which I respond with what G.K. Chesteron said: “Passion makes every detail important.” …Especially when it comes to our passion and love for the Lord and that most important thing we could ever do in our lives: Go to Mass.
The Mass is CENTRAL to our faith because the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, as the Catechism tells us. The Mass is central because the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Calvary is central and the act of our salvation. The saints over the centuries have also shed their wisdom on the centrality and vitality of the Holy Mass. Here’s a few:
“The celebration of Holy Mass is as valuable as the death of Jesus on the cross.”
- Saint Thomas Aquinas
“It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass.”
- St. Pio of Pietrelcina
“The Holy Mass would be of greater profit if people had it offered in their lifetime, rather than having it celebrated for the relief of their souls after death."
– Pope Benedict XV
Those are strong words. Mass doesn’t sound optional or preferential, it sounds necessary for life and salvation. These words and our Catholic faith should challenge us.
Again, if you scratch your head about why the Mass is so important and vital to our salvation, then it might be good to brush up on Catholic theology. I will leave some references throughout this post! :) Check out the Catechism of the Catholic Church online for starters!
Our worship and adoration at Mass is important in every single way precisely because it is the Mass. If we cannot understand this, then perhaps it would help to read, meditate and pray more upon what the Mass is and what actually takes place. The adherence to worshiping most closely according to truth matters, just like living and adhering our lives as closely to the truth as possible matters.
“It is the fact that many a man would be dead today, if his doctors had not debated the fine shades about doctoring. It is also the fact that European civilization would be dead today, if its doctors of divinity had not debated fine shades about doctrine.”
– G.K. Chesteron in “The Resurrection of Rome”
My first point is that talking about these “small things” does matter in terms of our eternal salvation and the liturgical worship and adoration of the Church to the One, True God. Again, our worship and adoration at Mass is important in every single way precisely because it is the Mass. In the Latin rite, there is a more preferable way to worship according to the truths of our Catholic faith, and that is within the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. The Latin Mass expresses most clearly and beautifully the truths of our Catholic faith moreso than does the ordinary form of the Mass you typically see at a parish.
Can the New Mass be celebrated reverently? Yes. I’ve seen it. It can be offered quite beautifully. The Novus Ordo Mass is perfectly valid and Jesus in the Eucharist is still present. But its expression of our Catholic truths pale in comparison to those found in the Extraordinary form. The Extraordinary Form of the Mass also fosters in us the dispositions most necessary and pleasing to Almighty God when we come to worship Him: Love, reverence, humility, humility, humility, contrition, piety, and adoration.
This my whole point: If our Catholic faith contains the fullness of the truth (which is does), then we should desire to offer to God the worship which most accurately reflects those truths, coupled with the inner dispositions which are pleasing to God: humility, reverence, contrition, adoration, and love.
Again, I am well aware that the outward expression of worship is completely spoiled when our inward dispositions are full of pride, unrepentance and the like. But the Latin Mass makes a better outward expression of these inner dispositions we are called to have along with the fact that it expresses the truths of our Catholic faith and Catholic theology much more clearly.
A Few Major Differences and Why
The Use of the Latin Language
We learned some amazing stuff about the Latin language.
Latin is a "dead language," meaning it is no longer being used as a common language in any culture. Because it is thus so, it preserves the purity of doctrine to our Catholic truths and the words cannot be changed, watered-down or manipulated like they can in our English language. Many words in our English (or other vernacular languages) are influenced by the culture and many words have come to have double meanings or implied meanings that are influenced by the society and the way of the world around us. And when society is reflecting a very immoral way of life and speech right now, this would not be a good and holy influence. Latin best retains the purity of our Catholic truths within the liturgy.
Latin unifies. Latin was for centuries the organic and evolved language of the Church. In fact, there was one point in the history of the Church that every Mass in the Latin rite said in any part of the world was said in Latin. If one were to attend Mass in France or Italy or the United States or any other part of the world, they would know exactly what was going on in the Mass. Latin is also the root language of many other languages, also being a unifying property. Why did we do away with Latin for an entirely vernacular Mass? It actually divides the Church more because you will now typically have Spanish-speaking people at the Spanish Mass, English-speaking people at the English Mass, Portuguese-speaking people at the Portuguese Mass and so on, rather than all uniting together in the “Mass language” of Latin.
Latin challenges us to understand the Mass better. The old saying is that over-familiarity breeds complacency, even contempt. People complain that they don’t know or understand Latin (neither do we!!!), but what it has done has challenged me to read and pray ahead the prayers said throughout the Mass especially the proper prayers which change with each feast day, thus “forcing” me to be better disposed to attend and assist at Mass. It has also challenged us to delve deeper into the mystery of the Mass, the parts of the Mass, and what each part means. It has challenged our participation at Mass to be more fruitful and whole-hearted.
Satan hates the Latin language. Any exorcist will attest to the hatred that demons have toward the Latin language. Father Gabriel Amorth testifies to this – he is the most famous Roman Catholic exorcist in the Church and has “been in the business” for decades. Why do the demons hate Latin? The answer is that ecclesiastical Latin is a sacred language that was reserved only for the divine service of the Church of God, in prayer and in the Sacraments. (http://www.traditionalcatholicpriest.com/2014/11/16/latin-mass-latin-exorcism-latin-sacraments-crush-the-devil/) That’s right – the language used in the Latin Mass was in time developed throughout the centuries by the Church. The Latin used in the Mass was not the same Latin that people spoke in everyday speech during the time Latin was still a common language. The Latin language the Church uses is called “ecclesiastical Latin” and it is only used for holy things; it is a dead language that does not change and has been reserved for centuries just for prayer, (especially the Latin Mass). For this reason, the devil hates it. It was a language the Church by her authority developed as an intimate and unique way of communicating with the Divine in her liturgy. So if Satan and his demons hate the Latin language, you better believe I’m going to learn to love it. Why hate (or avoid) what Satan hates? Wouldn’t that imply that it’s something sacred and holy then? It’s ashame when people don’t give Latin a chance just because they don’t know it (neither do we!!! But we’re learning slowly the more we attend the Latin Mass). In fact I think it’s a poor excuse to not take the sacrifice of challenging oneself to try to understand or appreciate it (or follow along in the Latin-English translation missal). It’s even more ashame when people say they hate it.
For a great 15 minute talk on the use of Latin, check this out: “The Latin Mass: Latin is a Sacred Language.”
The Priest Faces the Altar (Ad orientem or “east”)
This is another major difference found in the Latin Mass. People complain they feel “excluded” or it’s a “cold” position, but these accusations are due to ignorance. It’s not until we understand our Catholic theology and the nature of the Mass that we can understand the actual necessity of this (and what a mistake it was to change this and make the priest face the people).
The priest facing “east” (the altar) more accurately adheres to the truths of our Catholic faith about:
who the priest is and his role, in persona Christi (CCC #1548)
what the Mass essentially is: To be specific, the Eucharist is at once a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to the Father, the re-presentation (making present) and offering of Christ’s all-sufficient sacrifice on the Cross, and the substantial presence of Christ’s Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. (CCC #1356-81) and
what our faith teaches us about our pilgrim journey as a Church: The internal dynamic of the Church’s liturgy is classically understood as the oblation of praise, thanksgiving and supplication addressed to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. A common orientation of priest and people facing toward the apse (the place where the altar is and the clergy are present at the Mass) symbolizes this dynamic, this movement of the pilgrim Church toward the transcendent Father to whom we have access through Christ in the Spirit.
The priest faces God with the people because the priest is leading us on our pilgrim journey toward our heavenly home. At Mass, heaven literally comes down upon our altars – the sacred altar is the place where heaven and earth literally meet.
The earliest Christian altars in the first centuries were all facing east to symbolize God; the priest faced the altar. The priest facing the altar also puts us in better continuity with our Catholic tradition also - not only of the sacrifice of the Mass being offered throughout the past centuries, but also even the priestly sacrifices offered throughout Sacred Scripture.
It indicates the primarily “vertical orientation” of the Church being lifted up toward God rather than a “horizontal orientation” of people facing each other. We are all on a journey together toward God, toward heaven, not one another. The priest facing east more closely represents this truth. Also, Catholic spirituality and theology teaches us that the more we put the Lord first – the more we love him, worship Him, adore Him, serve Him and direct ourselves unto Him, then the more we love others and are united to others and the entire Church. In fact, our Lord said “seek first the Kingdom of God and all else will be given unto you” (Matthew 6:33). People falsely worry that the Mass facing “away” from the people creates a feeling of exclusion and lessens our sense of community. But again, it’s because we don’t fully understand our Catholic faith and Catholic spirituality: The more we place God first and love Him first, the more this love overflows onto others and unifies us. Ad orientem liturgy symbolizes the Church on pilgrimage toward the “east” of the rising sun, meaning the risen Son whose return we await, but ultimately toward God the Father who is the origin and end of all.
There is less of a danger of the people perceiving a performer/spectator set-up. All attention is better given to God by the priest facing east. There is less chance of a distraction away from God and less of a temptation by those in the church to shift their attention more on the priest. It emphasizes the sacrificial nature of the Mass.
A nice article discussion the reason for Ad Orientem.
More Silence
Rather than fill much of the Mass with audible words, prayers and songs, it is notably different how much more silence the Latin Mass allows for. Silence allows for deeper prayer. Yes, there are vocal prayers, times of chanting and singing.
But:
In our own personal prayer life, the Catechism describes three “types” or expressions of prayer: Vocal prayer, meditation, and finally the height of prayer – contemplation. The Church teaches us that we are all called to the heights of contemplative prayer. But what we need first is silence. The Latin Mass allows more room for this movement of our prayer to be from vocal prayer to meditation to a deeper contemplation of Christ and the truths of our faith. Silence is necessary for a deep prayer life. Well how much so for the Mass, which is the most important prayer we can offer unto God?
We live in a world of noise and rush, thus it is all the more necessary to have sacred silence.
Silence allows us to lay bare our hearts before God, who can then transform and mold us and heal us.
Silence helps restore a sense of the sacred
Choosing to attend a Mass should not be based on your favorite way to pray or your favorite music. In fact, when you read the Catechism’s section on the various expressions of prayer, it says nothing about charismatic or contemporary or the like.
The Church tells us there are three expressions of prayer: Vocal prayer, meditation, and finally contemplation. (CCC #2700-2719) The Church teaches that contemplation is the height of prayer and we are all called to it. Again, the Latin Mass most adequately allows for this height of contemplation to take place because of the silence. Within the Latin Mass, there are all three forms of prayer, but what the Mass allows the most time for is that height of prayer: Contemplation. Remember, our faith teaches us that the Mass is the most perfect prayer we can offer unto God. Pope Paul VI said, “The most perfect form of prayer is the Mass!” The Church encourages us to not listen to Mass, to not merely spectate at Mass, but to pray the Mass. The ideal for our prayer throughout the Mass should be the height of contemplation. This is what our Catholic faith teaches because contemplation allows us to reach an intimate union with God. Contemplative prayer is silence (CCC #2717), it is union with the prayer of Christ (CCC #2718). In fact the Catechism states very clearly that “Entering into contemplative prayer is like entering into the Eucharistic liturgy [emphasis added]: we "gather up:" the heart, recollect our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, abide in the dwelling place of the Lord which we are, awaken our faith in order to enter into the presence of him who awaits us. We let our masks fall and turn our hearts back to the Lord who loves us, so as to hand ourselves over to him as an offering to be purified and transformed” (CCC #2711).
The Bottom Line of Why We Attend Latin Mass
In reality, choosing to start going to the Latin Mass was not a matter of personal preference according to our favorite way of praising and praying, or our favorite type of music, or our own personalities. It was a matter of worshiping according to the truths of our Catholic faith as closely as possible. Choosing to begin attending the Latin Mass wasn't a matter of "going backwards in time" in the life of the Church (as people seem to wrongly assume that progress in the life of the Church is a chronological measurement and not a spiritual matter). Choosing to begin attending the Latin Mass was a matter of going forward in the spiritual life - it was a matter of conviction - and the necessity of participating in that Sacred Mystery which most closely reflects the heavenly worship, the truths of our Catholic Faith, as well as "linking in" to the Faith of our ancestors throughout the centuries - the Mass that has made the greatest saints and best preserved Christian doctrine from alteration, distortion and modernism.
There are also a number of other obvious differences that the Latin Mass gives us: A greater sense of the sacred, greater reverence for the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, and a richer language of words that more deeply expresses the truths of our faith and our inner dispositions toward Almighty God, just to name a few more. Our bottom Line: Our worship and adoration at Mass is important in every single way precisely because it is the Mass. The adherence to worshiping most closely according to truth matters, just like living and adhering our lives as closely to the truth as possible matters.
An Invitation
In the beginning, Bill and I knew very, very little about the Latin Mass. The only things we actually knew were the obvious differences from the form of the Mass you typically see at parishes. It wasn’t until we began seeking understanding of why the Latin Mass was structured and expressed the way that it is, as well as learn the history of it, that we began to appreciate and develop a love for it. Most people like to dismiss even possibly exploring and learning about the Latin Mass because of various stereotypes, misconceptions and other reasons. “I don’t know Latin.” Or “It’s intimidating.” Or “it just seems so rigid and cold.” “People who go there think they are better than others” (by the way, you’ll find this problem in every parish and church – those “righteous Pharisees”) and so on. Some think it’s just a matter of taste or nostalgia, but it’s not. However, I think what holds most people back is fear of the unknown. Satan loves to hold us back from pursuing God boldly through the use of fear.
I invite you to challenge yourself outside of your comfort zone of familiarity and to at least try attending one if there's a Latin Mass locally offered in your area!
If You're Interested in Attending a Latin Mass...
Here is a link to the Latin Mass parish we belong to: Mater Ecclesiae
They also have a Facebook page: Mater Ecclesiae Chapel
St. Peter's in Merchantville also celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass every Sunday at 12noon.
Some Recommended Talks and Articles
Some articles and talks Bill and I listened to the help us understand the Latin Mass better:
Father Donald Kloster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1kZhBeXMcQ (4 part talk, about 7-10 minutes each talk)
Father Justin Nolan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1kZhBeXMcQ (Explains the parts – how’s and why’s – of the Latin Mass, about 1 hour)
Father Fessio, a Jesuit priest and founder of Ignatius Press, a Catholic publishing company wrote a great article. He gives a great and succinct explanation of what the documents of Vatican II really meant when talking about the Mass, how they became misinterpreted, and gracefully shares his journey on why he began offering of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. It’s a very insightful read. http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2005/fessio_massv2_1_jan05.asp
A book called “The Latin Mass Explained”: http://www.amazon.com/The-Latin-Mass-Explained-Traditional/dp/0895557649/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1K9G35W8F1RG4QR776Y3
Scott Hahn's book "The Lamb's Supper"