This morning’s Mass in our parish was a particularly meaningful and beautiful one. It marked for us the return of the Mass our Holy Father has called the extraordinary form of the Roman rite.
For many it is simply known as the Latin Mass or Tridentine Mass. I must confess that although I had prayed for many years for the return of this particular expression of the one Eucharistic mystery, I had for some weeks now been filled with some concern, hoping that such a change for both my children and the good people of our parish would be made intelligible and understandable for them.
Happily, in this parish, which is dedicated to the maternal protection of Our Lady, my deepest hopes were fulfilled. One could almost feel her motherly care as the handouts were given to us that had the Proper of the mass printed in both Latin and English. When I realized my good pastor had his microphone on so the people would actually be able to hear the beautiful prayers being said, I was greatly comforted. Being able to say the beautiful responses to Psalm 42 with other members of the congregation was deeply moving, imitating a practice first conceded by the Holy See in the 1920’s.
When the Kyrie Eleison came, it was a particular joy to hear our people singing with the choir, thus fulfilling the wish of Pope St. Pius X in his Motu Proprio Tra Le Solicitudine that the congregation once again learn to sing Gregorian chant. I couldn’t help but feel that the care with which my pastor tried to help our people understand and follow along fulfilled the deepest wishes of the great pre-conciliar Fathers of the liturgical movement like Dr. Pius Parsch, whose wonderful work to draw the Christian people into participation in the liturgy was well known before the Council. In fact, Rev. Dr. Parsch’s work was a foreshadowing of that great call of Vatican II in 1962 that people should enter into ‘full, active and conscious participation’ in the holy mysteries (cf.Sacrosanctum Concilium), as well as ’saying or singing in Latin those parts of the Mass that pertain to them’ (ibid.)
So for the wonderful gift of these things I am deeply grateful to the Lord and His Holy Mother, for their presence was felt in a most special and comforting way this morning. A special thanks must be given to our current Holy Father for making this beginning which he has referred to in the past as both a ‘liturgical reconciliation’ and ‘the beginning of a new liturgical movement’ possible.
Jasna: Thanks for putting this review together.
Yes! I too was there with my whole family. BEAUTIFUIL!
In our parish, we are blessed to have some WONDERFUL priests and layman.
Thank you Holy Father Benedict, for allowing us once again to feel and see our patrimony.
And thank you dear Mother Immaculate, for giving us priests who are humble enough to wish to fulfill the Holy Father’s desires in the way.
Much work and preparation went into this.
Thanks Jasna:
Yes, I was there with my family too. BEAUTIFUL.
I’m encouraged to belong to a parish where the pastor has fought long and hard to keep tradition alive all these decades.
I don’t know what he was feeling as the old rite unfolded at the 9:30 today, but I can not help but feel that we are all awakening from a deep and cold sleep.
We are fortunate in this parish to have a few good priests who would go to the trouble of taking the initiative to 1.) Ask the people in the parish their opinion in a formal survey weeks ago and 2.) Going through the trouble preparing for this momentus occasion as a result of that survey!
Praise be Jesus Christ!
My children, wife and I were deeply edified by the whole experience.
Thanks also go to our Mother if Divine Grace, who has givenm us such fine priests and layman.
Before my conversion, I used to attend the High Latin Mass at a small ORCCNA parish in Chicago. I actually began the conversion process at that parish, but ended up moving out of the city to the suburbs. I’m glad to see that the Latin Mass is returning, but in my humble opinion, the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, and the Divine Liturgy of John Chrysostom offer much more in the beauty and reverence departments.