Prayer for the Return of the Tridentine Latin Mass
The following holy prayer is from www.unavoce.org
Grant, we pray, Almighty God,
That through the intercession of St. Joseph,
The peace, order and beauty of the Tridentine Latin Mass
May be restored to our churches. Amen.
Grant, we pray, Almighty God,
That through the intercession of St. Joseph,
The peace, order and beauty of the Tridentine Latin Mass
May be restored to our churches. Amen.
posted by Quintero at 10:13 PM
7 Comments:
Well, Q...today I "heard" Mass at St. John Vianney Chapel on the campus of Daniel Murphy High School. All I can say is that it was a big disappointment and confirms my belief that demand for the Mass of Pope St. Pius V, O.P., will be very limited.
There were about 100 people there, most my age (mid-fifties) or older. Very few families with children were in attendance. The priest had a lovely voice and his Latin was much better than his English, in that the sermon was not very good at all.
One thing that was most startling (and that I didn't remember from my own pre-Mass of Pope Paul VI days) was how mournful the Mass was. Except for the fact the celebrant wore green and that there was an occasional "Alleluia" (and, of course, the "Agnus Dei" with "Miserere nobis" and "Dona nobis pacem" rather than "Dona eis requiem" and "Dona eis requiem sempiternam," it could have been a Requiem Mass. There was no joy at all in the Gregorian chant modes.
One positive sign, at least for me, was to see that only about half of the females had their heads covered!
It will be very interesting see how many people really feel they need the 1962 Roman Missal to fulfill their spirtual aspirations. My guess is that it will not be many more than those who currently avail themselves of the Indult Mass. And, of course, if they spread themselves out all over the Archdiocese, the number and need will seem even smaller than it is now.
Oh, I forgot to mention an interesting sidelight. All during the pre-Mass chanting of the Divine Office and the the entire Mass of the Catechumens, there was a bird fluttering all around the chapel, from lamp to pillar to statue of Our Lady. At almost the precise minute the sermon ended, the bird flew out an open door (on the Gospel side).
I was so tempted to flee, also, but I stayed for the entire Mass and all the accretions after, too!
Dear Anonymous 12:46 p.m. and 12:55 p.m.,
Thank you for your perspective. I predict we will find that priests, not just lay people, will want to celebrate the Tridentine Mass, and their number will not be tiny.
Were the other congregants also disappointed? Did you talk to any of them to find out?
If families with children were there, then out of 100 people that must be a good percentage.
The typical high school chapel is not very big, so 100 people could be an overflow congregation.
What was mournful about the Mass? People's tone of voice? Was the singing not the best? Could you mistake solemn for mournful?
If they were mournful, maybe they were thinking about our "leaner" Archdiocese after the Cardinal's $773 million out the window.
If I may say so, "females" is not a friendly term for our fellow Catholics who happen to be women and girls. Do you really not appreciate it when they wear mantillas to show reverence?
What "accretions" do you mean? And isn't that a condescending term in this context?
You say, "I was so tempted to flee..." Are you sure you were not happy to be disappointed?
Or do you really think the Tridentine Mass deserves the chance the Vicar of Christ wants our pastors to give it?
Dear Q,
By mournful, I mean sad, slow, dirge-like. As a Catholic musician, I love Gregorian Chant when it's sung properly. (Maybe that's what made this celebration of Mass such a negative experience for me...the people singing the chants were not taught properly, if at all).
I would estimate the seating capacity of St. John Vianney Chapel at about 350 to 400.
I used "femaales" as general term to include girls and women. A woman being able to enter a church without covering her head is one of the good things that developed after the Second Vatican Council. I can remember my own mother not entering the church to make a vist because she had no head covering with her, and the silliness of girls and women bobby-pinning Kleenex to their hair (I saw some bobby-pinned Klennex Sunday). Whether a woman covers her head or not is no longer a sign of respect or disrespect.
The Mass itself ends with the Last Gospel...the accretions included additional prayers (since the priest was not miked, I was not able to hear/understand what intention the prayers were for—I could tell, however, they were not the prayers for the conversion of Russia and the St. Michael Prayer.) Then we chanted the Salve Regina.
Oddly enough, the Processional and Recessional hymns were in English.
I didn't stay to talk with anyone but I am sure that many of the other congregants were not disappointed as I was. I'm sure most of them regularly attend the "Tridentine" Mass, whereas for me, it was a once-in-a-long time event.
The last time I "heard" the "Tridentine" Mass was in 1983 at the Brompton Oratory in London--there it was a Solemn High Mass and the music was performed very well. (I went to that Mass because a waitress at my hotel recommended it, mentioning especially the choir: "They're on the BBC, you know.")
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for writing. I'm sure the people try hard. As a musician, maybe you could volunteer to help them, or maybe you could suggest to them someone who could?
Demand for the Tridentine Mass is coming from priests, not just the laity, so that is a good sign.
Head coverings are not integral to the Tridentine Mass, so we do not really need to discuss them. But it is edifying to find people who consciously seek to show respect for the Blessed Sacrament and for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, don't you think?
Who made head coverings no longer a sign of respect for Jesus? The uncodified "spirit" of Vatican II?
Glad you got to attend Mass at the Brompton Oratory. Wow!
Maybe you could go back to the chapel again and encounter a different set of circumstances -- and make some new friends, too.
Thanks again for writing!
I am studing[praying] PAULS LETTERS,
OF head coverings and men and women@respect for each other plus blessed sacrement..1cor.11:1-34
This explains why,i feel it should have never been discontinued,but then i am a convert who has a thirst for the living water and studys 24/7.
We are all different and this is the flower that we make up together. to me the tridentine mass is beautiful!
Dear WillWhite07,
Thank you for your message of August 2009!
And thank you for letting me and everyone who visits here know of your embracing the Faith, thirsting for the Living Water, studying the Faith, and understanding that the Tridentine Mass is beautiful.
God bless!
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