Our society nowadays does NOT have the sense of special occasions that we did say 40 years ago! For example: 40 years ago, few (to NONE!) places of business allowed employees to wear jeans to work–even on a casual Friday dress day! Do any of you remember how we used to dress up even to go to the bank? When I applied for my first mortgage in 1976, my husband and I dressed in our very best, and we sat in the office of the loan officer while he interrogated us about our finances and such. He even asked us if we had a lawn mower and snow shovels for this house we wanted to buy–he didn’t want us to buy a house, and then go into more debt for items that we would need to be good home owners. We had to wait three weeks to find out if we were approved for the loan–the directors had to meet to go over the various applications for home mortgages! Nowadays, you apply on line for a loan, and meet up with the loan officer when it’s a done deal!
My point here is that we live differently than we did years ago. Yet, the longing is still within some of us for that which seemingly was lost–or in the case of those who never experienced the Latin Mass, for that which they are seeking–a deep sense of the presence of God. Many feel they have found it in the TLM.
If the TLM satisfies your spiritual longing, then I rejoice with you!
I was born in 1952, so I have vivid memories of growing up in the pre-Vatican II Church. I attended a Catholic elementary school for 8 years (Sisters of Mercy), and in that time, I had a total of two lay teachers. My parish had a pastor and two assistants. Our Sunday Masses were at 6 AM, 7 AM, 8 AM,9:15 (the High Mass), and noon. There was a men’s choir and a boys’ choir (no female choir) and they sang Gregorian chant. I remember learning how to pronounce the responses in Latin and to sing the Gloria (not too difficult) and the Credo (VERY difficult for me, as I recall!).
In 1962, we were on vacation in Texas, and when we went to Mass on Sunday, there were liturgical innovations that I had never ever experienced! I think, in retrospect, that this was a ‘test’ parish for the proposed changes in the liturgy. What I remember is that a lay man read the epistle in English! I was thrilled! I hung on to every word–to hear the Word of God in my native language! Astonishing!!
I have warm fuzzies when I think of the TLM–the bells, the chanting, the genuflecting, bowing, etc… BUT, I do not miss it. I do not miss the --what it sounded to me–as mumbling–the private prayer exchange between the priest and the altar boys. High Masses were lovely–if the priest had a good singing voice. (When the priest couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, it was sheer torture to listen to him struggle to stay on pitch!) I had a missal to follow along with the Mass (and I still have the same missal!). BUT, I wondered: did God only hear me in Latin?
I remember some Sundays when my class sang hymns throughout the Mass–we stopped at the sermon and consecration. In retrospect, that seems so irreverent! It was almost as if we were doing our own ‘thing’ while the priest and altar boys were doing their own ‘thing’!
During the daily Masses, people often went to confession. At the time, it seemed quite normal to do so. But, now, I look back on this and wonder: were we there at Mass to worship the Lord (witness the reenactment of the sacrifice at Calvary–as we were taught was the essence of the Mass!), or to do our own private devotions?
I think many of us who are not attracted to the TLM do not understand the longing that many have for the TLM. I have been to NO liturgies that were very reverent, and I have my share of memories of TLM (pre-Vatican II) Masses that were not necessarily reverent, but more of a reflection of the behavior that was expected of people at the time.
