Convert's Experience of Mass

  • Thread starter Thread starter Euphon
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Lest anyone get me wrong, I love Mass, that’s why I started going every day even though I’m under no obligation to attend at all. I love the feeling of belonging, the communal call-and-response, the beauty of the chanted/sung liturgy, the shared reflection on Scripture, and - most obviously - being in the literal presence of the Lord.

All at once, I find the experience of going to Mass humbling, moving, powerful, peaceful, exhilarating and calming; if the time of the ceremony changes (as it has a couple of times) so that I can’t attend during my working lunch, I now feel something’s missing from the rest of my day. I love it. I just don’t feel as though I fully know what to expect yet, hence all the questions!
 
Euphon said:
There wasn’t a homily or any music yesterday - and it was much, much faster than the Masses I’ve had in my very limited experience - but I didn’t read anything further into it. That’s kind of the point of this thread, I didn’t know whether that was “rushed” or whether that was the “normal” pace and my usual priest would be considered too slow. I’ve no idea, because I’ve only been going to Mass for less than two months.

The presence of Jesus is obviously the important thing - at the end of the day Mass is still Mass - I’m just curious as to how it’s usually done.

Today, there was lots of music (a first for me!) courtesy of the visiting choir, but no homily, and the resulting Mass was closer to 30-35 minutes.

Also, today there was a new person alongside the priest, dressed in a white gown and green sash, who I’ve never seen before and whose role I don’t understand (he did the Gospel reading and interjected (almost interrupted!) twice, and to my uneducated eye it seemed as if he was specifically trying to rein in the fast-talking priest)… anyone able to enlighten me?
Click to expand...
Sounds like that was the deacon. Deacons are able to perform Baptisms and Marriages, but they are not able to celebrate all of the sacraments as a priest is able to do. When the deacon assists at mass, he typically reads the gospel and has certain things he does and says for the priest. Perhaps that is what you perceived to be his interjections.
 
WaitingForJesus said:
Sounds like that was the deacon. Deacons are able to perform Baptisms and Marriages, but they are not able to celebrate all of the sacraments as a priest is able to do. When the deacon assists at mass, he typically reads the gospel and has certain things he does and says for the priest. Perhaps that is what you perceived to be his interjections.
Click to expand...
Interesting! Thank you!

Four different people (including one on here!) have specifically asked me to consider the permanent diaconate when I convert, but I’ve never seen one “in action” before.

He was really good.
 
Euphon said:
Lest anyone get me wrong, I love Mass, that’s why I started going every day even though I’m under no obligation to attend at all. I love the feeling of belonging, the communal call-and-response, the beauty of the chanted/sung liturgy, the shared reflection on Scripture, and - most obviously - being in the literal presence of the Lord.

All at once, I find the experience of going to Mass humbling, moving, powerful, peaceful, exhilarating and calming; if the time of the ceremony changes (as it has a couple of times) so that I can’t attend during my working lunch, I now feel something’s missing from the rest of my day. I love it. I just don’t feel as though I fully know what to expect yet, hence all the questions!
Click to expand...
Your religion is listed as “Hoping to Become Catholic”. Sounds like you are Catholic! Get in RCIA And come on Home!!
 
Euphon said:
Thank you! I’ve started on the path, and believe me, there’s nothing - nothing - I long for more right now. But I have to wait. God willing I won’t be turned away. :signofcross:

The other thread where I talked about my journey is here:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=786310
Click to expand...
I hear you my friend! I started RCIA at the Rite of Welcome in February and I have to wait until next Easter as well. In the meantime I very much learning about the faith and being welcomed into the Church by all of the wonderful people in the parish.

Don’t worry you will not be turned away! This is not a country club! It is a hospital for sinners! All you need is to want to be Catholic, accept the Church’s teachings and you are good to go!👍
 
Welcome to the Catholic church! I really hope you come into the fullness of the church, and I must say you have a very refreshing perspective on things. 😃
Euphon said:
What are the chances? I was going to post something to say we never had music at Weekday Mass either, and then today we had a visiting choir from France (which was lovely!).
Click to expand...
I think it’s because it’s for office workers. I attend a similar mass at noon, and there’s no singing. The evening mass at my own parish, on the other hand, does have singing.
The stand-in priest was there again, and no slower or easier to understand than yesterday (which was probably a plus today given the choir, otherwise we might all have been late back to work!)… but there was another clergyman with him - in a white gown with a coloured sash - who did the Gospel reading and who otherwise seemed to be acting as a kind of prompter (he actually interjected twice, once for the sign of peace, almost cutting across the fast priest - in fact he seemed to me to be there specifically to “rein in” the priest and slow him down a bit!) Who would this have been?
Click to expand...
He’s a deacon.
Do you mind if I keep updating this thread whenever something weird happens at Mass that I’ve not seen before…? I am very new.
Click to expand...
Oh, do post your observations! It’ll be very interesting to see what you pick up on.

God Bless and I’ll pray that you join us soon!
 
Euphon said:
Lest anyone get me wrong, I love Mass, that’s why I started going every day even though I’m under no obligation to attend at all. I love the feeling of belonging, the communal call-and-response, the beauty of the chanted/sung liturgy, the shared reflection on Scripture, and - most obviously - being in the literal presence of the Lord.

All at once, I find the experience of going to Mass humbling, moving, powerful, peaceful, exhilarating and calming; if the time of the ceremony changes (as it has a couple of times) so that I can’t attend during my working lunch, I now feel something’s missing from the rest of my day. I love it. I just don’t feel as though I fully know what to expect yet, hence all the questions!
Click to expand...
God bless you on your devotion. I think you will find that there are many times that we attend Mass and it is shorter (as in this case) or something else seemed unusual and the best way is to realize that we don’t know the whole story or reason. A visiting priest that was called in probably at the last minute and then he may have had to get back to his parish for lets say a funeral or something else he is obligated too is a very realistic scenario. This is also true if we are visiting another Church. God bless again.
 
We once had a priest who said lunchtime mass very quickly, too. One day when I went to confession, he was the only priest available. I entered shrinking at the thought of being rushed through the sacrament. What a surprise! He was a wonderful confessor, the pace was perfect. He really listened and gave helpful guidance. So I guess that his gift was in administering the healing that reconciliation brings. 🙂
 
Thanks Anne Margaret. And you’re quite right, I wouldn’t for one second suggest that he was not a good priest just because he conducts Mass faster than I was previously used to.

I now know (thanks to better scrutiny of the parish bulletin!) that he is the Catholic chaplain to the local university, and filling in for a week while our regular priest is away on retreat. I can imagine he’s excellent in that role, and while his super-speedy “style” of Mass isn’t to my preference, I’m not so arrogant that I imagine “my preference” comes particularly high on the list of anyone’s priorities, least of all the Lord’s 🙂 )

Today was both faster and slower, if that makes sense; I didn’t look at my watch, but he was speaking faster than before (which I hadn’t thought possible!) and he was trimming the “gaps” for the congregation’s responses until they were barely comma-length pauses:

Liftupyourhearts.
We lif-
LetusgivethankstotheLORDourGod.
-t them up to the Lor-
Itisindeedrightandjust…

…Interestingly (for me, anyway), though, even without a deacon or a visiting European choir to slow things down like yesterday, at several points he chose the longest possible liturgical variations (e.g. the Latin Gloria and the full Roman Canon), so I don’t think he was “rushing” per se, I think it’s just the way he personally happens to deliver the Mass. And, again, it was quite remarkable to see him in full flow; nothing threw him off his stride, not even his microphone packing in halfway through.

A pity there was no homily today, though, as I found both the OT and Gospel readings troublesome and would have appreciated some illumination there. But, again, this isn’t a complaint, just me noting things as I go along…
 
Do you have a chance to go to Mass in the Extraordinary Form? (Also called Traditional Latin Mass). I think you will enjoy it 🙂
 
I’d love to experience the Tridentine Mass at least once before I’m allowed to convert, but the Cathedral doesn’t offer it (though every priest, including this one, has opted to use the Latin liturgy at least once in their Novus Ordo Mass -
  • oh, that’s another newbie question, are these choices completely at the priest’s discretion or is there some pattern to it? For every section other than the readings, it appears there are four configurations - spoken or sung/chanted, English or Latin. Is it just what the priest feels like doing on that day, or are there rules to govern such things? But I digress -
  • and I find the Latin confers a suitably grand and reverent air to proceedings, especially for chanting the Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei, though I love it in spoken English too and fully acknowledge (a) it’s not to everyone’s personal taste and (b) it doesn’t make any material difference to anything.)
How would I theoretically find out where/when my nearest EF Mass is…?
 
Euphon said:
How would I theoretically find out where/when my nearest EF Mass is…?
Click to expand...
Go onto the FSSP website. Also check out Institute of Christ the King.

(Please avoid SSPX, it is a confusing and difficult situation. The same for the so called ‘old Catholics’ and sedevacantists.)

If you can’t find anything close to where you live, perhaps you could email the people of the Rorate Caeli blog. It is a traditionalist blog and they might have some info on where you can find the TLM.

There are a couple of traditionalist priests in England who blog and they could also know about TLM elsewhere that is not FSSP. See the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.com/ and marymagdalen.blogspot.com/
 
Thank you! Sadly, according to those websites, the nearest venue listed would involve a 5 hour round trip by train… maybe if I’m away on business in one of those vicinities I can find a way to attend 😦 Thanks for the pointers though!

Edit: I hadn’t seen your comment about Rorate Caeli - I’ll be sure to contact them. Thanks again.
 
Euphon said:
Thank you! Sadly, according to those websites, the nearest venue listed would involve a 5 hour round trip by train… maybe if I’m away on business in one of those vicinities I can find a way to attend 😦 Thanks for the pointers though!
Click to expand...
That’s a shame.

I’ve edited my previous post and added more info. There are priests who celebrate TLM who do not belong to the above groups. It is just a question of finding them.
 
Euphon said:
What do you mean? I hope I wasn’t coming across as being negative - just curious!
Click to expand...
Your attendance at Mass everyday shows your love for The Lord and your calling to become Catholic. Maybe I took it as negative because I often chastise myself for not dwelling on the positive when the Mass is changed. Our new Priest has changed the Mass and I find it disconcerting.
 
KrazyKat said:
Your attendance at Mass everyday shows your love for The Lord and your calling to become Catholic. Maybe I took it as negative because I often chastise myself for not dwelling on the positive when the Mass is changed. Our new Priest has changed the Mass and I find it disconcerting.
Click to expand...
Oh, it’s all positive - or rather, the disconcert is there for me too, but it’s not negative per se. In a nutshell (or, well, something approaching a whole bag of pistachios, but short by my standards!), I’m very lucky to be in a position where I can go to Mass every day, and so to be able to experience what I’m guessing is a lot more Masses than most would-be converts and RCIA candidates - including today, I’ve been to Mass some 39 times by my count. If I was in RCIA and only going on Sundays, it would take me nine months to get that far, not six weeks. I’m not saying this to impress everyone with my piety and commitment - like I said, the church is virtually next door to my office, and it takes almost no effort at all - but rather to explain that I’m incredibly lucky to be able to have this experience so early, and to be able to talk to kindly, knowledgeable and experienced Catholics on here afterwards to analyse what just happened. I feel blessed.

There have been big differences between weekdays and Sundays, choral and non-choral, and between different priests, but I’m slowly learning to roll with the punches and anticipate the different variations (or be more prepared for when big changes get thrown in without warning, like this week). It’s a process of discovery and learning, but with your help, I figure it can only help me become a better candidate, and a better Catholic when (God willing) I finally get across to the opposite riverbank.
 
Euphon said:
Oh, it’s all positive - or rather, the disconcert is there for me too, but it’s not negative per se. In a nutshell (or, well, something approaching a whole bag of pistachios, but short by my standards!), I’m very lucky to be in a position where I can go to Mass every day, and so to be able to experience what I’m guessing is a lot more Masses than most would-be converts and RCIA candidates - including today, I’ve been to Mass some 39 times by my count. If I was in RCIA and only going on Sundays, it would take me nine months to get that far, not six weeks. I’m not saying this to impress everyone with my piety and commitment - like I said, the church is virtually next door to my office, and it takes almost no effort at all - but rather to explain that I’m incredibly lucky to be able to have this experience so early, and to be able to talk to kindly, knowledgeable and experienced Catholics on here afterwards to analyse what just happened. I feel blessed.

There have been big differences between weekdays and Sundays, choral and non-choral, and between different priests, but I’m slowly learning to roll with the punches and anticipate the different variations (or be more prepared for when big changes get thrown in without warning, like this week). It’s a process of discovery and learning, but with your help, I figure it can only help me become a better candidate, and a better Catholic when (God willing) I finally get across to the opposite riverbank.
Click to expand...
Glad you are enjoying the learning and just keep rolling with it. I love to see all the different variations in how masses are celebrated. I go to daily mass at a parish near my work too. It always seems to have visiting priests from different countries. They can be a bit difficult to understand sometimes, but I love watching how they do things and even the different focus of their homilies. I really love the priests at my home parish, but I find it fun to have things stirred up a bit with these visiting priests.
 
Another “high speed Mass” today. I’m getting used to it now, it’ll be strange when our regular priest is back next week!

I won’t lie, I miss the homilies and the sign of peace, but I know they’re optional - and more to the point I know there are millions of good Catholics worldwide who don’t get the chance to go to weekday Mass while my yet-to-be converted self gets to just wander in as an observer, so I pray as fervently as I can and respond as loudly and clearly as I can while I’m there.

Does anyone know the answer to my question above - how is it decided whether the priest will deliver an element of the Mass in English or Latin, and spoken or chanted/sung? Is it just a free choice for the priest that day, or is it following some rubric that we parishioners can use to work out in advance what’s going to happen?
 
Euphon said:
Another “high speed Mass” today. I’m getting used to it now, it’ll be strange when our regular priest is back next week!

I won’t lie, I miss the homilies and the sign of peace, but I know they’re optional - and more to the point I know there are millions of good Catholics worldwide who don’t get the chance to go to weekday Mass while my yet-to-be converted self gets to just wander in as an observer, so I pray as fervently as I can and respond as loudly and clearly as I can while I’m there.

Does anyone know the answer to my question above - how is it decided whether the priest will deliver an element of the Mass in English or Latin, and spoken or chanted/sung? Is it just a free choice for the priest that day, or is it following some rubric that we parishioners can use to work out in advance what’s going to happen?
Click to expand...
I highly recommend Jimmy Akin’s book Mass Revision. It goes over every detail of the mass and I think it will be a great reference for you as you move forward and undoubtedly will probably have more questions.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top