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agnes_therese
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That’s a wonderful site to show you the older forms. For the current Liturgy of the Hours, you can visit here:
divineoffice.org/
Like divinumofficium, it’s also free.
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divineoffice.org/
Like divinumofficium, it’s also free.
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EcceAgnusDei
Guest
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newyorkcatholic
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LittleSoldier
Guest
And a thank you to you, too!
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LittleSoldier
Guest
Please, don’t everyone attack me. I agree with some of what was said in the homily, although I don’t remember a cloth on the Communion rail. We didn’t have that in my parish church. I agree that, as a child, I had no idea what was being said during the Mass, except for the homily and little bits and pieces.
This is hard to explain. A Mass is quite different to a child than to an adult. I do remember having a splitting headache after almost every Mass because I didn’t know what was going on. It wasn’t just the Latin - I was so poorly catechized that I lied during Confession because I was way too scared to sin but at the same time I must have sinned but, again, at the same time, I didn’t know what sinning was! And I knew I had to not only tell the priest I had committed specific sins but how many times I had committed them. And the privacy? The priest knew who I was! He recognized my voice. There were millions of little kids in my extended family and my Dad repaired all the plumbing at the church, rectory, convent, and school, while my uncle made repairs to the electrical. My sister remembers the priest calling out “Hey, have your Dad call me today” as she left the Confessional. There’s still a stained glass window with our family name on it because the family paid for it (it’s the one that shows the Crucifixion). We were all referred to by our last name. We had no separate identifies - we all got merged into one huge glop of a kid with only a last name and one of us was an arm and another a knee and it didn’t matter which one of us was grabbed because we were considered to all be one generic kid.
As a child I wish the Mass had been as it is today.
But - I also remember the aroma of incense and I became the church organist and was in the choir so I remember Gregorian Chant and *Pange Lingua *and *Tantum Ergo *and the other hymns in Latin. They are so beautiful. I had the books with the music. One was St. Gregory and the other was St. Basil. We called them “Gregory” and “Basil.” I left them in the choir loft and they were stolen. I finally found a Gregory on eBay and bought it and gave it to my Mom. I have it now and I love it. There were probably a hundred old music books in the choir loft. One day one of the priests gathered them up and took them to the dump - books which were well over 100 years old and should have been in a museum. Oh how I wish he had given them to me!
When I look at what I’ve written it seems to contradict itself. I didn’t like the Latin. Or did I? I loved the incense and stained glass (we don’t have one piece of stained glass in our new parish church even though I begged for just one tiny piece). I must have loved more than that because my memories, aside from the headaches and a run-in with a priest who glowered at me as he said that women HAD to wear chapel veils (I yawned as he glared at me - a big, fat, obnoxious yawn, and I am ashamed to say that). I loved the tradition, the processions, and as I got older I grew to love the Latin, too. But then it was gone. It all went. No Pange Lingua, No Tantum Ergo. Not even the priest carrying that thing with incense and shaking it so that the incense flew out and some people (the blessed ones) got a drop on them and we could all smell it). I remember the pews had that same aroma; probably because so much incense had been drawn into them over so many years.
As an adult, I want the choice. I have wanted to attend a Latin High Mass for decades. A Midnight Mass for Christmas, specifically. I can’t. And I suppose that’s OK because a Mass is a Mass is a Mass. But I ache for the beauty and reverence for God that seemed so clear to me before, although now I feel more community with my fellow Catholics. And I cry for joy when I receive the Eucharist - in my hand. Every time I receive the Eucharist I have a visible reminder of how imperfect I am. The index finger on my left hand was half-amputated. And that is the hand in which I receive the Host - an admittedly imperfect hand that is part of a person who is imperfect and who sins. “Only say the word and I shall be healed.” I know what that means.
The references to money-changers in the homily is offensive to me. What was practiced was discipline and could be changed. Why compare the rites of the Latin Mass to money-changers? When we received the Host on the tongue were we ripping people off in God’s House? When the Mass was said in Latin, was the priest CHEATING us? Pulling a bait-and-switch? Lying? Or was he presiding over the Lord’s Supper, being used as an instrument of God to aid us in doing what Jesus told us to do in memory of Him?
I think it was the last one. The Mass is the Mass is the Mass. The different rites used are disciplines. Some people like the older ones; some like the newer ones and some like parts of both. And that’s fine. The person who gave the homily was right at the beginning but it deteriorated into a condemnation of rites of which the Church approved and many people loved and miss now. And that is very offensive and it’s wrong.
Sorry about the wordiness of this post. I was thinking out loud as I wrote it and now I understand my feelings better. I apologize for not knowing the proper names for the different ways in which the Mass is conducted. To me it’s the Latin Mass or the regular Mass.
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ProVobis
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It must be remembered and this is brought up in this forum a lot, the priest prays to God in our behalf, whether we are there or not. He doesn’t pray to us. He offers up the Sacrifice to God because that is what priests have done since Adam and Eve. He prays what the Church has held in its Tradition, even before the New Testament was written. It is not important that we understand the Mystery of Faith because it is a mystery. If we think we understand it, we better think again. The only thing important is that we believe. There is no cheating on this.
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LittleSoldier
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I did not like the old confessionals. I kneeled and the priest knew who I was anyway. I could sometimes hear the person on the other side giving his confession and I wanted to listen and was horrified at the thought of wanting to listen and I would cover my ears but sometimes people blare when they speak. I almost felt like I would have to start singing “La, la, la, I can’t HEAR you!” And I could see bits and pieces of the priest through the little holes in the screen. As a child I wondered if he could see me but it didn’t matter because he knew who I was anyway - or at least he knew I was a member of a particular family.
It’s a choice. I’m sorry that you have problems finding what you prefer. I’m sure many people share your preference. I’m also sure that many people find it embarrassing and humiliating to have a priest looking them in the face as they confess (I don’t mean you). It might make it harder for them to admit their sins. I felt very uncomfortable the first few times I confessed face-to-face. It got easier when I got to know the priest and I would have an appointment with him. The confessions were done in his office instead of the church and for some reason that helped, too. But the priest we have now frightens me a little. He’s new to our parish and I have only been to one Confession with him.
I shouldn’t be afraid of him. I brought my service dog (in training) into the church and confessional and asked the priest to bless her, which he did. He could have said no.
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