Difference Between a Sunday TLM and a Daily TLM

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I really, really would like to attend a daily TLM.

I posted in another thread how I went to one parish that offered a daily TLM but I was disappointed.

I guess I expected to see the beautiful Liturgy I am used to: the smells, the chants, the music. I understand that daily mass is less fancy then Sunday or Saturday mass.

However, I could not even hear the Priest and had a hard time figuring out where we were especially since there were no sung parts. For example, I couldn’t even hear the spoken Kyrie.

And I want to chant, “et cum spiritu tuo”, not say it!

I’m trying to find out if this is typical of a daily TLM.

I just bought the Roman Catholic Daily missal and now I’m thinking I made a mistake. Maybe I should go to a daily OF.

Any thoughts would be helpful.
 
Sounds typical of a daily low mass, but at my daily TLM the priest wears a microphone so you hear every word. You need your missal to follow along. Even if you can’t hear every word you can follow in the missal. It tells you what the priest is doing.
:highprayer:The incense and choir are only with the high mass on Sundays.
 
It sounds like you’re not familiar with the distinction between Solemn High Mass, Sung Mass, and Low Mass.
Solemn High Mass - always chanted with incense, all the smells and bells. Requires a choir, deacon, and subdeacon, and a bunch of altar servers. Some communities are rarely able to have one because of the lack of deacon and subdeacon. A daily Solemn High Mass is highly unlikely.
Sung Mass (often inaccurately referred to as High Mass) - always chanted; the rest of the smells and bells are optional. Requires a choir, and one or two servers; extra servers if incense, torches, etc., are used; no deacon or subdeacon. Most communities probably (at best) have these on Sundays and the occasional Feast day.
Low Mass - never chanted, no incense or torches or anything like that. Requires only a priest (and, ideally, an altar server or two - in which case bells are still used). Hymns may be sung, Latin or the vernacular. This can be used any day, but is the norm for daily Masses.

The rubrics even for Low Mass call for certain parts (such as the readings) of the Mass to be recited aloud, not said quietly. For the most part, if it’s said aloud or chanted in the Sung or Solemn Mass, it’s said aloud in the Low Mass. Unfortunately, I know that some priests do have a habit of saying nearly everything quietly at Low Mass. The “sub” at the FSSP place here says pretty much everything quietly, even the readings, except what the servers have to respond to.
 
Bbigam said:
It sounds like you’re not familiar with the distinction between Solemn High Mass, Sung Mass, and Low Mass.
Solemn High Mass - always chanted with incense, all the smells and bells. Requires a choir, deacon, and subdeacon, and a bunch of altar servers. Some communities are rarely able to have one because of the lack of deacon and subdeacon. A daily Solemn High Mass is highly unlikely.
Sung Mass (often inaccurately referred to as High Mass) - always chanted; the rest of the smells and bells are optional. Requires a choir, and one or two servers; extra servers if incense, torches, etc., are used; no deacon or subdeacon. Most communities probably (at best) have these on Sundays and the occasional Feast day.
Low Mass - never chanted, no incense or torches or anything like that. Requires only a priest (and, ideally, an altar server or two - in which case bells are still used). Hymns may be sung, Latin or the vernacular. This can be used any day, but is the norm for daily Masses.

The rubrics even for Low Mass call for certain parts (such as the readings) of the Mass to be recited aloud, not said quietly. For the most part, if it’s said aloud or chanted in the Sung or Solemn Mass, it’s said aloud in the Low Mass. Unfortunately, I know that some priests do have a habit of saying nearly everything quietly at Low Mass. The “sub” at the FSSP place here says pretty much everything quietly, even the readings, except what the servers have to respond to.
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He tried his best to project, but it did not work.

Okay thanks for explaining the difference. I don’t think I like low mass based on the description.

Now this is described as a low mass on YouTube. Is that incorrect?

Now I got something more like this which looks like what you described.
 
TrueLight said:
Now this is described as a low mass on YouTube. Is that incorrect?

Now I got something more like this which looks like what you described.
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Both of them are technically Low Masses. (Note there is a single candle lit on each side.)

It seems though that with a choir, even a small one, a priest can easily sing a High Mass.
 
TrueLight said:
I really, really would like to attend a daily TLM.

I posted in another thread how I went to one parish that offered a daily TLM but I was disappointed.

I guess I expected to see the beautiful Liturgy I am used to: the smells, the chants, the music. I understand that daily mass is less fancy then Sunday or Saturday mass.

However, I could not even hear the Priest and had a hard time figuring out where we were especially since there were no sung parts. For example, I couldn’t even hear the spoken Kyrie.

And I want to chant, “et cum spiritu tuo”, not say it!

I’m trying to find out if this is typical of a daily TLM.

I just bought the Roman Catholic Daily missal and now I’m thinking I made a mistake. Maybe I should go to a daily OF.

Any thoughts would be helpful.
Click to expand...
Hi,

yes this is typical of daily TLM. Daily Latin Mass is a low Mass… what you are describing, that is a High Mass, which is typically offered on Sundays. For example the parish I went to, - they offer 2 Low Masses on Sunday, and 1 High Mass.

I know the Low Mass isn’t what you expected, - but after going to this for a while, I actually began to like it too… initially I just wanted the High Mass like you said. But after a while, I began to like the silence and simplicity of it.

It helps to get a missal… then you’ll know what the priest is saying even if he’s praying silently/quietly 🙂 also after several times of attending the High Mass, you’d be more familiar with the structure of the TLM so the Low Mass would make more sense. It just takes some time learning it 🙂

God bless!
 
Monica4316 said:
Hi,

yes this is typical of daily TLM. Daily Latin Mass is a low Mass… what you are describing, that is a High Mass, which is typically offered on Sundays. For example the parish I went to, - they offer 2 Low Masses on Sunday, and 1 High Mass.

I know the Low Mass isn’t what you expected, - but after going to this for a while, I actually began to like it too… initially I just wanted the High Mass like you said. But after a while, I began to like the silence and simplicity of it.

It helps to get a missal… then you’ll know what the priest is saying even if he’s praying silently/quietly 🙂 also after several times of attending the High Mass, you’d be more familiar with the structure of the TLM so the Low Mass would make more sense. It just takes some time learning it 🙂

God bless!
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Hi Monica,

I actually have a missalette and I understand quite a bit of what is going on nowadays. 👍

I have to say though a lot of people looked confused as to when to sit and stand.

Near the end, I knew the Incarnatus est was coming up and I would have to genuflect. I didn’t hear a word the priest said. Then he made some move which indicated that was the part and the congregation genuflected.

I will take your word for it that I might start to like both.
 
ProVobis said:
Both of them are technically Low Masses. (Note there is a single candle lit on each side.)

It seems though that with a choir, even a small one, a priest can easily sing a High Mass.
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So do the people respond in a low mass, or only the servers?
 
Oh I forgot to mention that there was no homily. Call it my protestantism, but I wish there was a homily. 😦
 
TrueLight said:
I r
However, I could not even hear the Priest and had a hard time figuring out where we were especially since there were no sung parts. For example, I couldn’t even hear the spoken Kyrie.

And I want to chant, “et cum spiritu tuo”, not say it!

I’m trying to find out if this is typical of a daily TLM.

Il.
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sounds pretty much what I recall from daily Mass at Catholic school in the 50s
 
TrueLight said:
Oh I forgot to mention that there was no homily. Call it my protestantism, but I wish there was a homily. 😦
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Our priest typically doesn’t do homilies for daily low masses but when he does do them they are always great. I figure since he is only one priest he doesn’t have enough time to compose more homilies unlike parishes that have more than one priest. He is very busy doing catechism for converts and laymam, first communions, funerals, etc. You could say he doesnt really have to preach that much since he teaches us a lot by his example. He is a God send for sure.
 
qOcOp said:
Our priest typically doesn’t do homilies for daily low masses but when he does do them they are always great. I figure since he is only one priest he doesn’t have enough time to compose more homilies unlike parishes that have more than one priest. He is very busy doing catechism for converts and laymam, first communions, funerals, etc. You could say he doesnt really have to preach that much since he teaches us a lot by his example. He is a God send for sure.
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Cool signature!

I am a bit confused as to whether I should seek a parish with a priest who does a great homily or not. I feel that I need a charismatic, bold preacher type, but I suspect this might be what I am used to in evangelical circles.
 
I’ve found that many traditional priests (FSSP) give good homilies 🙂 though not in the same style as maybe what you are used to if you were Protestant before 🙂 (I used to be Protestant too). But their homilies have lots of information and are useful.
Homilies typically are only given on Sunday.
 
TrueLight said:
Cool signature!
Click to expand...
Thank you 🙂
I am a bit confused as to whether I should seek a parish with a priest who does a great homily or not. I feel that I need a charismatic, bold preacher type, but I suspect this might be what I am used to in evangelical circles.
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I personally have never been into charismatic preachers. My priest is very calm and direct and has a perfect balance of humor, zeal, and compassion in his homilies. You can tell that he loves his peopls and cares for their souls. I’m not saying charismatic preachers don’t care about souls but rather that there is something about that style that didn’t seem genuine to me. Something just felt fake about it.
 
Monica4316 said:
I’ve found that many traditional priests (FSSP) give good homilies 🙂 though not in the same style as maybe what you are used to if you were Protestant before 🙂 (I used to be Protestant too). But their homilies have lots of information and are useful.
Click to expand...
Ditto on the Monica. I love FSSP and love my FSSP priest!
 
TrueLight said:
So do the people respond in a low mass, or only the servers?
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The servers are required to respond, but in very small congregations, I’ve heard some people responding as well, including all the prayers at the foot of the altar. The nuns used to respond in their own chapels, where servers weren’t present.
 
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