Extraordinary vs Ordinary

[johnmann]

IMO, it’s not something to worry about. Neither Traditional Latin Mass nor Extraordinary Form are proper names for the liturgy, anyway.

“TLM” or “Traditional Latin Mass” or plain “Latin Mass” are common names, kind of like “Bald Eagle.”

“Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite” isn’t really a name, it’s a description like “national bird of the United States of America.”

If you want to stick to proper names, I suppose it would be “1962 Missale Romanum” and “Haliaeetus leucocephalus” (that’s the scientific term for the eagle–I had to look it up).

But whatever you call it, if people know what you mean then why worry?

P.S. In my experience, older Catholics who don’t frequent the Internet don’t know what “Extraordinary Form” means, even though they may have assisted at a Latin Mass for years. Same for most Catholics who don’t go to the EF. This might be the one case where one of these terms is better (i.e. more useful) than another, and why I usually just say “Latin Mass” in daily speech.

You can use whatever you like to communicate your ideas but if we were writing paper, we would use “Extraordinary Form.” “Latin Mass” is inaccurate because the OF can be in Latin as well. TLM/NO can be misleading because it implies that the OF is not merely a different form of the same Mass but a new Mass altogether. “EF Mass” is as much a descriptive noun as “Latin Mass” or “TLM” are.

 

[Rich_C]

You can use whatever you like to communicate your ideas but if we were writing paper, we would use “Extraordinary Form.” “Latin Mass” is inaccurate because the OF can be in Latin as well. TLM/NO can be misleading because it implies that the OF is not merely a different form of the same Mass but a new Mass altogether. “EF Mass” is as much a descriptive noun as “Latin Mass” or “TLM” are.

Good points all. I haven’t read a book about the Mass published after 2007 so I can’t speak to whether they always say “Extraordinary Form” now, but as recently as the early 2000s you’d find everything from “traditional Latin Mass” to “1962 Missal” to “Tridentine Mass” or even “Pian Missal” used, and that included the pope’s writings.

I just hope we can agree that on Internet forums (the Internet’s version of a taproom or lounge) there’s no need to “correct” people for using one term or another.

Imagine someone coming here to talk about marriage problems, and someone popping in to remind them “it’s not ‘marriage,’ it’s the ‘Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.’”

 

[corsair]

And its John XXIII not John XXII.

This document plus Summorum Pontificum pretty well explains the EF and clarifies other points. catholiclane.com/universae-ecclesiae-document-on-how-to-implement-summorum-pontificum/

 

[Lormar]

Gee, guys, I feel left out. There’s nothing left to correct. Or maybe there is. I’m just too stupid to know that it needs correction.

 

[Miserissima]

Good points all. I haven’t read a book about the Mass published after 2007 so I can’t speak to whether they always say “Extraordinary Form” now, but as recently as the early 2000s you’d find everything from “traditional Latin Mass” to “1962 Missal” to “Tridentine Mass” or even “Pian Missal” used, and that included the pope’s writings.

I just hope we can agree that on Internet forums (the Internet’s version of a taproom or lounge) there’s no need to “correct” people for using one term or another.

Imagine someone coming here to talk about marriage problems, and someone popping in to remind them “it’s not ‘marriage,’ it’s the ‘Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.’”

There are x number of words in the English lexicon with which to communicate ideas. Let’s use 'em!

…and “marriage,” is sacramental, equivalent to “Sacrament of Matrimony.” Not so ‘civil union.’

 

[Ed_Goulet]

I’m glad to read your experience with remembering what it was like during the changes from the EF to the OF, way back when.

It’s good to see that interest in the EF is growing in your area of West Texas. I hope that the new bishop will be invited and will then attend the EF there. I’m convinced that the interest in the EF will grow over time, but it may be a slow growth. But that’s okay.

The bishop has been invited, but hasn’t made it to our TLM just yet. He was here last weekend for a special Mass for area kids. Just barely got to say hi to him!