Are you referring to low Mass?Are priests who are trained to say the Traditional Latin Mass (SSPX or FSSP) taught to not speed through the Mass? When at Mass I follow along with my missal and I find that some priests can leave me in the dust. I am not a slow reader but I wonder if others have noticed this also? When this occurs would it be proper to point this out to the priest (in a respectful letter or in person)?
In my experience Latin tends to use fewer, longer words, while English uses more, shorter words; that’s the Germanic influence in our language, I guess.It’s funny, but what may sound like “fast” to us is actually not that fast. I recall trying to say the Credo as fast as I could in Latin (or at least what I considered fast) up to a certain point and then saying it regularly in English. I got to the same point at around the same time. There could just be less words used in English, but still the timing was pretty close.
I’ve served Sunday low Mass that is <30 minutes, and that includes a homily, and is with a priest that only says the TLM occasionally.
"Sacerdos sanctificatus; or, Discourses on the mass and office," By St Alphones Maria de’ Liguori, tr. by J. Jones. Page 30-38There was a Saint, I think St. Alphonsus, who actually gave a number of minutes that the Mass should not exceed, in his pastoral opinion, but at the moment I can’t find the quote, nor do I remember exactly what he said.
On a tangential note, I was reading recently that daily reception of communion was largely unheard of in diocesan parishes prior to the time of Pius X, and that in even earlier times even weekly reception of communion was unusual – the idea being that even a single encounter with Christ (in person, in the Eucharist, in a miraculous vision, etc.) can be life-changing, so that communion as a matter of routine is unnecessary and perhaps even conducive to frivolity.I’ve served Sunday low Mass that is <30 minutes, and that includes a homily, and is with a priest that only says the TLM occasionally.
Remember the daily TLM low Mass has no homily. The priest may also choose to do a Requiem Mass which omits the prayers at the foot of the altar (Introibo) among other prayers.
I could definitely see a priest who does the TLM every day (like in the 50’s) finish a Requiem Mass in 15 minutes. Also, in the 50’s, releatively few people would have presented themselves for Holy Communion.
God Bless
Yes, I am refering to the Low Mass.Are you referring to low Mass?
You are right, “fast” and “slow” are very subjective. I guess my overall point is that if you are assisting at Mass by following along with your Missal which the Roman Catholic Daily Missal 1962 (Angelus Press-Page 132) recommends even though the priest knows the Latin and the prayers of the Mass very well and can say and comprehend them faster than the average layman should not the priest be aware that for those assisting at Mass who are praying the Mass that he should possibly err more to the slow side so that those who are a little less speedy can keep up.They are taught neither to go “too fast” nor “too slow,” but those are rather subjective qualifiers, aren’t they?
Granted, it can be so fast that it borders on, or becomes, irreverent; but if the priest went too slow the Mass could run for hours, especially with the longer prayers of the TLM. In days of old that may have been normal, but for most people today an hour is a feat of perseverance. Not to mention a number of people travel for hours just to get to a TLM.
Another factor is, they know the Latin and the prayers very well (though that was not always true before the institution of seminaries in the 16th c.), so it is easy for them to say and comprehend it faster than for the average layman.
There was a Saint, I think St. Alphonsus, who actually gave a number of minutes that the Mass should not exceed, in his pastoral opinion, but at the moment I can’t find the quote, nor do I remember exactly what he said.
To speed through a Low Mass is 15 minutes would seem to me to be irreverant. Also how anyone would be able to assist at such a Mass with piety and fruit would be beyond me.A low mass in the tridentine form can be said in about 15 minutes. I was an altar boy in the late 50’s and I’ve served at such masses.
Reb Levi
That is kind of my point. The Mass should not be rolled through as say we talk in our everyday conversations. It should be prayed with attention to the words we are praying.In my experience Latin tends to use fewer, longer words, while English uses more, shorter words; that’s the Germanic influence in our language, I guess.
We tend to speak languages we are not comfortable with more slowly. Traditionalist priests of the SSPX / FSSP sort are borderline fluent in Latin and hence have no problem rolling through it the way we would roll through similar statements in English.
Are you able to attentively and prayfully follow along with your Missal at a Mass between 15 and 30 minutes?I’ve served Sunday low Mass that is <30 minutes, and that includes a homily, and is with a priest that only says the TLM occasionally.
Remember the daily TLM low Mass has no homily. The priest may also choose to do a Requiem Mass which omits the prayers at the foot of the altar (Introibo) among other prayers.
I could definitely see a priest who does the TLM every day (like in the 50’s) finish a Requiem Mass in 15 minutes. Also, in the 50’s, releatively few people would have presented themselves for Holy Communion.
God Bless
Thank you - Good reading."Sacerdos sanctificatus; or, Discourses on the mass and office," By St Alphones Maria de’ Liguori, tr. by J. Jones. Page 30-38
You can read it here.