I think that the Traditional Catholics who simply prefer the Old Mass because of Latin, or because of vestments, or because of the priest’s “ad orientum” are either being nostalgic, seeking a more dignified environment for the Mass, or a combination of both.
However, I think you’ll find that at the core of the Traditional movement, the problem with the Ordinary Form is not the direction the priest faces, the vestments, the language, the candles, etc. etc.
The problem are the words themselves.
Remember that the Tridentine Mass in English is not the same as the Novus Ordo in English. Similarly, the Tridentine in Latin is not the same as the Novus Ordo in Latin.
The differences go beyond language and setting. While I am all for the traditional vestments, language, and “environment” that surrounds the Tridentine Liturgy, it is not those aspects which calls me to it.
I firmly believe that the Mass is a sacrifice, a ritual, an “action”.
The Mass should have in its words a sense of “happening” that something truly is taking place upon the altar. It is more than a collection of prayers, bible readings, and gestures surrounding the consecration. It is an ascending series of liturgical events and prayers that cumulates at the pinnacle moment of consecration, and then subsequently travels back down these steps until we finally receive the Eucharist itself, and are blessed and instructed to “Ite missa est” — “Go, this is the dismissal”
The Novus Ordo in Latin is still the Novus Ordo. And while I do believe it is completely valid, I also hold that there exists gaping holes in its content where centuries of tradition have been edited out.
That is the problem.
