Hey Tridentine Mass Fans, How Old Are You?

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Another thread in this forum inspired me to get some more details on this subject, so…
I don’t mean to be rude, but I have seen at my parish and another parish the biggest fans of TLM are the younger generation (born after the NO came about). I am just curious on what the demographic of this forum is and I would be really curious on what the average age of your Tridentine Mass parish.

Is TLM a youth “movement”? In 50 years do you see more attendees of TLM than the NO Mass or even the abandonment of the NO due to lack of interest?
 
I discovered the “Tridentine Mass” when I was 23 years old. I begged my Diocese to let me register there and attend Mass there regularly…but they were “not in communion with the Diocese” at that time so I was told no.

In 2000 they became official and that is the parish I am registered in since I was 33 years old.

Ken
 
thedavidwilson said:
I don’t mean to be rude, but I have seen at my parish and another parish the biggest fans of TLM are the younger generation (born after the NO came about). I am just curious on what the demographic of this forum is and I would be really curious on what the average age of your Tridentine Mass parish.

Is TLM a youth “movement”? In 50 years do you see more attendees of TLM than the NO Mass or even the abandonment of the NO due to lack of interest?
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I wouldn’t say that it’s a youth movement, I just think that young people in the Church today, in the face of so much of our faith being called into question, are seeking to connect with something whose roots sink to the very earliest times of the Church.

I think abandonment of the OF is a forgone conclusion really. The use of the vernacular Mass might’ve been a prudent thing in the 60s, seeking to keep body count (the “you can’t teach 'em if they aren’t there” philosophy) but in my opinion the effect of vernacular worship is not dissimilar from the confounding of language at Babel. The vernacular Mass, in my own experience, encourages ambiguity, innovation, and religious nationalism along ethno-linguistic lines. I hope that the Church falls in love with the idea of being one voice again.
 
thedavidwilson said:
Another thread in this forum inspired me to get some more details on this subject, so…
I don’t mean to be rude, but I have seen at my parish and another parish the biggest fans of TLM are the younger generation (born after the NO came about). I am just curious on what the demographic of this forum is and I would be really curious on what the average age of your Tridentine Mass parish.

Is TLM a youth “movement”? In 50 years do you see more attendees of TLM than the NO Mass or even the abandonment of the NO due to lack of interest?
Click to expand...
I can envision the TLM making serious inroads on the Novus Ordo, yes.
 
Boy! I really hope the TLM makes those serious inroads on the NO. Tonight I had to assist at a not very reverant NO (and there are plenty in this neck of the woods!). 😦 The priest (foreign, but pastor of that church for 1 1/2 years) really seemed to want to do the right thing but the congregation were too “protestant”, for lack of a better word. It’s as if he were almost scared of them and of saying what needs to happen and what doesn’t. I left there feeling that Jesus probably shed a tear or two and feeling sorry, too, for the priest.
 
brigid12 said:
Boy! I really hope the TLM makes those serious inroads on the NO. Tonight I had to assist at a not very reverant NO (and there are plenty in this neck of the woods!). 😦 The priest (foreign, but pastor of that church for 1 1/2 years) really seemed to want to do the right thing but the congregation were too “protestant”, for lack of a better word. It’s as if he were almost scared of them and of saying what needs to happen and what doesn’t. I left there feeling that Jesus probably shed a tear or two and feeling sorry, too, for the priest.
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Oh, I think the TLM will make those inroads. Remember, you don’t need a motu proprio to pray for vocations and that the clergy revert to the traditional rites.

I don’t see the novus ordo getting enough priests to keep it going, and some believe it may well not survive another two generations.
 
Attending the TLM in my area I see a cross-section of the community, ages from toddlers who seem to sense something special and remain calm to people who make me at 69 feel like a youth. I’d guess that the average age is about 35-40, about 10 years older than the priest.
 
  1. First Tridentine Mass when I was 17. I was living with my grandmother after she had an operation (so she was not alone) and we went to the very closest parish in her inner-city neighborhood which, lo and behold, was the parish given an indult.
I didn’t go looking for it, I fell backwards into it on accident. And that was enough for me.

I went to my parent’s house and asked for my mom’s old missal, and grandma and I went for the next few months before returning to our Greek Catholic parish.

Ad Oreientem is how it was meant’em!
 
Hello,

I just turned 44 last month, 🍰 I am a “V2 baby” but have fond memories of attending Tridentine mass with my grandmother at her parish in old Northwest Detroit in the early mid to late 1960s. I was drawn in by the beautiful music, the reverence (ladies wore veils, etc.) and I hoped to someday attend mass in the same manner. My dad always told me knowing Latin was the foundation of all other languages.

Alas, in came the Peter, Paul & Mary and other Kumbaya music that eventually replaced all the splendor and reverence that was Tridentine. :hypno: The old Latin-style was eventually ushered out.

I hope to find and attend a Tridentine mass here in Michigan to attend with my husband and daughter (she’s almost 3). This way, although very young, she already displays an appreciation for classical and other such music, so maybe she’ll get a taste of the original splendor of the mass. My hubby nad his family are devoted parishioners, but my hubby has never attended a Tridentine rite mass, he’s 3 years younger than me, but he’s very interested in going.

I fear we V2 babies missed so much and I’m glad our holy father is bringing back some of the traditions I humbly believe we were gypped out of, with V2. Much was done so as to make parishioners feel more included, I understand, but also, much of the beauty of the original pre-V2 masses were lost in the shuffle.

By the time I attended Catholic school in the 60s-70s, we were in the middle of a power struggle between old-school and progressive leaders of our school. ** sigh ** 😦 The result was a lot of confused people. :confused:

Even my own folks stopped going to mass because they didn’t like all the changes. 😦 ** double sigh ** Please pray for them to return. :gopray2: I’m the only one in my original family still faithful to our church, I miss sharing the Eucharist with my dad and brother! My mom, God rest her soul, also loved the old masses but she remained faithful to God, Mary and all the saints until the end of her life, even though she was an invalid shut-in. :angel1: I pray on this All Souls’ Day that she is, indeed, with God, sharing communion with all. Amen.:signofcross:

JR (A.K.A. Marly(name removed by moderator))
 
I’m 52. I made my First Holy Communion in 1962. I think I was too young to really appreciate the Latin mass before the changes started happening, gradually, over the next few years. My love of the Latin Mass really has less to do with my memory of it from my childhood, and more to do with my longing for silent reverence and a totally Christ-centered mass. I do remember how it was emphasized that “Jesus is in the Tabernacle, so you must remain quiet and prayerful while you are in church.” We were always aware of the Real Presence. We knew we were in God’s presence.
 
I’m 42. We just started having a Tridentine mass locally -it seems like those attending are either 30 and under or 60’s and older. I am a convert, so missed all the changes between the old and the new. I love the tridentine though. I went out of curiosity the first time and have kept it up.
 
I’m 21 years old and I attend the Tridentine Mass every week. I must say that I attend a Missa Cantata and I find this much more enjoyable than a low Mass. If you get the chance to attend a Missa Cantata, I highly recommend it!
 
"Tridentine Mass Fans"
**You do realize that “fans” is short for “fan-atics” !😛 **
The TLM’s that I attend are full of parents with bunches of kids. In fact they are populated by the same wide spectrum of age that existed in the 1930-50’s.
 
My wife and I are 23… our baby is negative 6 months (due in May). There are many other young’uns at our FSSP parish in Dallas.
 
I’ll be 25 on the 15th. I attend both the Tridentine and a Latin NO.
 
I attend the TLM when I can. I have two to choose from but they are both about 35 miles away. The one is a full community with all the social contacts also (Pittsburgh Latin Mass) High & Low Masses. This church building is used for various rites so quiet time is limited. Not a bad thing just something to note. Wonderful old style building very traditional.

The other is mostly students from St Vincent’s in Latrobe (we celebrate in the Crypt 😃 ). We use chairs that we have to move into place. There are no holy water fonts so I use the one upstairs. It is growing and adding more Masses as the schedules allow. But, warning no kneelers so bring your own knee pads (BYOKP) 😃 . The nice thing is that you can go into the Basilica and sit in Adoration prior and after. Yesterday they were polishing the floors so it was noisy.

The average age in Latrobe is in the late teen to mid twenty’s. The Pittsburgh age is the same as any other parish, birth to death.
 
Thanks for starting this thread.
I started one regarding how others feel about the N.O. vs the TLM

It’s at
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=195769

I think the results will be fascinating.

I am 52 years old and was about 10 years old when the mass changed from Latin to English in our parish. So most of my experience has been with the N.O.

I left the Church for about 30 years and have recently come back. While I don’t dislike the N.O. per-se, I find that I prefer the TLM for Sunday worship.
 
My community of roughly 100 people had about 30 children below high school age. At my parish it’s actually somewhat shocking when we go from our very youthful Mass (because the parents of all those kids are all in their 40s and younger, as well) to the two NO Masses that are predominantly gray-haired. It certainly defies the expectations many would have.

Still, as young as many TLM-goers are, I don’t see that form supplanting the NO anytime soon. Just think about it, they probably make up 1% of the entire Church at this time. Even with phenomenal growth over the next fifty years it would be a feat to drive the NO out of existence in that time. I do, however, think the next fifty years will see some serious reforms of the NO as the TLM and its growing popularity influence the way that form is celebrated.
 
Andreas_Hofer said:
My community of roughly 100 people had about 30 children below high school age. At my parish it’s actually somewhat shocking when we go from our very youthful Mass (because the parents of all those kids are all in their 40s and younger, as well) to the two NO Masses that are predominantly gray-haired. It certainly defies the expectations many would have.

**Still, as young as many TLM-goers are, I don’t see that form supplanting the NO anytime soon. ** Just think about it, they probably make up 1% of the entire Church at this time. Even with phenomenal growth over the next fifty years it would be a feat to drive the NO out of existence in that time. I do, however, think the next fifty years will see some serious reforms of the NO as the TLM and its growing popularity influence the way that form is celebrated.
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I for one don’t want one supplanted for the other.
Why not let both co-exist? Why not look at each for it’s own advantages?

James
 
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