I think that some Latin in the NO is welcome and beautiful, however, am I the only person here who remembers what mass was like circa 1960? Many people sat in the pews and said Hail Mary’s or did private devotions during the Latin parts of the Mass, and then, if by magic scurried back to their pews (away from their personal Saints and candles) as soon as the bell indicating consecration was rung. Others just sat in the pews and watched (observation of an 8 year old) until the Our Father.
I remember the Mass “circa 1960” very well. I had attended it daily for 19yrs. by then. I am very tired of the picture that some Catholics would like to perpetuate concerning the practices of elderly Catholics during that time. IMO., they were intellectually superior, as a group, to the Catholics I see posting here. In all of those Masses, I did not see ONE person wandering around the Church during Mass. Neither my Grandmother, born in 1850… nor my Grandfather had any problem following the Mass & would NEVER have prayed the rosary while participating in the holiest prayer that exists, the Sacrifice of the Mass. They were not part of an elite group, either. My Grandpa worked for the railroad & my Grandmother was a housewife. I have the Latin/English missal my aunt, their daughter, received at her First Communion in 1921. She was 7 yrs. old. I also have a prayer book that my Father received when he was 8 yrs. old.
Both have been well used, but used with care. (There a few pages taped & the binding on the front cover of the Missal is gone.) I doubt very much if most adult Catholics could read & pray from these books today.
The priests at our parish all are fully capable of reading and speaking Latin - they are Jesuits with the equivalent of doctorates in theology. Our poor choir is another story - I don’t think they can even speak English, LOL!
