How long did the "incubation period" take before getting used to TLM?

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I was born and raised into the NO and never knew anything else, currently visiting TLM parishes because the service their is obviously much better than the NO parishes who are dying out. During TLM however I still get lost quite a bit, I go back and forth in my missal trying to figure out where we are. Usually I get lost during the long priest prayers before consecration. Did anybody else have to go this transitional period, where the Latin Mass is still a bit of a mystery in the literal sense of the word?
 
It took me a couple times. During the canon the bells are rung to kind of give you a heads up as to where the priest is. There is also one phrase spoekn out loud. Listening for these things as well as watching the actions of the priest will help you to figure out where he is in the prayer.
 
Not long. After I started attending the EF mass, my faith in the Eucharist and my participation at the OF mass, have been deepened.
 
Even though I’m an Easterner, I’ve had some experience with Roman Rite liturgy. I’m old enough to remember the days when the EF was the “OF” (i.e., the ONLY Form) of the Roman Rite. Until this past August, I hadn’t had the opportunity to assist at it for 40+ years. On that day, it all came back in a “New York minute.” Funny that my mother was worried that she wouldn’t remember. Funnier still is that she actually remembered more than I did!

Point being, it should not take long to acclimate to the EF. It’s charms are such that the acclimation period is rather easy, and the rewards are, IMHO, great. And if Archangelum is ever fortunate enough to experience missa solemnis in the EF in the Cathédral St-Michel, it would be all the more so.
 
Not long, but I got confused…

I was an altar boy in the Hybrid ('65-'70) Rite. I was familiar with the responses (in English) and where the altar boys and priest had to be at a given time. So I brought my '65 Maryknoll missal to my first TLM and realized from the start I was missing a few parts. Asperges? Huh? Judge me not, O Lord? What?

However, once we got past Psalm 42, things went swimmingly. :).

I short time ago I downloaded a cheat sheet on when to sit/kneel/stand during a TLM. It helps.
 
Well, I’m the dummy here obviously 😉

I really do struggle in knowing how to balance “reading” (the missal), “watching and listening” (what is happening at the altar), and “praying” (deeply within myself).

But by going through the missal at home to learn, by getting to Mass early and preparing my heart and soul, and by just letting God carry me into the prayer of the Liturgy, I find I get a great deal from the Latin Mass – even when I don’t always know “what page we’re on.”

I went to a Latin requiem Mass for a dear friend in August, and a “sung” requiem Mass at my parish last week (for All Saints and All Souls) . . . both were very powerful experiences. At the same time, one of my (adult) daughters was with me at the Mass in August and just “didn’t get it at all.”
 
Archangelum said:
I was born and raised into the NO and never knew anything else, currently visiting TLM parishes because the service their is obviously much better than the NO parishes who are dying out. During TLM however I still get lost quite a bit, I go back and forth in my missal trying to figure out where we are. Usually I get lost during the long priest prayers before consecration. Did anybody else have to go this transitional period, where the Latin Mass is still a bit of a mystery in the literal sense of the word?
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It was about three weeks or so for me before I was really able to start actively participating in the Mass. Try just observing next time. Get a feel for the structure and flow of the Mass - it will make it a lot easier to follow a long in the missal if you know the motions of the priest and such. Also, I found it very helpful to read along at a medium pace. This, combined with observing what is actually going on, will help you follow along pretty much spot on. The bells and louder spoken words focus your attention to the important parts of the Mass and serve as a way to announce what part the priest is on. However, I would definitely focus more on observing the Mass. You can still actively participate even if you aren’t on the right part initially - just lift your heart in prayer and unite your prayers with the Priest. The TLM is a wonderful gift, it is the Mass of all Time, the unbloody re-presentation of the Sacrifice at Calvary.
 
It took me about four times attending the Latin Mass before it all finally came together and I “got it,” I was already sold on the posture for receiving communion (kneeling, on the tongue). What clinched it for me was hearing Father’s sermon on the nature and worship of the Trinity as expressed in the celebration of Corpus Christi.

I was so used to hearing watered down homilies centered on practical Gospel applications. Don’t get me wrong, those homilies have their place…but they are just two very different things. A
TLM sermon (at its best) is a timeless reflection of some aspect or truth of the Catholic faith.

It was on the Corpus Christi feast day of the current year when I was finally converted to the TLM. I recommend it to everyone. 🙂
 
IDK I got accustomed rather quickly as I took Latin in highschool and loved tradition. My girlfriend and I grew up in the NO and she just prefers the OF. She also seems to have a less “legalistic” approach to Catholicism. She gets mad at me when I get up in arms about the proper conduct of the liturgy.

I actually had to twist her arm for when we get married in a few years, she picks the Church, but I get to pick the liturgy. I am choosing the EF. 😉
 
Not long for me. One thing that was key for me was feeling like I could participate. I went to YouTube, and there are several members with videos up with the Latin Mass Prayers in both English and Latin printed on the screen. It was a super learning tool for my son and me. I can now sing the whole Mass and it’s just so beautiful! …the Mass, not my voice. :o

Here’s an example: youtube.com/watch?v=TGGVMWsAZ8E

Even just learning asperges me, the creed, the gloria, and agnus dei goes a long way. Those aren’t the official titles, but you get the idea. You can also download all of them on iTunes. I cranked them in the car until I knew them by heart.

One more thing…I love this:baroniuspress.com/book.php?wid=56&bid=4
I read side by side for a couple years until I felt like I knew what every word meant. Prayer by prayer, I made my son flash cards. Now he’s a Knight of the Altar. There’s a big difference between knowing Latin and knowing Latin for liturgical purposes…it’s Do-Able!
 
Prior to Vatican II, this quetion would have been moot. I, a “cradle Catholic,” (67 years old) was raised in The Latin Mass (TLM) tradition and don’t find it a problem. I have had more of a problem with the NO “variations upon a theme” performances (some of which actually resembled a Mass) in trying to know where I was and what was occurring.

What was “standard” in your youth becomes the template by which you judge events in later life. It is a shame that Catholicism has permitted at least one generation, if not closer to two, to grow up without this liturgy which had served the Church well for 1,000+ years.

It would seem that we are coming full circle back to our roots…at long last!

Dicesne et intelligesne Latinam bene? (Do you speak and understand Latin well?)
 
Archangelum said:
I was born and raised into the NO and never knew anything else, currently visiting TLM parishes because the service their is obviously much better than the NO parishes who are dying out. During TLM however I still get lost quite a bit, I go back and forth in my missal trying to figure out where we are. Usually I get lost during the long priest prayers before consecration. Did anybody else have to go this transitional period, where the Latin Mass is still a bit of a mystery in the literal sense of the word?
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It’s perfectly acceptable to simply read the prayers from your missal and not be overly concerned with EXACTLY where the priest is. Heck, I even sometimes pray the “propers” from other masses if I am not sure which feast is being celebrated.

What I love about the Traditional Latin Mass is that the atmosphere seems to be more conducive to prayer. It’s quite and reverent in there… People on their knees praying… The priest offering sacrifice to God on our behalf.

As long as your heart is into your prayers, you don’t have to keep pace with the priest. It was only when I decided to stop trying to figure this out that I settled in and really felt relaxed and prayerful!

Coming from the N.O. myself, I experienced the same “urgency” to figure out everything. There are some good books out there on the Latin Mass. Check Amazon… or other online bookstores and you’ll find them.
🙂
 
After about 4 or 5 masses it started to click. I began to be able to tell where we were by the actions of the servers, the positions/gestures of the priest, the bells, hearing “nobis quoque peccatoribus’” etc.

They were all noted in my hand missal and once I started watching for them it all began to make sense.
 
Archangelum said:
I was born and raised into the NO and never knew anything else, currently visiting TLM parishes because the service their is obviously much better than the NO parishes who are dying out. During TLM however I still get lost quite a bit, I go back and forth in my missal trying to figure out where we are. Usually I get lost during the long priest prayers before consecration. Did anybody else have to go this transitional period, where the Latin Mass is still a bit of a mystery in the literal sense of the word?
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About four to five.

Of course, the middle 3 were all in the course of Holy Week, so maybe the daily exposure to the EF was a bit more helpful… 😉

All in all though, not too terribly long. I’d say certainly less than two months of solid-EF weekly attendance.
 
It took me two weeks to actually get hooked on it. The first time I went, I didn’t like it at all. Then, by the Grace of the Almighty I would choose the TLM over the NO hands down nowadays.

Part of it for me was getting used to the pace of which the priest reads. As the prayers at the foot of the altar begin, I just start reading along with the missal and look for “landmarks”, for example when the priest bows down low for the “I confess…”.
 
uwwhitewater84 said:
It took me two weeks to actually get hooked on it. The first time I went, I didn’t like it at all. Then, by the Grace of the Almighty I would choose the TLM over the NO hands down nowadays.

Part of it for me was getting used to the pace of which the priest reads. As the prayers at the foot of the altar begin, I just start reading along with the missal and look for “landmarks”, for example when the priest bows down low for the “I confess…”.
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Probably 'cuz your from Wisconsin (or at least are in there now…)
👍 😉

But, also agreed. Once you get used to the pace of the speaking and reading, things are a lot easier.

Also, in general, that speed will vary. I have been to a few EF’s where the priest is basically speakingreallyfastlikethis, and now i’ve been (joyous!) able to attend the EF where a priest actually speaks the Latin at a normal pace! (At least to this English speaker’s ears).

And the landmarks/signals also help.
 
A couple of additional questions regarding the low Mass:
  • Are we supposed to say the Pater Noster fully along with the priest? I noticed none of the attendents say it. I notice the Gloria in Excelsis Deo is also only said by the priest.
  • What do the bells say about where the Priest is? And are we supposed to read and pray his prayers along with him?
 
Archangelum said:
A couple of additional questions regarding the low Mass:
  • Are we supposed to say the Pater Noster fully along with the priest? I noticed none of the attendents say it. I notice the Gloria in Excelsis Deo is also only said by the priest.
  • What do the bells say about where the Priest is? And are we supposed to read and pray his prayers along with him?
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During Latin Mass it is proper for the faithful in attendance to remain quiet and pray during the entire mass. The rules require only the priest to vocalize the prayers.

You can read or pray the priest’s prayers along with him, but that is not the only way for the faithful to participate. Hand missals for the lay people are a relatively new innovation dating from the 19th century- and many in the 20th never had them.
 
C’mon folks! It ain’t rocket science. I made my First Communion in 1958 and received my “little” St. Joseph’s Missal at that time. I was confirmed in 1963 and received my “big” St. Joseph’s Missal. I still have both and I could follow the EF using either.

We kept silent during Low Mass. Sunday’s High Mass (Missa Cantata), the people responded as we do today (except we responded in Latin or Greek). Chanted Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Pater Noster, and Agnus Dei. Preface in Latin too. Same exact things we say today except in Latin.

Baloney that we didn’t have missals! Who is publishing such rubbish? DW has her mother and father’s missals going back to the 1930s. My sister has my mother’s (my father was Protestant). It was my mother (I can still see her fingernail pointing out the Latin and English to me) who showed me how to use a Missal. This utter fiction that we in the pew did not know what was going on is simply absurd.

The last TLM I physically attended was in 1975. I watched EWTN’s last Solemn High Mass in Latin this year. I had no problems following along. I didn’t need my missal and I even sang along with the schola.

There are still large numbers of us in HMC who aren’t dead. Most of us were kids in the years before Vatican II. There are still significant numbers of our parent’s generation who are still alive. We grew up with the Extraordinary Form being the norm.

I applaud you young people who have embraced the Mass of the Ages. You are not alone. I wish that my bishop had not merely “acknowledged” the Motu Proprio or that the chancellor of the diocese had written such a scathing editiorial two weeks later. My cathedral rector says the TLM privately and I can only hope and pray for the day when I can once again hear a Missa Cantata or a Solemn High Mass. Introibo ad altare Dei. Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem mean. I will go unto the altar of God. To God who is the joy of my yourth. Indeed.
 
I’ve always thought it would take about 6 months to become familiar with it. It also depends on if you are attending a low Mass or high Mass.

It would seem to me to be more difficult to follow along at a High Mass at first. The high Mass would probably be more attractive since it has all the externals, but I think it would be easier to learn to follow along with the Priest at a low Mass.

I’d say you’ll be pretty familiar with it in six month. Even quicker if you take time to study it during the week. 👍
 
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