How to understand/keep up with TLM?

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Hi,

I went to the Tridentine Mass on Sunday and I had a really hard time understanding what was happening.

Its just that for most of the Mass, I just had no idea what the Priest was doing because I could not see his hands nor could I hear what he was saying. So my wife and I were helplessly flipping through the Missal, only figuring out where we were once I heard the Kyrie.

Are you supposed to keep up as in the NO (i.e., the responsarial prayers that the people pray) , or is it a time for personal prayer? I saw some people praying the Rosary.

How does one learn how to participate in the TLM as well as what participation entails?
 
mschrank said:
Hi,

I went to the Tridentine Mass on Sunday and I had a really hard time understanding what was happening.

Its just that for most of the Mass, I just had no idea what the Priest was doing because I could not see his hands nor could I hear what he was saying. So my wife and I were helplessly flipping through the Missal, only figuring out where we were once I heard the Kyrie.

Are you supposed to keep up as in the NO (i.e., the responsarial prayers that the people pray) , or is it a time for personal prayer? I saw some people praying the Rosary.

How does one learn how to participate in the TLM as well as what participation entails?
Click to expand...
You can:
a) Follow everything that’s going on by the altar. For the first time (or even second time) it’s a bid difficult and confusing but if you will once often you will figure it out. Do you have the missal so you can read it at home? If not I recommend this site for basic transaltion and sanctmissa.org for the full missal (waring: 79MB)
b) pray in the spirit of what is happening on the altar.
c) simply pray during the silent parts

Some people prefer one and some the other.
 
At our parish the Pastor is conducting evening educational sessions during the week to help people understand the TLM.

He is also having classes to help people learn Latin.

He made a point in saying that he is not a pre-Vatican II traditionalist but rather desires the proper implementation of the changes to the mass instituted with Vatican II.
 
Yes, you are supposed to keep up with the Mass. No, it is not a time for private prayer much less saying the rosary. Think of the TLM as an NO using Eucharistic Prayer 1 - the Latin Canon. The TLM has more prayers. The NO has more readings and congregational participation.

What probably threw you off was the opening prayers at the foot of the altar. Much, much longer than the NO. Priest and altar boy saying the Confiteor - it’s been years since I have heard the Confiteor recited within the context of the NO.

You say you have a missal. Mine is a 1962 St. Joseph’s and within the rubrics (red letters) are the actions of the priest and servers which can give you a “heads up” as to where you are in the Mass. Remember, too, that there is only the Epistle (Letters) and the Gospel. There is no Old Testament Reading and a Psalm. There is no sign of peace. The prayers before and after Communion are longer as is the dismissal.

The NO is both streamlined and has additions different from the TLM. The TLM has additions different from the NO. But the core of the Mass is the same.
 
Thanks for your posts and the good advice given.

I take it the Tridentine Mass was developed at the Council of Trent? Gotta look at Wikipedia. 🙂
 
mschrank said:
Hi,

I went to the Tridentine Mass on Sunday and I had a really hard time understanding what was happening.

Its just that for most of the Mass, I just had no idea what the Priest was doing because I could not see his hands nor could I hear what he was saying. So my wife and I were helplessly flipping through the Missal, only figuring out where we were once I heard the Kyrie.

Are you supposed to keep up as in the NO (i.e., the responsarial prayers that the people pray) , or is it a time for personal prayer? I saw some people praying the Rosary.

How does one learn how to participate in the TLM as well as what participation entails?
Click to expand...
Repetition, repetition, repetition.! While following along with the priest is good , I find that from time to time I am attracted (inspired?) by certain passages and find myself meditating upon them. I may lose my place in once sense but I feel I am where the Holy Spirit wants me to be. Go where the Holy Spirit leads you, it’s a lot easier. 👍
 
mschrank said:
Thanks for your posts and the good advice given.

I take it the Tridentine Mass was developed at the Council of Trent? Gotta look at Wikipedia. 🙂
Click to expand...
It was codified after that and pretty much made the standard missal of the West. It was developed in the primarily 5th or sixth century and is a blend of the very austere ancient Roman rite and the more ceremonal Gallican rite. There were also little changes here and there from then until the 1960s.
 
No, it wasn’t developed, it was codified. There were other rites existing in the Middle Ages which were dependant upon usuage (e.g. the Sarum rite (Salisbury, England); the Ambrosian rite (Milan, Italy)). These were few and far between. It should be remembered that Luther and his cohorts were busily writing new liturgies. Trent was part of the counter-reformation. All it did was to codify that which already existed.
 
I have to admit that I don’t see things from the point of the folks in the pew. I was an altar boy and recite the server’s responses in my head pretty much the way we all follow the Mass today.
 
Re: Latin Mass.

A missal is essential to following the Latin Mass.
Then, of course, you have to know which Mass is being celebrated. This past Sunday (1`/20/08) was Septagesima. Latin Mass calendar is different from Vernacular Mass calendar.

You have to keep a close watch on what the priest is doing to keep up, so review the missal for areas where he does some specific action, (ascends the altar, makes the sign of the cross, etc.). Even then you may get lost, since some signs can be very subtle and hard to see from behind.

I find if there is a choir singing, and I try to follow that, I fall way behind the priest, who goes on at his own pace. A Franciscan who used to play the organ in the days of the Latin Mass, said although at one point the priest and organist would be on the same page at the beginning, they would soon be separate, only to meet up sometime before Communion.

So, this is why I generally still prefer the vernacular Mass, tho not any of the wacky innovations imposed by lay folk and priests.

I am used to being a part of the Mass, not just an observer, bumbling along on my own. I admit the Latin High Mass has its points, but full participation by the laity and priest together is not one of them, which I regret.

Rob
 
This may sound stupid, but it may help to do either one of two things, or both:
  • sit nearer the front! ; or
  • if the Priest says a “Low Mass” (a said Mass) go to that because you’ll get to hear more and get a feel for the structure of the Mass
👍
 
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