I attended my first TLM

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archangel04

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I finally decided to attend a Latin Mass at a local parish. I must say it is very nice and I loved the music, but boy was I confused lol. I think the whole time I was trying to follow along the missal. I guess the only thing I missed was that we didn’t say the Lords prayer together or the Apostles creed (unless I missed it lol). I say this not to offend anyone or to say one is better then the other. I can see the very good sides in both. Just wanted to share my experience. I might attend more of them, but I wont make it permanent (not to mention it’s at 8am on a Sunday;)).
 
archangel04 said:
I finally decided to attend a Latin Mass at a local parish. I must say it is very nice and I loved the music, but boy was I confused lol. I think the whole time I was trying to follow along the missal. I guess the only thing I missed was that we didn’t say the Lords prayer together or the Apostles creed (unless I missed it lol). I say this not to offend anyone or to say one is better then the other. I can see the very good sides in both. Just wanted to share my experience. I might attend more of them, but I wont make it permanent (not to mention it’s at 8am on a Sunday;)).
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Congratulations for breaking the ice. I’ve heard in some parishes the people do pray/sing the Pater Noster with the priest, though I haven’t seen or heard it. The Nicene Creed is usually said/sung on Sundays and the public is encouraged to sing with the choir. I’m assuming you attended a High or Sung Mass?
 
archangel04 said:
I finally decided to attend a Latin Mass at a local parish. I must say it is very nice and I loved the music, but boy was I confused lol. I think the whole time I was trying to follow along the missal. I guess the only thing I missed was that we didn’t say the Lords prayer together or the Apostles creed (unless I missed it lol). I say this not to offend anyone or to say one is better then the other. I can see the very good sides in both. Just wanted to share my experience. I might attend more of them, but I wont make it permanent (not to mention it’s at 8am on a Sunday;)).
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Be patient with yourself. Like anything else new it will take a little time to get acclimated to the EF, but once you do I think you will find it a most rewarding experience.

As for the 8:00 AM issue, just consider this. By attending the earlier mass, you are making an extra effort to Meet with Jesus first thing in your Sunday and your week. Something we should all try to do if we can.

Peace
James
 
It is beautiful, isn’ it? 🙂 I had the same trouble my first couple times going. I found it most beneficial to just observe the first several times. I didn’t start using the missal until a couple months into it (going every Sunday). For me, that allowed time to take everything in (there is so much, after all) and then to start to slowly follow, one section at a time.

I do enjoy vocalizing the creed and gloria at the OF, and we did miss that at first. But you get used to it, and like everything else in the EF, it becomes internalized and then it may even start to be more effective. At least it worked that way for me. 🙂
 
archangel04 said:
I finally decided to attend a Latin Mass at a local parish. I must say it is very nice and I loved the music, but boy was I confused lol. I think the whole time I was trying to follow along the missal. I guess the only thing I missed was that we didn’t say the Lords prayer together or the Apostles creed (unless I missed it lol). I say this not to offend anyone or to say one is better then the other. I can see the very good sides in both. Just wanted to share my experience. I might attend more of them, but I wont make it permanent (not to mention it’s at 8am on a Sunday;)).
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My thoughts were similar to yours after I attended my first Traditional Latin Mass. I was very much confused because it was a Low Mass. I didn’t even know when the priest said the Our Father.

My expectation was that the TLM was just like the Novus Ordo except the priest faced the tabernacle rather than the people. I got a quick lesson.

I didn’t know if I would continue to attend the TLM. I was fortunate that there was a parish which had a First Friday Mass at 7:30 PM. I decided to try to understand the TLM rather than at Sunday Mass. I kept going and now I go on a regular basis.

It took me a few months to truly understand the TLM. Be patient and keep going whenever you can. You won’t regret it.
 
\ I guess the only thing I missed was that we didn’t say the Lords prayer together or the Apostles creed (unless I missed it lol)\

**The Apostles’ Creed is NOT part of the Mass, traditionally.

It’s allowed as an option in certain places under certain conditions in the Pauline Missal.**
 
A year ago (it was 1st Sunday of Advent, last year, actually) I attended my first Latin Mass. I had no idea what was going on, I was completely lost the whole time… and yet, I was so enamored with it that I asked the chaplain of the Latin Mass Community if he could teach me a bit more outside of Mass. He didn’t, but my inquiry was enough for him to ask one of the longest members of the Latin Mass community to start another class, where several others including me met. I am a very quick learner, so after a few months, I knew enough about the Mass that I joined the schola.

Every week, where I attend, is a Sang High Mass, though occasionally, it is a Solemn High Mass (the difference, from my understanding, is whether or not it is priests who are acting in the deacon and sub-deacon roles, or altar servers). And as far a singing the Gloria and Credo (and Sanctus and Agnus Dei)… the congregation is encouraged to join with the Ordinaries. This past Sunday, because of it being Advent (it’s the same in Lent), the Gloria was not sang, but everything else (Kyrie, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei) should have been. Also, at my community, we do sing the Pater Noster along with the priest, though I have seen it where it is just the priest who sings it, and the congregation only sings the “Sed libera nos a malo” (deliver us from evil). I think it is only an allowable option, and not a requirement.

Please, try the Latin Mass again… the next time, don’t try to follow along with the missal. but, if you do, follow what the priest is doing (ie, are his hands together or apart, is he bowing or standing straight, is he genunflecting… etc), and follow the red parts in the missal. That is usually how I am able to keep up. Also, every once in awhile, I know that my priest will have some verbal cues (he may say the first few words for a prayer in an elevated voice, but then go back to the soft voice).

If you have any more questions, feel free to come back and ask away.
 
Swiss_Guard said:
My thoughts were similar to yours after I attended my first Traditional Latin Mass. I was very much confused because it was a Low Mass. I didn’t even know when the priest said the Our Father.

It took me a few months to truly understand the TLM. Be patient and keep going whenever you can. You won’t regret it.
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:rotfl: My experience was almost the same as Swiss Guard’s. I knew it was in Latin and a I knew the priest faced in the same direction of the people but I had no clue.

It actually took me a long time to finally come to full appreciation of the EF, but part of that was because when our diocese finally started having a weekly Sunday mass I was very involved in our “traditional” NO parish.

I am now attached to the EF and I would go to daily mass if it was offered. There are differences in even the low mass depdending on the congregation and if you are able to attend a high (sung) mass the congregation does sing the ordinaries of the mass, as has already been stated. We sometimes attend a solemn high mass where the congregation sings the Our Father (the priest did some research and found out it is allowed).
 
I just attened my first Latin Mass this past Sunday. I enjoyed it, and it was beautiful, but I had a hard time following what was going on (even with the Missal), and it was a little bit of a drive. But it was a great experiance.
 
dsears said:
I just attened my first Latin Mass this past Sunday. I enjoyed it, and it was beautiful, but I had a hard time following what was going on (even with the Missal), and it was a little bit of a drive. But it was a great experiance.
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I see you are from Ohio & Indiana. Did you go to the one in Dayton or in Indianapolis?
 
You guys are just dropping in to a TLM. Had you been raised in the 50s or earlier, you would have attended Mass with your family where the very first think you learned as a toddler was that you were in the House of God and you were on your best behavior.

Then you got to go to Mass with all the other school kids in primer or kindegarten where the good sisters emphasized even more that you were in the House of God and you were on your best behavior.

And then you went to first grade and began learning the Baltimore Catechism.

By second grade you were prepared to receive Our Lord in First Holy Communion and you received your first missal…

Of course it seems strange. You did not grow up with it. My mother-in-law was a convert around 1960 and she never really caught on. But DW and I could attend a TLM and know what was happening AND be able to respond since both of us grew up with the Missa Cantata.

Be patient. Hundreds of thousands of us grew up with the TLM and we’re not dead yet. Buy a good missal - Latin on one side; English on the other. Pay attention to the little letters in red - the rubrics…they tell you what’s going on.
 
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