I went to my first Tridentine Mass yesterday

[Catholic_Hammer]

I knew what to expect, there were no real surprises - in a way it all seemed much more “esoteric” than I expected, but that was because I was more or less ignorant of the liturgy, and I wasn’t going to distract myself from the liturgy (despite not really following it) by reading through the Missal.

Anyway, our local TLM parish was the epitome of what a parish should be: not too big, not too small, friendly, reverent people, a great mix (White, Black, Hispanic, Arabic, etc.) Every bishop should visit this parish (maybe the other TLM parishes around the country are the same, I’d like to know if they are) and see what smaller parishes would do four our diocese. There was a Low Mass at 9:00 and a High Mass at 11:30, with “Religious Education” between the two, and a total of about 200 or so parishioners, a PERFECT size.

 

[BlyssfulDreamer]

Sounds great. I am going to start “easy” and start with a weekday Mass.

Some have said that women can wear nice dress pants and others places I have seen where it is a No-No…What did you find there? I am nervous…haven’t wore a dress in 25 years.

:heart:Blyss

 

[Catholic_Hammer]

Sounds great. I am going to start “easy” and start with a weekday Mass.

Some have said that women can wear nice dress pants and others places I have seen where it is a No-No…What did you find there? I am nervous…haven’t wore a dress in 25 years.

:heart:Blyss

Well, I would suggest wearing a dress and head covering. There might have been women at the Liturgy that I attended that didn’t wear a dress or head covering, but I didn’t see/notice them. My wife wore a dress and head covering and was glad she did, because she said otherwise she would have felt “out of place”. As for myself, I wore a shirt, tie and a sweater, and I felt I was dressed appropriately (really, I didn’t dress any different than I do for “NO” Liturgy, only at a “TLM” I didn’t see any “underdressed” people).

 

[BlyssfulDreamer]

Thanks for the infomation.

:heart:Blyss

 

[Swiss_Guard]

Congratulations on attending your first Tridentine Mass Hammer. It took me about 6 months to get comfortable with the rite. I was fortunate to not only have the opportunity to go on Sundays but sometimes during the week. It helps when you go frequently.

Stick with it Hammer, you won’t be disappointed. You’ll be able to follow along in the Missal soon. I believe the Tridentine Mass helps people learn the different parts of the Mass and their significance. It did for me anyways.

Blyss, don’t be nervous about what you wear, as long as it doesn’t look like your going to the beach or to a club. I go to several different churches and their are women who wear nice slacks and no head covering. I should note that I see fewer women in slacks than I do with head covering. Wear a dress if you feel uncomfortable about wearing slacks. I’ve never heard a priest admonish a woman for wearing slacks or not wearing a head covering.

Don’t worry about what others might say to you Blyss. I’ve found that some churches have very opinionated parishioners while others have parishioners who are glad to see you attend the Tridentine Mass.

 

[BrownR]

Hammer, did you have any other impressions of the TLM? I’d be interested… In your opinion, could you see yourself developing an affinity for this mass or do you prefer the NO? Did the TLM seem more reverent? I’ve become very interested in it lately but won’t have an opportunity to visit one until I move to NY in a few weeks.

 

[Catholic_Hammer]

Hammer, did you have any other impressions of the TLM? I’d be interested… In your opinion, could you see yourself developing an affinity for this mass or do you prefer the NO? Did the TLM seem more reverent? I’ve become very interested in it lately but won’t have an opportunity to visit one until I move to NY in a few weeks.

Well, I would like to have more time with the Old Liturgy, but I’m not going to leave my home parish (for one, the church is about 10 minutes away, and the “NO” liturgy is very well done, very reverent). Like I said, the main draw is the size of the parish - instead of 2,000 people attending 10 separate liturgies, they have a few hundred attending 2 liturgies. My recommendation is to get active in your local parish, and if it happens to be a parish with the Old Liturgy, all the better!

What I did notice is that most of the women were probably “stay-at-home” and the children were home-schooled, and some of the women’s and girls clothes were home-made.