Impressions of the Tridentine Mass

[Claire_from_DE]

Recently I attended an EF mass. I thought I would really like it because of growing up in the '50’s and learning to sing Gregorian chant at parish school. What disappointed me was that the music was like a performance. Only the choir sang (and I think chant is pretty easy to sing) and the song would go on and on while the priest continued on to another part of the mass. I felt like we weren’t praying with the priest like we do in the OF at my parish or like I remember doing. Is this common or was it more a matter of inexperience on the part of the choir? Does the Tridentine mass require that the congregation not sing? Also, in the 50’s we sang some hymns in English, don’t they do that anymore?

This parish has the EF at least once a month so I thought they would be used to it. The experience was disconcerting with the priest doing one thing, the choir another, and me trying to attend to the mass and being distracted by the music. Also, I liked being able to kneel when receiving communion (which I can’t do unless I have the altar rail for balance) but I missed the priest holding up the host and saying “body of Christ” and being able to respond “amen!”

 

[quiet52]

Recently I attended an EF mass. I thought I would really like it because of growing up in the '50’s … What disappointed me was that the music was like a performance. Only the choir sang … I felt like we weren’t praying with the priest

When I was a kid, most of us brought our personal missals with us to Mass. When prayers were recited in Latin, we could see the English translation (Latin was was left pages, English on right). There were hymnals in the pews, and we did sing along – usually in English, occasionally in Latin.

Now there seems to be some priests eager to re-introduce Latin in some of the Novus Ordo Masses – and because we can’t sing along, it DOES seem like a performance. Only the priest and a few old timers with good memories recite the Latin (prayers, songs, chants). Even during the Agnus Dei, when I KNOW the English words, I’m easily distracted, trying to recall the Latin so I can follow along, rather than truly pray this beautiful prayer, just before receiving the Eucharist (my fault).

Whether it’s an EF or NO Mass being celebrated, it’s important that people be given the opportunity to fully participate. We need Missals, or song/chant #s announced, or handouts, so that it does not seem like a performance.

 

[rwoehmke]

Recently I attended an EF mass. I thought I would really like it because of growing up in the '50’s and learning to sing Gregorian chant at parish school. What disappointed me was that the music was like a performance. Only the choir sang (and I think chant is pretty easy to sing) and the song would go on and on while the priest continued on to another part of the mass. I felt like we weren’t praying with the priest like we do in the OF at my parish or like I remember doing. Is this common or was it more a matter of inexperience on the part of the choir? Does the Tridentine mass require that the congregation not sing? Also, in the 50’s we sang some hymns in English, don’t they do that anymore?

My experience of the EF Mass going back to the early 40’s was exactly the same. In several parishes in Minneapolis/St. Paul the TLM has been celebrated before the motu with professional or semi-professional music providers and they are beautiful, like attending a classical music concert or an opera. That is my problem, like a concert and not like I remember it. Some of my fellow parishioners really like it, but they are all about 30 years or more younger than I am.

 

[ProVobis]

Recently I attended an EF mass. I thought I would really like it because of growing up in the '50’s and learning to sing Gregorian chant at parish school. What disappointed me was that the music was like a performance. Only the choir sang (and I think chant is pretty easy to sing) and the song would go on and on while the priest continued on to another part of the mass.

Try the Low Mass if you wish to follow the priest verbatim.

Also, I liked being able to kneel when receiving communion (which I can’t do unless I have the altar rail for balance) but I missed the priest holding up the host and saying “body of Christ” and being able to respond “amen!”

If you prefer it that way, OK, I guess. But how could you miss the priest’s praying that His Body would keep your soul until life everlasting? It is assumed that you know that It’s His Body.

 

[Auntie_M]

I, also,have been to a Tridentine Mass. Personally, I prefer to know what is going on.

I am not a Latin expert so following along in a missal, flipping page after page is just too distracting for me. I found myself concentrating more on finding what page the priest was on than actually listening to the mass.

I felt more like I was watching a performance more than sitting in a church adoring God.

Personally, I like the new form alot better. You can actually know what is going on, you don’t have to be distracted trying to “read” the mass. I do love Gregorian chant also. So I do wish there was more of that.

 

[ProVobis]

I, also,have been to a Tridentine Mass. Personally, I prefer to know what is going on.

I am not a Latin expert so following along in a missal, flipping page after page is just too distracting for me. I found myself concentrating more on finding what page the priest was on than actually listening to the mass.

I have to laugh here a little bit as you reminded me of seeing a fellow worshiper trying to follow the Tridentine Mass yesterday using a Novus Ordo missallete. Yes, I can see that as a problem.

 

[michaeldaniels]

At the Latin Mass, the Priest says the following to each communicant: “Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam. Amen” Which translates to: May the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve your soul to life everlasting. Amen. I usually reply in my mind, silently, “Amen”

but I missed the priest holding up the host and saying “body of Christ” and being able to respond “amen!”

 

[michaeldaniels]

It is actually quite easy to know what is going on during a Latin Mass…the Missal, which if you read prior to Mass, explains everything that is going on…i.e. Priest ascends the Altar, Missal on the Epistle side of the Altar, Missal on the Gospel side of the Altar, Priest says things such as Dominus Vobiscum…Oremus, Orates Frates…Pater Noster…Credo…Glori…etc., bells rung once, bells rung three times…really, there are countless ways to keep up with what is going on during the Latin Mass…is it somewhat challenging at first…yes it is, however do I believe you will find great reward in putting forth the effort to learn…yes I do.

I, also,have been to a Tridentine Mass. Personally, I prefer to know what is going on.

I am not a Latin expert so following along in a missal, flipping page after page is just too distracting for me. I found myself concentrating more on finding what page the priest was on than actually listening to the mass.

I felt more like I was watching a performance more than sitting in a church adoring God.

Personally, I like the new form alot better. You can actually know what is going on, you don’t have to be distracted trying to “read” the mass. I do love Gregorian chant also. So I do wish there was more of that.

 

[tcraig]

My experience of the EF Mass going back to the early 40’s was exactly the same. In several parishes in Minneapolis/St. Paul the TLM has been celebrated before the motu with professional or semi-professional music providers and they are beautiful, like attending a classical music concert or an opera. That is my problem, like a concert and not like I remember it. Some of my fellow parishioners really like it, but they are all about 30 years or more younger than I am.

At my old FSSP parish, there used to be a lot of congregational singing - the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, etc. It was beautiful and I loved it.

A few Sundays ago I attended mass there again. Now virtually no one sings because the choir has kind of “taken over” with extremely professional and complex melodies. They were really beautiful, but it *was *almost like attending a concert and certainly not like it used to be. The congregation was virtually silent during the entire mass, though everyone did join in singing the Salve Regina at the end.

I have to admit I preferred the “old way” that things used to be done there … all of three years ago!

 

[muffinmojo]

Active participation does not mean ‘you do everything the priest does’. Yes, it is not the ideal to have multiple things happening at once, but it also should remind us that we are not the focus of the Mass- it is not important that we SAY the words aloud and sing with the priest, it is not important what we GET out of it, but what we GIVE when we pray with the priest, and it doesn’t matter really if we are physically saying the same words as he is, but that we are uniting ourselves in prayer with him and his intentions in order to honor God and truly sacrifice with Christ at the Mass.

There’s a quotation to that effect somewhere in the motu proprio 1962 missal, by Pope St Pius X and then a similar one from Benedict XVI.

 

[Dauphin]

I, also,have been to a Tridentine Mass. Personally, I prefer to know what is going on.

I am not a Latin expert so following along in a missal, flipping page after page is just too distracting for me. I found myself concentrating more on finding what page the priest was on than actually listening to the mass.

I felt more like I was watching a performance more than sitting in a church adoring God.

Personally, I like the new form alot better. You can actually know what is going on, you don’t have to be distracted trying to “read” the mass. I do love Gregorian chant also. So I do wish there was more of that.

I’ve only attended the Tridentine Mass about ten times, and I can follow along perfectly. It was confusing the first few times, but now I know exactly what’s going on, because I put in a great deal of effort to learn how to pray the Mass.

Attending Mass is now the most rewarding experience possible - the highlight of the week. As people get used to the Old Rite, its benefits become obvious.

 

[Dauphin]

At my old FSSP parish, there used to be a lot of congregational singing - the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, etc. It was beautiful and I loved it.

A few Sundays ago I attended mass there again. Now virtually no one sings because the choir has kind of “taken over” with extremely professional and complex melodies. They were really beautiful, but it *was *almost like attending a concert and certainly not like it used to be. The congregation was virtually silent during the entire mass, though everyone did join in singing the Salve Regina at the end.

I have to admit I preferred the “old way” that things used to be done there … all of three years ago!

I personally prefer silently uniting my intention with the prayer that is being sung, while being lifted to contemplation of higher things by the beauty of the music.

 

[LilyM]

Active participation does not mean ‘you do everything the priest does’. Yes, it is not the ideal to have multiple things happening at once, but it also should remind us that we are not the focus of the Mass- it is not important that we SAY the words aloud and sing with the priest, it is not important what we GET out of it, but what we GIVE when we pray with the priest, and it doesn’t matter really if we are physically saying the same words as he is, but that we are uniting ourselves in prayer with him and his intentions in order to honor God and truly sacrifice with Christ at the Mass.

There’s a quotation to that effect somewhere in the motu proprio 1962 missal, by Pope St Pius X and then a similar one from Benedict XVI.

How can you really ‘unite yourself in prayer with the priest and his intentions’ if you have little clue what he’s saying most of the time?

 

[LilyM]

I personally prefer silently uniting my intention with the prayer that is being sung, while being lifted to contemplation of higher things by the beauty of the music.

In other words going to a concert hall and hearing the same music would achieve the same thing for you - certianly you can make a prayer of any sacred music wherever you hear it sung, and be drawn into contemplation likewise anywhere as well.

 

[Dauphin]

How can you really ‘unite yourself in prayer with the priest and his intentions’ if you have little clue what he’s saying most of the time?

This just isn’t true. If you pray the Mass attentively, it should be obvious what’s going on. The first few times attending can be confusing, but after a while you become naturally able to unite your intention with the prayers of the priest.

 

[Dauphin]

In other words going to a concert hall and hearing the same music would achieve the same thing for you - certianly you can make a prayer of any sacred music wherever you hear it sung, and be drawn into contemplation likewise anywhere as well.

No. The context of the Mass is important. In a concert hall, I’m not offering the Sacrifice of Christ. Typically, concerts are associated with sitting, listening, and admiring - not praying. I’m not just listening when I hear sacred music. It’s unfair to try to stigmatize this form of prayer by comparing it to passively hearing a concert.

Of course listening to sacred music in any setting can be a prayerful experience! This just doesn’t commonly happen in a concert hall.

 

[LilyM]

No. The context of the Mass is important. In a concert hall, I’m not offering the Sacrifice of Christ. Typically, concerts are associated with sitting, listening, and admiring - not praying. I’m not just listening when I hear sacred music. It’s unfair to try to stigmatize this form of prayer by comparing it to passively hearing a concert.

Of course listening to sacred music in any setting can be a prayerful experience! This just doesn’t commonly happen in a concert hall.

Glad you finally thought to mention that the Mass is a sacrifice

 

[I_Believe]

It is actually quite easy to know what is going on during a Latin Mass…the Missal, which if you read prior to Mass, explains everything that is going on…i.e. Priest ascends the Altar, Missal on the Epistle side of the Altar, Missal on the Gospel side of the Altar, Priest says things such as Dominus Vobiscum…Oremus, Orates Frates…Pater Noster…Credo…Glori…etc., bells rung once, bells rung three times…really, there are countless ways to keep up with what is going on during the Latin Mass…is it somewhat challenging at first…yes it is, however do I believe you will find great reward in putting forth the effort to learn…yes I do.

You nailed it. Effort. And a Missal with the rubrics in red. If I catch myself ahead or behind the priest, I simply find my place with the rubrics.

 

[Fitswimmer]

Recently I attended an EF mass. I thought I would really like it because of growing up in the '50’s and learning to sing Gregorian chant at parish school. What disappointed me was that the music was like a performance. Only the choir sang (and I think chant is pretty easy to sing) and the song would go on and on while the priest continued on to another part of the mass. I felt like we weren’t praying with the priest like we do in the OF at my parish or like I remember doing. Is this common or was it more a matter of inexperience on the part of the choir? Does the Tridentine mass require that the congregation not sing? Also, in the 50’s we sang some hymns in English, don’t they do that anymore?

This parish has the EF at least once a month so I thought they would be used to it. The experience was disconcerting with the priest doing one thing, the choir another, and me trying to attend to the mass and being distracted by the music. Also, I liked being able to kneel when receiving communion (which I can’t do unless I have the altar rail for balance) but I missed the priest holding up the host and saying “body of Christ” and being able to respond “amen!”

That sounds pretty much like my first experience! I was pretty lost, dazed and confused too. However, I stuck with it and now I am very comfortable with the Mass and I feel totally connected to what is going on. My Pastor told me on my first visit that it would get easier, and he was right.
We do sing some songs in English at our Masses-both the Low and the High. Also, the congregation does join in on some of the more familiar chants like the Gloria and the Creed.

 

[whitenight21]

Awe, you guys are lucky that you even have Latin Mass to attend. Currently living in Canada, but will be moving to Slovakia in the fall, I really look forward to attending Latin Mass!!! Just watching the Masses on EWTN is amazing, with the signing of the Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Pater, oh, its heavenly!!

Mathias