Latin Mass; First Timer's Tale

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During a Latin mass, is it normal that the congregation barely says anything?

Okay, I am in my early 50s, so I guess the last Latin language mass I ever heard was when I was a preschooler. I wanted to attend mass for First Friday and was unable to attend at my own parish in the morning. On masstime.org I found a mass at another parish in a neighboring suburb at noon. So in I ran and found myself watching the priest facing the altar with his back to the congregation. Must be a First Friday procession or special prayer, I thought.

As the priest continued facing the altar, it dawned on me that no one was saying anything in English. Nothing on masstime.org indicated this was going to be a Latin mass!

There were books available and the lady next to me and I shared one. It had Latin on the left and English on the right. That sounds easy to follow, right? It would have been easy to follow along, but for the fact that much of the service the priest said to himself. Is this normal that the priest says so much of the mass quietly? My neighbor and I whispered to each other that the pictures in the book were our saving grace, because the pictures mirrored the priest’s actions, so when the picture demonstrated him doing something going on at the altar, you would know where you were supposed to be in the book and that is what guided you in what he was saying, albeit too quietly for the congregation to hear.

I had no idea that Latin mass was like this! My whole life as a Catholic has been filled with lots of vocal participation. Now I have a bit of insight I lacked into why people who missed the old days (my dad comes to mind); if you appreciated a quiet service, the Latin mass must have been the service for you.
 
I wonder if you attended the same Mass that I did for my first Latin Mass! Was it this evening at 5:30 in “WW” on “RB Blvd”? 🙂 If you attend again, and wish to use a veil, there are some in the basement near the restrooms. We attended on a Friday evening as well a few months ago. I loved loved loved how well behaved and quiet the families were, as that is not the case in my home parish.

I found it very interesting. My husband enjoyed it greatly.

For the record, if you are near me, there are also some wonderful 11 AM and Noon Masses which also have confession 30 minutes beforehand if needed.
 
this sounds like a Tridentine Mass.It is also possible to have the present mass said in Latin
 
There is about as much participation in the Extraordinary Form Mass as there is at the Ordinary Form mass if you indeed wish to participate. What you really should know is “Et cum spiritu tuo” (“And with your spirit”) and “Amen” (always said when you hear the priest say “Per omnia saecula saeculorum” (“World without end”)). “Sed libera nos a malo” (“But deliver us from evil”) comes at the end of the Pater Noster (Our Father) and there are two spots in the mass where we genuflect; first during the Nicene Creed and second during the last gospel at the end of mass. There are also a lot of responses at the beginning of the mass between the priest and the servers and a few others such as right before the gospel, the preface, before and after communion, and at the end of the mass. A decent missal would tell you a lot more than I ever could. Indeed much of the mass is said very quietly by the priest. After about a year of going to the Latin mass and buying two missals (I now use a '62 copy of the New Marian Missal) I’ve learned more about the meaning of the Sacrifice of the Mass than I ever could have before. If you’re lucky enough to live where they sometimes offer a sung mass you’ll be able to participate by singing!
 
KS_Housewife said:
During a Latin mass, is it normal that the congregation barely says anything?
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It varies greatly from parish to parish, my TLM parish, is very vocal both during Low Mass(the one were everything is recited and not sung) and High Mass( where almost everything is sung). Some parishes encourage leaving the responses to the servers, I’m guessing this is what that parish does, but it might be different on Sundays(if they offer mass on Sundays) they might be more vocal when the responses are sung. there can also be great variation between different Mass times in parishes themselves. The early morning folk might be quieter than the late Morning folk, etc.
 
I also should have mentioned the Kyrie at the beginning of the mass and the “Domine non sum dignus…” (“Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof” etc.) everyone says three times before receiving Holy Communion. I seem to recall Fr. inviting us to participate in at least some of responses for the mass. For pronounciation of Latin all I can suggest is listening to a couple recordings or videos of Catholic masses with Italianate soloists.
 
KS_Housewife said:
During a Latin mass, is it normal that the congregation barely says anything?

Okay, I am in my early 50s, so I guess the last Latin language mass I ever heard was when I was a preschooler. I wanted to attend mass for First Friday and was unable to attend at my own parish in the morning. On masstime.org I found a mass at another parish in a neighboring suburb at noon. So in I ran and found myself watching the priest facing the altar with his back to the congregation. Must be a First Friday procession or special prayer, I thought.

As the priest continued facing the altar, it dawned on me that no one was saying anything in English. Nothing on masstime.org indicated this was going to be a Latin mass!

There were books available and the lady next to me and I shared one. It had Latin on the left and English on the right. That sounds easy to follow, right? It would have been easy to follow along, but for the fact that much of the service the priest said to himself. Is this normal that the priest says so much of the mass quietly? My neighbor and I whispered to each other that the pictures in the book were our saving grace, because the pictures mirrored the priest’s actions, so when the picture demonstrated him doing something going on at the altar, you would know where you were supposed to be in the book and that is what guided you in what he was saying, albeit too quietly for the congregation to hear.

I had no idea that Latin mass was like this! My whole life as a Catholic has been filled with lots of vocal participation. Now I have a bit of insight I lacked into why people who missed the old days (my dad comes to mind); if you appreciated a quiet service, the Latin mass must have been the service for you.
Click to expand...
Are you planning on going back?
 
Magnanimous said:
It varies greatly from parish to parish, my TLM parish, is very vocal both during Low Mass(the one were everything is recited and not sung) and High Mass( where almost everything is sung). Some parishes encourage leaving the responses to the servers, I’m guessing this is what that parish does, but it might be different on Sundays(if they offer mass on Sundays) they might be more vocal when the responses are sung. there can also be great variation between different Mass times in parishes themselves. The early morning folk might be quieter than the late Morning folk, etc.
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If we’re speaking about the EF, I don’t think anyone is expected to reply to the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar except the servers. Other than that most know the “Et cum spiritu tuo” “Deo Gratias” “Habemus ad Dominum” etc. The “Suscipiat” is a tongue-twister, but it seems it’s only said by the congregation in the Latin OF. As is the “Pater Noster” “Sanctus” and “Agnus Dei.” IOW, the person attending a Latin OF is expected to know more Latin than one attending an EF, which the OP is probably referring to. Most probably wouldn’t know the difference between an EF and a Latin OF. Both of them are Latin Masses.
 
KS_Housewife said:
During a Latin mass, is it normal that the congregation barely says anything?
.
.
.
I had no idea that Latin mass was like this! My whole life as a Catholic has been filled with lots of vocal participation. Now I have a bit of insight I lacked into why people who missed the old days (my dad comes to mind); if you appreciated a quiet service, the Latin mass must have been the service for you.
Click to expand...
If we assume that this is an Extraordinary Form low Mass rather than an OF Mass in Latin then there is a long history of the Mass being recited quietly by the priest and only the servers responding.

Those of us who are old enough to sort of remember Mass being in Latin but *just *barely, might have mostly attended “dialog Masses” where the people did respond in Latin. Those seemed to be the norm for low Masses in my diocese. But they evidently weren’t the norm in other dioceses.
 
For a low mass it’s also good, if you can learn them, to say the server’s responses along with them. It doesn’t necessarily have to be out loud, but the server responds on behalf of the people, so there’s nothing wrong with saying it with them.
 
You have to learn to associate visual cues with the words of the Mass. If the priest goes to the left side of the altar near the end of Mass and reads out of the Missal, then this is the Last Gospel. Just an example.
 
I have really been fascinated with the TM since I’ve started going to mass again. It’s such a blessing that God led Pope Benedict XVI to grant priests discretion over the celebration of the TM in parishes. There is a beautiful church in downtown St. Louis ran by priests of the ICRSP that celebrates the TM exclusively! I might attend the high mass on a future Sunday, maybe when I come back home for spring break.
 
GangGreen said:
For a low mass it’s also good, if you can learn them, to say the server’s responses along with them. It doesn’t necessarily have to be out loud, but the server responds on behalf of the people, so there’s nothing wrong with saying it with them.
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Anything you ever wanted to know about servers at an EF Mass, including the responses.

How to Serve in Simple, Solemn, and Pontifical Functions by Dom Matthew Britt OSB.

bks0.books.google.com/books?id=5zgLPQAACAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&imgtk=AFLRE71B324dNDPBx3PTNICU8UcLtlc6GInW5_6mqXw1wSdaFdXDGOSeIcRgT_Fiy-SH6Prz2VFNvtTcQ9SZ90rEhbZ9-ITuDzpF4K-xmvVu-pNZxShG6NSQyi5yniHpm7pgOgv9BkwN

-Tim-
 
ProVobis said:
If we’re speaking about the EF, I don’t think anyone is expected to reply to the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar except the servers. Other than that most know the “Et cum spiritu tuo” “Deo Gratias” “Habemus ad Dominum” etc. The “Suscipiat” is a tongue-twister, but it seems it’s only said by the congregation in the Latin OF. As is the “Pater Noster” “Sanctus” and “Agnus Dei.” IOW, the person attending a Latin OF is expected to know more Latin than one attending an EF, which the OP is probably referring to. Most probably wouldn’t know the difference between an EF and a Latin OF. Both of them are Latin Masses.
Click to expand...
Yes, I’m referring to the EF.
 
The amount of responses said by the congregation varies widely from place to place. I have been to mass where the servers and choir made all of the responses and the congregation was silent the whole time (except for the entrance and recessional hymns). I have been to other masses in which the congregation made almost all the possible responses.

There are parts of the mass that are said silently or inaudibly by the priest. That is normal. But if you are familiar with the prayers and the gesture and postures of the priest, you will have no difficulty figuring out what’s going on.
 
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