New TLM attendant

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CompSciGuy

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Hi,

Ever since I moved to a new, larger city, I have begun attending traditional latin mass since it is now offered in my area. I have developed an appreciation for it. However I think it would be nice to be able to follow along. I find the guides that they offer outside the door are a little hard to follow/keep up with. One question in particular I have is that at the beginning of the mass, when the priest enters in, we all kneel with him as he kneels in front of the altar and says something in latin. I am wondering what the significance of this part of the mass is and what is being said.
 
CompSciGuy said:
One question in particular I have is that at the beginning of the mass, when the priest enters in, we all kneel with him as he kneels in front of the altar and says something in latin. I am wondering what the significance of this part of the mass is and what is being said.
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Those would be the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar. These consists of Psalm 42 and the Confiteor.

rickmk.com/Mass/masstext.html

Welcome to the EF.
 
The best way to follow along is with a “1962 missal.” You can find them easily online, and may I suggest finding a used one, as it may be cheaper.

The prayers you’re referring to are the “prayers at the foot of the altar.”

They are largely from the psalms and their main theme is preparation to offer a sacrifice, like when the priests of old took lambs to Solomon’s temple for slaughter.

I’m so glad you’ve discovered the old Mass. It’s such a blessing!
 
Deo gratias et Mariae!

Thanks be to God that you are able to attend the traditional Mass. Good for you 😃

It takes time to get used to it, but soon I am sure you’ll know all the prayers off by heart 🙂

This link is to a nice translation of the prayers of the Mass.

This is a book written by the great polymath priest Fr Adrian Fortescue. It is a book on the history of the Roman Rite up until about 1921 so it’s not completely up to date with the 1962 Mass however the differences are minor (save for the liturgy of Holy Week). It’s just a history mind you, but you will gain a lot more understanding and a great appreciation spiritually for the Mass.

Lastly, Sancta Missa is a great resource. This is a short document on explaining the prayers and ceremonies of the Mass by a famous Benedictine monk.

God Bless you and please do not be afraid to post questions (or PM me!)
 
CompSciGuy said:
Hi,

Ever since I moved to a new, larger city, I have begun attending traditional latin mass since it is now offered in my area. I have developed an appreciation for it. However I think it would be nice to be able to follow along. I find the guides that they offer outside the door are a little hard to follow/keep up with. One question in particular I have is that at the beginning of the mass, when the priest enters in, we all kneel with him as he kneels in front of the altar and says something in latin. I am wondering what the significance of this part of the mass is and what is being said.
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In addition to the great suggestions and answers above, here is the Order of the Mass complete with rubrics.
fisheaters.com/TLMinstructions.html

Also, the church you go to the Latin Mass may have little red booklets that have a similar format.

Learning the rubrics of the priest, what he is doing when he is standing at what part of the Altar and so forth can help you keep your place in the missal. Just keep going, you’ll get used to it.

God Bless
 
CompSciGuy said:
Hi,

Ever since I moved to a new, larger city, I have begun attending traditional latin mass since it is now offered in my area. I have developed an appreciation for it. However I think it would be nice to be able to follow along. I find the guides that they offer outside the door are a little hard to follow/keep up with. One question in particular I have is that at the beginning of the mass, when the priest enters in, we all kneel with him as he kneels in front of the altar and says something in latin. I am wondering what the significance of this part of the mass is and what is being said.
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What a wonderful journey to begin! My faith has been greatly benefited and I pray that yours will be, too. It does take some time to adjust, though! Be patient.
 
CompSciGuy said:
Hi,

Ever since I moved to a new, larger city, I have begun attending traditional latin mass since it is now offered in my area. I have developed an appreciation for it. However I think it would be nice to be able to follow along. I find the guides that they offer outside the door are a little hard to follow/keep up with. One question in particular I have is that at the beginning of the mass, when the priest enters in, we all kneel with him as he kneels in front of the altar and says something in latin. I am wondering what the significance of this part of the mass is and what is being said.
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Are you talking about the rite of sprinkling holy water, the* Asperges*? The priest does not kneel during the Mass, but since the Asperges is not part of the Mass itself, he does kneel for that.
 
Chatter163 said:
Are you talking about the rite of sprinkling holy water, the* Asperges*? The priest does not kneel during the Mass, but since the Asperges is not part of the Mass itself, he does kneel for that.
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Maybe you’re right about that. I have been twice so far, once at a high mass once at a low mass. I believe there was the asperges at both.
 
We have an FSSP parish, where the TLM is celebrated exclusively. The pastor there says it takes attending the TLM about 16 times before you get the hang of it. Also, the TLM has several layers to the celebration, so it may take more times before each of these layers are opened to you. It’s a sacred mystery that’s being celebrated, so it’s not something that will come to you immediately.

Try to take it as it comes, and you will be able to get deeper into the mystery of the celebration each time.
 
10thCrusader said:
The pastor there says it takes attending the TLM about 16 times before you get the hang of it.
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And by way of encouragement, I always remind newcomers that it was almost as hard to figure out the OF when they were new to it. They learned that liturgy, so they can certainly learn the TLM!*

*The TLM is actually easier to follow once you learn it – far less variation from week to week.
 
10thCrusader said:
We have an FSSP parish, where the TLM is celebrated exclusively. The pastor there says it takes attending the TLM about 16 times before you get the hang of it…
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That’s good to know. I’ve been a handful of times, spread out over several years. With one exception, I’ve always had at least one child with me, which is distracting. I must say, I didn’t love it. It was ok, but I went into it expecting a different experience, based on what I’d read and heard about others’ experiences. It has grown a bit on me. 🙂 The last time, I wasn’t completely lost. I expect to go again next month, for a first Communion. I think that will put me up to 6 times. 10 more to go after that, I guess.
 
babochka said:
That’s good to know. I’ve been a handful of times, spread out over several years. With one exception, I’ve always had at least one child with me, which is distracting. I must say, I didn’t love it. It was ok, but I went into it expecting a different experience, based on what I’d read and heard about others’ experiences. It has grown a bit on me. 🙂 The last time, I wasn’t completely lost. I expect to go again next month, for a first Communion. I think that will put me up to 6 times. 10 more to go after that, I guess.
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My first time going to a TLM was not a “wow! I love it!” kinda moment. I was almost completely lost to be honest. BUT, I did feel that there was definitely something there… that I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. AND, I was drawn back. I went back and was able to follow along a little better.

The first few times I went it was like that. I told myself that it was nice, and would be a good experience every now and then… mainly staying with the OF.

BUT, I must say that the more I had gone, the more I wanted to go back. Now, I’m at the point where I go almost exclusively to the TLM. I certainly didn’t expect or desire that at first. That’s where I ended up though.

It has been about 2 yrs since I had attended the TLM for the first time. I don’t know how many times I had gone there until I had been wanting to go there exclusively.

When I was originally going, I didn’t bring my daughter (2 yrs old at the time?). That I think helped. With a young child, it can be very distracting. Now, I do bring my daughter with me to the TLM. She is (obviously) going to the TLM more times than not now… because I am…
 
AdDeum said:
The first few times I went it was like that. I told myself that it was nice, and would be a good experience every now and then… mainly staying with the OF.

BUT, I must say that the more I had gone, the more I wanted to go back. Now, I’m at the point where I go almost exclusively to the TLM. I certainly didn’t expect or desire that at first. That’s where I ended up though.

It has been about 2 yrs since I had attended the TLM for the first time. I don’t know how many times I had gone there until I had been wanting to go there exclusively.
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Haha, this part of your story matches mine exactly.

“We should do this once a month…”

LOL.
 
AdDeum said:
My first time going to a TLM was not a “wow! I love it!” kinda moment. I was almost completely lost to be honest. BUT, I did feel that there was definitely something there… that I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. AND, I was drawn back. I went back and was able to follow along a little better.

The first few times I went it was like that. I told myself that it was nice, and would be a good experience every now and then… mainly staying with the OF.

BUT, I must say that the more I had gone, the more I wanted to go back. Now, I’m at the point where I go almost exclusively to the TLM. I certainly didn’t expect or desire that at first. That’s where I ended up though.

It has been about 2 yrs since I had attended the TLM for the first time. I don’t know how many times I had gone there until I had been wanting to go there exclusively.

When I was originally going, I didn’t bring my daughter (2 yrs old at the time?). That I think helped. With a young child, it can be very distracting. Now, I do bring my daughter with me to the TLM. She is (obviously) going to the TLM more times than not now… because I am…
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I think that is probably how it is for most people with the Divine Liturgy as well. I grew up with it, so I never really thought much about it. I just knew that it was incredibly beautiful. When we were first married, my husband and I would attend the Divine Liturgy about once a month. He had no previous exposure and I couldn’t understand why he didn’t absolutely love it, as I do. Now, we attend every week and he loves it as well. A couple of years ago, though, he admitted to me that it took a couple of years (of once a month attendance) before he wasn’t totally lost. And that’s in English. 🙂 I’m still a little amazed when we have 1st time visitors and they aren’t just gushing over our beautiful liturgy.
 
I went to a Traditional Latin and I was shock that the amount of young people attend the Traditional Latin and its slowly coming to parish in the UK
 
Aran_Houlihan said:
I went to a Traditional Latin and I was shock that the amount of young people attend the Traditional Latin and its slowly coming to parish in the UK
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That seems to be the norm in any place where I have attended the Traditional Latin Mass. It’s packed with young people and young families with lots of children. One study showed that the Latin Mass appealed most to the one group of people that is is very difficult to get to Church - young adult men.

It clearly shows that the Latin Mass has a bright future in the Church.
 
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