MrS’s post contains a lot of inaccuracies and downright errors. I hope to clarify some of these.
The
Roman Mass is the normative rite of the
Latin Church.
But even the Roman Mass has its variations. There are primarily three of them:
(As per the Second Vatican Council, the Church legislates that, although the
Missa Normtiva may be celebrated in the vernacular, it should be celebrated enough times with enough Latin that the faithful have memorized all the Ordinaries of the Mass *. Gregorian chant and the pipe-organ are to hold pride-of -place with regards to vocal and instrumental music respectively. These directives are almost never followed in the vast majority of parishes.)
In theory, the
Missa Normtiva* must be celebrated reverently, and only with sacred music (Latin or vernacular). Again, in practice this is almost never the case.
- The Anglican Usage (i.e. the so-called “Anglican Rite”): this is the Roman Mass as it was celebrated in pre-Reformation England, and then revised by the more conservative Anglican Reformers. Since 1988, some converted Anglican ministers who have become Catholic priests have been given permission to celebrate this Missal, in Latin or in English. (The Rite, however, was tweaked a bit to make it more “Catholic”.)
(The extent to which this Missal reflects the liturgy of pre-Reformation England, and how much is Protestant invention, is a matter of debate.)
The phrase
“Latin Mass” technically refers to the Mass when it is celebrated in the Latin language, whether we’re talking about the
Missa Normativa, the Tridentine Mass, or the “Anglican Rite”. In practice, however, the phrase almost always is used in reference to the Tridentine Mass.
The Latin Church has several other rites currently in use, but these are relatively obscure, and their celebration limited mostly to certain localities.
There are also some six Eastern rites celebrated amongst the 23 Churches of Eastern Catholicism (not to be confused with the schismatic religions of Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and “Nestorianism”).
Hope that helps. The ANglican Use rite is also a very obscure rite. I think there are only 10 parishes with this Mass available in the world.
My point is that the Anglican use is made to look more important than the venerable Monastic uses of Mass.