The Mass is the Mass, but I Struggle with the Low Mass

[Bigcat71]

True Light, your anxiety over Low Mass speaks to a deeper problem in worship.

My evangelical Anglican friend says this is precisely what he finds to be wrong with “High Church” and “Papist” liturgy. Were his own intellectual worship-ideal to be carried out, the Mass would basically be the O.F. in vernacular and facing the people. He does not believe Catholics are “trained” to worship Christ in the liturgy unless it has pomp, circumstance, noise, incense, smells, bells, and melodrama. This epic inability to pray or concentrate, when lacking the grand things, is why he’s opposed to the Latin Mass as a universal ideal. It seems, to him, that the High Mass forces people to accept that the best/fullest expression of the liturgy must be loud, long, and dramatic; and, more, to believe that there’s something “lacking” in the Low Mass, atmosphere-wise. He points to the fact that the Last Supper, the basis of the whole liturgy, was probably devoid of music and was mostly quiet - though St. Luke records them as singing thanksgiving afterward.

“What if you want to have a whole experience of the Catholic Mass, with the fullness of the liturgy as they define it, in a poor African hut-mission that was just constructed? You will have no incense, bells, grand organs, or trained choirs. The Low Mass would make everyone bored to death and no one would convert to Christianity”. This is the problem you’re having. If you were a pagan in a mission country and the only Mass available was from an old priest who could no longer chant or sing, and there were no trained musicians or hymn-books, would you have converted to this grand imperial Church? To you, it might just have seemed a bland, quiet, and uninvolved set of words you couldn’t understand.

We must be able to love the Mass and be fully-aware in its lowest and quietest form. I don’t believe it’s possible for young, energetic, fire-eyed Catholics and converts to thrive on the pre-Vatican II Low Mass. There’s just so little to hold on to, and so many whispered prayers at the Canon that you’re often surprised when the just-consecrated Host is elevated. You didn’t see Him coming because of the frigid silence, right? It seems very troublesome….

And yet, untold millions of Catholics were nurtured by this very Mass for 1500 or more years. Other untold millions converted to Catholicism with exposure only to this form of the Mass.

What is it about todays young energetic fire eyed Catholics that makes them so different from all those that preceded them?

 

[Cider]

After going to missa cantata almost exclusively it was an adjustment having only low mass available at my new parish. It feels so short. This first time dh and I went to low mass we thought I got the mass time wrong because they were already at the gospel when we walked in. For months I felt like I was missing 1/2 of the mass.

 

[MarkThompson]

Well, I learned something today!

And furthering that question: What about the confiteor right before Communion. I thought that one was seen as the Confiteor of the people. Am I wrong?

EDIT: I also learned what the word, “Paucity” meant.

Yes and no. (Incidentally, as you may know, this “second Confiteor,” or third depending on how you count it, was removed in the 1962 missal.) As I have remarked elsewhere:
To be clear, the confiteor and absolutio here (which are not, of course, a genuine Confession and Absolution) were historically not part of the Mass at all. Rather, as you say, Communion was distributed to the faithful at Mass so infrequently that a separate rite for distributing Communion outside of Mass was invented, and this rite had a confiteor and absolutio at the beginning of it. Eventually the Communion rite was integrated back into the Mass, but it brought its confiteor and absolutio along with it, even through these were already done in their proper place at the beginning of the Mass. And although some people think “but this is the one the people get to say,” in reality there was never any sort of rubric directing the people to say the second confiteor at all. Quite to the contrary, the pre-1962 rubric prescribed explicitly that at this point “minister . . . pro eis facit Confessionem, dicens Confiteor Deo etc.” (the minister makes the confession for them, saying Confiteor Deo etc.").
So yes, this was intended to be a “people’s confession,” but no – contrary to what some think – the rubrics do not anticipate the people’s saying in themselves.

I suppose this is as close as we come to the notion of the servers “representing the people,” although even here it is not because the servers are laymen (at a High Mass they will be a deacon and subdeacon), but just in the formal sense in which the Church states, “Here, they say it for the people.”

The prayers at the foot of the altar is one of my favorite parts of the mass and I really feel as if we are uniting our prayers with the priests and servers.

It is good to be able to do, but neither is it essential nor was it the original intention of those prayers. The same goes for the Last Gospel, of course.

 

[MarkThompson]

And yet, untold millions of Catholics were nurtured by this very Mass for 1500 or more years. Other untold millions converted to Catholicism with exposure only to this form of the Mass.

What is it about todays young energetic fire eyed Catholics that makes them so different from all those that preceded them?

Well, yes and no. As then-Fr. Ratzinger remarked:
[From the late Middle Ages] the fate of liturgy in the West was now in the hands of a strictly centralized and purely bureaucratic authority. This authority completely lacked historical perspective; it viewed the liturgy solely in terms of ceremonial rubrics, treating it as a kind of problem of proper court etiquette for sacred matters. This resulted in the complete archaizing of the liturgy, which now passed from the stage of living history, became embalmed in the status quo and was ultimately doomed to internal decay. The liturgy had become a rigid, fixed and firmly encrusted system; the more out of touch with genuine piety the more attention was paid to its prescribed forms. We can see this if we remember that none of the saints of the Catholic Reformation drew their spirituality from the liturgy. Ignatius of Loyola, Theresa of Avila and John of the Cross developed their religious life solely from personal encounter with God and from individual experience of the Church, quite apart from the liturgy and any deep involvement with it.

 

[Bigcat71]

Well, yes and no. As then-Fr. Ratzinger remarked:
[From the late Middle Ages] the fate of liturgy in the West was now in the hands of a strictly centralized and purely bureaucratic authority. This authority completely lacked historical perspective; it viewed the liturgy solely in terms of ceremonial rubrics, treating it as a kind of problem of proper court etiquette for sacred matters. This resulted in the complete archaizing of the liturgy, which now passed from the stage of living history, became embalmed in the status quo and was ultimately doomed to internal decay. The liturgy had become a rigid, fixed and firmly encrusted system; the more out of touch with genuine piety the more attention was paid to its prescribed forms. We can see this if we remember that none of the saints of the Catholic Reformation drew their spirituality from the liturgy. Ignatius of Loyola, Theresa of Avila and John of the Cross developed their religious life solely from personal encounter with God and from individual experience of the Church, quite apart from the liturgy and any deep involvement with it.

I take it then that they did not attend Mass.

 

[TrueLight]

Well, it’s not a fun answer, but the only one I have is, “Practice.”

I originally (and to some extent still) had difficulties maintaining focus during Eucharistic Adoration. The more I did it, the less difficult it became. I mean, originally I would start looking at my watch after 15 minutes, and now it’s more like 50. I still have a ways to go.

So my suggestion would be to give it a better trial, having the attitude, “What does God want to happen at this Mass in my soul?” It won’t be all beer and skittles but you sound like a person who could deal with that if you were sure there were some point. The point is, Jesus’ sacrifice is the meaning and significance of the Mass, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot also sacrifice something there–time, comfort, whatever.

And if you try it out for a while and there isn’t any change for you (not even the benefit of making the “sacrifice of praise”), then don’t go. One of the great things about the Church is that there are a multitude of ways to pray, and different types of spirituality, all while remaining faithful to the Magisterium. If the Low Mass doesn’t give you some spiritual benefit, even after giving it a good trial, there is no rule that says you have to go to it (if we’re talking weekdays here). And it may be that until you are able to receive the Eucharist, it really isn’t for you. I don’t think there is any reason to worry about it.

Fear not!

–Jen

Thank you. Jen.

 

[TrueLight]

I agree. But ironically enough, the choir usually drowns out those prayers at the Missa Cantata with the Introit chant, forcing a little multitasking on the part of the congregation.

True. I just read the prayers in the missal and cross myself when the priest crosses himself. I don’t know if this is just custom, but that’s how we do it where we are.

The music helps me to get my mind into a prayerful space.

 

[TrueLight]

If you were a pagan in a mission country and the only Mass available was from an old priest who could no longer chant or sing, and there were no trained musicians or hymn-books, would you have converted to this grand imperial Church?

Probably not.

To you, it might just have seemed a bland, quiet, and uninvolved set of words you couldn’t understand.

Absolutely.

We must be able to love the Mass and be fully-aware in its lowest and quietest form.

I totally agree. I do believe it’s something I need to work on.

I don’t believe it’s possible for young, energetic, fire-eyed Catholics and converts to thrive on the pre-Vatican II Low Mass. There’s just so little to hold on to, and so many whispered prayers at the Canon that you’re often surprised when the just-consecrated Host is elevated. You didn’t see Him coming because of the frigid silence, right? It seems very troublesome…

Hmm. I think it would be hard for someone who is not Catholic to only be exposed to this form of the Mass. That’s what I meant when I said I think it is better for long time Catholics.

If my first Mass, was a low Mass, I’m not so sure I would be on this board now.

My first Mass was a High Mass and although I didn’t understand the Latin,the beauty of the pomp and circumstance, the genuflections and the responses - made me want to learn more about the faith and what the rituals signify. The mass helped me to grow spiritually.

 

[Carebear26]

Do you attend the TLM? North American Martyrs in Ballard has a Sunday Low Mass during the Summer to give the choir a break.

Do you mean the Traditional Latin Mass when you say TLM? I have never actually been to one of those…I think I would be lost! Thank you very much for the information on the summer Low Masses offered at your parish.

 

[Carebear26]

Do you attend the TLM? North American Martyrs in Ballard has a Sunday Low Mass during the Summer to give the choir a break.

North American Martyrs Catholic Church

Do you mean the Traditional Latin Mass when you say TLM? I have never actually been to one of those Masses…I think I would be very lost! Thank you very much for the information on the Low Masses offered at your parish.

 

[MarkThompson]

I take it then that they did not attend Mass.

No, I’m sure they did. His point is that it wasn’t the Mass that was “nurturing” their spirituality in the sense that people are generally getting at when they repeat the “Mass of All Ages nurtured countless saints” claim.

 

[ProVobis]

True. I just read the prayers in the missal and cross myself when the priest crosses himself. I don’t know if this is just custom, but that’s how we do it where we are.

The music helps me to get my mind into a prayerful space.

What the EF doesn’t provide through audible prayers, it provides through rubrics such as you describe plus genuflecting, bowing, kissing of the altar, etc. I guess it’s tough once you’re conditioned to today’s kind of “participation” to adjust to the old style of worship which involved more than the spoken word.

 

[Suscipiat2011]

Well, yes and no. As then-Fr. Ratzinger remarked:
[From the late Middle Ages] the fate of liturgy in the West was now in the hands of a strictly centralized and purely bureaucratic authority. This authority completely lacked historical perspective; it viewed the liturgy solely in terms of ceremonial rubrics, treating it as a kind of problem of proper court etiquette for sacred matters. This resulted in the complete archaizing of the liturgy, which now passed from the stage of living history, became embalmed in the status quo and was ultimately doomed to internal decay. The liturgy had become a rigid, fixed and firmly encrusted system; the more out of touch with genuine piety the more attention was paid to its prescribed forms. We can see this if we remember that none of the saints of the Catholic Reformation drew their spirituality from the liturgy. Ignatius of Loyola, Theresa of Avila and John of the Cross developed their religious life solely from personal encounter with God and from individual experience of the Church, quite apart from the liturgy and any deep involvement with it.

Mark. Could you cite where this quote came from? I would like to read it to understand it fully within the context.

Also I feel as though we should take this in the context of his other writings, such as the many times quoted Summorum Pontificum:

In this way the sacred liturgy, celebrated according to the Roman use, enriched not only the faith and piety but also the culture of many peoples. It is known, in fact, that the Latin liturgy of the Church in its various forms, in each century of the Christian era, has been a spur to the spiritual life of many saints, has reinforced many peoples in the virtue of religion and fecundated their piety.

 

[Bigcat71]

No, I’m sure they did. His point is that it wasn’t the Mass that was “nurturing” their spirituality in the sense that people are generally getting at when they repeat the “Mass of All Ages nurtured countless saints” claim.

I am not sure exactly what you arereferring to in this regard. The statement that I was responding to seemed to say that virtually no one would convert to Catholicism is all they had to experience was the Low Mass and that is just simply not true at all. In many of the mission countries the Low Mass was all they had except for major feast days. In nurturing the Saints what I meant was for the religious orders of the ages, since many of the Saints were indeed of religious,orders, the standard Mass that they would attend and be most familiar with would be a Low Mass… So in that sense it did nurture them, even in the days of infrequent reception of the Eucharist.

I am well aware of Ignatian spirituality and how it came about being the product of a Jesuit education.

A quick question. Have you done the Spiritual Exercises of Loyola? If not I would heartily reccomend them. They are quite remarkable, particularly if done in a retreat or monastic setting.

 

[Nowhere_Man]

Do you mean the Traditional Latin Mass when you say TLM? I have never actually been to one of those Masses…I think I would be very lost! Thank you very much for the information on the Low Masses offered at your parish.

Yes, and everyone is lost the first time they go to the TLM. It is a very different experience from the Mass that most Catholics are exposed to during their life, but there is a huge sense of peace and calm in the silence of a TLM, especially a Low Mass. If you ever get the chance I would encourage you to go, they have little red missaletes and print-outs of the Propers [specific prayers, Gospel and Epistle readings, etc.], so you aren’t swimming in a pool of Latin without knowing what’s being said. And from my experience, everyone there is very nice and helpful too.

 

[TrueLight]

Yes, and everyone is lost the first time they go to the TLM. It is a very different experience from the Mass that most Catholics are exposed to during their life, but there is a huge sense of peace and calm in the silence of a TLM, especially a Low Mass. If you ever get the chance I would encourage you to go, they have little red missaletes and print-outs of the Propers [specific prayers, Gospel and Epistle readings, etc.], so you aren’t swimming in a pool of Latin without knowing what’s being said. And from my experience, everyone there is very nice and helpful too.

I would not recommend the low mass as the first TLM to attend for the reasons I stated in this thread. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Cider]

The first mass I ever went to was an EF low mass, there were no missals and I had no idea what was happening. I just followed what everyone else did as best I could and observed some of the time and prayed the rest. I actually left before communion because I had read that mass of the faithful was only for those that were already Catholic and I didn’t want to break the rules. This was at an FSSP parish. I was early enough that I was in the pew when people were still in line for confession before mass, this parish has the original confession boxes as does my current parish.

Anyway, it certainly didn’t discourage me from becoming Catholic. I just felt I had to learn more about mass.

 

[Marie5890]

I find I think less about “having an experience” or “getting something out of Mass” and just do my best to be present at the representation of Calvary.

It can be a distraction admittedly, though, if I find that my expectations aren’t met and I feel let down. When that happens, I just take the moment to be humble and thank Our Lord for His sacrifice and love and for the opportunity I have to worship freely, regardless if the Mass did or did not meet my personal desires.

Many Christians throughout the world are denied the very freedoms we take so much for granted.

Just how I try to handle a “disappointing” Mass experience. And yes, I have had them, too.

 

[Carebear26]

Yes, and everyone is lost the first time they go to the TLM. It is a very different experience from the Mass that most Catholics are exposed to during their life, but there is a huge sense of peace and calm in the silence of a TLM, especially a Low Mass. If you ever get the chance I would encourage you to go, they have little red missaletes and print-outs of the Propers [specific prayers, Gospel and Epistle readings, etc.], so you aren’t swimming in a pool of Latin without knowing what’s being said. And from my experience, everyone there is very nice and helpful too.

Thank you very much for the information. I will talk with my mom about it and maybe we will be able to go to Mass there sometime. God Bless!

 

[TrueLight]

It can be a distraction admittedly, though, if I find that my expectations aren’t met and I feel let down. When that happens, I just take the moment to be humble and thank Our Lord for His sacrifice and love and for the opportunity I have to worship freely, regardless if the Mass did or did not meet my personal desires.

Many Christians throughout the world are denied the very freedoms we take so much for granted.

Just how I try to handle a “disappointing” Mass experience. And yes, I have had them, too.

Thanks for sharing. Definitely good practice. It’s all about one’s focus, I guess.