The Traditional Latin Mass?

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I am a recent convert to the church (from Southern Baptist). I have been going to Mass for about 3 years and decided to make a conversion last year in order to fully participate in the church community (Sacraments, K of C, etc.) Over that period of time I have become very interested in the Traditional Latin Mass and have heard and read quite a bit about it. A friend of mine is a cradle catholic but was very young in 1962 and cant really tell me a lot about the Mass pre-1962.

My question is what are the major differences in the order of the Mass, (penitential rite, liturgy, Eucharist, etc.) and the role of the priests and the laity during the Mass as opposed to the post-Vatican II Mass. Like I said I am new to the church and being 35 years old I don’t know and am not familiar with the “old ways”. Please explain.

On another note, I will be going to Las Vegas and noticed that a church there has a TLM on Sundays and I would like to attend. I just dont want to stand out like a sore thumb. Any info on the differences to help me would be appreciated.
 
Sit towards the back and just kneel and stand when everybody else does. Some places have responses from the laity. Sometimes the congregation sits in total silence while the priest and servers do all the talking. There will be some sort of missal available, most likely. Don’t worry if you can’t keep up… unlike the Novus Ordo, you aren’t really expected to pray out loud. You can even just say “God, whatever the priest is saying, I’m adding my prayers to it…” and then meditate on the Mass if you have no idea what is going on.

I was surprised, my first time, to see that the entire Mass is very different in form. But, there’s no reason to feel awkward.
 
Congratulations on your recent conversion!

The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales has this side-by-side comparison of the Traditional Latin Mass (translated into English) and the Novus Ordo Mass (translated into English).

latin-mass-society.org/missals.htm
 
Please don’t sit towards the back…Sit toward the front, but at least behind one or two other people and just watch them. You have just as much right to be at the front as any other person in the world, well maybe behind the prist (hehe). It’s your first TLM, sit as close as you can to the most beautiful prayer we have here on earth.

(Just a hint, if in doubt KNEEL, no one will notice that one.)
 
Some nice responses so far.
SanctaMissa has a nice website tutorial. Look at the rubrics section and it basically will walk you through things.

There will generally be missalettes available with both the Latin and English inside.
I have found that If I begin praying when the Priest starts, I will stay pretty close to where He is naturally. As others have said don’t worry if you get lost a time or three.

Since you have never been before, My suggestion would be to not try and follow along too much the first couple of times. By that I mean, do your research from the links and suggestions here, and then go and just watch and “experience” the mass. Join your devotions to the others and let yourself be engaged in the beauty of the event.

One note of caution. While I am perfectly satisfied with both the OF and the EF masses, I always refer to the OF as the “Lite” mass. The reason is that one spends a lot less time on their knees at an OF mass than at an EF mass. I actually prefer being down longer, particularly after consecration.

We will look forward to you reporting back with your impressions.

Peace
James
 
I gotta say I agree with this quote. I remember doing everything I could the first time I went to follow along and quickly learned that I best watch and learn and then follow. It’s such a beautiful Mass.
JRKH said:
Since you have never been before, My suggestion would be to not try and follow along too much the first couple of times. By that I mean, do your research from the links and suggestions here, and then go and just watch and “experience” the mass. Join your devotions to the others and let yourself be engaged in the beauty of the event.
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