Tips for first Trad. Latin Mass?

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I plan on attending my first Traditional Latin Mass this Sunday. Any tips for what to expect? Any weird gestures and postures? I heard that there are no responses at all. (If it makes a difference, I’m male, not yet baptized but still Catholic in belief, and accustomed to the 1969 Missal.)
 
The Priest will say in Latin: “Pray brethren that our sacrifice may be acceptable to the Lord our God” Then you will respond in Latin: “May the Lord accept this sacrifice at your hand for our good and the good of all his church.” That’s it. The majority of the parts where you stand in the present mass, you kneel in the TLM. There is more genuflection, durring the Nicene Creed at the the part about the incarnation all kneel. If the mass is celebrated according to the 1962 missal and has the Last Gospel, again all kneel at the part that mentions the incarnation. Most churches that celebrate the TLM will have missals at the door, make sure you pick one up.
 
You will notice, as an observer, that people kneel during communion and all receive on the tongue.

I do hope they have the red missals for you at the back of the Church for this does make it much easier to follow along. Do sit in about the second or third row, as it will allow you to better observe what the priest and altar boys are doing and follow the people in front of you to sit or stand.

If it is a low Mass, it will be a “spoken” Mass and if a High Mass or Missa Cantata, it will be sung.

If it is a low Mass, there will also be prayers said after the dismissal and they are in the back of that red missal as well. I doubt you will see anyone leave before these prayers.

It takes about 3 times to be able to really find your way through this Mass.
 
My husband and I just found the Indult Tridentine Mass in our area, so we have gone about three times now. What a wonderful experience it has been! I have been able to make more sense of it each time we have gone. I’d like to echo a few of the posters’ suggestions and add a few of my own:

For your first time, I too would suggest that you sit at least a few rows back. Since they kneel and stand at different times during the Mass than in the Novus Ordo, I always take cues from the people in front of me.

My grandmother sent us her old missals so we have been using those, but in the back of the church there are usually ones to borrow, which I would strongly recommend doing. During the Eucharistic Prayer, I just read along in English as the priest says the prayer in Latin silently, and I usually end up finishing at around the same time that he does. The missal will have the last gospel, the final prayers, and other elements of the Mass that are not in the Novus Ordo. (If they don’t have them to borrow, you can find the Order of the Mass online, print it out, and take it with you.)

As others have mentioned, you will usually need to kneel at the altar rail to receive Communion. I had never done this before, but I just watched the people ahead of me in line and followed suit. And when you receive, don’t say “Amen” in response to the priest. (I did this, which I have since found out is a major faux pas!) Oh–actually, if you aren’t yet baptized, you probably aren’t receiving Communion yet. In that case, just remain in the pew as you usually would.

If you are bringing a female with you, I suggest that she bring a veil and dress modestly (knees and shoulders covered). Men at our Tridentine parish are usually dressed very nicely–shirt, slacks, and a tie.

That’s all I can think of now. God bless!
 
LOL…I hear you. I sat a few rows back my first time too, so I wouldn’t look like an idiot due to not knowing when to sit, kneel, or stand…there are people at the mass I attend who stand at the wrong times…but then again, it is hard to follow your first couple of times.
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cmcruz:
My husband and I just found the Indult Tridentine Mass in our area, so we have gone about three times now. What a wonderful experience it has been! I have been able to make more sense of it each time we have gone. I’d like to echo a few of the posters’ suggestions and add a few of my own:

For your first time, I too would suggest that you sit at least a few rows back. Since they kneel and stand at different times during the Mass than in the Novus Ordo, I always take cues from the people in front of me.

My grandmother sent us her old missals so we have been using those, but in the back of the church there are usually ones to borrow, which I would strongly recommend doing. During the Eucharistic Prayer, I just read along in English as the priest says the prayer in Latin silently, and I usually end up finishing at around the same time that he does. The missal will have the last gospel, the final prayers, and other elements of the Mass that are not in the Novus Ordo. (If they don’t have them to borrow, you can find the Order of the Mass online, print it out, and take it with you.)

As others have mentioned, you will usually need to kneel at the altar rail to receive Communion. I had never done this before, but I just watched the people ahead of me in line and followed suit. And when you receive, don’t say “Amen” in response to the priest. (I did this, which I have since found out is a major faux pas!) Oh–actually, if you aren’t yet baptized, you probably aren’t receiving Communion yet. In that case, just remain in the pew as you usually would.

If you are bringing a female with you, I suggest that she bring a veil and dress modestly (knees and shoulders covered). Men at our Tridentine parish are usually dressed very nicely–shirt, slacks, and a tie.

That’s all I can think of now. God bless!
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My advice is to learn Latin. Otherwise, what’s the point of listening to a person saying something you don’t understand.
 
While learning the Latin used in the Mass would be helpful, it is not initially a pre-requisite for praying the Mass along with the priest - that is why we have the missal.

Eventually you will learn that by osmosis, or at least that is how it worked for me.

Besides it seems a bit of a stretch to consider taking advice abut the Tridentine Mass from a proclaimed protestant -
 
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Andyman1517:
My advice is to learn Latin. Otherwise, what’s the point of listening to a person saying something you don’t understand.
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Hahaha, actually, I’m in Latin III in high school now. Latin is THE BOMB.

Oh, and, thanks for all the replies.
 
Generally follow the sound advice you’ve received here. In the future you’ll learn to ‘know’ where you are at in the Mass by where the priest is located with regards to the altar (i.e. Gospel side, Epistle side, or middle of the altar) just in case you get lost. It happens occasionally. Then just keep going as opportunity permits, the more you go the more you’ll be familiar with it.

As to the snide remark about learning Latin made by one responder: while I enjoy daily Mass in the vernacular, I have no problem with being absolutely lost in Latin as the Liturgy is not only about the involvement of the faithful (though this is a definite good) but it is also about what God does in the Liturgy. The Mass centers around the event of heaven and earth coming together at the altar. The way I figure it if my rusty Latin keeps me from understanding everything that’s been said then my guardian angel, patron saints, and omnes angelos et sanctos can fill up what is lacking in my intellectual participation so that my spiritual and contemplative participation lacks absolutely nothing.

Pax,
Keith
 
The Mass is divided as follows: your participation can be thought of in the following ways. Between most of these segments the priest will turn toward you and say Dominus vobiscum and Oremus. If he has servers they’ll say Et cum spiritu tuo after Dominus vobiscum.

(Mass of the Catechumens)
First Part: Preparation (incl. Judica me, introit, kyrie, gloria)
acts of contrition; love that purifies itself
Second Part: Instruction (incl. collect, epistle, gospel, sermon)
acts of faith; love that illuminates itself
(Mass of the Faithful)
Third Part: Offertory (incl. offering, washing, orate fratres)
acts of self-surrender; love offering itself to God
Fourth Part: Consecration (canon)
acts of gratitude and hope; love that immolates itself
Fifth Part: Communion (incl. Pater noster, fraction, agnus dei…)
acts of love; love that unites itself to God
Sixth Part: Thanksgiving (incl. ite missa est, blessing, last Gospel)
acts of gratitude; love giving thanks to God through Christ

In the earlier days non-Catholics would be asked to leave after the Mass of the Catechumens, to preserve the sacred mysteries from desacralization and exposure. If you’re not Catholic yet, for the Communion section you can make acts of spiritual communion. A missal should have prayers for before and after the Mass; you can work with those. You can always think of them in terms of becoming Catholic, if you like.

There has been much scandal over the notion that we have to “understand” everything that takes place in the Mass, in order to “participate”. You participate by uniting yourself spiritually to the fact that you are there at Calvary. Each segment of the Mass has a general purpose in that union with calvary; these are suggested in italics, above. They are not obligatory, of course; they just make sense. I got them from page 952 of the St. Andrew Daily Missal. Consider that on Calvary you might not hear every word spoken, yet you would know what was happening there (unless you were among the indifferent). Also many aspects of the Mass remain constant, and you can become familiar with them without having to be a linguist. Over time you will become more familiar with Latin, and that is good. Some content changes with each Mass, of course, such as collects and so on. Some people have a Missal and read along, perhaps having marked in advance where to find the collects and so forth, while others pray what they know to be the focus of each general part of the Mass.
 
By the way, here is a nice introduction to the Mass. It offers some thoughts about the fact that it’s in Latin, and why it doesn’t matter if you don’t actually know Latin. The page has some helpful links to articles, too.
 
going to Mass today, Latin Catholics generally have five options:

"1) attend the vernacular Novus Ordo Mass published in 1970 by Pope Paul VI. This is the Mass offered in most parishes today.2) attend the 1970 Novus Ordo Mass offered in the Latin language (note: this is not the same Mass that was offered before Vatican II)3) attend Mass at a non-Latin ritual Catholic Church (Byzantine, Greek, Maronite, etc.)4) attend the rare Masses offered by certain religous Orders who have their own Rites, e.g., the Dominican Rite, the Carmelite Rite (“The Rite of the Holy Sepulchre”), etc.5) attend the traditional Latin Mass. The traditional Mass is also referred to as: the the Mass of Pope St. Peter, the Mass of Pope St. Gregory the Great; the Mass of Pope St. Pius V; the Tridentine Mass, the Pian Rite, etc. Contrary to popular belief, the traditional Mass has not disappeared; it is offered by the priests of the Society of St. Pius X (S.S.P.X.), by other faithful, independent priests all over the world, and, by “indult,” by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (the F.S.S.P.), the Institute of Christ the King (I.C.K.), etc. You can find one at the “Offsite Tools” area of the index page of the “Being Catholic” section of this site). "
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Wishe I had had this information yesterday for a since closed thread LOL
 
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