Traditional Mass from WW2

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Adonia

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Here is a picture I found among my father’s effects of Mass being said somewhere during WW2.
 
Put it away!

“Masses on the hoods of jeeps” is an oft-used excuse for modern casual masses. Don’t feed the liberals! 😃
 
For those men attending Mass on the eve of battle, I’ve always thought of how reverently they turned to Our Lord to help assauage their fears. My fathers cousin was also a chaplain in the European theatre.

May God bless the souls of those brave men who have passed, and those that are still with us, who did so much for us so long ago.
 
TempleServant said:
Put it away!

“Masses on the hoods of jeeps” is an oft-used excuse for modern casual masses. Don’t feed the liberals! 😃
Click to expand...
Your comment dishonors the brave battlefield chaplains who served the spiritual needs of our troops, and also dishonors our fighting men who turned to their Lord in their hour of need and the face of death.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
Your comment dishonors the brave battlefield chaplains who served the spiritual needs of our troops, and also dishonors our fighting men who turned to their Lord in their hour of need and the face of death.
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I believe you missed the smiley, indicating that Temple Servant’s post was not intended to be taken seriously.

To the OP’s point, I have seen several such pictures in my issue-by-issue reading of the Life Magazines from the early 1940s. I have also seen some magnificent pictures of Masses in beautiful cathedrals and churches.
 
Why don’t we all focus on the beauty and poignancy of this picture of men at war, some of which probably died, making do with what they have in order to assist at mass.

In their rough and hazardous conditions, they made time to serve our God.

That’s what’s important.

Although of course what is also beautiful is this snapshot of a traditional mass served ad orientem even with a handful of attendees
 
I’ve seen photos just like this from the American Civil War up to Vietnam, and paintings of them during the rennaissance and middle ages. I’ve always wanted to pull them together in a collection of military Masses. The cool thing is that you see almost exactly the same thing happening in all of them.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
Your comment dishonors the brave battlefield chaplains who served the spiritual needs of our troops, and also dishonors our fighting men who turned to their Lord in their hour of need and the face of death.
Click to expand...
I’ve heard that people from both sides would attend the same Mass.
 
This reminds me of a priest from the Korean War that is currently being considered for both sainthood and Medal of Honor. I highly recommend that everyone look at the story of Fr. Emil Kapaun. An amazing and brave fellow.
 
TrueLight said:
Why don’t we all focus on the beauty and poignancy of this picture of men at war, some of which probably died, making do with what they have in order to assist at mass.

In their rough and hazardous conditions, they made time to serve our God.

That’s what’s important.

Although of course what is also beautiful is this snapshot of a traditional mass served ad orientem even with a handful of attendees
Click to expand...
Yes, a very poigniant moment! There is also some video footage around of soldiers in the Pacific lining up for confessions outdoors in the jungle. I’ll tell you, there was a llong line of men awaiting this sacrament. The priest really had his hands full that particular day. This was a very touching piece of video to see. My heart went to them all.
 
Adonia said:
Here is a picture I found among my father’s effects of Mass being said somewhere during WW2.
Click to expand...
This photo looks very much like one that appears in the 2009 “Battlefield Chaplain” calendar from Angelus Press. The calendar also includes battlefield mass photos from the US Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam. All Tridentine Masses.
 
mick321 said:
This photo looks very much like one that appears in the 2009 “Battlefield Chaplain” calendar from Angelus Press. The calendar also includes battlefield mass photos from the US Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam. All Tridentine Masses.
Click to expand...
It could be. A lot of these pictures were taken by military photographers which the soldiers could then purchase. This was probably the case in this instance. I’ve seen some pictures with German soldiers at Mass also.
 
mick321 said:
this photo looks very much like one that appears in the 2009 “battlefield chaplain” calendar from angelus press. The calendar also includes battlefield mass photos from the us civil war, wwi, wwii, korea, vietnam. All tridentine masses.
Click to expand...
best. idea. ever.

edit I tried posting that in all-caps but the computer won’t let me do justice to this great idea.
 
On page 4 of the January 18 issue of Life Magazine, found here:

books.google.com/books?id=mE4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA4&dq=life+magazine+january+18+1943&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RDqVT-qyCYXAtweFnaXaBA&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=life%20magazine%20january%2018%201943&f=false

there is a picture of Mass being celebrated on the horizontal stabilizer of an aircraft. The airplane appears to be a Lockheed AT-18 Hudson, used for bombardier training. The picture was taken at the Elevation, and if the plane was pointed on a course of 090, the Mass was being celebrated ad orientem.
 
TempleServant said:
Put it away!

“Masses on the hoods of jeeps” is an oft-used excuse for modern casual masses. Don’t feed the liberals! 😃
Click to expand...
I was actually thinking about that as I looked at the picture. I noticed that, even though there was every excuse for being casual, they had nevertheless built a stone altar. There were candles on the altar too. Somebody had clearly gone to a lot of effort to make it as beautiful and reverent as possible.
 
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