Uh, I have been urged by some Catholic group to attend Latin mass or face damnation

[Windfish]

…I am kind of at a loss for words. I was born in 1989, so I didn’t even know until now that there were different forms of the mass. I have been told that I am in heresy because I attend a regular, English-speaking mass. Am I missing something? If this is the case, and I will be damned (ouch, touch word), why is there an English mass at all? Can someone fill me in, I feel there is a lot I missed out on.

 

[Aramis]

…I am kind of at a loss for words. I was born in 1989, so I didn’t even know until now that there were different forms of the mass. I have been told that I am in heresy because I attend a regular, English-speaking mass. Am I missing something? If this is the case, and I will be damned (ouch, touch word), why is there an English mass at all? Can someone fill me in, I feel there is a lot I missed out on.

You’ve had a brush with heretics. Well meaning, ignorant, heretics, most likely.

There are some proponents of the pre- Vatican II form who claim, believe, and teach that the Ordinary Form of the post-Vatican II mass is invalid. The pope says they are wrong. So did his Holiness John Paul II.

Many of those who make those claims also deny the validity of the other rites of the church. Some of them go so far as to claim there is no valid pope.

If your local mass is reverent and follows the rubrics, you’ve nothing to worry about.

I would encourage you to examine as many different valid and Catholic liturgies as you can find, including the Extraordinary Form (the restored use of the 1962 Roman Missal), the Eastern Catholic Liturgies, and if you can find one, the Dominican Rite Mass.

 

[awatkins69]

It’s very likely that those people are heretics and schismatics themselves, and they should be avoided. Go to the Latin Mass if it brings you closer to Christ in the Eucharist. Not because of pharisees.

 

[DexUK]

There are now two forms of Mass that priests may make freely available: one, the Ordinary Form, is the Mass in our local language, English in yours and my case. The second, the Extraordinary Form, is the Mass that was the form used in 1962 - i.e. in Latin, with different rubrics (rules to be followed about the way it’s celebrated).

The Ordinary Form is what you’re used to. Note that it too can be celebrated in Latin freely, but what you’d hear is the exact same format of Mass with the words in Latin rather than English. The Extraordinary Form is a very different format.

Both the English (and Latin) Ordinary (normal) Form and the Latin-only Extraordinary Form are the Mass. The consecration is the same. The sacrifice is the same. They are both equally ‘the Mass’. If you have the choice of which Mass to attend on a Sunday you may freely choose whichever one you want and you will fulfil your Sunday Obligation.

You are NOT obliged to attend any form of Latin Mass simply because it’s in Latin unless it’s a Sunday Mass and it’s the only one you’re able to attend, in which case you should in order to meet your obligation. Anyone who tells you that you must only ever attend a Latin Mass is ABSOLUTELY WRONG. I need not make any qualification or tell you to check with a priest. They are simply wrong, and to tell you that you face damnation for not doing so is a vile thing to do.

Rest assured: you may continue to attend your English Mass (assuming you’re in a state of grace, of course) with a totally clear conscience.

Feel free to examine the Extraordinary Form of Mass though, if you want to. It’s the Mass the Church celebrated for hundreds of years and carries with it a lot of our history. Many people, during the Reformation, went to their deaths to protect their rights to hear it celebrated. There are many martyrs in England, for example, who gave their lives for the Mass we know as the Extraordinary Form (or Tridentine Rite). There is also a wealth of sacred music written for the ‘old Mass’ that is exquisite. It’s a fantastic study. But don’t feel you have to. It’s entirely up to you.

 

[Scoobyshme]

…I am kind of at a loss for words. I was born in 1989, so I didn’t even know until now that there were different forms of the mass. I have been told that I am in heresy because I attend a regular, English-speaking mass. Am I missing something? If this is the case, and I will be damned (ouch, touch word), why is there an English mass at all? Can someone fill me in, I feel there is a lot I missed out on.

Ignore them and pray for them. Ask them when they were elected Pope, if they keep it up. They weren’t.

 

[Mumbles140]

Sadly, what these people have told you is not exactly the truth (referring to the people in the OP - the posters have been dead-on!). As DexUK and others have said, there are the two forms. As someone who attends both the Tridentine Rite (in Latin) and the Ordinary Form, both masses are beautiful in their own ways.

Growing up, my parish was very conservative (thanks be to God) and the priests were very by the book. However, when I left home to go to college in NYC, I found too many liberal priests on campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods, some were bad enough to ‘paraphrase’ the Gospel, neutralize the gender of God the Father (replacing ‘Him’ or ‘His’ with ‘God’ or 'God’s), and one who even cussed during the Homily.

After a couple years of trying different churches in the area, I found a Latin Mass in Manhattan (school was in Queens) and began going every Sunday. It is a beautiful mass, everyone is reverent and dressed respectfully, and I felt much more focused on the Holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist than at any other time in New York.

Please don’t be turned off by the Tridentine Mass - it is something that everyone should experience at some point in their lifetime. If you are looking for one in your area, try this link fssp.com/press/locations/ It is for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, and they have carried on the Extraordinary Form of the mass since their founding in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.

 

[ProVobis]

How things have changed around. It just seems like yesterday when anyone who attended a Latin Mass was damned forever.

 

[Windfish]

Thanks for the background, guys. Very interesting.

 

[Robert_Burns]

…I am kind of at a loss for words. I was born in 1989, so I didn’t even know until now that there were different forms of the mass. I have been told that I am in heresy because I attend a regular, English-speaking mass. Am I missing something? If this is the case, and I will be damned (ouch, touch word), why is there an English mass at all? Can someone fill me in, I feel there is a lot I missed out on.

Dont feel bad - until the EF was approved - for YEARS I was told the same thing because I wanted to attend the Tridentine Latin Mass. But I was never confused. The Tridentine Latin Mass is Catholic. I know its Catholic. And I really dont care who thinks its not.

Pax

 

[Luigi_Daniele]

Dont feel bad - until the EF was approved - for YEARS I was told the same thing because I wanted to attend the Tridentine Latin Mass. But I was never confused.** The Tridentine Latin Mass is Catholic. I know its Catholic**. And I really dont care who thinks its not.

Pax

As is the Novus Ordo Mass

(I am not anti Tridentine Mass in any way, BTW )

 

[Robert_Burns]

As is the Novo Ordo Mass

(I am not anti Tridentine Mass in any way, BTW )

Some say it is some say it isnt and I have seen threads that go on for days and people argue ad nauseum and nothing is solved. - Me - I prefer to stay out of the argument entirely and merely do what I know to be Catholic. I was born in 1956 and the Latin Mass is Catholic before the OF was invented. Its an argument that leads no where and for all intents and purposes is divisive.

 

[Greg57]

…I am kind of at a loss for words. I was born in 1989, so I didn’t even know until now that there were different forms of the mass. I have been told that I am in heresy because I attend a regular, English-speaking mass. Am I missing something? If this is the case, and I will be damned (ouch, touch word), why is there an English mass at all? Can someone fill me in, I feel there is a lot I missed out on.

If I were you, for your own emotional and spiritual good, DROP ANY ASSOCIATION WITH THESE CRACKPOTS. The Mass in English is a valid and licit Mass and has always been. After Vatican II, there were some who became schismatic and rejected the Novus Ordo and retained the Tridentine Mass. They still refuse to recognize even Vatican II. The Church has moved forward; they still cling to a past that never was. I’m not dissing them, but now the pope has given permission for any priest to celebrate the extgraordinary form of the Mass (Latin) at any time. And no, you will not be damned to eternal Hell for attending the ordinary English form. The continuity continues.

 

[ProVobis]

After Vatican II, there were some who became schismatic and rejected the Novus Ordo and retained the Tridentine Mass.

That’s what it seemed like but that was because many of them took the position that the Tridentine Mass wasn’t abrogated, which now, of course, Pope Benedict has confirmed. That means those who said it was abrogated were in error.

 

[rapunzel77]

PLEASE, PLEASE don’t take away from this that all people who attend the Tridentine Mass are nutcases and crackpots. Fortunately, there are many of us that aren’t. I am very sorry that you had to hear that. Sadly, there are some crazies out there and you happened to have a brush with them, No, you are not falling into perdition for going to the OF Mass. I hope this doesn’t turn you off to the EF mass since you would be missing out on something very beautiful and holy. Don’t listen to the crackpots. They don’t know what they are talking about.

 

[dconklin]

I wonder if the Church Police (the heretics) would think it OK to go to a Spanish Mass. It sounds like Latin to me - the music is just happier.

Be weary of people that tell you you are going to Hell for any reason. Only God determines that.

 

[MarkThompson]

I wonder if the Church Police (the heretics) would think it OK to go to a Spanish Mass. It sounds like Latin to me - the music is just happier.

Plus, it also confounds those heretics who think that the “evil Novus Ordo” is invalid because the words of Institution have been rendered “for you and for all” rather than “for you and for many.” Um, only in English! In Spanish Masses, sure enough, it says “for you and for many.” So I guess those are perfectly valid, then? … yeah, they don’t really want to discuss that so much.

 

[tbtcom1213]

The Mass is a Mass and is yet the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass whether it be English, Spanish,Hindi, Igbo, Latin, Polska, Martian, Italian et cetera…

Ignore the schismatics and sedevecantists;

The only one who can determine who faces damnation is God.

Live the faith and be a good Catholic Christian witness to your neighbors

 

[PJM]

=Windfish;6903546]…I am kind of at a loss for words. I was born in 1989, so I didn’t even know until now that there were different forms of the mass. I have been told that I am in heresy because I attend a regular, English-speaking mass. Am I missing something? If this is the case, and I will be damned (ouch, touch word), why is there an English mass at all? Can someone fill me in, I feel there is a lot I missed out on.

***You are in NO DANGER by continuing to attend the Novus Ordo Mass. Tht sais you are missing a very large part of out Sacred tradition and an opportunity to grow even closer to Christ by attending a Latin -Extrodinary Form of our Eucharistic celebration.

It is certainly worth your time and effort to attend a Latin Mass if one is available to you. Know that the missals have English translations of the Latin. The First time you attend though I sugget you participate without worrying about translations.

There is a fringe element that continues to make these FALSE CLAIMS by there choice; not the choice of the Pope nd the Mgistrium of the CC.

Love and prayers,
Pat***

 

[Stylites]

Ignore them and pray for them. Ask them when they were elected Pope, if they keep it up. They weren’t.

Ah, the lamentable “More-Catholic-than-the-Pope” syndrome, known before simply as the ‘cardinal virtue’ of “pride.”

 

[ProVobis]

The Mass is a Mass and is yet the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass whether it be English, Spanish,Hindi, Igbo, Latin, Polska, Martian, Italian et cetera…

Hold on there. Only if it’s been authenticized by the Vatican. There is not that much vernacular freedom allowed and any of the existing vernaculars could easily be “retired” or suppressed altogether.