I thought about that before posting this thread. Oh well, it’s here already.
I have attended Mass in English, Latin, Spanish, German and Italian. I’ve attended the Byzantine Divine Liturgy in English, Church Slavonic, and Ukrainian. I’ve attended a Holy Qurbono (Chaldean) in a mixture of English, Assyrian (Aramaic) and Arabic, and a Maronite Qurbono in Arabic, Aramaic and English. My preference is English for all of the above, with a strong nostalgic fondness for Church Slavonic. I prefer English because it is my mother tongue and I understand it well. I know a bit of Church Slavonic, but I especially like the Divine Liturgy celebrated in Church Slavonic because the melodies that we sing were written for this language. Occasionally, our music (in the Ruthenian Church) can sound a bit tortured as we try to fit the language to the existing melodies. I didn’t care for the Latin, mostly because I did not know the liturgy of the EF well enough to know where we were at any given time, so I was constantly distracted, trying to figure it out. If I knew the liturgy better, I don’t think that the Latin would be a problem for me.
Most EF Masses have an English-latin missal at the entry to the church that you can use during Mass. It usually contains only the ordinary of the Mass, but it will give you more than enough to get started.
Latin for me too, but I prefer it in the Ordinary Form Mass. A close second is French, my native tongue. I don’t care for English mainly because I go mainly to Mass in a French/Latin blend and I don’t know the responses and prayers by heart in English.
Why would you prefer, say, Swahili, over English? Is it because you don’t care for the English language, or you don’t like the translation? Every language has translation issues; they are inherent in the art of translation. Perhaps it sounds too mundane to hear it in your native language, assuming, of course, that English is your native language. I’m genuinely curious here, as to why you answer “anything but English”.
I am not the one you were responding to, but I am pretty much ABE too.
For me, and I know it is different for many, it is much easier to “enter into the Mass” without the tug of language. Since English is my mother tongue, the Mass loses a little bit of its supernatural quality when said in English. I don’t object to Mass in the vernacular at all but given my preference, I would rather not be at Mass in English.
I was on retreat at my abbey over the weekend. The Mass is OF, and they use a post-Vatican II Monastic psalter. The Propers and Ordinary of the Mass are in Gregorian chant, in Latin (except the Kyrie of course, and the odd Hebrew word thrown in for good measureI prefer Latin.
I’m listening to the monks of Le Barroux right now. They’re doing the Divine Office in Latin and it is beautiful.
).Me too. Luckily I have a LM near me which is said every Sunday.