What language in the mass do you prefer?

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lagenda said:
I too prefer the Holy Mass to be offered in Latin. It is desirable that a universal church has a universal language for its liturgy which is something the Muslims and orthodox Jews understand as they too have a universal language for their respective liturgies. I remember the days when you could travel around different countries on the holidays and as long as you had your Sunday Missal with you, you were perfectly at one with the congregation in whichever country you were in. We could all sing the Gloria,Credo, Sanctus and Angus Dei in Latin. Where I live now the Sunday Mass is in English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil and Tagalog. Each community go to “their Mass” and if they miss the timing for “their Mass” they do not go to any other. I experienced a similar situation when I was working in the Arab Gulf States. A French priest came out twice a year to offer Holy Mass for the French community in their own language. The parish priest told me that they do not come to his church at any other time during the year, but only when “their French priest” came to visit. I cannot help feeling that something has been lost by giving up on a universal liturgical language. It had a unifying effect that has largely been lost as I gave examples of above.
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That is their loss, and a telling comment on the strength of their commitment to their faith. If the only Mass available to me on a given Sunday were in a language that I did not understand, I would still attend. Nevertheless, given choices, my preference would still be for a language that I understand and in which I can respond.
 
andrewstx said:
But “this is my body, and this is my blood” are always said audibly by the priest.
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That’s good, but if you “hear” this in the context of a narrative (read, past tense), how are you to believe that the miracle IS actually taking place?

“In a similar way, when supper was ended, he took the chalice and, once more giving thanks, he gave it to his disciples, saying:”
 
DaveBj said:
Nevertheless, given choices, my preference would still be for a language that I understand and in which I can respond.
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Yes, but is it necessary to understand the ENTIRE language? I can attend a Spanish Mass and know what I’m responding without knowing much of Spanish. Take away the sermon and such, the Mass contains but a mere percentage of any language’s total vocabulary. There are only 600 unique Latin words used in the EF, and many of them have English cognates. Not you, Dave, but it seems like one really must have a distaste for a language to avoid going to a Mass in that language, especially when it’s required to meet one’s obligation. Or maybe there are other cultural factors that come into play, and something that is encouraged by a particular vernacular.
 
ProVobis said:
Yes, but is it necessary to understand the ENTIRE language? I can attend a Spanish Mass and know what I’m responding without knowing much of Spanish. Take away the sermon and such, the Mass contains but a mere percentage of any language’s total vocabulary. There are only 600 unique Latin words used in the EF, and many of them have English cognates. Not you, Dave, but it seems like one really must have a distaste for a language to avoid going to a Mass in that language, especially when it’s required to meet one’s obligation. Or maybe there are other cultural factors that come into play, and something that is encouraged by a particular vernacular.
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Of course it’s not necessary to understand the entire language. I have enough Spanish to follow the reading/prayers and do the responses when I attend the occasional Hispanic Mass in our parish, and as I’ve previously said, I can handle a Latin Mass if it’s spoken clearly and I have a script to follow. I’ll attend Mass in Klingon if that’s the only one available, but given my druthers, I’d prefer English.

You may have something about the cultural factors; that was something that hadn’t crossed my mind.
 
For me, there’s nothing better than good old English. I think *Sacrosanctum Concilium *is spot-on. To me, being able to “actively participate” in the Liturgy of the Eucharist is like being there when Christ first instituted it in front of the Twelve. My heart is full, and I am aware of the presence of God in my life and of the mystical body of Christ of which I am a part.

While it’s been many years since I’ve experienced mass in the Latin of the Extraordinary Form, I do know that it left me feeling disconnected and left to my own devices. I’ve been to a number of Maronite liturgies that use Syriac (the consecration in the words Maronites describe as the literal words of Christ) and Arabic in their “divine liturgy.” It’s beautiful, but not one to which I can easily relate.

I’ve been to masses of the Ordinary Form in Spanish as well.

For me, fundamentally, mass in English engages both my heart and mind in ways that sometimes bring me to tears. Mass in other languages, particularly that of the Extraordinary Form, leave me struggling to understand what’ going on.

I can appreciate that others like the Tridentine mass because it explicitly recognizes the different role that priest and lay person play, but to me, personal prayer and devotion during the liturgy of the Eucharist does not make me feel the corporate nature of worship.
 
DaveBj said:
You may have something about the cultural factors; that was something that hadn’t crossed my mind.
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I was thinking of little things, like Polka dancing, or hand-clapping to all the music. Or perhaps even, or especially, Gregorian chant. In fact I’m almost sure that GC is a big turn off to most vernaculars, unfortunately, in spite of Sacrosanctum Concilium and other documents.
 
ProVobis said:
I was thinking of little things, like Polka dancing, or hand-clapping to all the music. Or perhaps even, or especially, Gregorian chant. In fact I’m almost sure that GC is a big turn off to most vernaculars, unfortunately, in spite of Sacrosanctum Concilium and other documents.
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Chant would not be a turn-off for me. I love chant, and I have learned to read the notation 😃
 
My native tongue (English). The reason being, anytime I have been to a non-English Mass, I get all tripped up in the fact that I dont understand the language and I find that distracting.

That answer may not be what some want to hear, but it is an honest answer nonetheless.
 
DaveBj said:
'Sawright. I’m a trained musician. I wouldn’t have an excuse not to be able to read it 😛
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Well, Vatican II didn’t say we all had to be trained musicians or be skilled in Gregorian chant or even understand it. Furthermore, it said "Nevertheless steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass” — (that is, the unchanging parts, the parts that are there every day) — “which pertain to them.” So it made no sense that Catholic schools dropped the Latin requirement altogether. I’m sensing they dropped chant notation programs as well.
 
lagenda said:
I too prefer the Holy Mass to be offered in Latin. It is desirable that a universal church has a universal language for its liturgy which is something the Muslims and orthodox Jews understand as they too have a universal language for their respective liturgies. I remember the days when you could travel around different countries on the holidays and as long as you had your Sunday Missal with you, you were perfectly at one with the congregation in whichever country you were in. We could all sing the Gloria,Credo, Sanctus and Angus Dei in Latin. Where I live now the Sunday Mass is in English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil and Tagalog. Each community go to “their Mass” and if they miss the timing for “their Mass” they do not go to any other. I experienced a similar situation when I was working in the Arab Gulf States. A French priest came out twice a year to offer Holy Mass for the French community in their own language. The parish priest told me that they do not come to his church at any other time during the year, but only when “their French priest” came to visit. I cannot help feeling that something has been lost by giving up on a universal liturgical language. It had a unifying effect that has largely been lost as I gave examples of above.
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100 years ago a Polish guy named Dobry walks into St. Patrick’s Parish.

Just kidding.
 
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