Which Latin Mass?

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AuntMartha

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Hi,
Tomorrow I am thinking of going to a Mass at St. John Cantius in Chicago. They have several Masses Sunday morning. The two I am thinking of are:
11:00 a.m.—Missa Normativa (Latin)
12:30 p.m.—Tridentine High Mass (Latin)

I have not been to a Latin Mass since childhood, and I want to go to one of these. Does anyone have suggestions as to why I might choose one over the other? I just want to see what people think might be best for a first attendance to Mass in Latin. Should I jump right in and go to the Tridentine?

Thanks.
 
By the way, if anyone here goes to this church and is planning on going to one of these Masses tomorrow, please PM me - maybe we can say hello after Mass!
 
The first (Missa Normativa) is simply the Mass we have now in Latin, hence the term normativa, meaning the norm.

The second is the Latin mass from your childhood (missal of 1962), although maybe you only remembered a Low Mass. High Mass is with sung prayers, readings, etc.
 
When I attend a Latin Mass, it is usuallyl a High Mass…Tridentine. I love the music, and it is quite reverent as well.
 
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AuntMartha:
I have not been to a Latin Mass since childhood, and I want to go to one of these. Does anyone have suggestions as to why I might choose one over the other? I just want to see what people think might be best for a first attendance to Mass in Latin.
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Which Mass you choose, I think, depends how you personally like to assist at or participate in the Mass.

If you prefer to participate in a more silent personal way, then the Tridentine Mass is your best choice.

If you remember the Tridentine Mass from childhood, then you will remember that, unlike the current order of the Mass, in this Mass the priest, altar boys, and choir will say or sing most of the prayers and the Canon of the Mass will be said silently. It will be very reverent, with ceremonies surrounding every action of the priest. Bring a missal (or look up the readings for the Sunday): the readings may or may not be read in English and unless you remember all the little signals for which prayer the priest is saying it will be difficult to follow.

If you prefer to speak or sing the prayers in dialogue with the priest, then the Missa Normativa is a better choice.

At the Missa Normativa the congregation will say (or chant, if it’s like my parish) the prayers and responses, many of which are only said/sung by the altar boys or choir in the Tridentine Mass. The prayers will be slightly altered from their form in the Tridentine Mass (no listing of saint by name in the Confiteor, for example) and the Canon of the Mass will be much shorter than in the Tridentine Mass. The order of the Mass is exactly as in English, so it will be easy to “keep one’s place in”, though you may wish to bring a missal or look up the Latin prayers so that you can say them.

Personally, I prefer the Missa Normativa, but I’ve been attending it (in Latin) all my life and I am the type of person who prefers to say the prayers.
 
Thanks everyone, that was very helpful. I understand now what I should expect from each one. I’ll let you know how it goes!
 
I’m sure you’ll be blessed by attending a Latin Mass especially a TLM. I’d love to attend; there is a church within 20 min. of us. I can’t convince my wonderful husband to attend, and I believe it’s better for us to go to mass as a family, so we haven’t been.
 
I have not been to a Latin Mass since childhood, and I want to go to one of these
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The tridentine rite is the rite of your childhood if you are over 50 of course.

But the 1962 missal was only in use for 2 years in its first edition, being discontinued in Feb. 1965. In addition, the mass is a high mass, the masses of the past were almost always low masses which are quite different.
 
Well, I guess I should have said my “very early childhood”, since I am 47! But I remember a fair amount of it in spite of being so young when it changed. In particular, I remember thinking that the response to “Dominus Vobiscum” was “Et cum spiritu ‘tu-tu’ o”!

But anyway, I went to the Missa Normative for this past Sunday. It was amazing. The church is beautiful. They were singing Gregorian Chant, there was ton of incense, and of course, Latin. There were three priests, a couple of men in black (seminarians?) and several altar boys (they may have a special name for these various different men, but if so I don’t know the names - can anyone enlighten me, since I think I am butchering the names?). I had prepared a “cheat sheet” of the Latin prayers, not realizing they had missalettes to use (Duh!). Lots of the ladies wore veils (I did too!). It was very inspiring to try to say the Our Father in Latin. Wow, my descrpition sounds like I’m really bumbling around, sorry.

I plan on going to the Tridentine at some point in the next few months. I’m waiting to see if a friend wants to go too. I’m really glad I went.
 
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