But that’s not the result. Everyone, presumably, got to hear a snippet of the Mass in their language. That is the whole point of Latin, it’s universal.
The homily is always done in the local language, and would be the only part of the Mass which not everyone can understand. That just goes with the territory of attending Mass in a foreign country.
It was the desire of Pope John XXIII before the council. Read Veterum Sapientia, and take note of the sections under the heading “Provisions for the Promotion of Latin Studies”; of note: “before Church students begin their ecclesiastical studies proper they shall be given a sufficiently lengthy course of instruction in Latin by highly competent masters, following a method designed to teach them the language with the utmost accuracy”.
Which is exactly what Archbishop Lefebvre said so many years ago. His seminary in Econe, which Rome attempted to shut down, was the only seminary which was in strict accordance with VII.
Oh, they have been a lot more than remiss in their duties. They have had an agenda.
Just as long as you remember that this applies only to diocesan students for the priesthood.
My point was that most wouldn’t understand what “annuit coeptus” meant but would still honor the dollar bill.
)Actually it would require the same energy. St. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate is the best there is.
That way, the rest of the world would have thought it was a beautiful opera.Or, he could have just said it all in Italian
Look, I talked to the priests myself. He said that there is nothing more than a cursory course in Latin. In fact, when the Pope allowed the Tridentine Mass recently, the priest in charge of our cluster, about 8 parishes, said not to expect Latin anytime soon because there are no priests who can do it. In fact, there is only one church in the entire state I live which offers the Tridentine Mass, and one which offers the N.O. mass in Latin. So, you can wave canon law all you want, but if you want to discuss reality, the priests I know, and I know many in my own circle, DO NOT KNOW Latin. One very reliable priest I know was teaching himself because HE WAS NOT TAUGHT LATIN IN THE SEMINARY. Bishops don’t know it either. Did you read the news of a recent conclave of Bishops(within the last year or two), which was begun by a speech in Latin by the presiding Bishop, which had all the Bishops of the world scrambling for their translator headsets because hardly any of them knew what he was saying? Ahh, but it’s in Canon Law that they must be taught Latin.
catholicculture.org/library/view.cfm?recnum=1095
There is nothing in Canon Law that says they must be taught Latin.
Nevermind the Extraordinary Form right now. The Second Vatican Council said that priests should learn the language proper to their rite. Latin Rite priests need to learn enough Latin to get by with their Rite! It’s that simple. I have a book that teaches me enough Latin to read the breviary and missal, and it’s not even 300 pages.
That’s terrible. But ignorance of the law doesn’t negate the law. And breaking the law isn’t corrected by ignoring the offense; it must be corrected. I pray for the day when the Church will lovingly crack down on the failure of Her pastors to teach Her priests Her languages.
Um, can. 249 disagrees with you: “The Charter of Priestly Formation is to provide that the students are not only taught their native language accurately, but are also well versed in latin, and have a suitable knowledge of other languages which would appear to be necessary or useful for their formation or for the exercise of their pastoral ministry.”
Thank you for that. I stand corrected. It’s the same language that is in the letter that John Paul sent to the bishops on priestly formation. The one that I mentioned above, that I can’t remember it’s name.
Since I’ve been Catholic I’ve attended both the N.O. and the Tridentine and I struggle with the use of Latin at mass now. I find it difficult to keep track of where I am while the priest is facing away. People say the rosary and do other devotions while mass is going on because they can’t follow it. However, that testimony by Fr. Amorth is pretty powerful stuff for the continued use of Latin…
See, the priests need to encourage the people and support them and help them. That is FIRST AND FOREMOST what Sacrosanctum Concilium called for. Read n. 14 of that document, and see that “full, conscious, and active participation of the laity” is desired through their liturgical formation by their pastors! It does the people no good in English or Latin if they can’t understand what’s happening – and English doesn’t make understanding instant, since many American Catholics don’t understand the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the transubstantiation and the offering of the Body and Blood of God the Son to God the Father that happens at every Mass. Maybe you could talk to the priests and ask them to offer sessions for the faithful, outside of Mass (or devote part of the homily to this), that teach them about what is happening, what the priest is saying (out loud and quietly). Liturgical formation is the key to active participation… otherwise, you’re just saying what you’ve been told to say.
All great suggestions. There is definitely woeful ignorance among American catholics. However, concerning people praying at mass, Pope Pius (IX?) said, “Don’t pray at mass, but pray the mass.”
Yes, but pray what is proper to you. It is not for the laity to pray the Eucharistic Prayer, for example.
When in Rome…
I think that’s pretty narrow-minded. You don’t need to travel the “world”, either… a neighboring country usually suffices. And it’s not an “accommodation”: this was (and IS) part of our heritage, the Latin language.